Animal Crossing, Shaun White & Others Out Early

[SMASHscott]

Ok so today on my lunch break I went to go pick up Tecmo Bowl DS and when I got there they told me it didn't come in and was pushed back to the 18th (grrrrrr)

So as I'm looking behind the counter I see Animal Crossing, the regular box and the one with the WiiSpeak. And it's in the new release section, so at first I'm thinking...this has to be a display "Pre-Order Now!" copy. Especially now that I see it's sitting next to Shaun White Snowboarding.

hmmm

So anyways here is how the dialogue goes

Me: Is that Animal Crossing? You have it in stock?
GS Employee: Yeah we got it today
Me: Oh, I thought it came out next week.
GS Employee: Yeah so did I, but it's weird we got Animal Crossing today, we got that (points to Shaun White), this (points to Banjo Kazooie), this and this (i didn't see what the last two were). Which we were supposed to get next week.
Me: Ok, well...I'll take Animal Crossing with the mic...my girlfriend is gonna be excited about this
GS Employee: You don't have to lie, it's for you isn't it
Me: No its not, I didn't like the other one, and never played the DS one. But maybe I'll get my own copy if this one looks any better or different.



Then I went back to work, looked online and saw this http://www.gamestop.com/wii And if you see where Animal Crossing is, it says "In-Store Pick Up" but when you click it to order it online it says "Pre-orders ship November 16th". So I'm guessing, if you go into the store you can pick up a copy.


I came back later after work and picked up Shaun White.



Anybody else hear about this?


I also saw Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party there.

[Adrian Santiago]

Hear about what? People buying sports games? Yeah I've heard about it. Unfortunately they ALL seem to come together in this rehash/cash cow blur that makes me wonder why I rarely see a basketball court, football field or baseball diamond being used and continuously read about how gamers have developed a reputation for being out of shape slobs.

Animal Crossing is great though.

[SMASHscott]

Were you trying to be funny? Or annoying?

Didn't you read the full thing?

[Lucent Beam]

Annoying, I think. Because it sure wasn't funny.

Weird that they were in stock so early.. but convenient for you!

[Viper]

Seems a lot of games have broken their street dates this year.

[SMASHscott]

While watching my girlfriend play Animal Crossing City Folk tonight, I realized something and pointed it out to her, and she agreed.


It sucks, Nintendo can never really update the graphics in Animal Crossing because it's appearance is the art style of the game. And it's recognizeable of Animal Crossing, if they made it look any different or "current/next gen" it just wouldn't be Animal Crossing any more. It'd be like someone complaining that the newer lego's don't have 5 fingers, aren't flesh colored, and don't look more realistic.

[SuperLuigiBros]

I havnt seen the Wii version, but there are lots of ways to make Animal Crossing not look like a 64 game. Just look at Wind Waker.

[Unspoken]

Originally Posted by Viper

Seems a lot of games have broken their street dates this year.

Yeah, quite a few.

SMASHscott, you should report them. That's not supposed to happen. We've got to hold onto ours until the 16th.

You got the receipt for it? They don't confiscate your game or anything. :P

[Generosity of God]

Originally Posted by Unspoken

Yeah, quite a few.

SMASHscott, you should report them. That's not supposed to happen. We've got to hold onto ours until the 16th.

You got the receipt for it? They don't confiscate your game or anything. :P

isnt it if there's no sticker saying "do not sell before ..." they are allowed to as soon as they get it?

[Gummy]

^I got that sticker from Fallout 3... but yeaaaah.


Actually, i don't really go to a gaming store anymore, my bro does the shopping for a while.

[Lucent Beam]

Originally Posted by Generosity of God

isnt it if there's no sticker saying "do not sell before ..." they are allowed to as soon as they get it?

Yeah, if there's not an orange "Don't Sell" sticker, I don't think the retailer can be fined for breaking the street date. Either that or it means the ones with the orange sticker just have a larger fine for being sold early?

[Viper]

I think the SKU data in the computers still has a point of sale date. The sticker is just a visual.

[SMASHscott]

I'm not going to report the guys

I don't want them losing their jobs or getting in trouble over something as stupid as this.

What is the real point of street dates?




I don't think it having a date-labeled sticker really matters for what they can and can't do. I think it's just a way of making them breaking the street date idiot proof. (for example they get all major releases early and systems...and you don't see those stickers on anything by Nintendo)

[Viper]

Originally Posted by SMASHscott

I'm not going to report the guys

I don't want them losing their jobs or getting in trouble over something as stupid as this.

What is the real point of street dates?

Revenue tracking, corporate relations, software related (patches, online servers, updates, etc...may not be 'live' until the street date. Gamers are known for being stupid sometimes and would take a game back tot he retailer and complain the online portion is busted).

[Unspoken]

Originally Posted by Generosity of God

isnt it if there's no sticker saying "do not sell before ..." they are allowed to as soon as they get it?

I actually have only seen that on 360 titles, but I could be wrong.

That's just an extra step to ensure that you can't sell it. Like a precautionary thing to set you off as soon as you grab the game.

Originally Posted by Lucent Beam

Yeah, if there's not an orange "Don't Sell" sticker, I don't think the retailer can be fined for breaking the street date. Either that or it means the ones with the orange sticker just have a larger fine for being sold early?

Yeah, you can still get in trouble. As Viper says below...

Originally Posted by Viper

I think the SKU data in the computers still has a point of sale date. The sticker is just a visual.

Basically, whenever you scan a title that isn't "out" yet, it should prompt you and say something like, "This title is street dated for ____. Are you sure you want to continue? Y/N". I know Wal-Mart, Target, and GameStop for sure have this feature.

And Viper hit it spot-on about the street date. There are more reasons, but we'll not go into that.



And SMASHscott, they don't get fired for breaking street date. It's more like a slap on the wrist, making sure they don't do it again. If they keep doing it, then yeah, they'll get in trouble.

[TheGreenElf]

Originally Posted by Unspoken

Yeah, quite a few.

SMASHscott, you should report them. That's not supposed to happen. We've got to hold onto ours until the 16th.

You got the receipt for it? They don't confiscate your game or anything. :P

That's so lame. It's a game. A week early. Who cares (unless your jealous which is understandable).

[Viper]

GreenElf, I listed above why. There are some very valid reasons why.

Could you imagine a movie theater showing a movie early? Street dates are used in dozens of sales industries for good reasons.

[Hylian-Advocate]

meh.....who cares if a street date is broken really... I always find it ridiculous how much some people get worked up about a couple of days.

cool that you got it early!

[TheGreenElf]

Originally Posted by Viper

GreenElf, I listed above why. There are some very valid reasons why.

Could you imagine a movie theater showing a movie early? Street dates are used in dozens of sales industries for good reasons.

I know there are reasons but to report them is a bit childish if you ask me...this isn't likely a constant thing or they'd already been dealt with.

[Unspoken]

Originally Posted by TheGreenElf

I know there are reasons but to report them is a bit childish if you ask me...this isn't likely a constant thing or they'd already been dealt with.

See? That's why it needs to be reported.

If nobody reported it, then it'd carry on. They could have done this millions of times, and if everyone thought the same, they'd get away with it.

And I'm not jealous; it's our policy to inform someone if we hear about something like this.


EDIT: Animal Crossing was the only one officially street-dated. The rest were actually just recently allowed to break date. And Nintendo is kind of strict on street dates themselves.