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Everyone does stupid stuff when they are young and don't know any better. For me, I made my mistakes when I was working at EB back in the late 90s. This was back when you could returns games that you just didn't like for a full refund. Yes, that was a lifetime ago, but that time did exist and it was both good and bad for me.
The good part was that I got to try out almost any video game that I wanted, just to see if I liked it. This led to purchases of now rare games like Shining Force III, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Suikoden II. So this was great. It was also nice, because I wasn't stuck with such purchases as Beyond the Beyond, Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth, and Quest 64. I got a full refund on each of those. It really helped my wallet as well for obvious reasons.
The bad part was that I wasn't always smart about my returns. Part of me was so caught up with trying everything that I didn't give certain games the proper time to play or enjoy. I was in such a hurry to try a game, make a split second decision about keeping it or not, and then get on to the next game that I made some big mistakes. I returned some truly great games that I bought for much, much cheaper than I can now get them on eBay. I hang my head in shame as I now admit that I returned both Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre as well as Front Mission 3, Revelations: Persona, and Dragon Warrior VII. Yes, I'm sorry. If I could only go back in time. How stupid I was.
But now, after all this time, have I really learned anything? I know that I have, but have I learned the right lessons? I look games now in terms of eventual scarcity. If the game has the name Square Enix on the case, I know that chance are I will be able to find even the lowliest title for at least the next year. If Atlus is publishing the game, I'm going to be lucky if I can find it within a month or two. That's not exactly fair, as Atlus has been doing better about that. I'd say six months would be a fair estimate for them now. So as I look at my recent purchase and return of Growlanser: Heritage of War (I didn't open the game, but I did buy it and then rented it from Gamefly to see if I liked it.), I have to wonder if I'm doing better or just repeating the same old mistakes. With the limited print run of Growlanser: Heritage of War, will I see it on eBay next year for $100+ and lament or will I just forget it ever existed? In this case, I think I'm fine, but only time will tell.
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