A leading indicator for where things are headed as far as the business of selling games is concerned should be the bigger releases around this time of year. Modern Warfare 2 is no exception, and managed to slap me in the face with a few trends that are developing.
I tried to procure a copy of the regular edition for the 360, which is no doubt the lead SKU. A large retailer was completely out but conveniently did have plenty of any other version/edition, which makes me wonder whether it was on purpose to boost profits on the more expensive versions, kind of like an early adopter tax. Conspiracy theories aside, I managed to track down a copy after a couple retailers said I was SOL without a pre-order, which is completely bogus and not at all how retail should work. Seems to me like a game that will likely be claim the #1 or #2 spot on the bestsellers of the year list should be over stocked to hell on release day, but maybe that’s just me.
Online the story gets even more twisted as it’s basically a Steam exclusive by virtue of the fact that they coupled the two products together so tightly. Other online retailers would be insane to offer a product that forces the customer to make use of a competitors platform, it just doesn’t make business sense. Also the game came out a day late and $10 more expensive online than it did in stores, which is this continuing trend of publishers catering to the chain brick and mortars. Pre-order goodies and having a physical product isn’t enough, now were messing with release dates? Really?
I think my problem with it is that it just doesn’t really make sense to cater to one retailer or another unless they pay a ton of money for the privilege (which admittedly could be the case here). I would wager than consumers looking to buy the game will find a retailer willing to sell it to them, and any retailer that refused to stock a huge release like this would be leaving mounds of money on the table.
Whatever happened to being able to just simply buy a game?
Looks like they always understood that consumers will gladly trade all that paper and plastic for even a measly $10, they just don’t want to give us the option. And you know damn well someone is going to say it’s because of PC piracy.