If you visited popular internet car boot sale eBay in the hunt for Black Ops II this week, there’s a chance you might have your filthy, impatient hands on the game right this very moment. If that is the case, you won’t be reading this, of course, because you’ll be playing a game that’s not out until midnight on Monday. How do you feel? Guilty? Criminal? Naughty? Piratey? Ashamed? No? Just bloody great? Right. Yes. Of course.

There were reports that copies of the game were changing hands for thousands of pounds. Ignore reports that copies were changing hands for thousands of pounds. What happens there is that some nutter lists a copy for that amount and gets a friend to bid on it (or, in the more likely event that such an individual doesn’t have any friends, creates a fake eBay account and bids on it themselves) in a futile attempt to convince genuine buyers to part with thousands of pounds to get the game a few days early.

No one is really paying $4,000 dollars for the sake of getting the game a few days early. People are, however, shelling out a few hundred quid for the privilege. We tracked down one such individual for a lovely chat.

[The buyer requested anonymity so, rather than change their name to something like ‘John’ or ‘Amir’, we will refer to him/her (it was a him) as YOU.]

Hi, YOU. So you’ve just bought Black Ops II?
Yeah! I’m psyched. Some people will say it’s a lot of money – say that I’m stupid for paying it – but it’s my money to do what I want with, y’know?

Yeah. How much did you pay?
I'd rather not say, if that's all right. It wasn't loads. I mean, it was a fair bit, more than you'd pay in the shops, but not like thousands of pounds or anything.

What made you decide to pay extra to get the game early?
I don't like waiting for stuff. I had the money, so I thought "Why not?"

Is it a lot of money to you?
I'm not like loaded or anything, but I could afford it. If I didn't spend it on this, I'd just spend it on something else, so what difference does it make?

Do you feel like it's good value?
The way I see it, it's not a question of paying more than you pay in the shops. The amount of time I'll spend playing Black Ops, the fun I get out of it, it's definitely good value. 

Have you actually got the game yet?
Not yet. I'm going to collect it this afternoon.

How much will you play it before the official release?
As much as I can, man! I feel like the more I play it before it drops, the more it was worth paying more for it, y'know? I'll basically be playing it all weekend.

Have you bought other games early in the past?
No. I've thought about it, but this is the first time I've done it. In the past I've been nervous about paying and being shafted, or something like that, but this time it all seemed pretty legit so I went for it.

Are you worried that the game won't be there when you go to collect it?
No, I've already spoken to the seller and it's all sweet.

What do you think will be the best thing about having the game early?
It's like a massive head start over everyone else, y'know? When the game drops, it's a race to get used to it and get points, so I'll be way ahead. Even if I can't actually win points before the game is out, I'll be way ahead in terms of knowing the game and the maps. Plus, this weekend, I'll be playing Black Ops when everyone else is just wishing they could be.

Enjoy the game, YOU.