UK pre-orders from shops

Rhysie · October 16, 2001, 15:21

Has anyone in the UK managed to pre-order civ 3 from a shop? I tried to get someone to do it for me today and the shops all told them it wasn't on their computers, and that they couldn't make pre-orders yet.

I've only ever pre-ordered one other thing, and that was three days before release, so I'm not sure when is the earliest I can do it (I would rather pre-order from a shop than a mail order place because of the extra control over the process it gives me (I don't have to worry about it going through the post system and know what day I will get it in advance).

Anyone got any ideas about when to do it?

Crouchback · October 16, 2001, 15:25

Same thing happened to me Rhysie when I asked a couple of weeks back, so I went to amazon.co.uk. But they're saying 28/12. The problem is Infogrames Uk who aren't getting any information about the game out, just look at their <a href="http://www.uk.infogrames.com/">web site</a> which still doesn't mention Civ 3.

David

Buck Birdseed · October 16, 2001, 15:29

But you just got a reply about it in the forums...?

Crouchback · October 16, 2001, 15:49

Quote:

Originally posted by Snapcase
But you just got a reply about it in the forums...?

If you're talking to me Snapcase, I'd agree with Sid in his interview on EB world:

Quote:

... it?s more difficult getting the attention of the publishers and the consumers because of the number of titles out there.

And I've not seen/heard anything here in the UK outside of the rather hard to find/use Infogrames' message boards. Non of the local stores know about Civ 3, and all the ecommerce sites have wildly different and (I hope incorrect) shipping dates.

For a game that will be released in a month and is capable of generating a great deal of interest that is a strange marketing policy Infogrames UK is pursuing.

David

Provost Harrison · October 16, 2001, 16:57

Well next time I am in the city centre I will grill the people in Game/EB/Virgin and see when it is due for release on their books. But yes, apart from Firaxis's comments, information has been scant about the UK release.

Rhysie · October 16, 2001, 17:01

I was hoping someone would say that you can only pre-order from most shops within a week of the release or something, but I guess that isn't the case.

It does seem very odd, the difference between what the developers are saying, and what the shops are _not_ saying... The fact they have not told the shops information that they have already told us seems very strange.

Provost Harrison · October 16, 2001, 17:07

Well Firaxis seem to be saying one thing but Infogrames seem clueless about. And then there are the retailers who probably don't give a rat's arse either. So we will have to dig, and dig deep to find out...

PGM · October 16, 2001, 18:05

I'm not from England but I'm planning on ordering it from an UK site. I'm waiting for a date update at Amazon.uk, because I can't believe they will stick to 28/Dec much longer.