darkSpyro

I thought this would be a cool place to post pics or stories of retailers that put their Swap Force out early. Kind of a fun "Ha Ha Ha...dumbass" thread for retailers. I'll start with these little gems





I saw these at my local Walmart on Sunday morning 10-6-13. The funny part is that this Walmart notoriously misses street date. ANY Sunday Nintendo release isn't put out until Tuesday and Tuesday releases are usually put on on Wednesday or Thursday. I saw some PS3 and X Box 360's behind the register and asked if I could get one. At first the associate was like "sure" and started to ring it up when the unthinkable happened...DO NOT SELL popped up on the register. DOHHHH!!!!!!! So close yet not so far away until I can get it legit. Anyways lets have some fun this week until launch and try to shame retailers that can't read boxes. No need to post specific store as we don't want to get anyone in trouble.

Um did you buy those?

Quote: ninja9351

Um did you buy those?

*facepalm* READ THE POST and find out if he bought them.

Quote: ninja9351

Um did you buy those?

Couldn't...I sure as hell tried though lol. Most big box retailers and places like Gamestop have time delayed UPS that will tell the cashier they can't sell the item yet. Stupid street date coding.../punches air. I had it in my hand man lol.

Quote: weebbby

Quote: ninja9351

Um did you buy those?

*facepalm* READ THE POST and find out if he bought them.

This too lol.

I want to see mishaps too they better let me buy lol

No pics but a Walmart near me had 2 of the Wii U versions out - so I got to look at the box a week early
Also tried to see if they'd sell it, but no luck.

ShaneG.

Yeah there was also a regular Wii box out there when I was down without my camera. I had to go back for something else and the Wii version was gone. Oh well one more week to go...WOOT.

Quote: weebbby

Quote: ninja9351

Um did you buy those?

*facepalm* READ THE POST and find out if he bought them.

He said Xbox 360 and PS3 and didn't mention the words starter pack. When he said this I thought he was talking about years ago when the PS3 and Xbox 360 came out and he saw the consoles behind the counter at Walmart.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item4d137e8cf8

An eBay seller.. ACTUALLY SELLING THE GAME FOR CHEAP? That's surprising.

^No game characters. Apparently just wanted the guys for his console game.

I had a 3DS and 360 version in my hand today. I tried everything I could to get them to sell them both to me today, but alas, it was a failure.

I saw the Xbox 360 version in this cart behind the counter at my closest Target that always has random crap in it. I asked if that was indeed the Starter Pack for Xbox 360 and he said yes. Funny part is, he sighed and said "Too bad even I can't play it yet...."

Retailers have idiot-proofed their software to ensure street dates are honored. It's the only way for them to be sure so as not to get penalized. Regardless of idiot-proofing, there is always a better idiot. But, in this case, it looks like the the check is holding.

I've always thought street dates were stupid.

If something is done, and it's in stores, those stores should be allowed to sell it. That's my opinion anyway.

Wow you guys are impatient haha

Quote: GameMaster78

I've always thought street dates were stupid.

If something is done, and it's in stores, those stores should be allowed to sell it. That's my opinion anyway.

1000% agree. It's marketing plain and simple. Plus the midnight release has kind of skewed this in their favor. You also have the fall out of "My friend in California has the game and I don't since I live in New Mexico. I hate you Activision". Stupid reason but there it is. If it was just "Hey Swap Force will be out in October, happy hunting". If that was the case a lot of us would be playing right now lol.

I was so hoping to bring home both copies. I was going to make some videos showing what EVERY character looked like with the new graphics engine.

The Skylanders we haven't seen with the new engine are -

Voodood
Wrecking Ball
Double Trouble
Ninjini
Bash
Dino-Rang
Zap
Slam Bam
Thumpback
Sunburn
Ignitor
Flameslinger
Hot Head
Drobot
Drill Sergeant
Boomer
Bouncer
Ghost Roaster
Hex
Eye Brawl
Sonic Boom
Lightning Rod
Swarm
Stump Smash
Zook

I want to see what all Skylanders look like with the new HD engine.

Six days isn't long. No biggie.

Quote: GameMaster78

I've always thought street dates were stupid.

If something is done, and it's in stores, those stores should be allowed to sell it. That's my opinion anyway.

This ain't true. Multiple games have day one patch. If the date isn't respected, many players might receive a game that is not ready. And this, the retailers can't know. The retailers can't know which game is currently having a patch worked on, and thus, they shouldn't be allowed to release the game prior the date.

Quote: Reimu

Quote: GameMaster78

I've always thought street dates were stupid.

If something is done, and it's in stores, those stores should be allowed to sell it. That's my opinion anyway.

This ain't true. Multiple games have day one patch. If the date isn't respected, many players might receive a game that is not ready. And this, the retailers can't know. The retailers can't know which game is currently having a patch worked on, and thus, they shouldn't be allowed to release the game prior the date.

Except we know there will be no updated patches or content coming for this game.

wow! i am jealous of this, oh well, spoilers!

Quote: Reimu

Quote: GameMaster78

I've always thought street dates were stupid.

If something is done, and it's in stores, those stores should be allowed to sell it. That's my opinion anyway.

This ain't true. Multiple games have day one patch. If the date isn't respected, many players might receive a game that is not ready. And this, the retailers can't know. The retailers can't know which game is currently having a patch worked on, and thus, they shouldn't be allowed to release the game prior the date.

I could almost accept this if it weren't for two glaring issues. First is that the publisher shouldn't ship a product that isn't ready and yet day 1 patches still occur. Second, not all games are patchable, like Skylanders. There is no practical reason for a game like Skylanders to be held to a street date. None at all.

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: Reimu

Quote: GameMaster78

I've always thought street dates were stupid.

If something is done, and it's in stores, those stores should be allowed to sell it. That's my opinion anyway.

This ain't true. Multiple games have day one patch. If the date isn't respected, many players might receive a game that is not ready. And this, the retailers can't know. The retailers can't know which game is currently having a patch worked on, and thus, they shouldn't be allowed to release the game prior the date.

I could almost accept this if it weren't for two glaring issues. First is that the publisher shouldn't ship a product that isn't ready and yet day 1 patches still occur. Second, not all games are patchable, like Skylanders. There is no practical reason for a game like Skylanders to be held to a street date. None at all.

If it was that easy.... Publishers are not responsible when the firmware of a console changes. This can happen at any time during the production of a game, and CAN (not always) break several features. When this happens, often the game is already out to be printed, and a patch is then needed to repair what has been broken.

Release dates occur so publishers can track sales, and marketplaces don't fight amongst each other. Having an item 'behind the counter' isn't putting the product out early either: more than likely that item came in the freight we have to deal with daily and just hasn't been worked into the bins.

You want a *real* problem? Wal-Mart's presale program. We're supposed to hold a copy for each person that reserved a copy in store using the $5 cards. However, companies don't send us enough freight to cover that. So one of two things will happen: one is that none of the regular consumers will have access to it until after the ten day holding period is up, or people that reserved in store such as myself will not get a copy because they sold out.

Quote: Reimu

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: Reimu

This ain't true. Multiple games have day one patch. If the date isn't respected, many players might receive a game that is not ready. And this, the retailers can't know. The retailers can't know which game is currently having a patch worked on, and thus, they shouldn't be allowed to release the game prior the date.

I could almost accept this if it weren't for two glaring issues. First is that the publisher shouldn't ship a product that isn't ready and yet day 1 patches still occur. Second, not all games are patchable, like Skylanders. There is no practical reason for a game like Skylanders to be held to a street date. None at all.

If it was that easy.... Publishers are not responsible when the firmware of a console changes. This can happen at any time during the production of a game, and CAN (not always) break several features. When this happens, often the game is already out to be printed, and a patch is then needed to repair what has been broken.

On this point I agree with you yet Skylanders never patches...what's that about? I always thought it would be cool if they released a magical item that contained a patch and gave you a bonus item. That would be both handy and awesome....but then you have distribution issues getting said items to the players. Yeah Activision is just dumb, they need online connectivity for Skylanders.

Quote: Reimu

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: Reimu

This ain't true. Multiple games have day one patch. If the date isn't respected, many players might receive a game that is not ready. And this, the retailers can't know. The retailers can't know which game is currently having a patch worked on, and thus, they shouldn't be allowed to release the game prior the date.

I could almost accept this if it weren't for two glaring issues. First is that the publisher shouldn't ship a product that isn't ready and yet day 1 patches still occur. Second, not all games are patchable, like Skylanders. There is no practical reason for a game like Skylanders to be held to a street date. None at all.

If it was that easy.... Publishers are not responsible when the firmware of a console changes. This can happen at any time during the production of a game, and CAN (not always) break several features. When this happens, often the game is already out to be printed, and a patch is then needed to repair what has been broken.

Aren't we lucky then to have a game that would be permanently broken if this happened? Cause they aren't coming.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Six days isn't long. No biggie.

6 days isn't long. 54 IS...

Quote: Drek95

Quote: GhostRoaster

Six days isn't long. No biggie.

6 days isn't long. 54 IS...

And 6 month was long!!!

Quote: Tigorus

I could almost accept this if it weren't for two glaring issues. First is that the publisher shouldn't ship a product that isn't ready and yet day 1 patches still occur. Second, not all games are patchable, like Skylanders. There is no practical reason for a game like Skylanders to be held to a street date. None at all.

There is a reason to enforce street dates. First of all, retailers get their shipments on different days, if they can sell it as soon as they get it then stores that get their shipments late are penalized by missing some of those coveted first day sales. Secondly it is for marketing reasons. Companies have everything from "review embargoes", to ad buys, to special offers and sales that coincide with releases. By enforcing street dates they can coordinate these things on a level playing field for almost all retailers. They can also use cheaper methods for shipping and ship well in advance without exasperating shipment arrival variances.

Sure it seems like it stinks because they have the game in the back (or it got put out by mistake), but I can tell you that it REALLY stunk trying to find a new release when you didn't know what day it was coming in (like it used to be). Think about how annoying it is to track down a new Skylander figure when you have no idea when or where it will show up and how great it is when TRU has a Hot Toy Alert. It is also nice when a store has a special deal on a game on release day, which they can do when they can plan for a specific day since weekly ads are created weeks ahead of time.

I still remember one of the first games with a street date, Sonic 2 for the Genesis. I worked at an Electronics Boutique back then in college, and sure it sucked seeing the boxes and not being able to touch them, but it sure was nice for people to be able to go into a store on a certain day at opening and know they could find it. I distinctly remember the "fun" of trying to locate Sonic 1 when it came out - running from store to store over the course of several days.

Quote: LloydDXZX

Quote: Drek95

Quote: GhostRoaster

Six days isn't long. No biggie.

6 days isn't long. 54 IS...

And 6 month was long!!!

True. Is it just me, or with Giants the hype was waaaaaaay less?

Quote: defpally

Quote: Tigorus

I could almost accept this if it weren't for two glaring issues. First is that the publisher shouldn't ship a product that isn't ready and yet day 1 patches still occur. Second, not all games are patchable, like Skylanders. There is no practical reason for a game like Skylanders to be held to a street date. None at all.

There is a reason to enforce street dates. First of all, retailers get their shipments on different days, if they can sell it as soon as they get it then stores that get their shipments late are penalized by missing some of those coveted first day sales. Secondly it is for marketing reasons. Companies have everything from "review embargoes", to ad buys, to special offers and sales that coincide with releases. By enforcing street dates they can coordinate these things on a level playing field for almost all retailers. They can also use cheaper methods for shipping and ship well in advance without exasperating shipment arrival variances.

Sure it seems like it stinks because they have the game in the back (or it got put out by mistake), but I can tell you that it REALLY stunk trying to find a new release when you didn't know what day it was coming in (like it used to be). Think about how annoying it is to track down a new Skylander figure when you have no idea when or where it will show up and how great it is when TRU has a Hot Toy Alert. It is also nice when a store has a special deal on a game on release day, which they can do when they can plan for a specific day since weekly ads are created weeks ahead of time.

I still remember one of the first games with a street date, Sonic 2 for the Genesis. I worked at an Electronics Boutique back then in college, and sure it sucked seeing the boxes and not being able to touch them, but it sure was nice for people to be able to go into a store on a certain day at opening and know they could find it. I distinctly remember the "fun" of trying to locate Sonic 1 when it came out - running from store to store over the course of several days.

Well to be honest I know it's mostly for marketing reasons as stated above. That's business so I get it...doesn't mean I have to like it. Your example of imagining hunting down a figure is exactly how it works now. Store exclusives are the only figs. that get announced release dates. There are no technical guarantees for figs. when it comes to release dates. Plus back in the day street dates were just release dates and not firm MUST NOT SELL dates. I used to get my games early back in the 90's from K.B. Toys, Costco, Target and others slightly before the release date. Software Etc. would sell thing early too. And to me the HUNT is one of the best parts of this whole experience. I mean damn son we already hunt from store to store with supposed street dates so the figs. are already in full chaos mode.

another picture than the first one plz? I love to see new stuff!!!

5 days isn't long

Some people aren't getting it in 5 days. I'm not, I might get the swappers I need from wave 1, but not the game, I'll wait to get the starter pack.

Im sure I can have tons of fun just swapping the 4 swappers I hope to get continuously....

Quote: isaac343018s

Some people aren't getting it in 5 days. I'm not, I might get the swappers I need from wave 1, but not the game, I'll wait to get the starter pack.

Im sure I can have tons of fun just swapping the 4 swappers I hope to get continuously....

Omg... you seriously don't buy the game at day one!?!? I wouldn't survive... lol I preordered dark edition but for the normal starter pack, I'll wait until it's like giants 40$ with a coupon or stuff like that!

I did not see this, therefore I have no proof but my grandmother claims to have seen them at my local Walmart, given the details she gave I am trusting her although it doesn't really matter as they probably wouldn't have sold the game anyway.

Quote: LloydDXZX

Quote: isaac343018s

Some people aren't getting it in 5 days. I'm not, I might get the swappers I need from wave 1, but not the game, I'll wait to get the starter pack.

Im sure I can have tons of fun just swapping the 4 swappers I hope to get continuously....

Omg... you seriously don't buy the game at day one!?!? I wouldn't survive... lol I preordered dark edition but for the normal starter pack, I'll wait until it's like giants 40$ with a coupon or stuff like that!

I'm just getting the figures first, then getting the game at a later point. I will however buy some s2's or 3's to keep me occupied in Giants until I get it. Plus, I want to level up all my current characters to lvl 15 (only 16 left as i have 2 at lvl 15) and then do Nightmare mode in Giants... I can wait......I mean, I have been waiting since february.....

I'm waiting until the 19th, which is my birthday, and only going to target day one to get the double pack with nitro magna charge and rattle shake

Quote: Matteomax

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item4d137e8cf8

An eBay seller.. ACTUALLY SELLING THE GAME FOR CHEAP? That's surprising.

so its back to batteries again?

Quote: tobby

Quote: Matteomax

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Skylan...=item4d137e8cf8

An eBay seller.. ACTUALLY SELLING THE GAME FOR CHEAP? That's surprising.

so its back to batteries again?

It's the 3DS game, it always has been with batteries on 3DS. Maybe you didn't notice it was for 3DS