Halo 2 Retail Date Broken in Midwest

Thanks to c0nrad, who alerted us to a Gamespot article stating that Halo 2's launch date has been broken by a Midwestern store. From the article: "Several reports on the Gaming Age forums--which included photos of the limited edition of the game--said that several individual Meijer stores, a self-described grocery and general merchandise retailer that operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky, were selling the game early. However, calls made by GameSpot to several Meijer outlets made it sound like the franchise was sticking to the deadline." The reader continues: "Despite that, Ebay auctions have already gone up, with one having already reached $265!"

ebay clicky

[Anonymous Coward]

view them while they're valid [ebay.com]

As someone famous once said...

[lpangelrob2]

...whoops.

Meijer, for those who don't know (and since they're a regional store, I suppose there would be many that don't), is the name of a chain of stores that are individually frickin' huge. They're compete directly with Wal-Mart and Target. So if Microsoft/Bungie decides to stop giving Meijer their software/hardware to sell, I think Meijer would just say 'boo-hoo'... they've still got hundreds of aisles of clothing, food, other companies' software, and housewares to make a profit from.

Will it come to a lawsuit? Maybe. Would it be worth Microsoft's time? Probably not, but that is a question left up for debate.

Fines can be Huge

[MISplice]

When I use to work for a retailer.. if a major release was sold before the date we could be fined as much as $10,000 per copy that was sold. If Halo 2 is that drastic Meijer would be looking at a fairly hefty penalty.

Re:Violation

[dykofone]

Good point. They could start following the model the motion picture companies have been using for a while: release the movie on VHS/DVD initially at a ridiculous price, usually from $100 to $200. Generally it's too pricey for the average consumer, but Blockbuster will buy multiple copies at the price expecting to make it back up in the large volume of rentals. Effectively, it takes the large demand for a product and forces the consumer to rent it if they want to see it, then buy it later.

I remember the $150 version of the Matrix DVD being sold at Amazon a couple of months before the "normal priced" edition, and people spending that much just to have the movie early. Marketing at its best.

Re:People are stupid

[DaHat]

selling for triple or quadruple what it was worth on eBay

I take it you've never taken a basic economics course. If a foo sells for price x in the store and plenty of people buy it, it is worth it. However should the same foo be sold on eBay for more than x, say 10*x and someone is willing to pay that much... is the foo worth x or 10*x? the answer... is 10*x. Why? Because if someone is willing to pay a price, it is worth it to them.

Even today, PS2's and Xboxes cost a given amount which is far lower than in pass, however they are still not worth that amount to me, so, I do not buy them.

Ultimately, worth has nothing to do with what price a retailer puts on a product, it is what both parties are willing to buy for and sell for.

Re:Why discourage sales?

[Kaboom13]

They make an agreement with the stores to ship the game early, but they cannot sell it until release date. This way all the stores across the country can start selling it on the same day. If you don't agree, they don't ship to you until just before the release date, so you dont get it until on or after the release date. This way ensures a nationwide simultaneous release, which maximizes release-date hype and the effect of release date advertizing. Stores like it because there is plenty of time to fix shipping problems without missing out on all the release date sales and pissing off their pre-order customers. It also stops the first shop to get it from hiking up the price and taking advantage of the situation. Stores voluntarily enter into these agreements as they benefit everyone, although some stores break them from time to time (either intentionally or by mistake).

LAUGH!

[ackthpt]

No x-box for you -- I am guessing that Meijer stores will no longer be selling x-box related materials.

Meijer, for those unfamiliar is a BIG BOX store chain which probably moves a significant portion of video games.

The chain started, ages ago in the Holland/Grand Rapids area as Meijer Thrifty Acres, with a dutchboy in wooden shoes and pageboy haircut nicknamed Thrifty, as the mascot. It's like pairing Safeway and Target stores, food and general merchandise.

When they built one of these in my former home town of Midland, MI, it nearly killed all the other grocery stores in the city.

Don't kid yourself that Meijer would suffer some injuction. They're simply so big the left hand and right hand don't quite reach each other.

Re:Why discourage sales?

[DaftShadow]

Your argument makes sense as a rant, but it completely ignores the reasoning behind release dates. The stores can't sell it early because it doesn't go on SALE until the 9th. Everyone knows it comes out on the 9th. I met a 50 year old guy the other day that couldn't stop talking about how he couldn't wait until Nov. 9th so he could get his copy of Halo 2. This is a huge date, and there are huge parties and huge programs and lots of hype and lots of expectations. Many of the EBGames will be hosting halo tourneys, and staying open very late, so they can give away Halo 2 at 12:01am on Nov 9th.

Now, because of the effort required for a store to recieve merchandise and ready it for sale and put it into their store's computer systems, and all that jazz, they have to do a lot of work. Hours and Hours worth of work. It's not as simple as getting a box, putting it on the shelf, and selling it. So all the stores need to get their copies early. It's common practice for movie stores to get movies 1-2 weeks in advance. I expect that, for game stores, the same is generally true (if possible, of course :).

Having games in the back offices early doesn't "encourage" piracy... it merely means that it is possible that someone unscrupulous might get their hands on a copy early and put it up for download.

- DaftShadow

Re:Why discourage sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is pretty common practice on new releases of product and is not limited to the software industry. It's to be fair among retail stores. Distibutors feed the various retailers with product, if retailers are given the rights to sell on reception of the product, they gain an advantage over the retailers who have not yet recieved that product. So they set a common date, where all stores should have receieved their product by and can put it out on their shelves and be competative with the other stores.

Re:No x-box for you

[Jane_the_Great]

Stores break release dates quite often and aren't sued over it. There is no way that MS is going to bring a lawsuit over this. They'll raise a stink about it behind closed doors and express their anger over the incident but it's not going to court.

Please, if you don't know a thing about the video game industry perhaps you should not be making definitive statements that you're sure MS is going to sue over this. This is not ground-breaking news nor is it unusual for some store to break a release date. I've gotten quite a few games before the release date simply because some store is trying to get a leg up on the competition.

Meijer Rules

[Ryan Stortz]

I've lived in Michigan all my life, not far from Greenville where the first Meijer store was founded. I have to say, Meijer rocks. They do so much for the community.

One thing I just think is awesome, is that the Meijer family paid for the casting of a Leonardo da Vinci sculpture. The sculpture was to be a 22 foot tall bronze horse for the Duke of Milan. However, before Da Vinci could finish, the French invaded and used the horse as target practics. The Meijer family had two cast, one is now in Milan, the other sits in Fredrick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids.

Re:$265?

[Anonymous Coward]

Second link in the Gamespot article: Halo 2: Limited Collector's Edition Xbox IN HAND [ebay.com]. Current price: $265.06, 38 bids, item for auction is a sealed copy of the Halo2 Limited Edition, XBox not included.

Re:$265?

[ZB Mowrey]

Only if you're getting butt-raped on shipping charges. Which, by the way, most places really do. More often than not, Shipping & Handling means $10 shipping and $10 profit.

Shipping is part of my job, so I'm pretty current on rates, and can double-check the stores that send me goods. In all seriousness, the H in S&H is all-too-often 50% or more of the actual cost to ship.

Re:$265?

[getnate]

The halo2 online service has been up online for months for testing purposes so I dont think they are going to ban you for playing a game you legitimatley bought.

Re:$265? Where?

[nukem1999]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate gory=62053&item=8143942614&rd=1
And "Halo 2: Limited Collector's Edition Xbox" doesn't mean it comes with an xbox, the game itself is the limited collector's edition.

Re:$265?

[MightyPez]

1. The copy that is available on the internet cannot play online.

Assuming you use XBox Live! to play your XBox games online. And not services like....say...... XLink Kai or XBox Connect.

Not surprising for Meijer

[Pionar]

Meijer has a reputation for selling things inadvertently before the "drop" date. I've bought a few CDs there as much as two weeks before they were supposed to go on sale. I have a friend that works at one and I worked at one for a while. I got Madden 2k5 for the PS2 this way, also. I've heard that many stores' cash registers won't allow products to be scanned until the date.