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 An earlier report saw UK retailer Argos breaking the street date (i.e. official release date) of Halo 3. And after realizing their mistake, Argos is taking measures to prevent it from happening again, saying they won't be selling Halo 3 until the 26th (that's the UK's official release).
But, whether Microsoft will be banning people who Finish the Fight earlier than everyone else or not, here's what we do know now: they won't be punishing Argos for the accidental pre-release of Bungie Studios' hot title.
Neil Thompson, regional director for UK, told GamesIndustry that Argos' mistake was an honest one and not malicious to begin with. Yes, he's disappointed because this has raised a lot of arguments for all parties concerned, but he states that it's really pretty hard to micromanage every single detail in your supply chain and mistakes like these are bound to happen.
I don't think there was any malice on the part of Argos at all, it was just an honest mistake. Argos reacted incredibly quickly to the mistake, they issued us with a detailed summation of why the mistake happened - mistakes like that, we have to be somewhat flexible.
On a related note, Thompson uses the opportunity to state how the accidental early release of Halo 3 has affected the market. Upon talking about how some retailers would (willingly and consciously) take advantage of releasing games early for their own benefits, he manages to sneak in a personal comment on how Halo 3 justifies the anticipation for it.
Everyone will talk about the money, and stuff like that, because that's a headline-grabbing idea - that gaming is potentially going to be the biggest entertainment event that hits this country this year.
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If you over-hype something that doesn't deliver on the promise, then you run the risk of a backlash and that can work against you. I honestly don't believe that's the case with Halo 3.
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