Devotion to Accuracy

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This article was authored from 10-14 year-old personal recollections. The content of this article was verified to the best of my abilities. Nothing in this article is deliberately false or exaggerated. I’m not nearly creative enough to make this kind of stuff up. Any confirmed inaccuracies will be corrected immediately.

The following sources were used to fact check this article:

• Sega Corporate History was used to confirm release dates.
• Nintendo Corporate History was used to confirm release dates.
• GameSpy Presents: The Top 10 Gaming Holiday Seasons was used to validate approximate release dates, popular titles, and to generally check my original outline notes.
• http://www.nukesoft.co.uk/msdos/dosversions.shtml was referenced to verify details in the March 1993: DOS 6 Fiasco section.
• Wikipedia: NFL playoffs, 1995-96 was used to verify the glorious date when the Packers were booted from the playoffs in 1996.

I turned 21 in 1996. As a result there's a lot of missing time that year. Luckily, I had an old CD laying around labeled "EB Spring '96". It was a disc we gave away at stores (sponsored by Prodigy) that contained a mail-order catalog of every item we stocked. I used this CD as a reference for the 1996 pages. 

I have mixed feelings about Wikipedia. On one hand, it provides an incredibly powerful means to quickly find a piece of information. I rarely question the accuracy of anything published there so I have no reservations about consulting it. On the other hand, I'd never use it as a reference for a formal publication. The articles there are usually assembled from a variety of sources. Although Wikipedia has authoring standards, the sources for articles may not. For example, many of the video game articles cite an FAQ that has no sources. This would not pass an academic or professional review. Being a recreational article, Wikipedia is an acceptable source though. The following Wikipedia articles were used to verify facts and release dates:

• Sega Genesis
• Sega CD
• Sega 32X
• Sega Saturn
• Magic the Gathering
• Atari Jaguar
• 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
• Sony Playstation
• 1992 in video gaming
• 1993 in video gaming
• 1994 in video gaming
• 1995 in video gaming
• 1996 in video gaming
• 1997 in video gaming

See http://www.wageaccess.com/ncs/retail.asp for information on retail wages. The numbers I quote are based off a mix of personal experience and the statistics on that site. The ranges they quote don't breakdown salary by store size, type, or required level of education. For example, someone managing a Wal-Mart or Sears makes substantially more than someone managing a GameStop or Hot Topic. Since the skills required to manage a large store are harder to find than for a smaller store it's only logical.

Conversations in this article are obviously not the exact exchange that occurred. They are based on actual events and reflect the demeanor to the best of my recollection. I intentionally refrained from using real names because of this.

Thanks to thomas80 for the correction on how many disks shipped in the Windows 95 package.

Thanks to Claudio for the correction on which countries in South America use PAL.

Please feel free to contact me if you believe something in this article is not accurate, or if you just want to pass along some feedback (which is always appreciated).