So, let’s get this straight. In Canada this weekend, take any Xbox 360 or PS3 game—good, bad or ugly; GOTY or shovelware—trade it in, and get a free copy of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts or Battlefield 4. Is that right? Is someone smoking crack up there? Not you, mayor …
The offer was made by Canada’s Best Buy—repeat, not in the United States—which includes the Futureshop brand. Futureshop is the country’s largest consumer electronics retailer, with 139 stores nationwide, and the trade-in offer is good for Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and PlayStation Vita games, too.
The deal is supposed to last until Monday, which it won’t, because there is no way in hell by then that Canadian gamers won’t have skeletonized that stockpile like a cow wading in the Amazon. Hell, they may already have.
Here’s a panorama from one store, as tweeted by Alex Jebailey
Financial Post, whose Post Arcade first wrote about the offer yesterday, quoted Ubisoft Toronto’s Zack Cooper as saying two Futureshop locations in that city were wiped out of copies of all three games just 45 minutes after opening on Saturday. Cops also were called for crowd control, though no disturbances were expected or reported. C’mon, it’s Canada after all.
It’s such a ludicrous deal, even after a senior Futureshop representative publicly confirmed all of the details of the offer, people continued to pour disbelief into Financial Post‘s comments, email and Twitter accounts and even phone lines.
“Still scratching our heads over potential reasons they’d do this,” tweeted Post Arcade contributor Anand Ram, who took the image at top.
It was, basically, mayhem. “Boxing Day-like pandemonium,” wrote FP.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/399205399313657857
@dkaszor Guelph reporting in: about hundred people deep, xbox supplies dwindling, PS3 copies holding… for now
— Dr Jack, MD PhD (@JohnJackArthur) November 9, 2013
This is what happens they announce trade in old video games for free, better and new games! #FutureShop #fb pic.twitter.com/7l0sJUO18q
— Nathalie Rodriguez (@natrodriguez11) November 9, 2013
Free games are more fun than those you pay for. #futureshop pic.twitter.com/zfdIkA0QJ4
— Tom Cooley (@TMoneyHfx) November 9, 2013
Anyone sneaking across the border? Good luck. Pick me up a bottle of deux deux deuxs while you’re at it.
Boxing-Day-like pandemonium at Futureshop and BestBuy locations after free game deal [Financial Post]
