You might be able to snag an early copy of the PC version of Borderlands from street-date ignorant vendors, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to play it.
Forum threads are popping up on Gearbox and publisher 2K Games' forums from indignant fans who purchased the PC version of Borderlands at stores either accidentally or purposefully breaking the street date of October 27th, upset that the game won't be playable until October 26th, even in single-player mode. One such purchaser, a Twitter user in Germany with the handle Crimvel, posted the following tweet to Gearbox:
I own a legal PC-copy of Borderlands, and we can't even play the Singleplayer cause of the shitty Securom-protection
A few hours later, Gearbox responded:
The PC version won't be playable until the 26th - your retailer broke the street date :(
As you can tell from the sad emoticon, Gearbox isn't happy about the situation. Fans aren't happy about the situation, and 2K Games is more than likely a little ticked at the retailers who caused the situation.
There was bound to be some confusion, really. When you have three versions of a game in your storeroom and one has a different date than the others, there are going to be mix ups. Still, it's one of the responsibilities of running a video game store or department, and I frankly don't see the point in blaming 2K or Gearbox for this debacle, as so many of the forum posters seem to be doing.
We've contacted both 2K Games and Gearbox for comment on the situation, and are awaiting response from both.
Thanks to everyone who sent in this tip!