When and where did you buy your first video game system? This is a question that I have recently asked myself. After thinking about it, my very first video game system was a NES that my parents got for my older sister in the early 90's. Let's just say that I played it quite a bit more than her even if I barely understood what I was doing:D. Anyways my parents bought that NES at Pamida(Midwestern discount store like a small Wal-Mart) for about 50 bucks. My friends tell me similar experiences of buying game systems and all they're games at discount stores like Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, etc. I then realized that discount stores like Wal-Mart got me into video games. When my mom went to Wal-Mart to get groceries or whatever I always went straight to the electronics department to look at all the new games they had and try out the demos they had available to play. If it wasn't for Wal-Mart I would probably be playing football in my spare time are something crazy like that:lol:. Even now in an era where there's a video game store in every large city and millions of online stores like amazon.com I still buy about 50% of my games at Wal-Mart just because I'm already there for something else I need. So if there wasn't a Wal-Mart would there be nearly as many hardcore gamers as there are today? I don't think so and there also wouldn't be as many current casual or hobbyist gamers that might someday grow up from Mario Kart(Sorry for the shot at Nintendo but it's one game that will definitely still be around:D) and start playing a more hardcore and intense game comparable to Gears of War. I guess there is a group of people who will always be destined to play Bejeweled forever though:roll:. So with all the shots taken at Wal-Mart and other discount stores for whatever they have definitely done some things right and I at least owe them for my favorite hobby and I think a lot of you should as well.