Wal-Mart selling Guitar Hero II early?
by Blake Snow 
{ Oct 26th 2006 at 1:50PM }
Some dude from an Arkansas Wal-Mart has posted pictures on the Gamer Age forum of his local store currently selling Guitar Hero II some two weeks before its official release on November 7. I'm sure Arkansas has tons of wannabe rockers itching to play Killing in the Name and Trogdor. Though we haven't checked our local Wally World, hopefully this is a nation-wide street date break and not just a Razorback/Natural State exclusive. In any case, hurry quick before the retailer fixes the early blunder! Go! Shoo!
[Thanks, garyEGO]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Martin @ Oct 26th 2006 1:58PM
God, there is no Wal-mart close to me :( I wish Toys R Us down the road from my house would screw up like this!!!
juicebytim @ Oct 26th 2006 1:56PM
Must drive to WalMart NOW NOW NOW!!!!!
Insomnia Bob @ Oct 26th 2006 1:57PM
This wouldn't be the first time this has happened. Not the first time by far, in fact. Used to work at a game store across from a Walmart. They used to routinely sell street dated games before their release. They didn't do it with, say, Halo 2, but just about every other title you could imagine, they had on the shelves a few days before us.
What I can't tell you is if that was due to incompitence on the part of the stockers, or a company wide 'release dates? bah, screw em. We're Walmart' kind of mentality.
Exick @ Oct 26th 2006 1:59PM
$80? No thanks.
juicebytim @ Oct 26th 2006 2:00PM
I got Guitar Hero 1 a week before it came out at Best Buy. Of course nobody cared then though.
irshliquor @ Oct 26th 2006 2:00PM
TRROOOOGGDOOORRRR!!!!!
Martin @ Oct 26th 2006 2:18PM
Joystiq, you guys posted about Laurel, MD. Any areas around here (Silver Spring, College Park, MD area) that is breaking street date.
Neoxkc @ Oct 26th 2006 2:14PM
"$80? No thanks."
What are you talking about? That was the price of Guitar Hero 1 when it came out.
Crosswayboy @ Oct 26th 2006 2:14PM
Damn those Arkansans... they get everything first...
Zoë K. @ Oct 26th 2006 2:17PM
Your loss, Exick. Your loss.
Exick @ Oct 26th 2006 2:19PM
"What are you talking about? That was the price of Guitar Hero 1 when it came out."
Well I certainly didn't pay that much. And I already have the controller, so I don't need to pay for another one. I'll think about getting GH2 when I see it (sans controller) for a reasonable price, like under $50.
Neoxkc @ Oct 26th 2006 2:20PM
That makes sense, but don't act like it isn't reasonable to purchase the game and a new controller for $80.
Strike Man @ Oct 26th 2006 2:26PM
"And I already have the controller, so I don't need to pay for another one. I'll think about getting GH2 when I see it (sans controller) for a reasonable price, like under $50."
Well, you're in luck, since the MSRP on the game without the guitar controller is $49.99, just shy of your $50 limit. ;)
bounchfx @ Oct 26th 2006 2:28PM
80$? I'd easily pay over 200, this game is amazing.
Since it's being sold in Arkansas, doesnt this mean the street date is violated and all can sell?
please!?
and if so, why the fuck not? why should some be able to get it early
ALH @ Oct 26th 2006 2:38PM
bah! lucky yanks. Im just glad that we dont have to wait til february again like we did with GH1
Strike Man @ Oct 26th 2006 2:40PM
@#14 bounchfx:
"and if so, why the fuck not? why should some be able to get it early"
Activision isn't about to change their ENTIRE release schedule and ad campaign simply because a Wal-Mart in Arkansas broke the street date on it. If you want it early, check your local Wal-Mart, since they rarely care about street dates (as others have said). Otherwise, it'll officially be out in less than two weeks, and you'll have it then.
The point of a street date is that NOBODY gets it "early," but Wal-Mart is big enough that they can break them without a worry.
zoglog @ Oct 26th 2006 2:41PM
Guitar Hero is nothing but a ripoff of Guitar Freaks, but the industry raves it as revolutionary. I mainly think it's konami's fault for not jumping on the gun and sitting on GF for years without bothering to localize it.
I give neither props.
NitrogenB @ Oct 26th 2006 2:45PM
is this game really as fun as people make it out to be? I'm serious, never played it.
Angelo @ Oct 26th 2006 2:50PM
I work in retail when I'm not at school. I know what we put out for sale might not be under the category of video games, but we do sell a few electronics new to the market. I work at a pharmacy and my managers are in their mid-late 40's. Smaller store by comparison, but sometimes if things are taking up room in the back or wherever and aren't too worried about a DM coming in and busting their chops, they will put it out for the sale to get it out of the way and out of the store. I can see if certain Wal-Marts have similar managers working and either they don't know what release dates mean or they don't have people breathing down their necks.... why not. But then you have this guy taking pictures. I can just see the tension building for the managers, heh.
32_Footsteps @ Oct 26th 2006 2:51PM
Zoglog, Guitar Hero is to Guitar Freaks what Oreos are to Droxies. Sure, maybe the second one was released first. But the first one blows the second out of the water in every conceivable way. I'm waiting for GH2 with baited breath, but couldn't care less whether or not Konami finally releases Guitar Freaks here.
RiskyChris @ Oct 26th 2006 2:58PM
@ zoglog
The only thing GF and GH have in common is a plastic guitar.
Different music genres, button numbers, HOPOs, star power, etc...
The gameplay on the games is even different. GF is really arcadey in that it requires a lot of jack-hammer-like note streams, wihle GH is more like playing a guitar.
Christopher7xii @ Oct 26th 2006 2:54PM
"Guitar Hero is nothing but a ripoff of Guitar Freaks, but the industry raves it as revolutionary. I mainly think it's konami's fault for not jumping on the gun and sitting on GF for years without bothering to localize it.
I give neither props."
Except the two play fairly differently. I've played Guitar Freaks here and there over the years, but it doesn't have the fun factor to it that this does. The controller is bulky/heavy, the song selection doesn't exactly "rock" as much as it does strum, three buttons is not enough to be challenging, there's no star power, and no on screen avatar. You have no identity or venues. Yeah, sure, GH was inspired by Bemani's line of games (they've admitted that in interviews when Guitar Revolution had word of coming out), but saying it's a rip-off of GF is about the same as saying Sonic the Hedgehog is a rip off of Super Mario Bros. Same genre, same "jump on enemy to kill while constantly running right" mentality, but two severely different games with entirely different feels.
Sadly, Meijer, Target, and Walmart by me do not have it. They are selling the stand alone Guitar Hero 2 game, right? Already have two controllers, dont need a third.
rokorre @ Oct 26th 2006 3:00PM
omg i just went to walmart (im in arkansas) to get a new house key made since its just down the street and yeah the display is there . . . and my god people are walking by and just picking like 2 of em up . . . i woulda got one but i werk at best buy so when the game comes out im going to get it a helluva lot cheaper than 80 and i can wait a few weeks . . . buy my god i was so tempted
Redbeard @ Oct 26th 2006 3:03PM
Woo pig sooie bitches.
Dmnkly @ Oct 26th 2006 3:10PM
As somebody who was a raving mad Guitar Freaks fan for years before Harmonix was even developing video games, no, Guitar Hero is not revolutionary. That said, I don't even bother to pick up Guitar Freaks anymore. Guitar Freaks was never intended for an American audience, so the music is a LOT different and the focus is much more on complicated and more arbitrary fretwork rather than the fantastic FEEL of Guitar Hero (though that's more than partially due to Bemani's design decision to only use three fret buttons). I don't mean to take anything at all away from Harmonix... they rock my world... but Guitar Hero was more evolution than revolution.
In short, Bemani deserves credit for creating the genre. Harmonix deserves credit for making it AWESOME.
Anticrawl @ Oct 26th 2006 3:18PM
Yeah this is true. I'm not a fan of Guitar Hero but I saw this a couple of days ago at my local walmart. It was Guitar Hero II and I thought hmm didn't know they came out with another one. But yeah if it is suppose to be out November 7th they really fucked up. It's out in stores in the East Baton Rouge Parish/Livingston Parish area so fans hurry up and get your fill.
Anticrawl
Rallion @ Oct 26th 2006 3:33PM
I'll pay $80 to get a second controller, definitely. I have friends I've like to have decent multiplayer with.
nick @ Oct 26th 2006 3:28PM
OMG TORRENT PLX :]
OtakuCODE @ Oct 26th 2006 3:39PM
Companies will look back at the idea of 'street dates' in 10 years and hold their bellies and lauuuugggghhhh and laaauuuugggghhhhhh so hard...
Consumers should be able to get your game no more than 1 hour after it goes gold. They should be able to get it quickly, simply, and without unnecessary barriers. Any failure to meet this standard creates a black market which WILL get your product to consumers in such a manner. (See: Piracy.)
David Shaw @ Oct 26th 2006 3:34PM
Maybe we should keep in mind that Wal-Mart is based in Bentonville, AK? Perhaps the location is right on top of one of Wal-Mart's big distribution hubs there and got an early shipment.
David Shaw @ Oct 26th 2006 3:36PM
Er, AR, not AK. AK is Alaska. Oops.
GregZ @ Oct 26th 2006 3:39PM
Hey, I live in Arkansas! I'm a senior at the U of Arkansas actually, a fine institution I might add.
Any clue which walmart this is going down at? There are only about 50 walmarts in the state... throw me a bone here so I don't have to drive all across this god-forsaken state (Fayetteville is the exception - it's amazing here).
Feep @ Oct 26th 2006 3:47PM
Wal-Mart in Gainesville, Florida is not breaking the street date, though it was implied that they have them in the back.
just_somebody @ Oct 26th 2006 3:49PM
saw it selling in Iowa earlier this week, but didn't realize the release date so didn't think anything of it. I can pick one up tonight and ship it to you (at no markup) if anybody is dying for it.
elnico @ Oct 26th 2006 3:51PM
"Consumers should be able to get your game no more than 1 hour after it goes gold, Any failure to meet this standard creates a black market which WILL get your product to consumers in such a manner. (See: Piracy.)"
agreed, final fantasy: advent children comes to mind. i don't know a single person who saw that legit, some eventually got it legit though. yes, square had to delay it for english dubbing, but didn't they realize that most of the fans of this genre prefer the japanese dubbing anyway?
T @ Oct 26th 2006 3:51PM
Where in Iowa?
ManiacalMF @ Oct 26th 2006 4:17PM
Well, checked over here in Milpitas, CA and no luck. Gonna check the Mountain View, CA WalMart after work
just_somebody @ Oct 26th 2006 3:55PM
@ T
DM.. on 63rd
@just_somebody @ Oct 26th 2006 3:59PM
Thank you
Monthenor @ Oct 26th 2006 4:20PM
I can report that Wal-Mart in Fargo ND has the preorder/demo disk pack, but no actual shipments of GH2 on the shelves.
I am sad.
Rallion @ Oct 26th 2006 4:25PM
I report no GH2 as of yet in the Halfmoon, NY store.
I can't believe I actually went out and checked. Such is my desire!
Even if they do put it out a few days early, I'll probably just wait and get it at Target and use my employee discount. And, also, feel less evil.
Pinion_Blue @ Oct 26th 2006 4:34PM
Went to Fort Smith Arkansas (about twelve miles away, i live in Oklahoma)....and there was a set up of the Original GH on a self made kiosk, and right across the isle was a set up nearly identical to this one with both Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero 2. Please note that their are 4 walmarts in that city and i didnt have time to check the others but according to the guys in electronics, there was not a street date on their boxes of inventory. So it was put out last night on 3rd shift.
Scott Weiss @ Oct 26th 2006 4:47PM
YAY! I live in Little Rock, AR! w00t
Sushi-X @ Oct 26th 2006 4:53PM
That is incorrect. There is a Street Date of the 7th of November on GH2.
And, I bought and watched FF:AC legitatematly and i am a fan.
trent @ Oct 26th 2006 5:38PM
the walmart here in south texas is selling it. im gonna go there strait from work and hope they arent sold out!!! i gotta get my preorder money back from eb too..
also, guitar hero isnt revolutionary in the sense that its the first rythm game, its revolutionary in that being a rock god is that much more acessible. the thing about pretty much everything in the world is that a product is worth whatever people are willing to pay.
im willing to pay $50 for the game. (i already have the controller)
N @ Oct 26th 2006 5:56PM
It's not just wal-mart, guys. I live on Ft Stewart, GA and the PX here has had it in for a week now. I just watched someone buy it not a half-hour ago. I didn't even realize it was early. (I dun own a PS2)
Big Daddy @ Oct 26th 2006 5:44PM
"Consumers should be able to get your game no more than 1 hour after it goes gold. They should be able to get it quickly, simply, and without unnecessary barriers. Any failure to meet this standard creates a black market which WILL get your product to consumers in such a manner. (See: Piracy.)"
That will only be possible when all games can be downloaded. Until we have cheap replicators, don't count on it for games with peripherals.
There is *no way* to ship 1 million boxes the size of GH2 on one day - think of the logistics. Activision's warehouses couldn't handle it, there wouldn't be enough loading docks for all the trucks, etc., all the way down the distribution line. So they are shipped over the course of a couple of weeks, and each retailer agrees to observe the street date (since none of them would want their competitor to jump it if they happened to get theirs first).
Harmonix went gold on September 1 - this is just how long it takes to get through the manufacturing and distribution process.
Smack042@hotmail.com @ Oct 26th 2006 5:49PM
Anywhere in Texas?
rocko @ Oct 26th 2006 5:49PM
man, i already got a controller, I really don't wanna buy another one..........are they packaging a different(better) controller for GHII?
trent @ Oct 26th 2006 6:42PM
there is a $50 cd only version coming out but that will be in 2 weeks. if you want the game now, you gotta buy a second controller, which isnt bad at all since 2 players is fun in GH1 and should be insanly fun in GH2!!!
also, yes here in browsville texas (very freaking southern tip of texas) theyve got it at the walmart on alton gloor.