So, yesterday Rock Band was finally released in Canada, due to the fact Electronic Arts and Harmonix had to push our release date back twice. [Editor's note: Harmonix has insisted that initial announced North American date didn't apply to Canada to begin with.] They didn't have enough units to cover even the U.S. launch, so they pushed our launch date back in hopes they could handle the U.S. demand at first.
And hey, that's fine ... we're used to getting screwed. *cough* Xbox Live Marketplace *cough*
But yesterday when I unloaded those puppies from our truck at work (Toys 'R' Us), I was greeted by only eight copies of the game; four kits for the Xbox 360, and four kits for the PlayStation 3. We didn't even know if we were getting any units to begin with, but receiving just 8 was disappointing.
Apparently my work wasn't the only store to have problems. EB Games stores expected shipments to arrive on Thursday but didn't even know how many they were going to receive, Best Buy and Future Shop stores were telling customers that the game was due out on December 28th and one local St. Catharines store, Entertainment Overload was forced to buy units from the United States just to get some in stock for the Canadian release date.
One store in Calgary called Play Me was trying to sell 50 early copies of Rock Band that they had purchased in the United States for $800 buck a pop. They recently lowered the price to $500 when the game wasn't flying off the shelves.
Retailers are blaming EA for the lack of units and the lack of knowledge about the game's pricing and release date. I'm just annoyed that I couldn't buy one.
Thanks Scotty G for reminding me to post about this and to Jim Squires from BBPS.com for the local info.
[Via Game|Life and Monster and Critics]
Contest:
7:45 PM on 12.21.2007
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When I got the call from EB that despite being preorder #8 in my city, they only recieved 4 units and I was SOL until TBA, I spent the money I was saving for RB on a new monitor for my computer and decided not to buy RB at all.
(hor at least not until the summer if the price drops and the DLC doesn't peter out and start sucking)
That or Hamilton is playing a really big joke on me.
We had a pre-order from late september, EB had decided that yep, we'll fill pre-orders, nope, we're gonna cancel them, no no wait we changed our mind we'll have preorders, but nothing else.... nope nope now we have no idea.
So after a few calls to customer service at EB (which, shockingly was amazing compared to the dimwits in the stores whose canned responses included 'uhhhh' and 'um, i don't know'.... but ultimately ended up with big fat zeros, and no idea when our pre-order will arrive.
All wasn't lost though, as we wandered in Best Buy in the north end of Toronto (the Downsview location) and they had a stack of 10 units each of PS3 and Xbox 360. Suffice to say, we didn't hesitate to grab one...
So anyone who's in the area, and interest in getting Rock Band, check out that store (it's low volume compared to other BBs in Toronto), and if not, drop me a line... I'm still going to grab my pre-order once it arrives at EB, so if someone needs a copy whenever it shows up, give me a shout and I'll hook you up.
And yes, Rock Band is like the Canadian version of crack.
We had a pre-order from late september, EB had decided that yep, we'll fill pre-orders, nope, we're gonna cancel them, no no wait we changed our mind we'll have preorders, but nothing else.... nope nope now we have no idea.
So after a few calls to customer service at EB (which, shockingly was amazing compared to the dimwits in the stores whose canned responses included 'uhhhh' and 'um, i don't know'.... but ultimately ended up with big fat zeros, and no idea when our pre-order will arrive.
All wasn't lost though, as we wandered in Best Buy in the north end of Toronto (the Downsview location) and they had a stack of 10 units each of PS3 and Xbox 360. Suffice to say, we didn't hesitate to grab one...
So anyone who's in the area, and interest in getting Rock Band, check out that store (it's low volume compared to other BBs in Toronto), and if not, drop me a line... I'm still going to grab my pre-order once it arrives at EB, so if someone needs a copy whenever it shows up, give me a shout and I'll hook you up.
And yes, Rock Band is like the Canadian version of crack.
If I have to listen to one more person say that I ruined their Christmas because they were too stupid to have a backup plan...
I live in the Hammer as well, and I can confirm that every gaming store in this city is either run by ignorants or pathological liars. There's a woman named Arlene in the Eastgate EB that is, and I'm sure of it, the only actual gamer that works in a gaming store in Hamilton. The rest are usually casuals that never heard of anything else than the game their currently dry humping.
I need to destroy something now :(
I mean, what's the point of allowing a customer to pre-order if they have no idea if their pre-order will come in or not?
Otherwise, you're just holding onto their deposit and allowing their money to accrue interest for you.
Yeah, I know companies are in the business of making money, and I realize that sometimes your hamstrung by the manufacturer in regards to quantities, but if you don't know what you're going to get, then why accept pre-orders other than to piss off the people you're promising a service to?
So while I wouldn't single out an employee at an organization for this, (there's no point in belittling someone who has no control over the situation) I would strongly urge a company that should care about it's employees to get their collective heads out of their collective asses and get their shit together. It makes every happier in the long run
amazing game...