10 000 gamers are reportedly already enjoying Halo: Reach – street dates have clearly been broken as Microsoft’s international release is not till Tuesday 14th September.
On the international front, The Hut and Hut-owned Zavvi shipped their orders three days ahead of the game’s official release next Tuesday (September 14th. The same retailers reportedly also did the same with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, where The Hut shipped the game four days before release. The retailer claimed that it had “taken measures to stop the Royal Mail delivering the games ahead of their official release date. That the same has happened 10 months later will likely irk some of its rivals.”
There have also been sporadic claims of some independent supermarkets already selling the title internationalyl while here (in SA) HiFi Corporation have sold copies over the weekend. So can I have my pre-order yet? Unfortunately my chosen retailer has not released their stock and neither have the big local retailers, but now what is the point?
It would be an absolute logistical impossibility for Microsoft, or any other publisher or distributor to ensure that all stock only get to retailers to not allow street dates to be broken, and even more so with such a massive title that will sell like it is on fire. So the only thing that I can imagine could be done, would be some sort of fine to the guilty sellers.
Microsoft are reportedly resetting any levels to zero on launch day, but I feel for the ‘die hard’ fanboy that has been waiting since ODST for the game. The ones that have read every bit of news and watched any clip to do with the title… I never thought I would say that I feel your pain fanboy.
And seriously, can I have my copy now?