Walmart/EB/RCT2 Street Date

This is a summarization and reply to multiple topics posted earlier on the board, concerning the following:

One post concerning Wal-Mart shelving RCT2 before 10/15 but refusing to sell. One post concerning a release date of 10/14 on Electronics Boutique's website. Replies to posts about similar experiences and early sales of the game by Target.

I would like to reply to those who were angry at Wal-Mart and other stores for not selling something though it was on the shelves. Rollercoaster Tycoon II was street dated, and could NOT be sold before the street date of Oct. 15th due to this.

I am aware of the laws in a few states which require any establishment displaying an item for sale to sell this item, even if it is a display model and the last one in stock. Actually, in Ohio, when we ran sales at Sun TV, we could sell down to the display model, but were required NOT to sell the display. While we had a product on sale, we HAD to have at least one of it in the store, even if that meant not selling the last one.

However, a street date is a legal obligation for sellers not to sell the game before a specific date. Whatever the laws in your home state, it would most likely be much cheaper to turn down a customer than pay the huge fine for breaking a street date.

I can't vouch for the service you received, obviously, but I can tell you that I would NOT have sold you the game either, and I would have the product removed immediately. And the guy from the Ohio Wal-Mart who responded, saying he'd have sold you the product...You have no idea how much trouble you could get your store in. I recommend you speak with someone in the distribution of music, movies, or software about what can happen if you pre-release something without the company's authorization. It may save you many troubles in the future.

I'm not sure if Target had some authorization to pre-sell, or if they decided to chance it and possibly absorb the fines, or what the deal was because there are no Targets in my area, but the EBGames.com release of the 14th was accurate, as you would still receive your game on the 15th.

It was an error on any store's part to display RCT2 on their stock shelves anytime before midnight last night, and it is DEFINITELY worth an apology to any customers who had to be turned down. You should have been apologized to by the manager in the software area of that store, in my opinion. However, they did make one correct decision along the way, and that was withholding sales of the street dated software.

Alan--PTC/ScrewCrew02

Back in my post-college career crisis days, working at CompUSA, game release dates were not yet that big of a deal (and we didn't sell console games yet). However, such agreements did exist with other vendors, most notably Microsoft. I worked there for the Windows 95 launch (but thank God not that night), and I can tell you that we had memos sent from senior executives telling us they'd outright take legal action against us if a single copy left the store early.

-----------------
Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, when it's all in your mind. You gotta let go." - Ghetto, Supreme Beings of Leisure

It's a very serious thing, even more so because of things like peer to peer file sharing. Say, the game comes out on Oct. 15th. Stores get it as soon as Oct. 8th or so, one person gets one copy, and they make a cd-image of it, put it on kazaa, and on Oct. 14th, the day before the game ever becomes available, 5000, 6000 people already have it. That wouldn't matter much in the grand scheme of sales, but FIRST DAY SALES, or LAUNCHES, or whatever marketing term you want to use, are great publicity indicators.

You want an explosive first day for publicity purposes, and many other reasons. If everyone already downloaded all the songs off your new album, then no one will rush to the store to buy it. It won't "make waves" in the record stores. Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 is making waves today, but if NOBODY had it until today, it would be hitting just a bit harder, because we wouldn't have all this "trainers already out, here's more screenshots, and i got a saved game for you to download."

Everyone would get it all at once and the commotion would begin. Street dates are a good idea for potential big hits, and the lawyers all keep their eyes open, trust me :-)

Alan--PTC/ScrewCrew02

-----------------
"It's always better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it" - ME

Nope. Can't say I would've turned it down, honestly...but I didn't mind waiting. Being a mobile DJ with a subscription Promo Only (a great music service for active DJ's and radio stations) and having friends in radio, I get my hands on alot of music before it comes out to the public. I never share it on Kazaa before the release date, because I appreciate the entire "first day" madness I discussed earlier. If I play the new N Sync track before it even premieres on MTV, the high school homecoming freshman girls love it...even if they are a bit confused about what's going on, because they had never heard it before.

All things considered, I could probably get my hands on software a little early if I talked to friends (Best Buy employee, for example) but I'll just wait and enjoy The Big Day with everyone else, just like this time.

By the way, I love the new version, of course there are minor things I'd like changed, but how can you please an enthusiast? You can't. Today's technology couldn't POSSIBLY handle the requests of us enthusiasts, because we're spoiled :-P

I built CP's Corkscrew very close to spec, height, drop, bunnyhill, etc...the loop's kinda shabby, but what can you do? I think Raptor will be next...