Gamertell

What Activision does in the wake of retailers breaking street date on what may be the biggest game launch of all time will surely impact the future of the “street date” concept.

We play this little game every time a major release comes out. Somebody, or several somebodies, start selling it early by “accident.”

This time, though, GameStop execs believe people were doing it on purpose to get some sales over on the mega retailer. As GameStop’s empire expands, it’s getting harder and harder for companies to take the giant’s knees out from under it legitimately.

I don’t doubt for a second that at least a few retailers (or their employees) knew exactly what they were doing this weekend. I mean, if you work at a game store, haven’t you had the street date concept drilled into your head constantly?

Editor’s Note: Street dates for games are often clearly indicated on the shipping box in large, bold print or using a brightly colored sticker.

We all know exactly when Modern Warfare 2 was supposed to go on sale (it’s kind of a big deal in the industry.) GameStop brass look to have had their fill and didn’t have any desire to eat a few million preorders this week.

Not that anybody is going to have a problem selling copies of this game in holiday season 2009 but I get the gist of GameStop’s motivation.

These sales weren’t isolated incidents. A quick check of Xbox Live confirmed thousands of people had this game before they were supposed to. And by the amount of playtime logged, these folks had the game for quite a while.

Looks like a number of retailers were daring Activision to do something about this. If they don’t, the street date concept in general may be going the way of the Sega Dreamcast.

It’s always hard to prove intent. Those that jumped out before GameStop can claim miscommunication or misunderstanding, however unconvincing those cries may be. GameStop admitted it was about to break street date in “select markets,” which is akin to being “a little pregnant.” There’s these sites called eBay and Craigslist. If you buy something in New York you’re not supposed to have a week before you’re not supposed to have it, you can ship it anywhere in the world in a day or two.

If a company the size of GameStop doesn’t get hit with some stiff penalties for doing this, there will be no incentive for other retailers not to do it. Gradually, if more and more people break street date and see no harm from it, nobody’s going to obey street dates.

Once a game is out there early, it’s out there. This changes the play experience dramatically as higher level gamers get better perks and know their way around maps better than people who are brand new to the game.

Then there’s the matter of spoilers. Since the leaked footage, there’s been a great deal of curiosity about the game’s content. A broken street date increases the chance you will relive the moment some Chatty Kathy ran past you screaming, “Vader is Luke’s father,” before you saw The Empire Strikes Back.
Human nature is not that hard to understand. We don’t do wrong when we think we’ll get punished and do things we think we can get away with. GameStop’s executives think the punishment coming from Activision will cost less than getting beaten out selling MW2 in major cities. They wouldn’t have done it otherwise.

Now I don’t know too many gamers, myself included, who would weep for the death of the street date. It has always been an exercise in frustration to know a game I want is sitting in the stock room but no one can sell it to me under penalty of…?

Well, Activision? What is the penalty for this one?

Read [Gamertell] Also Read [Kotaku]