darkSpyro

I keep hearing from retailers that if they sell a game (or game related items like with Skylanders or Disney Infinity) prior to the “street date” they will be fined for doing something “illegal”

Now when I ask then who will “fine” them, they don’t know the answer. When I ask them what law is broken and what gives someone the right to “fine” them, they don’t know the answer.

So, here are my questions and maybe someone can show me some real proof of the existence of fines. (i.e. legal statute/ agreement/ regulation)

-What federal/state law makes it illegal to sell a game prior to a “street date”
-Who enforces this law?
-Who decides if a violation is worth a fine or a penalty?
-What is the penalty?
-Is there a distribution agreement that may have penalties? If so, who is part of this agreement?

I would appreciate some good answers from the people that know. I think there is a bunch of misinformation out regarding the subject.

I can't really say much about law since I live in another country, hell, all I know is that Jb Hi Fi loves to break the street date and I support it since we get game's late normally then since Jb Hi Fi breaks it everyone else does so I get my pre-order early from EB Games.
like dayuuum must be those nanomachines son

Breaking street dates is simply illegal because it falls under selling something under unauthorised terms. It's as illegal as selling pirated copies of a product. It's simply not what a company autorised the retailer to do, therefore, it is illegal. It breaks whatever contract the retailer signed. Mainly, it's easy for retailers to take the money from pre street date sales, and not give it into the game company at all. After all, it is the retailer that says how much stock was sold. So they could make off the record sales.

However, much like pirating, it's a law that is barely enforced, unless you are dealing with selling consoles. When I was at the midnight launch for the PS4, they wouldn't let anyone out of the shopping centre before midnight, even though everyone had theirs by 11 o' clock. Yet, when GTA V had it's midnight launch at my local GameStop, people were out before 10 o'clock.

The reason is because it's so easy to slip a copy of a game out early. A company can't exactly keep track of it. And most companies don't actually care when they find out. It's only in regards to the AAA blockbusters (most recent examples being GTA V and Pokémon X and Y) where action is actually taken. And I guess it might matter a lot for games with a strong online component, or a game with a day 1 patch, as if people get to boot a game up earl, before these things are up and running, they might be falsely disappointed in the game and trade it in.

Of course in cases such as with Skylander figures the retailer jsut wants to hold off until some sale, and the individual store gets the shipment before the memo of the date is sent out.

I actually got Polar Whirlwind a week early because of just that. My local GameStop got the shipment in almost a week before the date GameStop was going to sell her and didn't get the e-mail about the special sale until a few days after the shipment arrived. Was able to walk in and buy one without any issues.

On a side note, I remember when the original PlayStation was released my local Target had put it on the shelves a week early. I was able to buy one before they pulled them but the only thing I was able to play was the included demo disc. LOL.