Halo 2 Retail Date Broken in Midwest 394
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!"
$265? (Score:5, Insightful)
Um, who cares? (Score:5, Insightful)
But tomorrow, the sun will still rise and Halo 2 will remain just a game.
The bees, on the other hand... the bees will soon control the world.
Re:$265? (Score:5, Insightful)
People are stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
So yeah, I'm not surprised that people are paying ridiculous amounts just to have it a few days early. People can be really stupid sometimes.
Re:Violation (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe so, but it shouldn't be.
A covenant without a sword is but words among men. The problem with retail dates in the video game industry is that of enforcement. Sure the publishers, distrobution companies could sue the retail stores, but that would result in a bitter fight, and a lot of animosity. Stores compete with eachother locally to strenghthen their customer base, and one way that keeps coming up is this breaking of release dates as a method of getting customers to flock to a store in order to buy a copy of the latest game early.
Policy should be to just put the games on the shelf when they arrive in the stores, because timed releases are just foolish on a number of levels. If copies are just collecting dust waiting for a retail date, the store is losing money and the customers are losing patience. Some stores will follow retail dates and others will ignore them, at whatever the cost may be.
If video game companies just don't apply retail dates, stores can bid with the games companies to get early shipments at a slightly higher price, and the customer wins in the end because they can buy a copy earlier for a little more money. If they hold off and wait, they should get a discount on the games in proportion to the delay. Yes, there is an opportunity for some capitolist exploits if retail dates are a thing of the past, but supply and demand should not be controlled by anyone, IMHO, and supply and demand will still apply to a release model that does not support retail dates or try to enforce them.
Re:$265? (Score:2, Insightful)
Not sure what a pre-sell copy would command on the open market. I mean, they can't go to eBay and say "This was sold 4 days early! Trust me!" If they wanted it that bad, grab it on P2P and buy it when it comes out. I've had it for a while, not bad but I stopped after maybe an hour and it hasn't touched my xbox since.
I think that's why the companies are so strict on release dates: poor reviews based on early releases could kill the hype
Re:No x-box for you (Score:3, Insightful)
Online Play Prior To Official Release Date? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Violation (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, back in the day I worked at blockbuster video and we were bound to release dates too. One day a couple movies were put on the shelves like 2 days early and corporate freaked. Turns out what the movie industry does (or did) was, IMO, far more sinister than a lawsuit. If the studios found that we put out one of their movies early they postponed their shipments by 90 days for a period of time (the period, i forget) but can you imagine a store (or franchise) being denied shipments of games for 90 days? Gives everyone else a bit of a competitive edge and completely screws the people who screwed up.. I think this is far more effective, and a better deturant than a lawsuit.
Personally my favorite part is -- That shows that not everybody solves everything in a court, and I love it.
-matt
Re:Halo Outlaws (Score:5, Insightful)
Why, because you're going to keep the extra copies under lock and key until 11/10 to "teach people a lesson" about preordering?
The EBGames in my local mall had "zero" copies of GTA San Andreas at 9:00 PM on release day if you hadn't pre-oredered, but dozens the next morning. Luckily Wal-Mart doesn't pull such stupid crap, and I was able to get one of their 100+ copies the day the game came out. You really expect me to believe that with how many copies they're hoping to sell of this game that they aren't shipping enough to retailers? Halo 2 won't be sold out. It's the games that *aren't* expected to sell well that you need to pre-order.
Re:$265? (Score:5, Insightful)
And you'd deserve it for logging into a Microsoft server running a Microsoft program that isn't (supposed to be) available yet to advertise that you have it.
w00+! 1m l33+!
That's like clicking "Yes - Check to see if my software is legal" on the M$ site when you're running a pirated copy.
=tkk
Re:People are stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean besides SSX, Madden and Time Splitters? It didn't have many launch titles, but most were good. We're talking about, at the time, a next generation console with a few decent launch titles, that blows away previous consoles, that you can play PS1 games on AND use as a DVD player with optical out. That at the time would cost as much as an old console + a DVD player. Why on earth would anyone want that in time for Christmas?
Re:$265? (Score:2, Insightful)
How, exactly, are they illegal? Because Microsoft/Bungie have announced on their website that they want the product to sell at a later date?
Well, #1 is the right of first sale. If you have something in your hands, nobody, and I mean nobody (except the government) can tell you how to sell it unless you've entered into a written contract. This includes unopened, unused software since until it is opened/used/clicked on/signed in the USA you aren't bound by any agreements with the manufacturer at all.
And, unless the EULA says you may not play the game until a certain date, there's nothing illegal about playing it. I *VERY* highly doubt the EULA says you can't play it until the release date. It would be the first of its kind.
Eh? (Score:1, Insightful)
You don't remember Last Week [rockstargames.com]?
The consumers. (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course not, they are practically commodities. People only shop for them when they move into a house or the old one dies, and no-one cares about being the first to get the latest kenmore.
But video game and movie consumers really do want to get the game/movie as soon as they can. The producers encourage this, but the demand would exist even without their encouragement. They are not controlling demand by having a first day of sale - it is logically impossible not to have a first day that a product is available.
If they did do what you said and allowed stores to sell as soon as they got it, that would artificially limit supply on the first days, allowing lucky retailers to gouge people that were willing to buy it, and hurting the sales of unlucky stores whose shipment arrived a day latter.
Given there is demand for a popular game, and that there has to be a first time that it is available, the most fair thing to do - for the retailers and the customers - is to make it available for all the retailers to sell on the same day.
That is the problem (Score:3, Insightful)
That is the problem. Meijer workers are forced to join unions, which really are nothing more than political organizations. They force members to contribute money to political causes that go against their interests, and really have nothing to do with whether or not you can do the job or how well you can do it. Like such an organization? Fine, your choice. But Meijer employees have no choice in membership. Wal-Mart employees, in contrast, are not forced to belong or give $$$$ to such organizations.
Re:People are stupid (Score:2, Insightful)