Part 3 Interview with Ken Jones

Ken Jones always has a thoughtful look on his face when talking to customers and it is not because he is daydreaming. Ken always makes sure that if he doesn’t have the answer or the solution to a problem he will get right to work finding a solution. Ken often works late and, even when he is playing a game himself, won’t hesitate to help a customer.

[Nathan Murray] What are some of your favorite game titles?
I go through phases, but the one I probably like the best is COD3 or COD4. I like Crackdown, I loved Dead Rising for a period of time, I’ve played through Oblivion two or three times now.

[Nathan Murray] wow, that’s impressive.

[Sean Colleli] —so you’re probably looking forward to Fallout 3.
I’m not familiar with that one.

[Sean Colleli] —it’s a science fiction Oblivion, basically.
Well I’m definitely looking forward to Civilization Revolution. I love that series, and I love strategy games. It’s primarily PC based, so you don’t see many strategy games on a console, but this new one sounds like it will be easy to play on a console and worth its salt.

[Nathan Murray] are employees allowed to compete in tournaments?
Well that was our starting rule, but we have changed that because of scheduling conflicts, because tournaments happen on Saturdays, when most people can get here and also when most of our employees are working!

I mean, we want everyone to be able to play, I don’t want the perception to be that if an employee is playing and they win, well then some customers might think “oh, well they let them win because they work here.” So first rule was that employees can’t participate in tournaments. Most of our tournaments happen after a lock-in the previous night, so all the employees are scheduled to come in and work with me.

[Nathan Murray] I noticed the security cameras; what other methods do you use to insure the safety of your store and your customers?
I’m not going to answer the first question, but I will answer the second one. To insure the safety of our customers, a few things. The cameras are a deterrent, everyone knows they’re there. We have been broken into, so we have a security system and cameras but that’s only a deterrent. If someone wants to get in they’re going to do it and steal your stuff. We have an adult in the building all the time, we have panic buttons that go directly to the police. We have emergency buttons on our security system for police, fire and hospital, so we don’t even have to dial 911. We have fire extinguishers, and it’s an open building so if there’s a fire, it’s not a problem, people can exit easily and safely.

[Nathan Murray] what about medical problems? I know when the N64 was first coming out seizures were a big concern with parents.
There are still warnings for that on all the games when you start them up, and the manuals have that printed on the first page.

[Sean Colleli] Yeah, I think the Wii shows you that right when you turn it on.
So we haven’t had any issues with that.

[Nathan Murray] I just thought the risk for that might be compounded with all the screens going at the same time.
Well it hasn’t really been an issue because when you’re playing a game, you’re focused only on your game. When we originally designed the layout, we started with every TV having its own room, and that was very cost prohibitive, and it looked like a prison [laughs]. We thought, well, we have Wiis, you need to move your...