A few months ago, just before Christmas, I did a foolish thing and went to my local EB to pick up a preorder (FF3, as it happens) without calling first. I usually do, to make sure they have the game in-store. I thought I was in good shape as I made my way to the cashier, because I could see a row of strategy guides for the game prominently displayed on the magazine rack below the counter. However, in a cruel stroke of fate, I was informed that the game itself would not actually arrive until the next day. I’ve long been a proponent of the idea that a strategy guide should not be sold until the game to which it refers is actually available, because it’s just mean, but that’s actually not what incurred my wrath on this particular day.
After eloquently expressing my displeasure (I believe I managed to confine myself to just one profanity), I left, and on my way out of the mall, decided to stop at the other video game store just to make sure that they didn’t have it either. They didn’t (although they did have an equally impressive stack of guides). As I turned to leave, I found myself confronted with the actual subject of today’s tale: a display, about my height, loomed in vivid pink before me, emblazoned with the legend, A
