Kotaku: Early

Early Dark Souls Players Thwarted in Typically Brutal Fashion

Mike Fahey — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:00:00 EDT

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Dark Souls doesn't launch in Japan until tomorrow, but some players have managed to get their hands on copies early and are playing away without a care in the world. That is, until From Software invades their games with level 145 Black Phantoms. More »

Have Halo: Reach Early? Go Ahead and Play

Brian Crecente — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:48:56 EDT

Bungie tweets that they won't be banning people for playing a legit copy of Halo: Reach online early. I'm sure the 30,000 or so people already playing will be happy to hear that. More »

Can Someone Tell Touchstone Turok Came Out Three Days Ago?

fdemarco — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:00:00 EST

I've received quite a few emails this weekend from people saying they had picked up copies of Turok at their local stores. While it's not out of the ordinary for a game's street date to be broken by a single outlet, according to Best Buy, GameStop, GameCrazy and Wal-mart the game came out three days ago on Jan. 31. Apparently no one told this to the game's publisher, Touchstone. The official Turok website has a countdown clock that still has a little over two days left on it. The press materials and game websites like IGN and Gamespot also have it listed as a February 5th release. Is this a matter of a mass mistake on the retailers' part or is Touchstone being sneaky and letting the cat out of the bag early on purpose? More »

No More Heroes Gets Early Release

fdemarco — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST

We are constantly inundated with stories of games getting their release dates bumped back, but rarely if ever do we hear about something releasing early. In a statement to IGN yesterday, Ubisoft announced that Suda 51's No More Heroes will be coming to the Wii a little over a month early. Originally slated to release Feb. 29, the quirky cel-shaded cousin of Killer 7 is now set to hit store shelves on Jan. 22. The original release date would have pitted No More Heroes against heavy hitter Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so was this a shrewd marketing move on Ubisofts's part, or merely a coincidence? More »

Mass Effect Street Date Broken Ten Days Early

fdemarco — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST

You know, this whole broken street date is starting to become old hat and normally I wouldn't give it too much thought. But, when the game in question is a title as big as Mass Effect, it bears some looking into. Emails have been coming in over the last four or five hours from happy gamers with attached photos of them delightedly clutching their prizes, their eyes bulging with excitement. Personally I wouldn't even take the time to snap the picture or send the email because I would be too busy playing, but I thank them for their enthusiasm in doing so so we could bring the news to the masses. More »

GameStop Employees Fear Halo 3 Box Tape

Mike Fahey — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:00:09 EDT

As with any really huge game release, GameStop stores around the country are already receiving their truckloads of Halo 3 to be ready for the big launch day. Unlike other huge game releases, however, GameStop employees will not be able to rip open the boxes of Halo goodness and lick them, bring them home to play early, or take photos of themselves sticking the case down their pants. GameStop corporate has distributed an email warning that any employees who so much as nick the packing tape on a Halo 3 case will be fired on the stop. It covers employees from game advisors on up to district managers, and even accidental openings are grounds for termination. I can only assume this will be enforced via surprise inspections, possibly involving jackbooted stormtroopers. More »