I’m notorious for having a hard time getting games at or near their release date. It seems that no matter what retailer I use, and regardless of whether I order online or in-store, there is always an unexpected error, delay, or screw-up. Then, frantically trying to secure a copy of the game in question, I search everywhere, eventually finding one, just to see my other copy, which I thought was in limbo, has shipped or arrived. Well, my experience trying to find a copy of Gears of War has been no different.     

I guess the story begins several weeks ago, when I preordered the collector’s version of Gears of War from EB Games. Although I was a little distressed that shipping would take three to five days, due to me having a PO Box rather than a street address, I knew there was nothing I could do about that and was just happy to finally have my copy ordered and out of the way. On Monday, the day before the game’s release, I noticed a few lucky people on my friends list already playing. Though my friends and I were overcome with jealously, I survived because I knew that I would be playing the game by the weekend… and because my buddies and I had fun spamming the guys who already had the game with invites to Uno.   

On Tuesday I anxiously checked my order at EB’s website. “Pre-release. Shipping 11/7.” it said. Although I was a tad annoyed, because it was the seventh, I came to the conclusion that EB simply hadn’t updated the order information yet. I checked back a few hours later, and a new message had appeared: “usually ships in 24 hours.” Okay? I recognized that from the listings on the website, but it didn’t say too much about my individual copy. Slightly irritated, I left it alone for a while. After a few more hours though, the status still hadn’t changed. I began to worry that my game would not ship on Tuesday. “No, that can’t be. It must go out. They said it would!” I thought. By nightfall, however, I accepted the fact that my copy had not shipped, and I resigned to play some Uno with a few friends (one of which already had Gears, and wasn’t playing it. I’m telling you, that goverland is crazy). 

Wednesday came, and I checked EB’s site again, this time really expecting my copy to have shipped. I logged in, checked my order history, and boom… the status hadn’t changed. After screaming off several expletives, and started looking at the forums to see if anyone was in the same situation that I was. Well, much to my surprise, they were. Apparently, EB/Gamestop had some massive shipping error, and as a result many stores (and apparently the online store) didn’t have Gears. Although I was happy that it wasn’t just me, at the same time I was agitated at EB/GS for dropping the ball (if it is even their fault, I have no idea. But I needed a scapegoat). I decided that I probably wasn’t getting my copy anytime soon, so I decided to go into town and try to find a copy of Gears, and if I somehow managed to score the game I would then cancel my order with EB.

One of the stores I decided to check out is Hastings, a medium-sized entertainment store that sells books, movies, games, and music. I have been lucky with them in the past; scoring Splinter Cell Double Agent on its release date when no other retailers seemed to have it and getting the Halo novel Ghosts of Onyx before its official release date. If anyone in town had Gears, my bet would be on Hastings. So, I entered the store, went directly to the 360 section, and behold, several fresh copies of Gears, and one collector’s version! I looked around for an employee to grab the game for me, but there was no one in sight. At that point, some enthusiastic kid approached the 360 section. Did he want my Gears of War? No. He looked around, sighed, and walked away. I guess he was looking for something else. I then saw an employee come down the aisle, and I quickly waved him over to the 360 case. That collector’s version wasn’t mine yet, though. As the employee started to walk over, a man started running (yes, actually running) towards me, yelling/asking “Gears of War?!” I knew it was now or never, and right before the other guy reached the 360 case, I quickly told the employee that I would like the collector’s version. He grabbed two copies of the game; their last collector’s version for me, and a regular game for the other guy. He took the games over to the cashier and I paid her, showed her my ID, and then I left. I had Gears of War.  

There wasn’t any time to play it yet, though. I needed to call up EB and cancel my order, then hightail it to class to take an exam. However, just as my luck would have it, I looked at my order at EB’s site to see that it had shipped while I was at Hastings. It was too late to cancel it. Only a half-hour before, it didn’t look like I would have Gears anytime soon. Now, I had one copy and another was on its way.  

Now, you may be asking why I simply didn’t wait for my EB order to ship, even if it would take a little longer. Well, to put it simply: I didn’t want to wait. When a game comes out that I really want, I can’t stand not having it while my friends are online having a blast. It’s just the way I am. You may also be thinking that this fiasco was a valuable learning experience for me. Absolutely not. This kind of stuff happens all the time. I’m used to it.   

By the way, Gears is awesome. It has lived up to my hype, and could turn out to be the 360’s killer app. I may post my impressions later, but it’s not like you haven’t seen enough reviews already.