GameStop To Honor Ancient Duke Nukem Pre-Orders

doug141 writes "GameStop encourages customers who pre-ordered more than a year ago to verify their reservation with their local store. 'Provided the customer has a receipt, we will honor even those pre-orders taken long ago. At this time, we expect that all pre-order customers will receive Duke's Big Package at time of purchase, regardless of when the reservation was made.'" If you have an especially old order, though, you might want to visit the store with your original punchcard, or a daguerreotype of it.

Comments

I pre-ordered First Post.

[Anonymous Coward]

Glad I kept my receipt.

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[imamac]

Me too, but my receipt is chiseled on a stone tablet.

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[Farmer Tim]

Pfft, newb. Mine is imprinted on the cosmic background radiation.

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[LynnwoodRooster]

:( I already lost mine during the last universe collapse and new big bang...

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[phantomfive]

You mean 6000 years ago? Please. I bought mine before the great Wodin had even thought of creating your puny God.

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[Hal_Porter]

1) Repeat joke from summary.

2) Get modded up.

3) Funny mods don't count as karma.

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[deniable]

Mine's encoded in your DNA. The reptile part.

Re:I pre-ordered First Post.

[interkin3tic]

:( I already lost mine during the last universe collapse and new big bang...

I reserved mine infinity time before that though. And yes, I'm aware there's some nonsense in physics about that statement not being consistent with space-time, but that's how old it is and anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

/thread

So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ago?

[elucido]

What then? Most of us don't even have the Saturn anymore and probably misplaced the receipt.

I'm surprised they didn't wait until 2012 to release this game. Maybe it should be called Duke Nukem Ancient.

Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Eric(b0mb)Dennis]

Why is it news that they are honoring these pre-orders? To pre-order, don't you have to actually, uh, pay for the game? Whenever I've pre-ordered something at my local gamestop I usually pay full price and just pick up on release.

Now, maybe they have some sort of 'down payment' thing, and then on release date you pay the remainder... but still.. why wouldn't they honor them? I can't see any reason why they wouldn't.

Case in point, I ordered Team Fortress 2 a long, LONG time ago. I'm talking about when they were releasing the videos of the army guys and the turrets, looked 'realistic' (for tech back then) etc etc.. the game that never came out.

I pre-ordered this game because it was on Game Stop's 'RELEASES' board. I was an avid player of Quakeworld TF and MegaTF.

Know what? I only got one call, asking if I wanted to change my order to The Oranage Box because it was learned tf2 was being shipped with it. Of course, I did.. and TF2 was a totally different game at this point.. but at no time did I lose my pre-order.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[gman003]

It's news because some of these pre-orders are nearly a decade old. TF2 was announced, un-announced, went through it's own epic development hell, was released, had over a hundred patches released, all in the time between some of these preorders being made and the game finally coming out.

Not only that, but some of those pre-orders may be for ports that no longer exist - can you transfer a Saturn edition pre-order into an XBox360 preorder? A PS1 preorder into a PS3 preorder?

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[genrader]

Until the past few years, most pre-orders were either free or a $5.00 down payment toward the game.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Hope Thelps]

Until the past few years, most pre-orders were either free or a $5.00 down payment toward the game.

But why would that change anything? Their choice would be between either refunding the down payment (if any) or selling these people the game. Why would they even consider not selling them the game?

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[ThurstonMoore]

I also wondered why this was news. Why wouldnt they honor it.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[creat3d]

Because pre-orders were made on this game over a decade ago, which doesn't happen that often. Thank god!

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhh, to get some free publicity from something very insignificant...

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[osu-neko]

Of course they would. The situation isn't surprising so much as amusing.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Lunix Nutcase]

Until the last few years? Preorders at game stop STILL are $5 down payments on the game.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Lord Byron II]

The real question is why would anyone pre-order any big title. They are going to have hundreds of them on launch day. The only time I've ever pre-ordered anything is if the bonus is particularly good, or if the game is particularly obscure, where they might not carry it all on launch day.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Zerth]

What is hidden in the subtext is a public announcement that "if you don't have your receipt, we're keeping any money you put down, even though we have our own records showing we owe you money or a game"

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[jmauro]

While this is true today (and there is even moreso since the advent of Steam), back in the late 90's and early 2000's launch titles tended to be a little more rare.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[drolli]

They wanted to write: we found the 3.5 inch fd and its still readable.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[RobertLTux]

the problem is they may not have a DECADE OLD RESERVE.

i think for tax purposes they only have to keep like 5 or 7 years worth of records.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Hognoxious]

Why would they even consider not selling them the game?

There is no game. The game is a lie. And even if it wasn't, the only way to win would be to not play.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[flibbidyfloo]

Most GameStop stores will take a preorder with a $5 down payment, which can also be applied to a different purchase if you change your mind. I suppose it's a sad state of affairs that it's news that a company in the entertainment/tech industry will honor orders they could have justifiably cancelled when the product was cancelled, but I suppose it's a little surprising to some people.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is it news that they are honoring these pre-orders? To pre-order, don't you have to actually, uh, pay for the game? Whenever I've pre-ordered something at my local gamestop I usually pay full price and just pick up on release.

How much was full price when Duke Nukem was announced? How much is the big package thing?

I'd say whoever kept their receipt this long deserves it, but the price they paid (in actual cash not counting the impossible time they waited) might be less than it costs now.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Seumas]

It doesn't matter, anyway. GameStop is a terrible operation that should be avoided at all costs. You could pre-order a game in May that comes out in June and that doesn't guarantee that when you show up to get your game in June that it will actually be there. On top of that, the employees often swipe the codes that come with games for redemption, so even if your pre-order is supposed to come with one . . . it might not.

All pre-ordering does is get you a chance at possibly getting the game on release date. They may give it to someone else, instead. Or not have enough in the first place. So saying that they're "honoring pre orders" for DNF is pretty meaningless, since they don't really honor pre-orders to begin with.

Gamestop is a desperation move. Kind of like shopping at Best Buy or Radio Shack or Walmart. You might do it, but only when you have no other choice and have exhausted all other options.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[SharpFang]

Games in preorder can be good 40% cheaper than bought at release time. That alone is a good reason.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[AngryDeuce]

i think for tax purposes they only have to keep like 5 or 7 years worth of records.

7 years. At least, that's been the rule of thumb any of the retail places I worked at. Besides, even if that WASN'T true, it might as well be. They ain't gonna go back to verify a $5 credit...Gamestop has never done anything to make me think they actually give half a shit about any of their customers anyway.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[mobby_6kl]

How are they going to know it's actually your pre-order, even if they do have the record in their system? Unless pre-ordering required signing up with your name and address information, the receipt is the only way.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Fluffeh]

the problem is they may not have a DECADE OLD RESERVE.

i think for tax purposes they only have to keep like 5 or 7 years worth of records.

The thing is that they don't need a decade of reserve. If they make $20 profit on it, and someone plucks out a ten year old receipt with a $5 deposit, they still come out ahead. It is a pretty cheap way to get good publicity and maybe drag in a few tonfoil hat wearers who keep dockets for ten years.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the company's responsibility to honor it and if they don't they get sued. It's not news, just a way for gamestop to get more publicity. I'm certain that those who wanted their money back could have asked it a long time ago when the game was declared to be canned (the whole lawsuit thing again). What WOULD be more appropriate news is if they would honor EB Games's pre-orders because they bought EB Games like 6 years ago. I'm not sure if they are obligated at that point, but I'm guessing probably.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[FSWKU]

The real question is why would anyone pre-order any big title.

Not necessarily. This IS GameStop we're talking about, here. A friend of mine in SF went in to pickup a copy of LA Noire on launch day. The salesdroid rather rudely stated, "We don't have any copies for non-preorders. If you wanted to play this game, then you should have preordered it." At which point he promptly went 5 minutes down the street to the pit of hell known as Best Buy and picked up one of the hundred or so copies on the shelf. He then returned to GameStop to give them a hearty "fuck you".

The lesson here is that a LOT of GameStop managers will ONLY order enough stock to cover preorders. They do this in a misguided attempt to coerce people into preordering future titles so they can artificially inflate the metrics for their store. This is also the same company that likes to sell used copies on launch day, and shove strategy guides down your throat like a Geek Squad goon pitches dubious service plans.

tl;dr - fuck GameStop.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[FSWKU]

The real question is why would anyone pre-order any big title. They are going to have hundreds of them on launch day.

What I MEANT to quote above. Only time I've ever really wished for an edit feature...

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[flimflammer]

...what? Where on earth do you get games 40% cheaper by preordering?

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[wilgibson]

Pre-order codes from GameStop are now printed on your reciept at the time of pre-order or pick-up. Unless they are swiping your reciept or taking the code out of the game packaging, there is nothing for them to steal.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hell this is 'in the noise' too. How many of these receipts are people really going to produce. Maybe a few thousand?

Gamestop has such a lucrative scheme going on that this bit of 'goodwill' doesnt even put a dent in profit. And they can probably write it off as marketing.

The scheme? Trade in games. Trade in for 15-25 they turn it and sell for 35-45...

I have seen people come in with stacks of 10-20 games....

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[galaxia26]

Hey now, just because the plans are dubious doesn't mean Geek Squad Agents are goons. I strive daily to make that sometimes dubious service plan pay off. Hell, one of the only reasons I stick with the company is that I can go completely overboard and make anything they want us to pitch worth it to the consumer. Management be damned. There's a whole community of us who always do the RIGHT thing.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

The lesson here is that a LOT of GameStop managers will ONLY order enough stock to cover preorders. They do this in a misguided attempt to coerce people into preordering future titles so they can artificially inflate the metrics for their store. This is also the same company that likes to sell used copies on launch day, and shove strategy guides down your throat like a Geek Squad goon pitches dubious service plans.

Except for the fact that store managers have NOTHING to do with how many copies are sent to the stores. I was a manager. The number of copies sent to each store is based solely on the number of pre-orders. If you have zero pre-orders, the store will get, maybe, 3-4 copies. If you have 50 pre-orders you might see 70 copies. It is scarcity enforced at the corporate level and has nothing to do with the manager of the store.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[SharpFang]

I may be mistaken but I think Portal 2 preordered from Steam was like $40, direct purchase after release $60.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[kamapuaa]

A friend of mine in SF went in to pickup a copy of LA Noire on launch day. The salesdroid rather rudely stated, "We don't have any copies for non-preorders. If you wanted to play this game, then you should have preordered it." At which point he promptly went 5 minutes down the street to the pit of hell known as Best Buy and picked up one of the hundred or so copies on the shelf. He then returned to GameStop to give them a hearty "fuck you".

The real question is why this guy doesn't have anything better to do with his time.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[ildon]

That oft-pasted receipt is from 2000. TF2 was shown at E3 in 2000 with a predicted launch date of Jan. 2001. You could definitely have gone to Gamestop and pre-ordered both DNF and TF2 on the same day. Just because one of the two games actually got released four years ago doesn't really enter into the fact that if this guy's TF2 pre-order was honored back then, there's no reason to think a DNF pre-order wouldn't be honored now.

Plus a pre-order is just $10 to Gamestop and nothing more. They'd be dicks to try and squabble about the platform when they've already taken your $10 and are obviously trying to be not-dicks to the public by announcing they'll honor the pre-orders to begin with.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah well that makes sense, doesn't it. Cause otherwise, I pre-ordered Duke Nukem Forever 10 years ago too, only, uhh, I don't have my receipt. But they should totally give me a copy of the game because I'm telling the truth. Honest.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Bacon Bits]

Indeed, in the 90's it was quite common for the entire stock to be sold out the same day it was released. The very reason pre-orders became common is because stores wouldn't get enough copies of the game to cover demand. I distinctly remember NES/SNES games like SMB3, Contra 3, Street Fighter II de-jour, Mortal Kombat, etc. being sold out within about 50 miles of where I lived. They weren't the games I played (except SMB3, which I pre-ordered) but my best friend at the time had a mother who wouldn't let him put money down for pre-orders -- I think she was afraid they were going to rip him off or something -- and I distinctly remember him complaining about how he wasn't going to get whatever game was coming out. There was a time that if you didn't pre-order a popular game, you didn't get the game until a month later.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Bacon Bits]

And people wonder why brick & mortar stores are struggling so much.

If I go to Best Buy, I expect the store to be poorly laid out, I expect the cashier to harass me to buy some extra I don't want ($30 "insurance" on a $50 item? WTF is the point of that?), and I expect the asshole at the door to ask to see my receipt. I don't expect informed salespersons. I don't expect competitive prices.

I expect the same thing at GameStop, except I don't expect the level of politeness that I get at Best Buy (which is passable) and I expect GameStop to actively try to sucker me out of my money at every opportunity while simultaneously trying to not get me what I actually want.

Or I can go to Amazon or Newegg, where I can get a better price, better product reviews, more convenience, and far less irritation.

I don't shop at Best Buy except under duress, and I haven't walked into a GameStop voluntarily or otherwise since about 2004.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[interkin3tic]

The real question is why would anyone pre-order any big title.

In my experience working there, it takes a really, really huge game -franchise- to make gamestop make sure they order enough for release. Halo, madden, modern warfare, those games are sure to be there on launch day. Since this isn't an annual sequel, it might not fit their "must have stocked" criteria.

Nearly every other game, gamestop goes cheap, figuring if they sell out, they can try to punish the customer into reserving games. Even games that any idiot could tell were going to sell out, they give each store just a few more than they reserved, so that if you don't reserve, you have a good chance of being lectured "You should have pre-ordered, that's how you're supposed to do it." With plenty of the kids who shop there, that actually works and they'll start reserving.

Gamestop isn't too concerned with making sure people get the new games they came in for. Finding out if a store has a game on their website is difficult, and the information is often wrong, no doubt on purpose. The vast majority of their profits come from used sales, they resell used games at an outrageous markup. Kids sell their slightly used games in for X, gamestop sells it for nearly 2X. They can't get away with selling new games that way. They'd like for you to come in to buy a new game, the game not be in stock, and you figure since you're there you'll reserve something else or buy a used game.

And it works. The people who buy and sell (and work) at gamestop will take a lot of abuse and not bolt, since gamestop basically has a monopoly on the market. The main alternatives are amazon, which is not instant, or other retail stores that don't buy or sell used games, and generally have a worse selection outside of the most popular titles.

Also, my district manager was a real douchebag, the pay was lousy, and half the customers had never heard of deodorant, but that's not really relevant.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[flimflammer]

Portal 2 had a 10% preorder discount, and the game retailed for $50. It brought the game down about ~$5.

However that sort of deal is few and far in between anyway, especially for mainsteam titles. Indie stuff tends to carry discounts and what have you. It is fairly unusual to get a price discount on preordering anymore. The "perks" these days for preorders usually revolve around some unlockable of no real value like an extra skin for a character, flavor item, etc.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[interkin3tic]

Why is it news that they are honoring these pre-orders?

I think it is a bit absurd that gamestop never said "Okay, it looks like the game isn't actually going to happen, so here's your money back." Not surprising, since they offer reservations when there are mere unconfirmed rumors of games being in the works.

If the down payment is 5 dollars, how much would gamestop likely have made off of investments in that time?

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[TheRaven64]

If someone gave them $5 13 years ago, and they sell them the game at cost today, then they've still made a profit. 13 years compound interest on all of those $5 payments probably adds up to quite a lot...

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[cowboy76Spain]

This is also the same company that likes to sell used copies on launch day,

Yours too? Bought a game for the NintendoDS of my niece. It was strange that it was open, but I thougt it was a cheap anti-theft measure. When I put it in my nieces DS, I saw two profiles already loaded. Thanksfully my niece didn't notice it and I could erase them before being embarrassed in front of my family. Never gonna buy anything from those assholes, neither at shop or online.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

...what? Where on earth do you get games 40% cheaper by preordering?

Not quite 40%, but Amazon frequently has $20 gift cards if you pre-order a $60 console game. If you shop at Amazon enough, that $20 is as good as cash (just don't be stupid and count it as another $20 "discount" when you spend it).

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

All right, I'm not a big fan of GS or anything, but I always hated when people bitched about being denied a game for failure to pre-order. I'm going to do this in second person, because I'm lazy, but I know it's technically inaccurate.

A. You knew you wanted it, likely where you were going to get it, and that you were probably going on opening day to get it. It would have taken you little effort, cost you nothing extra, and you would have likely received some sort of digital bonus. It doesn't even have to be from GS: you can pre-order off Amazon or any of a number of stores. This wasn't a surprise game, either: L.A. Noire has been getting the everloving shit hyped out of it. You willfully ignored all opportunities to simply and easily secure a game you knew you were going to get and now complain about inconveniencing yourself.

B. Pre-ordering guarantees a personal copy. If you pre-ordered a game and then the store sold your copy to someone else the very same day, you would be understandably and rightfully upset. As easy as it is to make a disc, there are a finite number of copies that are made (and shipped) to stores that have a finite amount of space that is simultaneously being taken up by other games, accessories, systems, and miscellania. If enough people pre-order, it is very possible that the few copies left that aren't ON RESERVATION FOR SOMEONE ELSE have been purchased by similarly people only slightly less short-sighted than yourself.

Is there some sort of morally superior position to be had in NOT pre-ordering? Yes, some stores don't engage in pre-orders, and that's fine. You can take your chances with them, and likely will find at least one store in the area that has the game unless it's the holiday season. But from a perspective of convenience, you could put a down payment on a game for a fraction of its cost (which, despite what any gamestop employee may tell you, you can always take back if you feel like it) and guarantee yourself an accessible copy on launch. Even if you don't want to go on launch, it just means a few dollars you DON'T have to pay later.

The lesson here is that your friend was short-sighted and it inconvenienced him. I know a few employees of the place: the managers don't order anything. The central distribution system judges how much demand there is for a game in a certain area based on pre-orders, population, and general sales, and ships based on that. If there's only enough to cover pre-orders, that sucks, but it's because the company didn't see much benefit of shipping too much initial stock in hope that the game would be a statistical anomaly.

tl;dr - fuck Gamestop, but also fuck your obnoxious friend. And for good measure, fuck you.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, but if you order it online, you have to actually wait a couple days for the product instead of getting instant gratification. Those 2 days are an eternity to our new generation of Americans raised on short attention span training...

Fortunately, the brick-and-mortars are about to get cut out of the loop entirely. You can already download any EA release on release day with the EA Downloader and start playing immediately. I expect the other game distributors will soon follow suite. There being no cost advantage in going to GameStop and dealing with their "I'd rather be playing video games than waiting on you!" attitude, there are few reasons to go there, except to buy used games... which the game developers are also trying to do away with.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Is there some sort of morally superior position to be had in NOT pre-ordering? "

Yes. Anyone with a NEED to play a game so soon after release has a serious mental problem.
I've built a new computer in the past to play a new game, but I still didn't have a burning compulsion to pre-order it.

Fuck hype.
Fuck opening weekend sales figures.
And fuck "stores".

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

No one NEEDS to play a game as soon as it's released.

A lot of people WANT to, though. And in this example, somebody did. They had the option to easily and conveniently secure their own copy; they didn't. They chose to ignore the option. Then, when told (probably more politely than claimed) that there were no copies available for them, they chose to hem and haw after being forced the terrible indignity of (gasp) going to another store. Honestly, the I could probably be fine with most of this story, but the "friend" in this story literally returned just so he/she could be a childish turd.

There are plenty of reasons to want a game on release: extra content for pre-orders, a better chance of full servers for the online content, a desire to know the story, or just because they know they'll inevitably play.

If you personally don't want a game on release day, it's your prerogative not to buy it. But it hardly makes you better than anyone else.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

+1

Also, it would be news if they DIDN'T honour a preorder.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[RoFLKOPTr]

You can already download any EA release on release day with the EA Downloader and start playing immediately. I expect the other game distributors will soon follow suite.

You can download any release from almost ANY developer on Steam and start playing immediately. Plus, most games have a 10% preorder discount on Steam.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[cela0811]

I preordered Portal 2 on Steam, and it was 10% off and came with a free copy of Portal.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Best Buy is at least tolerable if you avoid the salespeople.

Game Stop, on the other hand... let's just say I feel like I've walked into a run down pawn shop whenever I go into most of them. The stores tend to be dirty and completely disorganized, with many products in bad condition (some are just tossed into a bargain bin haphazardly). Their PC game selection tends to be abysmal, and heaven help you if you want something new and didn't pre-order it. The typical staff ranges from outright rude to disinterested / stoned, which doesn't help anything.

That being said, there are a few nice locations. The one in Bellevue, WA comes to mind.

I sometimes go into my local Game Stop to see if there are any deals, but typically I can get anything cheaper at Amazon.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[mtmra70]

GameStop managers do not order stock, it is sent to them by corporate. For big hit releases corp will guarantee pre-orders and anything extra is well, extra.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[chiph]

The interesting thing is that Gamestop is honoring these pre-orders without taking the effect of inflation into account. $49.99 in 1997 is the same as $70.05 in 2011.

Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just a little FYI, Gamestop managers can't really control what shipment they get. They can request, but it's all sent to them by some weird algorithm. For launch day, they get enough for preorders and most of the time alot more, but sometimes they don't due to shipping lines and higher demand in other places in the district.

If you want to piss off a Gamestop manager, go in and buy all their copies of some random 360 or ps3 game from a few years ago. Chances are they will get 10 copies of that game their next shipment and have to hold on to them until they phase out the system.

Ceremony

[EonsWrath]

There should be an award ceremony for those who pre purchased "Duke Nukem (takes) forever (to come out)." List off all the names at a huge banquet or something! :D

Re:Ceremony

[AceCaseOR]

Totally. Actually, Gearbox should have gotten in touch with Gamestop, and put the names of the people with the longest active pre-orders in the credits under "Thanks" or "True Believers" or "You can stop holding your breath now" or something.

Re:Ceremony

[ColdWetDog]

Totally. Actually, Gearbox should have gotten in touch with Gamestop, and put the names of the people with the longest active pre-orders in the credits under "Thanks" or "True Believers" or "You can stop holding your breath now" or something.

They would probably do better to check with the Social Security Administration to see who died in the interim. Could save them a bunch of trouble.

Re:Ceremony

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

You think they were refunded the difference in inflation?

Re:Ceremony

[AngryDeuce]

Hell yes they should. To still have that receipt after this long is dedication...

Re:Ceremony

[TheRaven64]

Exactly. If people pre-ordered in 1998, then they've had an interest-free loan of $5 from that person. Not a huge amount, but even at a fairly modest interest rate they'd have $10 by now. If they invested it in their own business and have done reasonably well, then they could easily have got $20 out of it. No much per individual, but if 10,000 people put down $5, then GameStop has made a very nice profit from them. I'm a bit surprised that they don't get a deal with the publisher to give free copies to people with pre-orders from before 2002 or something. GameStop would still make a decent profit and the free publicity would probably be worth a lot more than the cost of producing the copies of the game for the few people who still have receipts that old.

Re:Ceremony

[sznupi]

~1% of the demographic who was most into DN3D (teen to young males) is dead now (as estimated by somebody who deals with demographic data daily, when I wondered) - so it might turn out a bit sad / become a nightmare dilemma how to handle, for PR. Especially "True Believers" or "You can stop holding your breath now" ;p

My life

[tsa]

Wow, it seems like I've been hearing stories about DNF all my life, and now suddenly it's really coming out! It's like the end of an era.

Re:My life

[amanicdroid]

Yeah, fucking finally. Now that bin Laden is dead and DNF is out we can leave that era.

Re:My life

[LynnwoodRooster]

Don't trust it until Netcraft confirms it...

Re:My life

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know whether to cheer or cry at the fact that we managed to kill bin Laden before DNF came out. Next you'll be telling me that we colonized Mars before DNF2 comes out.

Re:My life

[gman003]

The King has returned! Now come the days of the King!

Re:My life

[game kid]

Don't worry. The Decepticons will not allow that.

Re:My life

[eclectro]

Wow, it seems like I've been hearing stories about DNF all my life, and now suddenly it's really coming out! It's like the end of an era.

There should be a law against it coming out, so that the meme can be preserved.

Maybe all the boxes will be empty and will simply have a small piece of paper that says "you really didn't think we'd actually release anything, did you?"

Re:My life

[Anonymous Coward]

Now that Duke Nukem is coming, we can expect a birth certificate! Complete birth certificate, please, right now!

Huh?

[Hope Thelps]

I don't get it. Why would this be open to doubt? If I've understood correctly, Gamestop offered it for sale and these people paid for it... so now it's available Gamestop are going to honour the contract. Is that not what they would normally do?

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, if they wanted to pull a real dick move and be REALLY cheap, back then it probably wasn't technically Gamestop but one of Electronics Boutique, Babbages, etc...

Re:Huh?

[gman003]

Check the dates. DNF was opened for pre-orders back in 2001 (before being delayed, and delayed more, and delayed longer than any game in history). Some people kept those pre-orders.

Re:Huh?

[Hope Thelps]

Check the dates. DNF was opened for pre-orders back in 2001 (before being delayed, and delayed more, and delayed longer than any game in history). Some people kept those pre-orders.

Yes, I realise that. So you would think there would be two possibilities - (1) at some point Gamestop concluded that they couldn't deliver and therefore refunded the money or (2) Gamestop kept the money and the associated obligation to supply the product. In any situation where they kept the money it seems obvious that they're going to supply the product. Why wouldn't they?

Re:Huh?

[twidarkling]

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm thinking. This is a big "So what?" story. The game's being released, people put down money on it. If they didn't get a copy, then they're either owed a refund, or Gamestop's committing theft.

Re:Huh?

[mustPushCart]

The developers are different, the publisher is different, the prices, money value heck the economy is different. In europe the currency is different now. All in all, if you think about it it is still gamestops responsibility to honour them but they could argue that its too old or it was for a completely different game. My guess? Its just a bunch of stories centered around DNF's release, the lifetime achievement vaporware award winner is about to ship, its a big moment.

Re:Huh?

[osu-neko]

I don't get it. Why would this be open to doubt? If I've understood correctly, Gamestop offered it for sale and these people paid for it... so now it's available Gamestop are going to honour the contract. Is that not what they would normally do?

If you strip away from the description everything that makes it unique, yes, it sounds unremarkable. Let's not to do and try again. Gamestop is fulfilling preorders that are over a decade old. Isn't that what they normally do? No, in fact they normally fulfill preorders that are only a few months or at most a year or two old. What makes this news is not that their fulfilling preorders, it's that they're fulfilling ancient ones. It isn't news because there was some doubt that they would, it's news because it's something happening that has never happened before. When something happens that has never happened before, it's often considered news, even if everyone in the situation reacts exactly as you would expect they would in the situation, despite it never happening before.

Re:Huh?

[garyebickford]

I would add that since the publisher is different, they are probably not giving Gamestop a break on those pre-orders. GS is most likely having to eat the cost of the deposits folks made. So it really is a biggish deal - it amounts to a discount by Gamestop.

Re:Huh?

[garyebickford]

I mentioned somewhere above that since the publisher is also different, Gamestop is probably taking a hit for every one of those. The new publisher has no legal responsibility to honor any difference in the wholesale price. So Gamestop is (most likely) really taking a hit on every deposit.

Re:Huh?

[jimicus]

IIRC there was at least one person had an ancient receipt for a DNF pre-order and GameStop had already said "We won't honour it. Sucks to be you." - which is what makes it news,

Re:Huh?

[QuasiSteve]

The developers are different, the publisher is different, the prices, money value heck the economy is different. In europe the currency is different now. All in all, if you think about it it is still gamestops responsibility to honour them but they could argue that its too old or it was for a completely different game.

Wouldn't one then argue that if GameStop (presuming GameStop are who sold you the pre-order) felt that the product ultimately to be delivered (if at all) was so much different from the pre-ordered product, that they would void the pre-orders and return people's money?

Re:Huh?

[lightknight]

GameStop believes is has found a source of instant karma with dedicated gamers. The loss by honoring ancient pre-orders may be less than the gain by pitching everything else at gamers in the checkout line.

Re:Huh?

[garyebickford]

One would hope so! :D Consider that this posting on /. has generated thousands of views of the word 'gamestop' (not a gamer, I never heard of it before, for example), and the marketing aphorism that 'all publicity is good publicity', It makes financial sense as well as 'karma sense'. Of course, if they proceed to do some other thing that generates bad publicity, then they have failed. It's been said that one bad reference outweighs 200 good references. I do note that a lot of the comments here on /. are mostly negative, so it's not obvious that this will work for them, but hey. A positive response here could even affect their approach to marketing in the future in a positive way.

Re:Huh?

[Hognoxious]

IIRC there was at least one person had an ancient receipt for a DNF pre-order

The sales assistant looked at it and asked if anyone could read heiroghlyphics. The manager came over and said, "sure I can, it says 'Feather, bird standing, waves, feather, man with his hands on his head, wheatsheaf, bird flying.' That's why I'm in charge, sonny".

Re:Huh?

[geminidomino]

Don't you have a pyramid to flare or something?

Re:Huh?

[Kalriath]

What are you talking about? The retail store always keeps the deposits - why would they be eating anything?

If anything, the people who pre-ordered should have the ten years interest that Gamestop's been earning on their deposit credited to the purchase!

Re:Huh?

[Kalriath]

They're taking exactly ZERO hit. Gamestop never gave the money given to them by the customers to the publisher, that's not how it works. Customer pays Gamestop. Gamestop counts it as a confirmed purchase, and alters their orders as appropriate. Supplier delivers. Gamestop pays invoice for supply (30 days later, generally).

As I said, Gamestop's the one making on this if anything. They've been collecting interest on the pre-order deposits for up to ten years. They've just found a way to get good PR off something that costs them less than nothing.

Re:Huh?

[mewshi_nya]

When you buy a company, you usually end up with their liabilities/debts -- including unfulfilled contracts, which a pre-order is.

Re:Huh?

[mtmra70]

Meh, it's not really news. When I worked there (Babbage's) we would hold onto every pre-order that was never claimed. We had some that back-dated MANY years and whenever the person came in to get it, we would refund their money or transfer the credit.

Re:Huh?

[Derek Pomery]

He could be referring to an increase in game prices over time, due to inflation.

But that is hardly Gamestop taking a hit, since pre-orders are basically interest-free loans.

It's funny

[Anonymous Coward]

because the preorder reciept will be older than their own employees.

mine is for the EDVAC DNF port

[Anonymous Coward]

Although I'm still trying to get replacement parts for some of the vacuum tubes that blew out a few years (OK, forty) years ago. Once I get those babies set up I'll be good to go with the game.

What?

[rfslocutus]

The most retarded game store is actually going to do something right? Thought for sure that GameStop would be the only company to NOT honor the pre-orders due to them being over a decade old and because they are one of the most capitalist corporations in America. It would be more profitable for them to charge customers again to pre-order the actual release.

Still don't like them so IF I pre-order, it will be though Steam.

Re:What?

[u38cg]

What, honour a dozen pre-orders that people still remember about and dance in all the publicity they get from it? Seems pretty simple marketing to me.

Duke's big package

[Cyko_01]

all pre-order customers will receive Duke's Big Package at time of purchase

yea, I bet they will...right up the a--

Re:Duke's Big Package

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't get your hopes up, the name is greatly exaggerated.

Well... there's at least one guy with a receipt...

[denzacar]

...somewhere out there.

Amazon follows suit

[nullifi]

I preordered Portal 2 from Amazon. Thankfully, they honored their preorder as well!

Mine is a little older

[Anonymous Coward]

"visit the store with your original punchcard, or a daguerreotype of it."

Mine's in Cuneiform on clay tablets. What if they can't read the language? Will they still honor them if they are written in an extinct language?

naughty dino

[hirundo]

What if my brontosaurus ate the clay tablet receipt? Will they accept petrified dung?

heh sure

[Osgeld]

Last time I pre ordered a game from gamestop I showed up on release day cause no one bothered to call me and they were sold out, they gladly offered to get me a copy as soon as it came back in stock but it wouldnt be with all the preorder swag which cost a little extra.

so I figured if this system is based around the child who may or may not work there next week writing my name down, why bother?

Re:heh sure

[Osgeld]

ps I ended up walking into best buy moments later and got the pre-release package with no fuss and not having to waste my time preordering

Re:heh sure

[protektor]

I had the exact same thing happen when I pre-ordered a deluxe version of a game. I came in to get it and they didn't have it, in fact they said they only ordered 2 copies and they were already gone. I pulled out my reciept and asked for an explanation of why mine wasn't there and they couldn't. They just sat there staring at each other with no clue what to do now since they couldn't get any more of the deluxe versions of the game. I cancelled my order, got my money back and went and bought it at best buy across the street. I don't bother to buy anything from them any more. If they can't even read their computer screens for how many they need to order and who is suppose to get them, then there is absolutely no hope for the store and they should just close their doors and call it over.

it's a sad day...

[DFENS619]

When this is what passes as good customer service.

Re:it's a sad day...

[Anonymous Coward]

Gamestop announces they will fulfill order of product they sold to customers. Gamestop is also proud to announce they will expand their selection of 4 year old EA sports games to include Madden 2009. While they are confident that their primary inventory of white trash hobby games (including jet skiing, hunting and pool) is a growth market. They could not pass up this new intake of, pawn shop rejected, Madden 09.

Re:it's a sad day...

[Anonymous Coward]

You plan on playing that game on a PS3?

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Osgeld]

dont be a dink, Duke Nukem 3D could barley run on a saturn and it was an old dead system well before then

this is nothing.

[Truekaiser]

compared to the pre-order wait for the pandora hand held. Not to mention you have to deal with the fact that they might be skipping pre-orders to earn a profit as not all the people who have pre-ordered have gotten theirs yet while at the same time they are claiming they are nearly done with the 3k pre-orders and are starting the batch two run.

Re:this is nothing.

[geminidomino]

People are actually dropping $500 on that damn thing?

Re:this is nothing.

[Truekaiser]

Yes. they are also selling 'premium' ones which they will promise to get out in two weeks if you pay them $500 now. Of course they offer it to pre-orders minus the cost of your pre-order.

Re:this is nothing.

[geminidomino]

Huh. Good luck to 'em then. I got fleeced for half that with the GP2X. Not making that mistake again.

Original receipt?

[Anonymous Coward]

What if my original receipt says "Electronics Boutique?"

Re:Original receipt?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know what Electronics Boutique is, but it sounds pretty gay.

Hot for Duke's man meat, aren't you?

Re:Original receipt?

[mewshi_nya]

As I said above, since EB is now owned by GameStop, their liabilities/debts should be, as well. And a pre-order qualifies as a liability, I would imagine.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[pushing-robot]

I'm surprised they didn't wait until 2012 to release this game.

They were really trying to release it before the world ended. In the words of the lead developer, "Er, how are we for time? Have I just got a min-"

Anyone pre-ordering now?

[purpledinoz]

So what are the chances that this release will be canceled again? It might be a bit risky to pre-order now.

Re:Anyone pre-ordering now?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's why you only pre-order at places like Amazon. They don't charge you anything until the item actually ships.

Gamestop put's pressure on employees!

[Joe_Dragon]

Gamestop corporation puts a ton of pressure on employees to get reserves, sell used, and to get subscriptions to that magazine.

Re:Gamestop put's pressure on employees!

[Osgeld]

so does every other retail outlet, cry me a river

Re:Gamestop put's pressure on employees!

[protektor]

So what. The corporation pushing them to do things is no reason for complete incompetence and inability to read a screen telling them exactly how many they need to order and who they are going to. I know they can do this because I have asked them how many pre-orders they had for specific games. So the fault is in them being too stupid to actually run a video game store, let alone deal with pre-orders which they hose up on a regular basis. I have friends who have had the same exact problems so many times they just quit going there or bothering to pre-order from them.

Inheritable?

[Anonymous Coward]

In the event of untimely (or natural) death waiting for... Forever, are the preorders transferable to the next of kin?

Antiques Road Show

[stevegee58]

I just showed my Duke Nukem pre-order to an expert appraiser on Antiques Road Show and they called it a "National Treasure" and said it was worth at least $100,000!

Re:Antiques Road Show

[Anonymous Coward]

Should have sold it. Next one will value it at $5.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

In my country the barley run is called the beer shits!

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Stormwatch]

Duke Nukem 3D could barley run on a saturn

Barely is the wrong word: to port the Build engine wasn't feasible, and it was never done. Instead, Duke Nukem 3D for the Saturn was rebuilt from scratch using Lobotomy's SlaveDriver -- in fact a more advanced engine, capable of actual 3D levels.

Also, if you think a Saturn is underpowered for this game... ahem.

No they are taking the duke nukm FOREVER seriously

[RobertLTux]

but anywho i think they should have a contest for the oldest reserve ticket redeemed

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Samantha Wright]

I don't think that last link really proves your point. It depicts the Genesis running an engine roughly comparable to Wolfenstein 3-D. Notice the orthogonal walls and total lack of floor or ceiling textures. Here's what the real Duke actually plays like, in case you've forgotten (although the music didn't sound that good on most sound cards.)

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Samantha Wright]

(Sorry, that link slipped 3D models in for the monsters; it's a recording of a newer source port, possibly eDuke32. This is more accurate. But still, the first video I linked is a good demonstration of the level appearance; note especially the sloped floors.)

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[alienzed]

What about... "Duke Nuke Forever Ago"

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[modmans2ndcoming]

then you are an idiot for thinking the Saturn was going anywhere.

Re:No they are taking the duke nukm FOREVER seriou

[NJRoadfan]

Keep in mind that back in 1998 Gamestop was a fairly small operation. Most of the locations that are now Gamestop were Software Etc., Electronics Boutique, or Babbages stores back then, so the oldest reciepts won't even say GameStop on them!

daguerreotype

[MoldySpore]

Thanks for making me have to google that shit. I had no idea how to even pronounce it before I did.

Duke's Big Package

[StormReaver]

I think Duke can keep his Big Package to himself, thank you very much.

Re:Well... there's at least one guy with a receipt

[Anonymous Coward]

It's like some kind of Duke Nukem archaeological artifact, dug up from beneath a decade of accumulated stratigraphy.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Stormwatch]

Well, my point was that the Saturn could handle DN3D... that Mega Drive version video was just trivia.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Billly Gates]

I was more thinking of Duke Nukem Vista

Duke's Reputation Overblown?

[defcon-11]

Everyone remembers Duke as being such an awesome game, but I always thought the only fun part was the 1st 2 levels. After that, they were all very similar, equal to other games of the generation, and generally pretty boring. I'm guessing these levels were offered for free to entice gamers into buying, and a lot of time was spent making them innovative, while the rest of the game was pretty lame.

Fade away...

[thesh0ck]

Gamestop recipts fade after a year or so. I have one of my Wii purchase and its completely blank.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

I still play with it every other week.

Grr!

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I pre-preordered from Circuit City you insensitive clod!

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

You think that's bad, mine is on the back of two very very heavy stone tablets. With ten things on the front and Duke Nukem Forever pre order on the back.

So...

[smash]

So anyone know if it will run on the pentium 3 700 I built for it?

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[bill_mcgonigle]

I'm surprised they didn't wait until 2012 to release this game

How many bets are now going to come payable? Slashdot is shutting down IIRC.

Re:Well... there's at least one guy with a receipt

[owlstead]

Ah, don't you love that crispy sound of age old receipts, the ones with all the moisture removed :)

Caveat to GS's benefit

[Anonymous Coward]

>'Provided the customer has a receipt

This is the bullshit part right here.

I worked for GS in the early 2000's. Back then and I can only assume previously, all reservation receipts were printed on the same heat-transfer paper that regular receipts were printed on. We'd have problems reading credit slips that were only a year old. I can only imagine that ten year old slips would look simply like blank pieces of receipt paper.

Just to mention it--there was always this big box full of unclaimed reservations in the back of the store. After six months or so, it was cleaned out--all that money going into GS's coffers. Reservations are a complete and utter scam.

Still undecided

[creat3d]

I won't buy this game until I've tried the demo, see if it works with my Voodoo 3 (yeah I know, I should've stayed with the v2). I check jumbo.com and Games Domain every freaking day to see if it's out yet.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[DiEx-15]

Then you are FSOL. In a big way.

Then again, maybe they should give you the XBox 360 version. Better yet, let you decide what version you want since most the game consoles that were around during development no longer exist.

So we heard from slash000 yet?

[Kaashar]

I remember seeing his receipt years ago.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[ildon]

Also, if you think a Saturn is underpowered for this game... ahem.

That's basically a Wolf3D engine. That doesn't prove anything.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[ildon]

Yeah but your evidence doesn't support your point. So all you have is an unsubstantiated conjecture (although one that I think is likely correct).

Encase your reciept in lucite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Receipts are printed on thermal paper. All of them, everywhere. They only last a few months. Prolonged exposure to any sort of heat, even if it's only 80. Oxidation. Moisture. People's greasy hands. The text eventually just turns white. And they don't exactly accept copies or pictures. A lot of times, you can throw the reciept under a blacklight/UV/whatever and read the text, more or less. The lights are extremely common in retail, they're used to check for counterfeit bills. But I seriously doubt that a clerk (anywhere, not just gamestop) would go through the effort of recovering the reciept, or that they would even know how. Oddly enough, punchcards would be a better solution. Especially since nobody seems to realize what year it is, and that we have cool things like email and SQL, and have long outgrown the need for paper. Printers, thermal, inkjet, or otherwise are just hillarious to me. You've got the document right in front of you on your screen, but that isn't good enough, people seem compelled to print things out anyways, I don't get it. It is entirely possible to email someone a reciept. Especially if it's a place that has a loyalty card, they don't even have to ask you for your email address. Or better yet, just don't delete the transactions at the end of the day, and look the stupid thing up in your database. Hard drives aren't small anymore, and text is reeeeeeeally easy on file size anyways.

Re:Encase your reciept in lucite?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullshit. I spend ten years in the service sector before getting my degree. ALL receipt prints I used (except one) were INK. Only ONE was thermal. You fucking kids think you know everything, but you don't!

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

But, cuneiform crumbles so over the millennia.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[RivenAleem]

Why do you think the rapture has been delayed 5 months? Even God is waiting for this to be released.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

Um... Is not SHIPPED yet.

There's still time for the game to hold its place in vaporware Hall of Fame!

Hey -- hey, don't mess with the rapture.

[Anonymous Coward]

Those tornadoes out in central America are doing just fine rapturing people into the sky where they probably belong, only there was supposed to be an accounted 144k raptures and so far there's only been about 300 (movie soon to arrive about Thor vs 300 TT-mobilehomes).

every single day

[Anonymous Coward]

i play with it every single day !

and by "it" i mean muh dick ! :3

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

.... YOU'RE an unsubstantiated conjecture.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Patch86]

When the Nazis tried to look at your pre-order ticket, it melted their faces. That is how truly awesome Duke Nukem Forever is.

Re:So if the order was for Sega Saturn 20 years ag

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL

Even the Mayans were nice enough to delay doomsday until 2012 so their descendants would get a chance to play this game.

A decade old...Re:Uhh, why wouldn't they?

[bwcbwc]

"It's news because some of these pre-orders are nearly a decade old... "

If a customer comes in with a readable receipt printed on thermal paper, that they claim is from 10 years ago, or even 5 -- it's a scam. Those things fade after about a year.

So I think GameStop won't be honoring very many of these at all. It's really just a bunch of good free publicity without any risk for the franchisees. Also, depending on their accounting practices, they may not be allowed to recognize the revenue from those ancient pre-orders until the order is actually cashed in.

Punched Card?

[Anonymous Coward]

I understand that some newbies have their Nukem reciepts on the newfangled punchcard and daguerreotype slips. Mine is on papyrus, and I know of one or two others that have their receipts on clay tablets. Are they still accepting clay?

ancient receipt

[haggus71]

What about my receipt in cuneiform?