It seems to always be the like of argos/asda and other big retailers that sell early simply because they dont make it clear to staff theres a release date for these things, and with alot of staff at places like that not knowing much about games they readily hand them over when asked.
I think asda should be afined a little as it will teach them to properly educate their staff on these sorts of things.

It might have been a genuine accident - most games are released on Friday, after all.

A system that prevented the sku from being processed in a transaction before the official release date would stop this happening at the multiples.

Then no "accidents" could occur, just because "Wendy only works Friday afternoons and didn't get the memo."

Seems other Asda's are selling as well..

[img]http://i202.photob.../img]

Pembroke Dock

Ooops

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa57/Silvernige/25-04-08_1557.jpg

genuine accident my arse. Action needs to be taken on this and not let supermarkets bully everyone.

the main thing here is... WILL OTHER RETAILERS FOLLOW SUIT!!! How many irate gamers are there going to be this weekend when they see multiple friends playing GTA!

I was in my local Tesco when this newsflash came up on my XDA so I went to the games section, it was already sold out on the PS3 and 360. So I went to customer services and they said it had sold out and a restock was expected tomorrow. (saturday). So I said "its not out officially until Tuesday - are you sure, she said I am sure its a live product and will be sold tomorrow".

That was Tesco Truro (Cornwall), so I went to the three other stores on my way home, including a large one Extra which has a proper store, they said it was the Truro store breaking the date, they would be selling from Mid 12.01am Midnight, the other local stores either didn't stock PS3/360 or had the shelves with stickered boxes saying out Tuesday 12.01am.

Seems like an isolated incident, but I will be going to my Asda, Sainsburys and back to the Truro store tomorrow - stuff my preorder :)

If that was a small indy like myself caught selling it early, they would probably have the head of Take2 waiting outside their store tomorrow ready to close them down, but as its AGAIN a big store, a slap on the wrist and its all forgotten about....

If stores already have the game, why cant the sell it?

So does this mean others shops will break ?????????

what a joke, of course they are selling it, its in store so they will sell it, they dont play by the same rules as independent game shops, cause take 2 and gem wont risk upsetting such a large customer, they do as they like,
my local tesco has sold out on both formats, huge piss take i think as per usual, bet take 2 would close a small store but not question a supermarket its all talk and no action from publishers

cant stand supermarkets, they do what they want regardless, and no one dare's to upset them or go against them, it another reason this country is goin down the toilet, think ill move into selling more grey stock, fuk publishers ill get usa stock and sell all title b4 uk release, got 50 x Smash bros Brawl coming monday with freeloader, i really dont care about this industry now, i have to make a living or go under

but look at it tesco always announce massive profits every year and if take 2 do issue them a fine it will be a piss in the ocean compared to what they make each year also they've got the market with selling the games early, up with supermarkets, now get the game released nationwide.

This is pathetic! Why can't "we" as in industry put a stop to this nonsense. Every time a big release is launched the finger pointing begins. The rumor mills begin and before you now it everybody starts selling.

I'm a little skeptical about an isolated incident given other stores are selling it but I do believe that "blue rinse betty" who earns £4.50 an hour a hasn't got a clue what a GTA IV is? So what chance has she got to stick to release dates? They just can't think!

You have to ask the question "Why have Take 2 decided to release the game on a Tuesday"? They must have been aware that stock would be delivered before the weekend? Why complicate things?

The only way this can be stopped (sadly) is zero tolerance from publishers. I'm not privy to the signed agreement between take 2 and retailers but I am sure that if it stated that £0.00 marketing money would be paid if retailers broke the street date we wouldn't have this problem.

Sermon over. I'm off to town to by a copy......

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

COME ON YOU SCAREDY CATS GIVE THESE BIG BOYS BIG FINES AND TEACH THESE SUPERMARKETS THEY CANT MESS AROUND WITH YOU FOR ONCE .YOU,VE GOT THEM BY THE SHORT AND CURLY,S WITH THE PROOF FOR ALL TO SEE .!!!!!!!!!!!!! ((( THEY ARE THE FIRST TO BREAK DATE!!!) FINE PLEASE OR WE WILL ALL BUY OFF THEM AND NOT OFF YOU ANY MORE IF WE CAN GET OUR GAMES FROM THEM BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK OF SHIPPING OURS. ONE RULE FOR ONE ,ONE RULE FOR ANOTHER IS IT STILL????TW@S

They won't do anything, the chains always get away with it, they only go for the indies, thats why the street date 'rules' are complete twaddle.

street date, whats that ? ive been sellin games as soon as i get them for years, i just expain to the customer if you want this game early i cant issue a reciept or more recently i just change the date on my till, why should i care what a publisher wants they dont do me any favours, im not tesco, or Asda, i was sellin wii fit on wednesday thanks very much,nearly sold all my gta now, I love it

Going by the postings on many other forums, there are many more copies coming from independent games stores than from the supermarkets. All the big retail stores locally are very clued up about the release date and aren't going to break it.

Mike, are you implying that only the 'big retail stores' are clued up as to the release date? Don't be such a simple minded fool. lol

hello people, any1 on here know anywhere in the manchester area that is sell the game today thanks in advance

how can asda do this i orded ny copy of GTA iv 4 weeks ago yesterday i tracked my order it said would probley get it in advance by 2 or 3 days then i recived a email saying i woud't reciveit till 5th may as anybody eles had this problem and to make it worse they took the money out of my accont as well so i cant buy it any where eles f**king idots

we need a trade body to see it through where they adhere to it for these big boys who repeatedly take the p*ss out of street date embargoes, otherwise why sign to it when your not sticking to it.MORE HELP FOR OTHER RETAILERS YOU WEAK PATHETIC FOOLS

I managed to pick up Wii Fit in Asda too before its release.

It does look like the supermarket is trying to be more gaming-centric, but I pity Mr. Cross and the like for having brain-dead staff.

Surely the endless posters, dummy boxes etc... told them when the release date was. Probably some moron trying to sell to his friend.

That is my game and receipt above, i bough the game from my local ASDA from the George counter, they made a mistake by putting it out and i made sure that i approached the least likely person in the store to know the release date. It was a genuine mistake by them and they have removed all the other GTA4's.
Good to see my good fortune has been spread round the tinternet and i hope no-one lost their job. I only wanted to let others know that if they went down to the store they might have a chance.

Hi,

I have just been to 5 local tesco stores and explained that other tesco stores across the country have released the game and sold out they still refused to put the game on sale.

I Live i the Liverpool area, does anyone know any stores in the north west selling GTA iv before 29th

thanks

As a follow up to yesterdays posts, my local woollies decided to let pre-order customers come and collect today, as a result they were totally sold out by noon.

However the local indie where mine is pre-ordered, despite getting stock yesterday, were having none of it, they would only release stock IF someone could show them a legit receipt from woollies...

It does make me laugh at how much fuss people make over release dates. Honestly, talk about making mountains out of molehills. And don't give me some crap about it benifiting the indies as it doesn't and never has.

Will all you get a hold of yourselfs.

There is only one person to blame me this and its TAKE 2.

Games get released on a FRIDAY and so should GTA. Picking a Tuesday was just stupid.

I've thoroughly enjoyed playing GTA IV today on PS3. Seems my retailer does not know the difference between Saturday and Tuesday.

I picked up a copy of GTA today from my local Sainsbury's in Pinner. There weren't any copies on display so i asked when it was released and was told not for a few days... at which point i asked the to check when it was out so that i could come back. He showed me the screen and it said that it was available for retail on the 24th(!!!) and promptly got me a copy from the warehouse. I did encounter difficulties when i came to pay but explained what had happened and they put it through as misc groceries on the reciept...sorry for everyone that hasn't got it, but trust me, it's worth the wait!!

Im just glad i got to play GTA IV early but i am a little pissed of that supermarkets sell early just to get more money

Its Tuesday as its worldwide release is it not? Mind you why do we have to follow stateside release dates for worldwide...

What annoys me most, is that if people play this online, there is a good chance that M$ will ban them, assuming it's a rip.

It's Tuesday because games/cd/dvd's etc are all released on a Tuesday in North America. So to stop people importing either way, it was decided to release it worldwide on the same day.

Again we are having to bow to what Americans want...

Firstly no-one gains from releasing early they will make the same amount of money be it 3 days early or not. Supermarkets have notorious bad communication issues as they themselves DONT DEAL WITH SOFTWARE COMPANIES its either EUK or Handlemanns they are the ones that screw the dates up. I mean on an update i saw the wii fit was due to come out on Friday 28th of april whats that about lol

Perhaps we should just join the CD and DVD/Blu-Ray industry and move all release dates to Saturday and everyone have the stock delivered Friday afternoon. That should sort it.

....although as most indie games stores in the UK can only make a margin by purchasing from the supermarkets as opposed to the official distributor (Gem in this example), they (indie game stores) should be pleased it seem that Asda have jumped the street date as it gives them an opportunity to get their launch day stock in a little earlier and no street date contract to sign either.

I'm glad I'm not an indie game store, talk about making it hard for the real specialsts....

I'm sure Asda are quaking in their boots...not !

Oh come on!What did I say last week?I am your one God-and not a teddy called Mohammed,hang oh ,eh, oh,whats the phrase numb nutz?"I TOLD YOY SO".

Hold your stock for the panic!

We all know that the big boys would sell early. So lets guess the next headline!

No stock for UK selling early?

Xbox wins the GTA4 war?

PS3 Still no shock3 in GTA4?!

Ebay selling GTA4 for 100.00!

Gray is the only way?!

I'm closing my store cos ASDA killed me!

GTA4 killed my hamster?

Anyone want to get me some odds?!

The release date has been set as a Tuesday so they get more days worth of sales on the title for first week sales on Chart Track...

We all would like to get ahead of everybody and get a copy of GTA iv on the release date or even 2.3days before
that would be grate so you order it weeks before then a few days before you are told that you want recive your order till the 5th may 6 days after release now i dont know what to do take my money an drun and try and grab a copy tommrow or sit tight and nkow that ill get it on the 5 th may defintiley but theres that weight can i have some advice please.

yes, go back to school and learn english instead of playing games....

wait not weight.... great not grate....

da yoof no nowt nowadys init!

Gem sent our entire paltry allocation of xbox 360 to one store and our paltry allocation of ps3 to another. They cant get it right, the industry cant get it right, and the specialists get ****ing shafted once again. Take Two, Gem and Asda.... You are all a bunch of ****S!!!!

@ 37

Clearly, Bob, you've never worked int he independent sector with a comment like this:

"Firstly no-one gains from releasing early they will make the same amount of money be it 3 days early or not."

I'll put it simply for you:

RRP before date and, sometimes on release date= £49.99

Day after with price war = £34-39.99.

Wake up, son.

I Actually Work in Asda, in the M + V Section,
And We Notes/E-Mails/Phone Calls From Suppliers Reminding Us Of Releases And Stuff Like That.
The Store That Actaully Sold it has been fined £1500
For Each Game Sold To Early!
It Was Probably Some Dumb New Guy Working Or Some One Letting A Friend Buy It Early

release dates seem to mean nothing to everyone. Supermarkets sell things whenever they fill like it. Indie stores will be happy to sell early. And 9 out of 10 times i preeorder something from Game website (the leading UK game shop) And i get it early.
Does it matter anyway, the game is tested so its not like its never been complicted whenever you get it and also on most games the online never seems to work properly if i play it before the release day.

“Re: releases of games”
'Posted by: Bob - Apr 27, 4:29pm
Firstly no-one gains from releasing early they will make the same amount of money be it 3 days early or not. Supermarkets have notorious bad communication issues as they themselves DONT DEAL WITH SOFTWARE COMPANIES its either EUK or Handlemanns they are the ones that screw the dates up. I mean on an update i saw the wii fit was due to come out on Friday 28th of april whats that about lol'

Bob, you are stupid.
Every supermarket has communications with the publishers. EUK and Handlemans provide a disitribution service to their customers. Allocation levels are agreed between the supermarkets and each publisher based on the % share of the Uk market.
All publishers outline release dates to the supermarkets and it is up to them to manage the process in store.
To blame Euk and handleman is the most retarded thing I have heard for years.