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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!"
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.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
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.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
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).
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.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar