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Nov 2012 26

by Alexander Hinkley for Examiner


[Bixton in Cross My Heart]

Bixton is this week’s SuicideGirl gamer of the week. She is a former GameStop employee that likes a wide variety of video games and even has some gaming tattoos! I talked to her about her personal taste in video games and whether or not she thinks GameStop rips people off with their used game prices.

So what are some of your favorite video games?

My choice in video games is often considered casual as I lean towards a stress less atmosphere. I enjoy RPG’s, turn-based games, tower defense, side-scrollers, and the occasional button masher or adrenaline pumping zombie hunt. I guess all the obvious ones like The Legend of Zelda series, all of the Super Mario and friends series, Super Smash Bros., Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur, and Ninja Town. Haha, I’m a Nintendo fan that’s for sure. I don’t much care for first person shooters unless it’s in an arcade (like House of the Dead and Time Crisis), so my Xbox 360 gets used in other ways. Ninja Gaiden and Resident Evil are two other series’s I like. And I love Limbo and Castle Crashers. Dang I think I’m going to stop now. You get the picture.

Ah a tower defense fan! What are some of your favorite TD games?

Haha to be honest I have been hooked on South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! on the 360, especially with my brother and his girlfriend. It’s a riot and even better with a little help from some friends, definitely worth trying out. Ninja Town, Desktop TD, Plants Vs. Zombies, and PixelJunk Monsters. And there’s an even longer list for ones I NEED to try still.

Desktop Tower Defense has to be one of my favorites.

The funny thing about the Desktop TD is it was recently suggested to me, but oh man is it addicting. The audio effects are quite distracting, I’m usually giggling to myself as I try keep up. It’s intense.

What are you currently playing?

I am actually playing Blue Dragon these days since I no longer have access to a Wii to finish Skyward Sword. I used to work at GameStop and purchase games I read great reviews on. Now that I still have a sibling in the haven for me, I can just borrow his and return them when I’m done. Of course I have to wait until they’re no longer needed so often times a few days or weeks after new releases I’m forced to share.

Are people ever skeptical that you are a “real” gamer just because you’re a girl?
What do you say to them?

Of course, I don’t know who wouldn’t be. I am skeptical of even guys when they say they like video games or claim gamer status. I go through dry spells sometimes where I lack energy to do anything but sleep, and to be honest, I usually don’t get into intense conversations about my gamer qualifications. Instead they’re coy quips or novelty knick knacks that give it away to detail orientated folk. Thus ending their feelings of disbelief towards me.

What was it like working at GameStop? Is that a job you’d recommend for others?

It was cool for awhile, and I would recommend it to folks, but with a warning. It can be a very demanding job, and like myself, when I walk into a specialty store, I expect you to know your stuff. They were becoming strict about dress code around the time I transferred states, I got a new boss who wasn’t too keen on body art and basically made work a drag with the badgering. I hear as a company as a whole, they’re lenient, even encouraging body art now. But I loved it, and enjoyed the knowledge I gained the two years while I was there and of course the few friends I made working there and still talk to.

Speaking of body art, do you have any nerdy tattoos?

I have five Invincibility Stars on my right wrist, a Zombie Ninja, and a Triforce scarification.

As someone who has worked at GameStop what is your opinion of used games? Are they are rip-off?

It’s a bummer that you don’t get your full rupees worth when you trade in a game, but it works that way in video game life too. You build something up or purchase an item, it costs you X amount of rupees, you destroy it or sell it back and you get X/3 (a third of it back, maybe 1/2). We were just talking about tower defense games so you know what I’m talking about. The best thing about the used game aspect at GameStop is the fact that if you purchase it and within the week if you so choose you don’t like it, or it’s not working properly you can return/exchange it. Also they have bonuses on certain days for trade ins if you have an Edge Card with them, you get more trade-in credit and more of a discount on used items. It’s the way they keep the cycle going.

Do you think anybody will ever be able to compete with GameStop in terms of the used game market?

I know other businesses will get close, only time will tell with any company. Hell I know a few people who don’t even bother doing trade-ins any more because they feel they are a ripoff or are in too much control, blah blah blah. However, they somewhat pioneered it, when they were EBgames and so forth. Funny thing is they won’t/don’t have many rarer titles and copies of games that are worth a heck of a lot more than some newer titles. Plus they stopped carrying obsolete platforms. I still own my GameCube and once upon a time a Sega Genesis and Dreamcast (pretty sure most don’t carry cartridges for the older hand held systems either). Where the heck am I supposed to go for my used games? There sure aren’t any new ones out. Instead we’re forced to look online and in swap-meets or Ma’ N’ Pa stores.

Tell me about your split tongue…

My tongue is one of my favorite mods for sure. The most physically demanding, too. It was just exhausting during healing, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I had to retrain my tongue to do everything all over again. Mastication was gosh darn difficult for a few weeks, maybe months. I can do a few tricks, of course. They were a pain to learn. Spent lots of time starring at it in the mirror, haha.

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