Amazon offering release date delivery for big-name games

by Kyle Orland on Aug 26th 2008 12:30PM

For gamers, there's usually a push-and-pull battle involved in deciding to order a new game from an online retailer. On the plus side, ordering online means not having to deal with clueless game store employees, not fighting off the harsh rays of the sun and, most importantly, not leaving the comfort of the couch! On the downside, though, those online delivery people will sometimes arrive days after a game is available in stores, losing you precious time you could be spending pwning n00bs.

Amazon is looking to get rid of that major online ordering negative with their Release Date Delivery program for some of the season's biggest games. Shoppers that pay an extra $5.98 can get Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 delivered to their doors the same day they're available in stores (you may remember Amazon tested the program last month with Soul Calibur IV). Amazon Prime members can get this service for free, but it's only currently available in the continental U.S., so residents of foreign lands (not to mention the freak states) should be prepared to hoof it to their nearest brick and mortar game retailers.

Source - Press Release
Source - More Details

Tags: amazon, online, retail, retailer, shipping, shopping

Reader Comments (40)

yup free if you are a Prime member

Just one more reason I love my prime membership.

I wish Amazon.ca was more like Amazon.com :( the canadian site sucks... I'll get Disgaea 3 likely 7 or 8 days after the local stores get it, but I save 10$ :(

I love Amazon Prime. I buy all my games from Amazon. Never been disappointed...except for when GameStop got MGS4:LE exclusivity. Lame.

Anyways, yes, Amazon...good.

Play.com (UK) has always sent the item BEFORE the release date so that you get it on the day, or on occasion the day before.

I don't know about the US but being forced to pay for something like this is pretty stupid.

It's up there with paying to park anywhere.

"No sir, I don't like it."

Amazon have always delivered stuff to me on release date too (here in the UK, through amazon.co.uk).

Does seem a bit odd to pay extra for what is effectively Amazon sending something a couple days earlier

That Prime membership they keep pushing on me is looking more and more appealing.

Until I do the math and remind myself that it will end up costing me a lot more.

*wants Zertoss' full avatar pic really bad and can't find it with minor Rule 34 search*

wait, why does this cost extra?

Amazon Total: $65.97
EBGames Total (w/ 7% tax): 64.19

$1.78 more expensive than picking it up in person.. Now to quantify my time + gas.. hrmm..

The tragedy for me is I'm in one of the states that pays sales tax for online purchases, making those costs stack :(

Hey Joystiq... where can we submit these articles? I saw this early yesterday morning and I wanted to tell you guys before someone else posted it, but there is no link. let me know, i'll be glad to help you guys out.

- eddiedundidit

I believe it's the "send us tips" link at the top left.

There's a link in the upper left corner. See the Joystiq logo? Go straight down. You'll see Main RSS, keep going. Next is About Joystiq, just a bit further! Finally you'll see Send us tips! Click that.

OK, I just ran through the whole order process at Amazon for The Force Unleashed. It costs $5.98 to ship it and get it on the release date. It's $15.48 to overnight it instead. Basically, it's $9.50 cheaper to get it on the release date than to overnight it, which is weird, but that's what the order says.

tl;dr - It actually costs LESS to get it on the release day.

And officially I am done with Gamestop.

Not everyone lives near one of their warehouses.

Now if only gamefly could ship things before release I would be set.

Strange.Those of us in the uk have had this for aslong as the online games sites have been around.Ive yet to find a single place that doesn't send out preorders to get to the customer for the release date,they generly get delevered 1-2 days befor then ,aswell as getting a preorder bonus(a bonus disk,lower cost if preorder,extra points or discounts)and normally with free postage.

Its strange that you americans don't have this already when you generly get a better deal with game releases,earlyer than the rest of the world and cheaper.Or do other shops already do this and amazon usa is just playing catch up?

Poor business model. They should be offering this service as a free to consumer, new way to compete with brick and mortar. Even if it cost Amazon a little on the business side, it would be worth it as an incentive.

Agreed. Basically you tell people that they'll get it to you on the day of release, AND they don't have to pay taxes (for most states) which would instantly make a TON of people start ordering online. The only people who still wouldn't are those people who like to show up for midnight releases and/or when the store opens in the morning.

Hmmm this might be worth checkin' out!

Nickeled and dimed.

I just sent them an email asking if I can use this for my Gears of War 2 preorder...

Go to your account and click on your open orders. After your order info pops up choose to change shipping method.

Yeah, I tried that, but it wasn't one of the options
:(

This sucks if you got the limited edition version of Gears 2 with the lancer, because it won't let you do this offer without charging you full price for the game. I tried changing my current pre-order, as well as adding an entirely new order, and it won't let it go through.

I WANNA PWN NOOBS ON RELEASE DAY!

Ok, just to clarify here. They aren't really charging you $5.98 for the release date delivery. They're charging $5.98 for two-day shipping, which is what it has always cost, and which is what Amazon Prime members get for free.

Amazon's free shipping for non-prime members (super saver shipping) is slower, and guarantees nothing. Just like always.

Again, they are not adding any new charges here, all they're doing is sending the game a few days earlier so that two shipping gets their on release day instead of two days after release. It costs the same as before, you just get it sooner.

Also, the big deal here is not for your standard, full priced games which will now cost roughly the same as buying it at a store after tax.

The big deal is that Amazon often has lower prices/better deals. For instance, right now they have Fable 2 LE for $66 ($79 retail), a little while back they had a preorder for the regular version for $46. They recently released Madden with a $10 gift card, and of course they have the lancer bundle with Gears 2.

Personally, I'm not a very patient person, so it's typically a struggle for me on whether or not saving a couple bucks is worth waiting a couple days for the really big releases. Now, I don't have to decide.

Also, for Prime members it can't be beat, as you can now basically get these games about 4-5 bucks cheaper even if they're not on sale (no tax) and still get the game on day 1.

Dear Gamestop,

It's not you ... it's me. I still totally respect you as a person. I still love the way your hair looks when you use up prime retail space to sell decade old used-DVD's, and the gleam in your eyes when hire persons who could not possibly pass the GED. I'm still passionate about your constantly broken demo systems, and the way you remind me of RadioShack in the 80's. But the truth is ... I just really want to hump someone else.

I really hope we can still be friends. If you promise me that you won't stop sending me worthless marketing emails from every location I've ever visited ... then I'll promise that I won't stop writing to you to complain about it.

If you already preordered any of these games with Prime (I had Fable 2 and Force Unleashed preordered a while back), go into your account and make sure you change the shipping option on your orders. They're listing regular 2 Day Prime shipping separately from the Release Date shipping, so you need to go back in and specify.

wow u americans have it bad u have to pay to the game on time wtf...... here in the uk i order from Play.com and amazon.co.uk and even our own equivalent to gamestop (game) online and they always deliver on the day at 9.am sometimes 1 o 2 days early. i got fifa 08 2 days early same with stranglehold last year. You do know that some publishers dont allow the sites like amazon to ship the games early.... e.g halo 3 which play.com had to keephold of till 2 days before the actual release date because normally we would have got it early... guess sometimes it is good to be in a small country ;D

I know Gamestop has its flaws, but apart from one bad experience I had pre-ordering Bad Company (which I did at a different, but sill nearby gamestop), my local Gamestop is pretty good. Most of the employees seem to know what they're talking about, they're polite, and for Mercenaries 2, they knew that since so many people pre-ordered it, that I probably wouldn't get the bonuses (hat, codes, magazine), so they gave them to me in advance. I have to admit that I actually kind of like Gamestop.

sorry, I accidentally posted twice

Is it $5.98 on top of the normal shipping costs, or is it game price + $5.98, and that's it?

I have Amazon Prime, and I am interested in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 :D. This is another reason I am glad to have it. I buy too many video games and manga off that site, so it's perfect for me.

wait so does this mean if you choose the release date shipping you'll get the game on the Tuesday it's supposed to come out on or the Wednesday like most of the retail stores?

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Amazon offering release date delivery for big-name games

Reader Comments (40)

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