Facepalm photo of the day: We might have found one of the reasons HMV's games business is failing

Almost every time I come out of a bricks-and-mortar media shop, I find myself empty-handed and running teary-eyed back into the warm, loving arms of the adequately-stocked, sensibly-priced internet. This lunchtime's trip to HMV to not find the Blu-ray I was looking for (Fantastic Mr. Fox, in case you're so interested) turned out thusly. Only this time I didn't come out entirely empty-handed.

No, I didn't resort to a protest shoplift to teach them a lesson in the combined importance of Wes Anderson and Roald Dahl (let's face it, if they haven't worked that one out yet, there's no hope for them). Instead I came out packing this furtively snapped photo. A photo of a games retail screw-up so ludicrous that I felt compelled to risk life and limb in order to furtively snap it.

Above: There was another one too, priced somewhere in the mid-20s, but I couldn't get it in frame without dropping all of the boxes/growing a little helper out of my chest like that guy in Total Recall

Come on guys, I know you've announced that you're pulling out of the games market a bit, but you're not even trying now.

Do you shop at HMV (or any other offline games vendor) on anything like a regular basis? Have you seen any spectacular cock elevations such as this? And if you don't use real, 3D shops, is this ballsed-up pricing structure the sort of thing that puts you off?

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.
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