The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are a band of fearless retail archaeologists who comb the world’s retail stores for the most ancient and obsolete gadgets and software. Today’s discoveries do still work, as in you could add them to your compatible computer or PlayStation 2 and use them. The question is, would you want to? [More]
games
Flappy Bird Will Flap Again In August
By 5.15.14
In the winter of 2013/2014, mobile phone users all over the world kept one finger glued to their screens as they played the deceptively simple and completely infuriating game “Flappy Bird.” Creator Dong Nguyen pulled the game from app marketplaces when the attention and fame was too much, but told CNBC yesterday that a different form of the game will come back in August. [More]
Where Can I Trade In My Old Electronics And Games For Fast Cash?
By 4.22.14
There are a lot of websites out there that are happy to take your electronics, games, music, and movies off your hands for a modest fee. You unload your stuff with a minimum of effort, and the buyer resells your old crap in volumes that regular consumers can hardly comprehend. Where’s the best place to unload your stuff, though? Does it really matter? [More]
Hasbro Releasing New Monopoly Edition With The Best “House Rules” Players Have Dreamed Up
By 3.26.14
When I play Monopoly with my friends, every time someone lands on Baltic Avenue they have to take off their socks, clap them on their ears and sing a special song about real estate and the plight of modern man. That’s not true, but it could be — and while such “House Rules” you and your kind have made up aren’t official Monopoly rules, Hasbro is preparing to approve some of the best of those made-up rules. [More]
Are You Having Trouble With The Dunkin’ Donuts Sip Scratch Score Game?
By 3.18.14
The idea behind scratchoff games is that you scratch the surface of your ticket using a coin to reveal a discount or prize. Dunkin’ Donuts is currently running a trivia game promotion with scratchoff tickets. Sounds fun…except for how many of the game pieces are defective. [More]
Here’s A Fun Game: Spot The Counterfeit Canon Power Accessories!
By 1.8.14
Let’s say that you’ve found a great deal on a brand-name accessory for your camera on eBay, on the Amazon marketplace, or even at an offline store. The deal seems too great. Suspiciously great. What’s the catch? Canon wants consumers to know that you should watch out for electronics that claim to be genuine Canon accessories. [More]
Used Games Are Great, But Not Worth An Extra $25
By 6.27.13
Okay, it can be kind of inconvenient to deal with the original packaging, security tape and plastic wrap and all, for a brand-new video game. That privilege might be worth something…but it probably isn’t worth $25. [More]
Joystiq Readers Join Raiders Of The Lost Walmart, Try To Report Defunct Games
By 5.23.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
Back in 2010, before Consumerist’s Raiders of the Lost Walmart had a name and a mission, we shared a fascinating bit of retail archaeology: a copy of the multiplayer game Tabula Rasa, released in 2007 and shut down in 2009. We thought it was bad when a reader spotted a copy on the shelf in 2010, but a Joystiq blogger visited Walmart and found a copy just a few days ago. [More]
If This Is A Big Choice, What Does A Narrow One Look Like?
By 5.22.13
We’re not sure at which den of fun reader Jake spotted this claw game, but he did notice that there’s kind of a big discrepancy between the variety of toys that it offers, and the variety of toys that players actually get. “I’d hate to see what [their] “Small Choice” has to offer,” Jake writes. Or maybe we’re just bigoted and think that all minions look alike. [More]
Man Learns That Carnival Games Are Not A Sound Investment, Loses Life Savings
By 4.30.13 — Updated: 5.2.13
Sure, sometimes it might feel like you’re playing a rigged carnival game when you open up your 401(k) statement, but that’s not really the case. Just about any investment is a wise one, though, compared to what a New Hampshire man did with his life’s savings. After spending $300 trying to win an Xbox Kinect at a fair, he did the fiscally prudent thing: he stopped playing and went home. How nice would it be if this story just stopped there? [More]
Amazon Channels Target, Charges More To Buy More Games
By 4.22.13
The idea behind buying items in a bundle is that in exchange for buying a larger quantity of a single item or a variety of items, the merchant gives you a discount. You give them more business, they give you a better price. That’s how it’s supposed to work, but sometimes this whole system falls apart and prices go up as you buy more. [More]
4 Years After Launch, Sims 3 For Mac Still Sucks And EA Doesn’t Care
By 4.12.13
Our readers are already intimately familiar with the anti-consumer behavior that won EA its second gleaming Golden Poo trophy in a row. One issue that we haven’t heard a lot about, though, is the continued suckiness of the current generation of “The Sims.” You know, that other Maxis title. [More]
How I Turned A Walmart Gift Card Into An EA Game Preorder By Way Of A Kitchen Appliance
By 2.20.13
Reader O. wanted to preorder a new game from 2012 Worst Company in America champ EA, and he wanted to use some money that he had on a Walmart gift card. Fair enough. What he did have was a $50 Walmart gift card and some cash. Walmart theoretically carries EA gift cards, so he should have been able to visit his nearest Wally World, pick up a card, take it home, and pre-order a delicious Crysis 3 download. Indeed, he was able to do that, but only after he took a pocketful of cash across the street and bought his desired EA gift card at GameStop. You can use a Walmart gift card for anything that the store sells…except prepaid debit cards. [More]
Gamefly Wants 80% Restocking Fee For Defective Xbox Game
By 2.7.13 — Updated: 2.12.13
Colleen’s mom bought her a thoughtful and frugal gift: a Zumba game disc for her Xbox that came from Gamefly’s selection of used games. She never got to play it, though, because it arrived not working. That’s not a problem, though, because you can always send defective items back. Right? [More]
Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Will Take 10 Minutes To Download This Post Over A 56K Modem
By 1.25.13 — Updated: 8.15.13
Among the readers and tipsters of Consumerist are a brave band of explorers on a sacred mission to advance human knowledge. Their quest: to find really, really old crap sitting on the clearance rack at Walmart, and take photos so we can laugh at it. They are the Raiders of the Lost Walmart. Here are their latest finds from the field. [More]
How To Make A Toy For Girls: Take Gender-Neutral Toy, Add Fairies And Flowers, Make It Purple
By 12.18.12
As a child, did you ever have one of those magnetic fishing games where plastic fishes’ mouths snap open and shut and you try to snag them with a magnet? I had one, and I enjoyed that toy very much as a little girl. Let me emphasize the “as a little girl” part. One would think that this is a toy that doesn’t need any girling up, but apparently you and I don’t think like a toy company. That’s why the Tinkerbell fishing game exists. It’s the same thing as the primary-colored, gender-neutral fishing game. Except it’s purple and Disney Fairies-branded. Because it’s for girls! [More]
Halo 4 Bonus Downloadable Content Says It Works One Way, Actually Works Another
By 11.8.12
With Misty’s order for the Halo 4 Xbox console and a limited edition of the new game, she got a bunch of codes for downloadable content to be used inside the game. In previous editions, some of that kind of content was available to all users of the console it was downloaded to. But no matter what the restrictions actually say, for Halo 4 the content is restricted to the gamertag that downloaded it. She didn’t want one account to hog all of the good stuff. [More]
GameStop Sells Me Three Defective Nintendo DSes In A Row, Shrugs
By 6.6.12
AC used to shop at Gamestop a lot, but has vowed not to go back. Why? Somehow, the odds caught up with him and he has ended up with three defective Nintendo DSes in a row, all purchased from the same store. Return a defective one, get another. Return a defective one, get another. Not wanting to continue the cycle, he sent this letter to GameStop more than a week ago. They have not responded. [More]
