I live in Mount Isa. It's a mining town not far from the Northern Territory border. Having moved from Brisbane, where gaming related paraphernalia and activities are as available as dirty magazines beneath a teenage boy?s mattress, I felt suffocated and starved at the pure lack of the sweet life nectar that a simple latest release poster can bring, let alone a store game section larger than my person in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, hoping it's all a terrifying nightmare.
But when the electrical department?s manager asks you to leave before he escorts you out on his steel caps, you have to pull yourself together and realize you're now in the outback, and there are no frostyrangs to save you.
This is Australia however, and due to our vast continent, I'm not the only one suffering. Sure, we can turn to eBay and other such online dealers for the latest greatest thing, we can buy Hyper to keep up with what's hot, but there's nothing quite like lumbering up to an EB store, talking shop with the sales assistants, smelling the Burning Crusade display box, and even helping a distressed Mum choose the right accessory for her son's "Sony Xbox".
So what are gamers like myself to do when they need their fix? Like everyone else, become slaves to the local retailer. But what does Macca?s Electrical know about gaming? What he learns from television, his kids, or the sales representative that made a pass at the executive?s daughter and now services the barren wasteland that is Far North Queensland. And this is a pretty limited scope for someone that must constantly straddle the cusp of technology. What good is buying a DS Lite with it's impressive software library of frenetic multiplayer action when you have no one local to play with? Yes, I know you can play online, but even geeks must socialize IRL from time to time. That, and the only wireless hotspot is at McDonalds, which not only costs a pretty penny, but isn't NDS friendly anyway.
One aspect of this quandary that surprised me is the children. My partner (the reason I'm in Mount Isa. No, I'm not bitter whatsoever) is a primary school teacher, who has taught grade 2 for the last two years. While she was in Brisbane, she'd constantly complain of stories of the weekend written by the kiddies. Why? Because all they'd do is play on their Xbox/PS2/Gameboy, and never playing football with friends, or going to the pool, or any other activities away from a digital fantasy. I'd always be tremendously supportive to her cry by asking what they played. She'd then give me a fierce look, roll her eyes and storm away, ranting about "stupid men" or some such thing.
But here, in our quaint little dustbowl, the story's quite the opposite. She (or perhaps I) considers it a surprise to find little Tommy writing about fully sick Playstation adventures. They'd rather be outside playing sport, chasing lizards and stalking their teachers. Odd little gremlins.
So what are we to do? Is country Australia just going to miss out on what's going on? Or is there some glimmer of gold and gaming on the horizon? Thankfully, it seems the latter for myself. The weekend brought the opening of a local GameTraders store, filled with much bliss and wonder. A quick word revealed the very near future appearance of not only a Wii, but a Playstation 3 as well. Perhaps it's not a complete nightmare after all.
Is anyone else as 'lucky' as I? What's gaming like where you live? Post a comment and share your tale.
Are the parents and teachers going to boycott the new Game Traders, claiming it as the devil agent, arriving to steal the souls of their children?
I understand your pain, whilst I can't claim that Adelaide is quite that isolated (although regarding the convention and developement scenes maybe it is) but I have a friend who was lured to Roxby Downs to be a primary school teacher. He isn't a gamer but loves his entertainming/information media in general, a commodity in small supply out there. During school holidays he comes back to Adelaide and undertakes huge binges of purchacing and collecting - magazines, videos, DVDs, books, CDs, artworks and on and on...
Does you GT store have staff sorted out yet? maybe the only thing better than just the store would be to have intimate access to its ordering system. I'll get you started:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am excited to hear Game Traders is opening an outlet in Mount Isa. I wish to put myself forward for the postion of 'Stock Control Manager' or similar...
i live in mt isa too. i have been here for 8months from melbourne. there needs to be more things for the kids to do to.
Melbourne to Mount Isa... now there's a dramatic change! @:-D
There's the skate park, the BMX track by the pool that's closed for most of the year, the library stocked with XBox (with the occasional "Lock-In" session for some group fun), the arcade (which even I haven't been into due to it's shady nature, but I should really give it a chance), hanging out with friends and school. Then there's the usual list of sports. It seems fairly on par with country towns, perhaps even a little bit above thinking to my childhood, but in comparison to living in or even close to Melbourne, it is a bit sparse. There's never enough to do with a young active mind.