Are MAG’s sales suffering due to retailers’ low expectations?
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I’m normally not a big fan of online multiplayer, but after reading our awesome MAG Monday feature, I was encouraged to give MAG a shot. However, just getting hold of a copy proved to be a bit of a mission in itself, as it seems a lot of stores are currently out of stock.
First off, I went to my local GAME, and was surprised to find that although there were lots of copies on the shelf, they all had ‘Coming Soon!’ stickers on – a bit weird considering the game came out nearly two weeks ago. It turns out this was GAME’s way of saying that they were out of stock, so I don’t know why they didn’t just say that in the first place.
Undeterred, I went to the nearest HMV (which handily was about fifty yards away), but they didn’t even have any cases out. In fact there was nothing in there whatsoever to suggest that a game called MAG had even been released. I asked one of the staff about its conspicuous absence, and he said that they only ordered in ten copies because they didn’t realise how much demand it would have.
I finally managed to get hold of a copy at the other GAME in town (yes, there are two – and two HMVs). As I handed the game to the merchant, he made a comment (not necessarily in a detrimental way) about it having quite disappointing reviews. This is certainly true, but I think most gamers will tell you that it’s impossible to write an effective review for an online-only game after just a few short hours of playing time. Games like this take months to truly master and appreciate, hence our aforementioned MAG Monday feature. But that’s a different issue.
My point is that I only managed to get a copy of the game in the third store I went to, which I’ve never had to do before. Of course, this could be an isolated incident, but GAME and HMV are both major chains, so it’s possible that this is the case across the whole of the UK, with retailers simply not ordering enough copies to meet demand. Could this have a negative effect on MAG’s sales?
Early reports show that MAG is selling well, but could it be doing better if retailers had higher expectations for the game before it was released? Obviously this is all just conjecture, but it’s certainly something to think about.
Of course, you could just order it on-line instead and save all the heartache I experienced!
Buy from – Amazon UK : Amazon US : play.com
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I went to buy it at game and there was a man at the till asking about it. The shop assistant told the man not to bother as MAG “wont even sell 256 copies”, so they guy walked away.
I don’t even know where to begin.
The other assistant who was there said something about “MAG is popular now, but no-one will be playing it by the time Bad Company 2 comes out”. I disagreed.
It really confuses me when stores (if I’m honest, it tends to be GAME) basically try and talk themselves out of a sale.
Sounds to me like the ‘sales staff’ are foolishly confusing delusions about being ‘expert gamers’ with being good sales expertise.
What imbecile would talk down a sale when their job depends not on their ego getting off on criticising the product but on the selling of it?
It seems Game and HMV has recruitment and training issues?
Just for an email from playstation.
“Thanks for taking part in the MAG beta…”
I got my beta early somehow!
The email had a link to a special Play.com website where I could by
MAG (with Play.com Exclusive S.V.E.R. Character Skin & PlayStation Theme) for a penny under 37 quid.
I’m beginning to feel sorry for Zipper. I’ve got a pain from sitting on the fence for so long about this one but it does look the bees knees for FPS team play.
I just can’t commit the time!
MAG is a phenomenal game – in my view, it’s not for everyone (it’s very objective and team-based, and depending on how many ‘good folk’ you have to regularly play with, you’ll have to deal with painful ones from time-to-time), but I think every online FPS fan should hire it and give it a good five hours (ie, at least play two domination matches) beforehand. For me, I honestly think MAG is the start of a whole new sub-genre of shooters. Sounds like the GAME staff over there don’t know jack – my local GAME manager, on the other hand, was playing it at midnight today (local release day). I wouldn’t be surprised if MAG is a slow burner, and spreads more by word of mouth, not unlike the first SOCOM
.
I’ve played for about 4 hours now, and am one or two matches away from unlocking Domination. I completely agree though – if you have a decent team it almost feels more like a co-op multiplayer game rather than competitive.
I work in a shopping centre that has a GameStop and a HMV and they have the same stocking problems. I was even talking to the GameStop manager over the weekend and I stated that I hadn’t gotten Bioshock 2 because MAG had come out. All I got was “I heard that was crap.” Enthusiasm and hand waving ensued from my side.