You may remember last week reading about a Canadian EB promotion that would allow you to buy Haze, play it for a week and then return it to the store for full credit. It's a great promotion, but we're not sure it makes a lot of dollars and sense for Ubisoft. That's probably a good clue as to why we're sadly reporting that the deal is no more.
MTV was told by Ubisoft that "there had been a miscommunication between the publisher's Canadian arm and the EB Games retail chain in Canada." You know, the offer seems pretty self-explanatory to us, we're not sure how a miscommunication could have happened.
EB Games: Wait, so you want us to give people full price back if they return the game within a week? Ubisoft: Absolutely. EB Games hangs up. Ubisoft: Oh, and by full price we mean $30. Hello? Are you still there?
[Update: Reader Duggy promptly pointed out that this ad is still on the EB Canada website. So, what does that mean? We're trying to find out.]
In what's bound to be one of the most bizarre trade-in deals ever, EB Games in Canada is offering a unique deal for customers who pre-order the PS3 FPS Haze: they can return it a week later for a full refund.
The deal, as seen on their website, states that customers who pre-order the Ubisoft game will be able to pick it up on the release date and play it for a full week, then be able to sell the used game back to EB for full retail price. The deal only applies if the game, case and manual are kept in good condition, and if the game is returned within a week of purchase.
If we were Sony or Ubisoft, we would be less than thrilled with this promotion, which seems to suggest that Haze is only worth a week's investment of time. Then again, a sale is a sale, and maybe more Canadians will be tempted to purchase the title, if they know ahead of time that they don't have to keep it.
Harmonix and Electronic Arts' love child Rock Band is supposed to launch its North American tour in a little over a week, but Canada might not be seeing this game until just before Christmas. Canadian retailer Future Shop (owned by Best Buy) has updated its listing for the game with a new release date: December 19 for Xbox 360 and the day after for PlayStation 3. (Curiously, a version of Rock Band withoutinstruments is also listed for those dates.)
A number of readers have also reported that their local Canadian EB Games are corroborating the four-week delay. There's no official word from EA or Harmonix yet. Online retailers are prone to error, and with just a week before the game is slated for release, we hope that's all it is. Otherwise, given such short notice and such a noticeable delay, local EA offices might have a mosh pit of angry Hockey fanatics to contend with.
Update: bits bytes pixels and sprites has an interview with Harmonix where it is noted that packaging regulations (i.e. Canadian boxes must have English and French text) might cause a short delay -- though we hardly doubt that would justify four weeks of absence. It should also be noted that the PS2 version of the game is due out December 17 which, if the delay is indeed an error, would explain the origins of the miscommunicated release date.
If you're the sort that turns their nose up at paying less that $600 for a PS3 and has an insatiable hunger for gigabytes and off-road racing, you may want to point your browser to EBgames.com, where 80GB PS3 pre-orders have gone on sale.
It may seem a bit of overkill to pre-order a system that's already available and hasn't exactly been flying off shelves, but those who want to pay $600 for their game system as a matter of pride or only like a limited number of the PS2 games they own may want to act fast. -- If some are to be believed, you may have less time to buy a $600 PS3 than you think.
Don't be surprised if heated debates over Smash Bros. Brawl character supremacy take on a terrifying new dimension now that it's been confirmed on the official blog that all Wii-compatible remotes will work with the game. "Sure, Kirby can beat Meta Knight if everybody's using GameCube controllers," the clerk at your local EB Games might say, "but you don't even understand Kirby until you've turned the Wiimote on its side, that's his spinach."
If you're puzzling over what does what exactly, keep wondering -- director Masahiro Sakurai is staying mum. He does admit though that he prefers the GameCube controller because he "like[s] the feel of that powerful rumble." ... Wow, we didn't mean to end the post all creepy, sorry, we'll change the subject. So, how are you planning on playing?
You're reading Joystiq, so you're probably used to knowing more than the guy on the other side of the counter at your local game store. You may have noticed a few times when they haven't been strictly honest with their spiel ... or strictly intelligent. Now instead of cursing the darkness you can allow yourself to vent at Pre-Order Pushers, created by Nathan Smart of The Game Rag fame with help from our own Kyle Orland (or Ky-Ky Baby as he's known in the office.)
There are already some real gems here. We're particularly smitten with the manager who, in the quest to get a Spider-Man 2 pre-order, told customers that the game was like a hybrid of GTA and KOTOR that allows you to punch pedestrians, fill up your evil meter, transform into Venom and infect people with your symbiote to have them fight for you. Yeah, Spider-Man 2.
If you're a game store clerk you may be tempted to get your dander up -- don't. They're not talking about you, they're talking about the bad ones. Just think of this as the spiritual counterbalance to Acts of Gord.
The ESRB is attempting to prove with a new study that their ratings system is doing more than just cluttering up game boxes. The group says that 90% of American parents of gaming kids are aware of the ratings and 85% use them regularly when buying games. Those numbers are up from 84% and 73% from last year.
While it's certainly good news for fans of industry self-regulation if accurate, this surprisingly high number of rating-literate parents comes at a conveniently good time for the ESRB, which currently has its independence threatened yet again by the "Truth in Video Games" act reintroduced by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas).
But who knows? Maybe the ratings are catching on. One concerned 4-foot-tall man pre-ordering Grand Theft Auto IV in our local game store who assured us that was "really a parent" certainly thought so. "Yes, I don't want my son, the son that I really have, playing those awful violent games," he said, pressing on his waxy-looking mustache nervously for emphasis. "When I have a legally-obtained beer with my adult friends at adult parties, we often talk about the ratings of games being played by our children, our real children ... the ones who are not us. Now, if you'll excuse me I hear my mom honking. Wait, no -- my wife. It's my wife honking. The wife that I have."
The European game retail space just got a little less competitive. American movie rental giant Blockbuster announced today that it is selling its British Gamestation subsidiary to European mega-retailer Game Group PLC for $150 million (approx. £74 million). The move will increase Game's British footprint by over 200 stores and leave the chain as the largest games retailer in Europe by a sizable margin.
The consolidation is reminiscent of the merger between Gamestop and EBGames a few years back that created a virtual monopoly on U.S. game retailers. There had been somespeculation that GameStop would scoop up GameStation next, getting a larger toehold in the British market in the process, but that now seems to be a missed opportunity. "Instead of gaining traction in the market through an acquisition of Gamestation, GameStop allowed its key rival in the UK, Game Group, to create a greater barrier to entry in that market," analyst Michael Pachter said. "We are not optimistic that GameStop will be able to grow a grass roots presence in the UK for at least three years."
Similar to the Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for Sony Wii typo a few weeks ago, the front page of EB Games lists Super Paper Mario as an Xbox 360 game. Quick! Everyone run into the streets screaming "NINTENDO WAS BOUGHHT BAI MICRO$OFT HAHALOL!!!!1!!1"!
Not only is the system listed incorrectly, but the price tag is a rather steep $89.99. Looks like the database went cross-eyed and displayed the neighboring Guitar Hero IIinformation for both entries. Oopsies. Clicking through to the Super Paper Mario product page shows all is well behind-the-scenes.
Wait, you didn't know? The future is where all the fun is. It's where children laugh in unceasing delight, merrily skipping through the radioactive wastelands with their DS Lites held tightly in at least one of their seven hands. Indeed, a copy of Hotel Dusk is just the thing to idle the day away and distract from the impending threat of multi-headed toaster beasts roaming the world.
Thus is the picture painted by a recent EB Games flyer posted in the NeoGAF forums, urging consumers to trade in the past and embrace a more touchy-feely sort of future. As if hurling the PSP into "the past" wasn't confusing enough, the original version of the DS also finds itself traveling through time. Doesn't that create some sort of inconceivable time paradox?
San Antonio Police are investigating the tragic murder of an EB Games employee. The unidentified woman was found dead inside an EB Games store along San Pedro Ave around 2 p.m. today. Two store managers made the gruesome discovery upon arriving at the store, following failed attempts to contact the victim by phone.
Police believe the slaying occurred during a robbery, despite no obvious signs of a break-in. Sgt. Edward Wise confirmed that the front door was locked and that the store never opened this morning. Wise declined to detail the woman's injuries or give insight into why police believe a robbery took place. It's unclear how long the body had been inside the store.
Over on the Cheap Ass Gamer forums panic has begun to take hold. Poster 'FSUEagles' claims that in no less than ten days Rhino Video Games will be officially converted to a GameStop property. While it's hard to imagine the transition would occur that quickly (especially when store managers are allegedly being told today), the acquisition would not be unprecedented.
Aside from the GameStop brand, the corporate umbrella encompasses EB Games, FuncoLand, and Software Etc., and governs 4,592 retail stores throughout the U.S. Adding Rhino, which has fewer than 100 locations, is small potatoes -- the move would be similar to GameStop's 2002 Gamesworld buyout in Ireland -- but still an important step in controlling the used game market. Rhino currently promotes a popular 2-for-1 deal, whereby patrons can trade two qualifying used titles for any one game priced under $50 (a difference must be paid on games that exceed the price restriction). If GameStop does acquire Rhino from Blockbuster then expect trade-in values to diminish overnight.
Investigators believe that the theft of $20,000 in systems and games from a Hooksett, N.H., EBGames could be connected to a string of similar thefts across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The thieves are targeting Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 systems because intense interest is driving high resale values according to a report from the Concord Monitor.
Detective Matt Fleming warned that thieves may soon expand their focus from stores to homes with new systems, warning owners to "secure them in your homes as best you can." We wouldn't be too worried though -- according to an AP report the thieves in Hooksett "tried to steal the floor model PlayStation 3 ... but couldn't get into the metal cabinet housing it." Foiled... by a kiosk!
According to a memo obtained by GameDaily BIZ from smaller video game chain Rhino Video Games, Sony has "decided to limit the supply of hardware (systems and accessories) to its top five volume retailers (Wal-Mart, Target, etc.)" on the November 17 launch day.
However, we know of at least seven major retailers receiving PlayStation 3 units on launch day. In addition to Target and Wal-Mart, we know GameStop / EB Games, Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears and Toys 'R' Us are having PS3s on launch day. We know supplies will be very limited and GameStop won't be fulfilling all of its PS3 pre-orders (already conservative figures).
That smaller retail chains will not have PS3s on launch day is not that surprising, but only the "top five retailers" is wrong and makes the memo a bit suspect. Rhino Video Games will not be getting PS3s on launch day -- a fact reaffirmed on its website -- the rest is not true. Rest assured, there will be PS3s for sale at all retailers by the end of 2007. We hope.
The rumor -- PlayStation 3 pre-orders sold on eBay will be cancelled by EB-Gamestop -- was a stretch when it first surfaced two days ago, and now EB-Gamestop's director of public & media relations Chris Olivera has officially debunked it. "Are we canceling pre-orders that appear on eBay? The answer to that is no," Olivera confirmed.
eBay will continue to moderate PlayStation 3 (and Wii) pre-order auctions using these guidelines:
Only one of each console can be listed per eBay account prior to the launch of the console
The seller must only accept payment through PayPal, and have at least 50 feedback with a 98% or greater positive rating so that they qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection
The pre-sale item must be listed in the 3, 5, 7 or 10-day formats, and cannot use Buy It Now
The listing must include a photo of your pre-order receipt in the description
You may remember last week reading about a Canadian EB promotion that would allow you to buy Haze, play it for a week and then return it to the store for full credit. It's a great promotion, but we're not sure it makes a lot of dollars and sense for Ubisoft. That's probably a good clue as to why we're sadly reporting that the deal is no more.
The European game retail space just got a little less competitive. American movie rental giant Blockbuster 
Investigators believe that the theft of $20,000 in systems and games from a Hooksett, N.H., EBGames could be connected to a string of similar thefts across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The thieves are targeting Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 systems because intense interest is driving high resale values according to a report from the 
