Got game

With very few exceptions (like the release of Halo 2) the "release date" listed for a game is the day it gets shipped out to stores. Stores don't actually have the product that day. Stores with a good supplier will have it the day following the release date.

Trust me on this. I have optimistically hit stores on the release date for several major titles, and none of them have it. That includes the massive Toys R Us at Times Square, which has a huge video gaming section, several GameStops here in Manhattan, CompUSA and even J&R.

J&R I single out for scorn on three counts:

1. They don't even get games the day after the release. Their game buyer doesn't care, apparently.
2. They don't organize their titles at all, making it impossible to find things without asking a sales clerk, who can be impossible to find.
   
   In fairness, GameSpot is usually just as bad, but I always just go straight to the counter to buy, since all the stock is there. At J&R the person behind the counter is only a cashier, and you have to bring product to the counter to buy it. Toys R Us has all their PS2 titles pretty well organized, but the Xbox stuff is a random mess. Why these stores don't keep things in order is beyond me. Imagine a music store that did that with CDs.
3. Because J&R keeps product on the shelves, they make you check the tiniest bags before you can browse.

Ok, that last one it a nitpick, but I was cranky when they didn't have Ghost Recon 2, which would have been very convenient since J&R isn't far off my way home from work.

I am happy to report, though, that Ghost Recon 2 is an amazing game, and a coop Xbox live gamers dream come true. It is also blisteringly difficult, in a way that feels challenging and not frustrating. Definitely a thinking person's shooter, and the first game that ever really made me feel like I was really on a battlefield. The mission variety and choice of player roles is impressive too.
posted 10:45 PM | link |