I just got back from running morning errands, one of which was picking up Bioshock 2. Another patron came in behind me with similar intent. The clerk and I were engaged in friendly conversation (we are friendly acquaintences outside of his retail environment) when, out of contractual obligation, he asked if I'd like to reserve anything - notably Final Fantasy 13.

I politely declined and requested a reservation for Splinter Cell Conviction instead. At that moment I heard a quite audible *gasp* behind me. I turned to see the face of a young man, probably 5-ish years younger than me, mouth agape. Within his eyes was a look of both shock and disdain.

"How DARE you . . . how COULD you!" he condemned/pleaded, without even uttering a word.

"An UBISOFT game over my beloved Square/Enix franchise!? Enjoy your Op Ops: Tactical Ops GUNS game while I enjoy games with REAL STORIES for MATURE GAMERS such as myself."

That look of seething, judgemental nerd rage . . . I was looking into the face of /v/.

Perhaps I should have prefaced this with the fact that I'm not the biggest FF fan. I'm just . . . done with them, I suppose. Same thing with anime. I liked it for the entertainment it is, but I don't grok it as hard as I did 15 years ago. Tastes change.

Anyway I finished my transaction, said goodbye to my associate friend and nodded towards FF-fan behind me in line. I thought to myself that I would've probably had the same reaction at one point so I shouldn't be judging him as harshly as he's judging me. As I was leaving out the door I began to hear the raised voice of protest: "I KNOW I didn't have a pre-order but why DON'T you have any special editions left?!?"

Sometimes this hobby really makes me hate myself.