Apple Retail Store Employees Move Swiftly To Pull PC-Only Title From Mac Games Section

by , 8:30 AM EDT, June 1st, 2001

Every once in a while, life delivers a little shock when you just didn't expect it. Observer Max Gutnik stood in a nexus of that kind of surprise when he took a visit to the new Apple retail store in Glendale, California. Mr. Gutnik was perusing the software titles at the Apple Store when he noticed a PC-only game sitting on the shelves. According to Mr. Gutnik:

Hello fellow Observers:

As I was browsing the Glendale Galleria Apple store looking for a cool new game, I came upon "Vampire, the Masquerade." I was not aware this title was available for the Mac and guess what... It's not.

Only Windows machines are supported on this title, according to the specs on the box. When I pointed this out to one of the very helpful Apple Store employees, she was a little bit taken aback and quickly went to her supervisor to ask for clarification. Within two minutes the two of them pulled all six boxes of Vampire off the shelf, confirming that the title is indeed PC only and should not be a stocking item in the Apple store.

Kind of a silly mistake. Either Apple received the wrong version from the vendor or somebody in purchasing was sleeping on the job....

Max Gutnik

Oops! According to Activision, the game's publisher, there is no Mac version of Vampire, the Masquerade. In fact, they only list two titles they publish as being Mac compatible, Quake II, and Quake III Arena. Thanks for the note Max!

The Mac Observer Spin:

Kudos to Observer Max and the employees of the Apple Store as well. How in the heck that game could have found its way onto a purchase order for an Apple Store is probably known by only one or two people who are desperately hoping that no one finds out it was them. Good luck with that.

Be that as it may, we have to be delighted at the quick response from the employees of the Apple Store. Picture this same scenario at a typical computer superstore; unless you happened to find the one or two devoted Mac specialists, there is no way those boxes would have been removed from the Mac section unless you moved them yourself. That's part of the difference that an Apple Store can make to Mac shoppers. They care. Not only do they care, according to Mr. Gutnik's story, someone was on hand who could and did find an immediate resolution to a problem that is (hopefully) not a common one at all. All in all, that's pretty darned cool.

Vampire, The Masquerade