Kotaku: early

Can Someone Tell Touchstone Turok Came Out Three Days Ago?

fdemarco — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:00:00 MST

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?

No More Heroes Gets Early Release

fdemarco — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:00:00 MST

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?

No More Heroes Ships Early [IGN]

Mass Effect Street Date Broken Ten Days Early

fdemarco — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:00:00 MST

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.

So, if you live near a K-Mart and can get there before the word spreads and Bioware makes them yank it of the shelf, you could be playing Mass Effect this afternoon. A check at my local K-mart saw me leave empty handed, but who knows, you may get lucky.

CAGs Score Mass Effect Early at Kmart [CheapAssGamer]

GameStop Employees Fear Halo 3 Box Tape

Mike Fahey — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:00:09 MDT

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.

GameStop getting strict with Halo 3! [Rated-M]