Konami admits blind spots: MGS4 retail leak inevitable |
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When you're distributing a product on a global scale, there are bound to be blind spots in certain parts of the supply chain. And it seems that no matter what a video game publisher could do, highly anticipated games do tend to get leaked out by retailers ahead of schedule.
It happened for Halo 3. It happened for Grand Theft Auto 4. And just as misfortune would have it, Metal Gear Solid 4 was also leaked early.
When it was reported last week that Solid Snake was making his stealth rounds a few days earlier than scheduled, Konami responded that it wasn't possible. They said that they "pride [themselves] on working closely with retailers," having asked major retailers to sign written agreements to keep the scheduled release date of MGS4 sacred.
Despite the written agreement system, broken street dates still went by unimpeded with more copies (PS3-MGS4 bundles, even) of Guns of the Patriots leaking out of retail outlets prior to June 12. And if you've seen QuickPeek 50's Comment of the Week, DNAgent did pose a valid argument about the non-major retailers that Konami missed out on.
Konami issued a statement yet again, somewhat recanting their previous one from last week, admitting that there are indeed blind spots in the supply chain:
Unfortunately, these things happen. As much as we like [to] see that no one breaks streets dates, no one can monitor every single moment that a title gets packed up for shipment and when [it's] on its way to the stores. The store could be at fault as well, for letting someone get a copy before the street date.
Well, you know what the Jedi say... Sith happens.
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Comments [refresh]
...why send the games (or consoles/bundles) ahead of time? Why not wait like every other regular or barely known game to send them to retail stores? It's a conspiracy.
w00t! o_0
It's called preparation, do you know how hard it would be to stock stores with millions of copies of a game in one day? -_-
because... Konami might run the risk of upsetting a lot of fans who 1) have been clamoring for the game, and 2) pre-ordered a copy to be picked up on June 12.
Let's do a what if.
What if Konami started shipping out the copies by June 11? There's no 100% guarantee that 100% of the shipment will arrive at 100% of the allocated stores by June 12.
A delivery truck's tire might blow out. An airplane might hit a storm and the pilot might want to wait it out by landing at some nearby airstrip for an emergency landing... anything can happen. Konami just wants to play it safe and meet their end of the bargain by delivering the goods to the consumer. Which is, of course, a good thing for all of us. ^_^
congrats! ^_^
y'know what I was thinking while writing this article? LOL maybe... just maybe! maybe Konami was reading QuickPeek 50 and saw Comment of the Week and decided to indirectly respond to your valid point? Hehehe!
*shrug*
Who knows?
Your right. I hope that all game companies ensure we get these great must have games on time. I hate delays, especially if I take time off work to enjoy a new release just to have it delayed.
I believe i've seen better comments this last week and was shocked to see your comment as "comment of the week". Congratulations anyhow. I guess it takes too much time for the Qj staff to read everyones comments. Oh well, maybe we will see a true one next week.
...why not start selling it when the demand is fulfilled? I mean, if the game is shipped and in stores, why wait? I mean, I understand the whole "being ready for our customers", but if the game is already in stores TODAY, why wait until Thursday?
And yes, I also know we've been waiting for this game a long time, and 2 days are not gonna hurt anyone.
Leave it to stores hiring illiterate bums right off the street to handle their business.
and LOL @ the picture's caption.
"but if the game is already in stores TODAY, why wait until Thursday?"
because, as I said, anything can happen. there's no 100% guarantee that 100% of the stores will have it TODAY. if some of the stores have it today and started selling them today, it would be unfair for the rest of the world where the shipments haven't arrived yet.
this is one of the better points of a simultaneous worldwide release. it's so that it's fair for everyone involved. konami has stressed that so many times now. here's a quote from their previous statement:
"All major retailers are supplying written agreements that they will honour the street date no matter what, making it a level playing field across the board. We all want the game to be a huge success, and for everyone to benefit from this release."
http://ps3.qj.net/Konami-Metal-Gear-Solid-4-breaking-street-date-not-possible/pg/49/aid/120871
it's not just about fairness in the retail world, but also fairness among gamers. let's do another what if.
what if the rest of the world got their shipments today and decided to sell them to gamers? however for some reason, all shipments to your area have somehow been delayed and the stores still promise to have it by June 12. will this be fair to you? maybe it will. maybe it won't. for you, you say 2 days won't hurt. but for others, maybe it does.
i'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone, ok? i'm just trying to clarify how hard it is to meet customer demand. any company goes through that. i'm not playing sides here, and i'm not defending konami per se either - i'm defending all companies in general and all the effort they have to put into their supply and distribution chains, especially if it's in an international scale.
orchestrating all those stuff...? man. could you imagine the effort that konami put into their distribution lines? wow! kinda inspires you, doesn't it? ^_^V
happens to some of us anyways. Games get released on Tuesdays in the continental US, and in Puerto Rico we dont see the games until either Wednesday or even Thursdays.
I pre-ordered a copy from Play.com and it's sat right infront of me now.
I guess preordering does have some benefits :)
I used to get all the games before release date. I used to work for a videogame store and sometimes we got them 2 weeks before the date. I got MGS2 a week before release date. So it's not surprise to anyone to see the game before date comes. Kingdom Hearts was also a big release and that one we got it three weeks before as well as FFX and XI - We did not sell it to anyone ( except our regular customers that we considered friends :) ) and took a copy of them home! LOOL
You are kinda thick in the head arent you?
Anyway, the date was set from however long it was. Its a date we all have written in our diaries and calenders, its a date we all have planned for. Why go through the hassle and change the date. It could have been on a Friday 13th from the start and then we.
and also everything Gino D said as well
here where i live the leak isnt pretty much a leak... they hang the games up the showcase and tell you that they sell it... its on sale... i got a special discount for 66$... and anyway its all european and they wil get the american shipping on saturday :)