GAME and breaking releases!!

Gummy Panda

How come GAME in the UK is repeatly breaking releases for the xbox over the last few weeks and never really breaks release in ireland.

They did start selling RS3 at 5.30 on the thursday before the release but in the UK they are now selling PGR2 early.

Gummy Panda

Now play.com has broken release on XIII!!

smiaras

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Gummy Panda

Yeah, but they are shipping it now.

Play.com seem to the last to be informed as i know a guy who got toca 1 week before the release only to have this release date put back. Sometime to do with the manual.

flogen

the only reason i can think of is this:
the release date officials (dont know the proper name) in england are different to that in Ireland. now i know that during my time at game we never (or at most once) sold a game before release unless another shop had done the same first (hmv always did it). obviously if your found the shop could face a fine and 'sanctions' from publishers (as in the game will only be sent after it is released so you CANNOT break the date again).
perhaps a company in the uk broke the date, so game uk followed suit, however no-one in ireland did so they didnt either.
if they broke the release date in both countries then theyd face 2 seperate fines and 2 seperate sanctions.... given that the gaming high-street market is much more competitive (so far) in england than Ireland, there is more chance of another company breaking release to boost sales, while over here it only happens with HUGE games (such as Zelda and GTA:VC), thats because games dont mean much to most shops as they also sell cds etc, while gamesworld were probably too poor to risk a fine... maybe that will change with the new money factory that they just got a connection to....

Flogen

monument

Originally posted by flogen
the only reason i can think of is this: the release date officials (dont know the proper name) in england are different to that in Ireland.

Proper English would dictate - “official release dates”.

As far as I know, UK and Irish dates are the same - anyway there is really is no reason why the wouldn’t be the same, and as we see a lot of UK publications and channels it’d be stupid from a marketing point of view.

Originally posted by flogen
obviously if your found the shop could face a fine and 'sanctions' from publishers (as in the game will only be sent after it is released so you CANNOT break the date again).

Obviously, unless Game were pushing their luck too much, no publisher is going to put any sanctions on them - they are just too powerful.

Originally posted by flogen
perhaps a company in the uk broke the date, so game uk followed suit, however no-one in ireland did so they didnt either.

Interesting, a Irish Game store broke the release of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness before they did in the UK.* Although, there was some confusion over its release date.

* Source Game, Grafton Street.

flogen

ok, let me sort things out here... you misunderstand what i was saying

Proper English would dictate - “official release dates”.

no, thats not what i meant. im talking about the offical body that supervise the release dates of games, not the official dates themselves. they were known as 'the streebreaker hotline', however i think they had another name.

As far as I know, UK and Irish dates are the same - anyway there is really is no reason why the wouldn’t be the same, and as we see a lot of UK publications and channels it’d be stupid from a marketing point of view.

there about as linked as the irish and uk charts, the dates are the same in 99.9% of cases, but the people who monitor the implementation of release dates are different, just like the censorship bodies are different.

Obviously, unless Game were pushing their luck too much, no publisher is going to put any sanctions on them - they are just too powerful.

they may be powerful, but without the support of publishers they are nothing. in a hypotetical situation, lets say eidos refuse to allow their stock in GAME stores.. GAME lose massive sales while the customers just go somewhere else. Eidos still get there games sold, game lose out big time. Even the big boys have to play by the rules.

Interesting, a Irish Game store broke the release of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness before they did in the UK.* Although, there was some confusion over its release date.

* Source Game, Grafton Street.

where did you get this from? i worked in game grafton st for the tomb raider release, and UK stores got the stock before irish stores, the game was supposed to be release on a certain date, no stock arrived so when it did we put the stock out straight away. Also another store (i think gamesworld) had sold the game before us, so if any date was broken, it wasnt by game.

Flogen

Absolam

There is no official body monitoring release dates; each publisher sets a date and expects retailers to abide by it (or receive sanctions such as stock after release date or no stock at all). Game UK tend to launch ahead of date because they have so many stores monitoring so many competitors that someone somewhere will often break. However, they still have to have proof (ie a receipt) to show a publisher. In Ireland there aren't so many retailers, and dates are broken less frequently. Although recently, it seems to happen a lot more...

Absolam

Oh, and PGR2 was broken by Comet in the UK, which is why Game are selling it. No Comet in Ireland, so no release date break...

flogen

that makes sense alright, the ideas of more stores resulting in less acountability, however Im certain there is a body that monitors the dates

as i said there was a hotline No in GAME that you could ring to report other stores breaking the date, if you reported first and were proved correct you could recieve a reward of E100 or something, so there must be someone in charge

Flogen

monument

Originally posted by flogen
they may be powerful, but without the support of publishers they are nothing. in a hypotetical situation, lets say eidos refuse to allow their stock in GAME stores.. GAME lose massive sales while the customers just go somewhere else. Eidos still get there games sold, game lose out big time. Even the big boys have to play by the rules.

I don't agree.

Originally posted by flogen
where did you get this from? i worked in game grafton st for the tomb raider release, and UK stores got the stock before irish stores, the game was supposed to be release on a certain date, no stock arrived so when it did we put the stock out straight away. Also another store (i think gamesworld) had sold the game before us, so if any date was broken, it wasnt by game.

As I reported at the time... from phoning Game on Grafton Street ...

Gameire.com first became aware of the situation after reading reports earlier today on the GamesIndustry.biz. According to GI.biz Game stores in the UK began selling Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness on Wednesday morning. However Game’s Dublin shops put the game on the shelves on Tuesday which was confirmed by their Grafton Street outlet, Smiths and Gamesworld reacted to this by releasing it today.

- http://gamire.com/gamire/newsitem?batchstart=28&id=500

At first, I didn’t believe it was broke over here first – I asked the person were they sure and could they check – and before you ask I did tell the person why I wanted to know.

This is also confirmed by ObeyGiant’s post (here) on the Tuesday (01-07-2003 23:47), where he said “Everything I'd read said "July 4th", but when I strolled past Game on my lunch, I saw a really crappy hand-written sign in the window saying "NEW TOMB RAIDER GAME OUT TODAY", with little stars around the "Today", to add that touch of glamour we all expect with TR games.”

I did publish the story with one source (phoning Game), but there is two for you.

smiaras

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flogen

to be honest it seems very strange to me that it was sold here before the uk, but i have no way of saying otherwise. And as i said, we had gotten word that another store had sold it before us so we were to sell it at once, which was the norm. Now I'll be totally honest with you, it may have been a made up story by a manager, from grafton st or above, but thats what we were told

also, why dont you agree? do you honestly think that, if pushed enough, a big publisher wouldnt pull out of a store or sanction them? as i said, if a customer is going to buy a game, they'll buy it, be that from game, gamestop, tommys, tesco, wherever. the fact is that the big publishers are much bigger than the big chain-stores, in the food chain they rank much higher and hold much more sway... the obvious fact is that without the games the chains cant run.

Flogen

p.s. never saw obeygiants post before, and I remember all that s*hite about the hand-written posters. that was the managers idea (what a dimwit), he got the idea he was being original but infact it just looked cheap and stupid. I think he was one of those collect 10 crisp packets and become a manager kind of people. a level of incompetence you could never imagine

monument

Originally posted by flogen
also, why dont you agree? do you honestly think that, if pushed enough,

If pushed enough - yes/maybe, other wise - no.

BLITZ_Molloy

I'm always buying music and games before the release dates. If you ask the shop assistant nicely they'll ususally sell it to you no bother despite it not being out on the shelves.

sceptre

Originally posted by flogen
the managers idea (what a dimwit), he got the idea he was being original but infact it just looked cheap and stupid... a level of incompetence you could never imagine

Sounds like they put him on the fasttrack to management. "Oooh, I'll out little stars on this poster, it'll make it kewl and sexay"

I watch far too much Dilbert

flogen

Sounds like they put him on the fasttrack to management

he wasnt even that educated... he's one of those morons who gets 'managment for dummies' books and tries to follow it to the letter.... last i heard he was pioneering the super stupid interview question techniques

"If you could describe yourself using three dublin landmarks, what would they be and why??"

"ermm, molly malone, because your a moron.... the spire, because your a stupid moron and stephens green, because your a stupid english moron"

Flogen

Arken Thell

I actually rember vividly that entire incident with teh had writtensign. It was riddiclious. I also rember workign that release day in one of the other Game stores. Ah the memories.
And asking nicely for staff to put their jobs on the line to break the release date, never in my many years of working for GAME did I ever break the release date, and beleive me ppl did alot more than ask nicely.
Just one of those things i suppose

flogen

ahh yes, i remember the hysteria aroung gta:vc, the amount of people begging to have the game, so much money offered.......but i wasnt willing to lose my job or pay the fine for it..

Flogen

smiaras

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flogen

yes, but we had it in stock from the wednsday as far as i remember, and it was only sold early on managerial orders, not because someone asked nicely

from my experience with people nagging you about selling something early, and me not being able to do anything even if i really wanted to i avoid doing the same to other salespeople in shops. Its just annoying and to be honest you get some idiots who just dont get the point that i cant make that decision and they become a real hastle. theres has never been a game, dvd, or cd that ive needed THAT badly.

Flogen

Absolam

Hmmmm. Medal of Honour Rising Sun now on sale in Game Henry St...so much for Friday release dates.

Arken Thell

Being female did't make thngs any easier becaue most of the time guys would ask me for a game I'd tell them it's not out till the friday and then they'd go off and ask a male member of staff because "what would girl know" when it came to most PC stuff more than most of the guys.
I have been offered dates, peoples children, money and fifteen minutes alone all of which were quite odd. It's not easy working with a bunch of customere who are so impatient and have no lives that they have to pester sales people to get a game to finish it first and tell of of their other mates how much it sucked cos they could finishi it in 12.5 hours. Who cares when its out its a game instead of wasting sales peoples time pertering them before the relaese date go do somethign useful with your time!!!

smiaras

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Boro

Originally posted by smiaras
Just saw play.com selliing XIII didn't think it ws being released until 28th for all formats. It was due last friday on the xbox so thats where the confusion is arising.

PCW in limerick have had it on shelves for 2 days now (PC version). Looks shiny...