Best Buy: consoles and video games aren't toys |
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Our current generation of consoles are powerful machines, but some clarification might be needed on whether or not they've surpassed their "toy-ish" roots. Are they toys or not? Well according to Best Buy, they're not.
Dictionary definitions aside, this wouldn't have been an issue if the point was clarified sooner. At least, before a customer tried to purchase a console and two video games with a coupon that entitled him to a discount on "toys."
Rob recently tried to purchase an Xbox 360 in Best Buy with a coupon that entitled him on a discount on purchase of "toys." Employees told him that the items did not qualify for the coupon as they aren't toys.
Rob went home and checked Best Buy's website, searching for the item "toy." Halo 3 popped up as the first on the list, and a little down the list was the Xbox 360 platform. He called up Best Buy's corporate office but he was met with the same response.
At the least, Master Chief may take it as a compliment that he isn't just a toy. This doesn't clarify whether the DS and PSP handhelds are also not categorized under toys though. According to Rob, this was the clarification he was given:
I was told a doll is a toy. Didn't know Best Buy was in the doll selling business. Then I was told that if it is an electronic game for a child 12 and under it is a toy.
Perhaps some clarification is in order for the word "toy" or at least, the categories for video games and toys have to be more distinct. But pending future clarification, better save that Best Buy coupon for a doll instead.
Via Consumerist
23 Jumps Buy two, get one free at Best Buy
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Comments [refresh]
It is definitly a toy. you play with toys and u play with an xbox there for its a toy. and does best buy really sell dolls? lol
that is really f*kin stupid
the end
Just because you play with something doesn't make it a toy..
Why wouldn't 'Rob' have asked them what exactly in Bestbuy is a toy then?
...it wasn't just some toy to be dillying about with... er was that regarding something else?
It's a toy.
Adults have their toys, too... ATVs, skis, boats, etc.
It's a toy.
ATVs, skis, and boats arent really toys...they're recreational equipment. Video games arent really toys either. They're entertainment systems. Now adults do have toys...but i don't think I should go into detail about those...
can anyone give me head
How does that relate to the topic? It doesn't go fap somewhere else to some pixels sonce thats the only thing you will ever get. Don't post stupid comments.
There all entertainment systems. Thats like saying a laptop is a toy. You CAN play games on it, but thats not all.
"plaything: an artifact designed to be played with"
you play with a console don't you?
Wow...
Everything you interact with would be considered a toy since the ACTUAL definition of toy is to treat something foolishishly. The Best Buy people are just being hypocritical idiots who are associating the word toy probably with action figures and the such.
you can play with a gun - does that make it a TOY?
you can play with alcohol - does that make it a TOY?
you can play with people's emotions - does that make them TOYS?
is monopoly a toy or a game?
is chess a toy or a game?
videogames are not toys in the sense that they require specific devices to use them
do you want to see toys?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=abcat0714000&type=category
Can anyone say, 'corporate greed.' This is bull****.
it was a nice try and hell if i was using the coupon I would freaking pissed however 9 out of ten websites will have it listed as an electronic device...like a computer or a tv ....your comparing something with a hard drive to a spiderman action figure and you don't feel stupid...come on ...come on...admit it u feel dumb....in any case as stated above anyone can play with something ..that doesn't make it a toy...
how much was the coupon 4 ? ***** just give the man his discount.., u pay 60 bucks almost everytime u buy a game you think they can let you slide once when your cash is low
$60?
Man, that's really cheap!
Here in Sweden, a game costs from $80 up to $110!
Why not complete the statement...
Graphic Novels aren't COMICS and
Action Figures aren't DOLLS...
LMAO! Crackheads.
so giving somebody a discount on certain merchandise is greed?
lemme check my calendar and see if it's opposite day
if a toy is "something you play with" then i guess that means for %60 of the population, they are their own toys.
This customer was a retard. Regardless of what a toy is or is not, those "Reward Zone" coupons always clearly state what they are and are not for, and "Toy" in a Best Buy is stuff like robodogs and maybe Sceneit games. Video games are video games, not toys, and this dude shouldn't be getting attention from the Consumerist, who are often as not really silly about what they criticise stores for. I wish all the internet whining about companies would stick to something of substance rather than, "Boo-hoo, I'm not going to get a few bucks off the hundreds of dollars of crap I'm buying for my spoiled kids."
Only the Wii is a toy. It is not a serious game console and based on a gimmick controller. If they had some in stock ever, that should qualify for the discount only. It is an electronic game for children 12 and under, because they're easily entertained by pointless minigames.
They calming that xbox and ps3 is for adult games
They calming PSP,DS, PS2, wii a toy.
So that coupons and discounts is a rip off!
Like selling a 360 with 2 20 dollar games.
what i think is funny is that the guy thats described sounds like the same guy that tried to check at my store! its excactly how it happend. and my boss mentioned something about a doll too. this has to be the same guy. i didnt catch his name though.
best buy also buys their cosoles at list price, so they dont make a profit on those items. what you pay for the console is what best buy pays. even the employees dont get a discount on consoles. believe me, ive tried.
they pay the same for the console that you pay. so they dont even make a profit. its another way to get people in the store to compete with other stores.
Do you really believe that?
This isnt a TOY, if he truly thinks that, if that were true, PSP, DS, Xbox 360, PS3, and wii are expensive toys, which they are not, they are called GADGETS!
Toys are cheap little things which you can break easily and so on. Gadgets are ADULT VERSIONS OF TOYS! Thats what we call the so called TOYS, its real name is GADGETS!
Xbox 360 and consoles and handhelds are expensive and if he thinks that there just ordinary toys that he can just throw around like a baby, then he doesnt deserve one.
Consoles use to be called TOYS UNTIL PS2 came out, then it started not being called toys because they are so expensive.
The DS and Wiik are both toys since there both made for 8 and under.
Those first two are dumb examples since a company is only going to categorize products by their intended purpose -- there are toy guns though. The third one is dumb for reasons beyond the scope of a sane conversation -- you are able to toy with people's emotions but obviously you can't sell them.
"videogames are not toys in the sense that they require specific devices to use them" is refuted in more than one sense in your very own link.
I'm not necessarily arguing for video games being toys. I'm just pointing out mistakes in your argument.
Best buy doesn't sell any toys. They are the finest scammers in retail. It's a scam to get you into the store. You get to the checkout, find out the coupon is basically bogus, then some people buy it anyway.
Seriously, what really qualifies as a toy at best buy? If the Wii or DS doesn't, then nothing does.
the two TOYS are both outselling the two 'supposed' hardcore gaming systems that must be some awesome toy
I was un-aware that Best Buy sold toy's.
I have yet to see toy's for sell at any of
these outlets.
They're just pulling a fast one over on people because they didn't intend for people to try
and use coupons while purchasing a video
game system.
These "F" wads better back the "F" up.
They are going to need alot of urine to piss
out the fires they're about to start by subjecting
they're customer base to they're ridiculous
rules.
By your explanation, gadgets are still toys - albeit really expensive ones made for a more mature audience.
Video games (among other things) are just toys for adults. "Gadget" is a euphemism used by adults who don't want to admit that they're still playing with toys.