Smash Wii U Gamestop Leaks Actual Release Date for Smash Bros. Wii U?

[TeamLaFlare]

Hi all,

Longtime stalker of the forums, recent subscriber, and first-time poster so I hope I'm doing this right! It's an odd story, so hang in there.

The other day (Thursday, June 19th, 2014), I was walking home from work and I decided to finally stop in at the Gamestop by my apartment to reserve Smash Bros. for the 3DS.

When I went up to the counter and told the guy that I wanted to reserve Smash Bros., he got excited and asked which version (3DS or Wii U) I would like to reserve. I decided on the spot to just get both now and be done with it and not have to worry about it in the future. The cashier was very excited that I was getting both copies.

I paid for the games and he handed me my receipt. As I was turning to walk away he mentioned to me, "don't forget the release dates! The 3DS comes out in October and Nintendo says the Wii U version comes out for the 'holiday season', but that isn't the truth..."

This OBVIOUSLY grabbed my attention and I turned back towards him inquisitively and asked what he meant by this. He told me that after E3, the Gamestops (or just his? He wasn't specific on this point) were notified of a floor sweep/setup for releases in October. He told me that, "they come out within the same week. I forget what exact days, but one comes out on a Friday and the other a Tuesday or something...I remember one was for the 7th of October."

I reminded him that the 3DS version was announced for October 3rd (a Friday) which would in fact mean that the 7th is a Tuesday which he just mentioned was the date and day of the week that they were informed about.

I mentioned this story to a few friends and we were excited about the news of an earlier than expected release, but it confused us as to why (if it is true, which I am not saying it is at all) Nintendo would say the release was for the "holiday season" this year and then have it come out four days after the 3DS version?


TL;DR
Gamestop employee told me the 3DS and Wii U versions for Sm4sh come out within a week of each other in October; the 3rd and 7th, respectively.

Thoughts, opinions, skepticism, optimism?!

 

[ImaClubYou]

Half Life 3 confirmed.

 

[Pyra]

I think he was just messing with you.

 

[Tristan_win]

I don't believe you, why? Because Nintendo would make a lot less money.

You could tell me that Sakurai himself told you in person that they will come out the same week and I wouldn't believe you Mr. first time poster.

 

[ScottyWK]

I wouldn't trust a lower-level Gamestop employee with anything, unless it's officially released. There's no way the game comes out in October.

 

[Pyra]

The only 4 release dates I know of are Wii U's being in the holiday season and the three 3DS release dates:

• Japan: September 13, 2014
• Australia: October 4, 2014
• Everywhere else: October 3, 2014.

 

[Meelow]

I wouldn't believe him, 2 reasons.

1. Nintendo might as well just launch both versions together if they were going to launch it the same week
2. Nintendo won't launch a new game on a Tuesday, they release games on Friday's.

 

[TeamLaFlare]

I don't believe you, why? Because Nintendo would make a lot less money.

You could tell me that Sakurai himself told you in person that they will come out the same week and I wouldn't believe you Mr. first time poster.

You don't have to believe me, I am just relaying the conversation that took place. I never said it was true, I even stated the opposite of this in my original posting. I was just wondering if others have heard anything about this or had any ideas to why/how this may be true.

And I agree that it would make them a lot less money to release both games in one week. It didn't make sense to me.

I wouldn't trust a lower-level Gamestop employee with anything, unless it's officially released. There's no way the game comes out in October.

It was the store's manager if that means anything. I still don't believe him now, but the ONLY reason myself or friends could come up with was that they first announce a potential release timeframe, but then officially reveal it for an earlier one, JUST to appear as if they put the game out ahead of schedule. Again, I don't believe Nintendo would do this, just playing devil's advocate on this topic.

 

[Cap'nChreest]

If the release date for the Wii U version isn't December 31st I will be disappointed.

 

[8-peacock-8]

October 7th is now holiday season! ConfORIMOED

 

[Deleted member 245254]

GameStop employees, whether store manager or even at the district level of management, know just about as much as you have the ability to know when it comes to that kind of information.

He was talking out of his ass to jack a reserve from you on both games (because when you work at GameStop you are actually monitored and judged based on your reservation % : total transactions). It raises the reservation % to get more than one per transaction.

Either that or he's stupid, but it's likely the former.

In any case, there's absolutely no circumstance in which he, as a store manager at GameStop, is privy to that kind of information.

Source : I used to own a store.

 

[TeamLaFlare]

GameStop employees, whether store manager or even at the district level of management, know just about as much as you have the ability to know when it comes to that kind of information.

He was talking out of his *** to jack a reserve from you on both games (because when you work at GameStop you are actually monitored and judged based on your reservation % : total transactions). It raises the reservation % to get more than one per transaction.

Either that or he's stupid, but it's likely the former.

In any case, there's absolutely no circumstance in which he, as a store manager at GameStop, is privy to that kind of information.

Source : I used to own a store.

I don't doubt any of your information, but on your point about him trying to up-sell me on getting both games with this fabricated release date story is that I came in telling him that I wanted to reserve/buy both games without him pressuring/persuading me to do so and I was literally walking out of the store after I told him that I wanted to reserve both copies, paid for both copies, and he had already handed me the receipt and told me to have a nice day. Only when my back was turned and I was leaving did he stop me to mention the release dates. Again, just playing devil's advocate. He wouldn't have had to tell me any of that, other than him, like you said, feeling like he had to talk out of his ***.

Unless of course he felt like fabricating a story for trolling reasons or he was misinformed or he somehow actually knows this information to be true.

 

[Deleted member 245254]

I don't doubt any of your information, but on your point about him trying to up-sell me on getting both games with this fabricated release date story is that I came in telling him that I wanted to reserve/buy both games without him pressuring/persuading me to do so and I was literally walking out of the store after I told him that I wanted to reserve both copies, paid for both copies, and he had already handed me the receipt and told me to have a nice day. Only when my back was turned and I was leaving did he stop me to mention the release dates. Again, just playing devil's advocate. He wouldn't have had to tell me any of that, other than him, like you said, feeling like he had to talk out of his ***.

Unless of course he felt like fabricating a story for trolling reasons or he was misinformed or he somehow actually knows this information to be true.

It's actually a common technique in sales we call "reaffirmation".

He was just attempting to make you feel comfortable with your purchase because it's a lot less appealing to put money down on something that has no visible release date. Canceling reserves costs zero dollars, and it's very common that folks will reserve things early, then come back and cancel it later wanting to use that money to buy something more certain or something that may already be released. It's very often at GameStop that real reservation %'s are reflected by around 70% of a stores total reservation % because that 30% remaining % usually cancel. Landing the reserve is one thing but retention is also another.

 

[WIldBam]

If Nintendo had a release date that it informed Gamestop on, then the only reason they wouldn't have announce it to fans would be if they were planning to delay the game. According to your story, the exact opposite is happening where the game is being released earlier...which makes no sense. The timing would be poor and why would they release the game earlier when they could release it in like mid/late November and make money on the holiday shopping, like what seems to be their plan at the moment.

To be honest, I don't even think your story took place, I remember when I tried to pre-order mario kart 8 from gamestop and they told me they could not do it if they did not have an official release date for the game in their system.

So,it's either Gamestop has an error in their system or, the guy in your story was lying to you about the release date or, the guy at the gamestop I tried to preorder mario kat 8 at was lying or, you're lying to us.

Someone is lying to us, because I am certain that this October 7th release date is not true,

 

[TeamLaFlare]

It's actually a common technique in sales we call "reaffirmation".

He was just attempting to make you feel comfortable with your purchase because it's a lot less appealing to put money down on something that has no visible release date. Canceling reserves costs zero dollars, and it's very common that folks will reserve things early, then come back and cancel it later wanting to use that money to buy something more certain or something that may already be released. It's very often at GameStop that real reservation %'s are reflected by around 70% of a stores total reservation % because that 30% remaining % usually cancel. Landing the reserve is one thing but retention is also another.

Agreed again! I used to manage retail stores years ago and now work in an advertising agency, so we use the same techniques when convincing customers to buy a product or stick with a brand and their services. The only thing I can say to this particular experience is that when he asked if I wanted to put five dollars down on each game for the reservation, I politely said no, and I requested to pay for both games in full haha. So there was no doubt that I wanted these games lol. So he could have just been eager to really hammer his sale home.

If Nintendo had a release date that it informed Gamestop on, then the only reason they wouldn't have announce it to fans would be if they were planning to delay the game. According to your story, the exact opposite is happening where the game is being released earlier...which makes no sense. The timing would be poor and why would they release the game earlier when they could release it in like mid/late November and make money on the holiday shopping, like what seems to be their plan at the moment.

To be honest, I don't even think your story took place, I remember when I tried to pre-order mario kart 8 from gamestop and they told me they could not do it if they did not have an official release date for the game in their system.

So,it's either Gamestop has an error in their system or, the guy in your story was lying to you about the release date or, the guy at the gamestop I tried to preorder mario kat 8 at was lying or, you're lying to us.

Someone is lying to us, because I am certain that this October 7th release date is not true,

I can assure you that the story is 100% accurate and true and I am leaving you with a picture of the receipt I just took for you from the Gamestop in Union Square in Manhattan that I reserved both copies of on Thursday to show that you can in fact reserve games before official release dates are revealed.

Also I don't benefit from making up this story, so there is no reason for it. Just wanted to put out what I had been told the other day. Again, not saying the Oct. 7th release date is fact.

 

[The Slayer]

It's actually a common technique in sales we call "reaffirmation".

He was just attempting to make you feel comfortable with your purchase because it's a lot less appealing to put money down on something that has no visible release date. Canceling reserves costs zero dollars, and it's very common that folks will reserve things early, then come back and cancel it later wanting to use that money to buy something more certain or something that may already be released. It's very often at GameStop that real reservation %'s are reflected by around 70% of a stores total reservation % because that 30% remaining % usually cancel. Landing the reserve is one thing but retention is also another.

Pretty much this. He's just trying to insure he gets his commission without a possible cancellation since Gamestop is pretty intense on getting their sales quota each day.

 

[Jumpman84]

To be honest, I don't even think your story took place, I remember when I tried to pre-order mario kart 8 from gamestop and they told me they could not do it if they did not have an official release date for the game in their system.

I know for a fact that last part isn't true, because I was able to preorder both Smash games for 3DS and Wii U prior to E3. So when I preordered, there was no official release date for either one (just Summer 2014 and Winter 2014) and I walked off with a preorder receipt. Unless they somehow consider those official release dates, I very much doubt that story. (Though I guess it depends on when you tried to preorder it.)

 

[Pyra]

To be honest, I don't even think your story took place, I remember when I tried to pre-order mario kart 8 from gamestop and they told me they could not do it if they did not have an official release date for the game in their system.

I reserved both Smash brothers ages ago and so did countless other people.

 

[Malex]

Old GameStop employee here. Both my wife and I worked at a local one for years, my brother works at one now.

1. They don't get commission.
2. There used to be an emphasis on reserves / subscriptions, however, I have been informed that they no longer push this as hard.

So, was he telling you the truth? I believe that he WAS!!!!

However, Gamestop will put in "release dates" to enable them to be reserved in their system. The release date will probably be updated by then. Gamestop employees should see "SD" next to a reserve date, which means "Street date." If it doesn't have that, it's subject to change. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure SD isn't revealed until a few weeks before.

 

[Kevandre]

First things first- Gamestop employees are often full of ****. Whether it be they're messing with you or just misinformed (Like when a GS employee was trying to tell me that there was more DLC for Mass Effect 3 than there was... Believe me, just defer to my judgment here on that one). It seems to be very common.

Second, as a former GS employee myself I can confirm that they do get some form of commission.. in the form of hours. Your typical part time employee is very lucky to get a few hours a week/month in some locations. But the more reserves/GI's you sell, the more hours you'll get on the schedule. That's just the way it works. It's a form of commission, though not directly.

 

[WIldBam]

Agreed again! I used to manage retail stores years ago and now work in an advertising agency, so we use the same techniques when convincing customers to buy a product or stick with a brand and their services. The only thing I can say to this particular experience is that when he asked if I wanted to put five dollars down on each game for the reservation, I politely said no, and I requested to pay for both games in full haha. So there was no doubt that I wanted these games lol. So he could have just been eager to really hammer his sale home.



I can assure you that the story is 100% accurate and true and I am leaving you with a picture of the receipt I just took for you from the Gamestop in Union Square in Manhattan that I reserved both copies of on Thursday to show that you can in fact reserve games before official release dates are revealed.

Also I don't benefit from making up this story, so there is no reason for it. Just wanted to put out what I had been told the other day. Again, not saying the Oct. 7th release date is fact.

I know for a fact that last part isn't true, because I was able to preorder both Smash games for 3DS and Wii U prior to E3. So when I preordered, there was no official release date for either one (just Summer 2014 and Winter 2014) and I walked off with a preorder receipt. Unless they somehow consider those official release dates, I very much doubt that story. (Though I guess it depends on when you tried to preorder it.)

I reserved both Smash brothers ages ago and so did countless other people.

I wasn't lying when that happened...I was literally turned down when I tried to pre-order then game...it was earlier this year that I tried to pre-order it (possibly march or april).

Maybe he lied to me? I don't know, give me an hour or so, I'm going to try and pre-order smash bros. for wii u right now from another gamestop and see what happens, if he gives it to me then I know that first guy was lying, if he doesn't then I'll ask him to fully explain the reasoning as to why he can't do so.

 

[Malkior7]

Can't really say how believable this Gamestop employee is. Does gamestop have a good track record for legitimate leaks?

 

[Kevandre]

I wasn't lying when that happened...I was literally turned down when I tried to pre-order then game...it was earlier this year that I tried to pre-order it (possibly march or april).

Maybe he lied to me? I don't know, give me an hour or so, I'm going to try and pre-order smash bros. for wii u right now from another gamestop and see what happens, if he gives it to me then I know that first guy was lying, if he doesn't then I'll ask him to fully explain the reasoning as to why he can't do so.

Yeah, I was able to preorder the 3DS version right after the Smash Direct

 

[TeamLaFlare]

I wasn't lying when that happened...I was literally turned down when I tried to pre-order then game...it was earlier this year that I tried to pre-order it (possibly march or april).

Maybe he lied to me? I don't know, give me an hour or so, I'm going to try and pre-order smash bros. for wii u right now from another gamestop and see what happens, if he gives it to me then I know that first guy was lying, if he doesn't then I'll ask him to fully explain the reasoning as to why he can't do so.

I don't know if this particular Gamestop is some special case store being a busy location in the heart of Union Square in Manhattan, but I recall going to pre-order Mario Kart 8 months ago towards the beginning of the year and when I pre-ordered MK8, they asked me THEN if I wanted to pre-order Sm4sh. I didn't do it then, but I found it odd since it was SO early on.

Hope you get luckier this time!

Can't really say how believable this Gamestop employee is. Does gamestop have a good track record for legitimate leaks?

This is another reason for posting my story...I am definitely curious as to whether Gamestop has ever had a successful leak before on any games?

 

[Malkior7]

I would think Gamestop is the type of company to commit their employees to secrecy but really I have never seen Gamestop leak anything before

 

[CrusherMania1592]

Half Life 3 confirmed.

Spam Post +1 confirmed

I honestly doubt that this information is true. If it was, both versions would just been released on the same day. I think he's just going crazy over the fact you preordered the game and that probably blurted out of his mouth.

 

[Jumpman84]

I wasn't lying when that happened...I was literally turned down when I tried to pre-order then game...it was earlier this year that I tried to pre-order it (possibly march or april).

Maybe he lied to me? I don't know, give me an hour or so, I'm going to try and pre-order smash bros. for wii u right now from another gamestop and see what happens, if he gives it to me then I know that first guy was lying, if he doesn't then I'll ask him to fully explain the reasoning as to why he can't do so.

Sorry, I wasn't saying that you were lying. I was referring to the Gamestop employee telling you that it can't be ordered without an official release. My experience tells me otherwise and if you tried to preorder in March or April, then the guy was full of it! I just verified by checking the Nintendo Direct on 2/13/14 and they indeed announced the release date as May 30th at that point.

 

[The Slayer]

Old GameStop employee here. Both my wife and I worked at a local one for years, my brother works at one now.

1. They don't get commission.
2. There used to be an emphasis on reserves / subscriptions, however, I have been informed that they no longer push this as hard.

So, was he telling you the truth? I believe that he WAS!!!!

However, Gamestop will put in "release dates" to enable them to be reserved in their system. The release date will probably be updated by then. Gamestop employees should see "SD" next to a reserve date, which means "Street date." If it doesn't have that, it's subject to change. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure SD isn't revealed until a few weeks before.

Well, I still find it unbelievable since that's how they make their money along with selling used games. Aside from that, it's hard to say it's true since "holiday season" is more around November/December. Not early October.

 

[Giga Man]

GameStop employees don't know anything most of the time. It's not December 31, either. That date is always used as a placeholder for games without an official release date that are expected to come out before the year ends.

 

[TeamLaFlare]

Well, I still find it unbelievable since that's how they make their money along with selling used games. Aside from that, it's hard to say it's true since "holiday season" is more around November/December. Not early October.

After sharing the story with some friends, one of them jokingly said that Halloween is a holiday of sorts. So if they felt like trolling us and if this was in fact true, then they could reveal it for the "Halloween/holiday" season.

 

[Malex]

Well, I still find it unbelievable since that's how they make their money along with selling used games. Aside from that, it's hard to say it's true since "holiday season" is more around November/December. Not early October.

What do you find unbelievable? They stopped pushing employees to sell subs / reserves so hard because they were receiving negative reviews and probably due to the whole gamestop meme.

Also, if you read my post, I go on to say that although the game stop employee was probably telling the truth, that he was wrong. The date listed in the system is probably a placeholder that will be updated later.

 

[The Slayer]

After sharing the story with some friends, one of them jokingly said that Halloween is a holiday of sorts. So if they felt like trolling us and if this was in fact true, then they could reveal it for the "Halloween/holiday" season.

Well, it does sound a little funny in that regard. But I would see people stuffing treats in their mouths than playing Smash (though, the combination of the two would be funny).

What do you find unbelievable? They stopped pushing employees to sell subs / reserves so hard because they were receiving negative reviews and probably due to the whole gamestop meme.

Also, if you read my post, I go on to say that although the game stop employee was probably telling the truth, that he was wrong. The date listed in the system is probably a placeholder that will be updated later.

I know it was a placeholder and I know when the date is real when Nintendo announces it. Until then, I know they're just doing it to secure their reservations. It's not surprising, so I would find it unbelievable for any other reason.

 

[ImaClubYou]

Spam Post +1 confirmed

I honestly doubt that this information is true. If it was, both versions would just been released on the same day. I think he's just going crazy over the fact you preordered the game and that probably blurted out of his mouth.

Good thing you added that little tidbit at the end or you'd be in a pickle as well, lol.

As long as you don't think being marked as spam is a big deal...

 

[Cap'nChreest]

I'm pretty sure that Gamestop has leaked the release date for this game several times and they were all wrong.

 

[Mega Bidoof]

Maybe by "holiday," Nintendo meant Halloween.

 

[Ryan.]

Yeah I would say they don't know anything and were just trolling you.

GameStop employees don't know anything most of the time. It's not December 31, either. That date is always used as a placeholder for games without an official release date that are expected to come out before the year ends.

Your signature is so cool btw.

 

[Deleted member 245254]

Old GameStop employee here. Both my wife and I worked at a local one for years, my brother works at one now.

1. They don't get commission.
2. There used to be an emphasis on reserves / subscriptions, however, I have been informed that they no longer push this as hard.

So, was he telling you the truth? I believe that he WAS!!!!

However, Gamestop will put in "release dates" to enable them to be reserved in their system. The release date will probably be updated by then. Gamestop employees should see "SD" next to a reserve date, which means "Street date." If it doesn't have that, it's subject to change. It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure SD isn't revealed until a few weeks before.

1 is correct, but 2 is false. Reserves and subs are absolutely still pushed. If I were to theorize why your acquaintances think otherwise, it would be that they work in GameStops located in non-dense areas, or a low visitation rate. Either that or they are none the wiser and don't notice that they are seen as poor employees for not caring. Reservation % and GI subscriptions are essentially the pinnacle of the job. It's possible that SMs are not gut-bustingly hard on their employees to get them sometimes as well, but as someone before me stated, it does in-directly affect things in the form of being given more hours. I know this because I had to do that job, of distributing hours based on performance in order to ensure my store hit its weekly quota.

If reservation and sub numbers are not high, we get lectured on the weekly conference call, so we are essentially forced to cut hours from those who don't try, and feed hours to those who are demonstrating that they do if we are to ensure that doesn't happen. This is made more difficult than you might think, because we are actually given a limited number of hours to distribute. It is honestly soul-crushing sometimes to have to give an employee 10 hours in a given week simply because you have no choice. It makes us look like the bad guy, but ultimately is a trait of GameStop's still terrible policies in management.

It is absolutely true that GameStop uses placeholder dates. If you're new to the future release hype scene, you would know though that assumption of release dates based on GameStop's reservation calender are way too common, but the dates are simply not accurate until they are known to the general public because we are not privy to that information anymore than someone else. The reason we use placeholder dates is to convince people to make the reserve, because as stated before, reserving a "TBD" is not as enticing. There some standard dates commonly like Dec 31st but sometimes when the game is releasing earlier in a year, they tend to just make a well defined guess.

We sell the games, we don't develop them or work with those who do, nor do are we fed special, top-secret information by those developers.

It's simply that he was talking out of his ass. You think that he was not obligated to tell you so it piqued your curiosity, but that doesn't change anything. He doesn't know. There's no way he could know. His position doesn't entitle him to know. That's that.

 

[Malex]

1 is correct, but 2 is false. Reserves and subs are absolutely still pushed. If I were to theorize why your acquaintances think otherwise, it would be that they work in GameStops located in non-dense areas, or a low visitation rate. Either that or they are none the wiser and don't notice that they are seen as poor employees for not caring. Reservation % and GI subscriptions are essentially the pinnacle of the job. It's possible that SMs are not gut-bustingly hard on their employees to get them sometimes as well, but as someone before me stated, it does in-directly affect things in the form of being given more hours. I know this because I had to do that job, of distributing hours based on performance in order to ensure my store hit its weekly quota.

If reservation and sub numbers are not high, we get lectured on the weekly conference call, so we are essentially forced to cut hours from those who don't try, and feed hours to those who are demonstrating that they do if we are to ensure that doesn't happen. This is made more difficult than you might think, because we are actually given a limited number of hours to distribute. It is honestly soul-crushing sometimes to have to give an employee 10 hours in a given week simply because you have no choice. It makes us look like the bad guy, but ultimately is a trait of GameStop's still terrible policies in management.

It is absolutely true that GameStop uses placeholder dates. If you're new to the future release hype scene, you would know though that assumption of release dates based on GameStop's reservation calender are way too common, but the dates are simply not accurate until they are known to the general public because we are not privy to that information anymore than someone else. The reason we use placeholder dates is to convince people to make the reserve, because as stated before, reserving a "TBD" is not as enticing. There some standard dates commonly like Dec 31st but sometimes when the game is releasing earlier in a year, they tend to just make a well defined guess.

We sell the games, we don't develop them or work with those who do, nor do are we fed special, top-secret information by those developers.

It's simply that he was talking out of his ***. You think that he was not obligated to tell you so it piqued your curiosity, but that doesn't change anything. He doesn't know. There's no way he could know. His position doesn't entitle him to know. That's that.

When I worked there, management pushing reserves / subs was so hardcore, they created a performance roster based on numbers. Bottom performers were automatically written up and entered into a "remedial training" for how to sell them. However, at least the gamestops in my area, aren't pushing them as hard. Employee numbers aren't as important in determining the performance.

There are employees who only get 3-10 hours per week, and under the old system, were getting written up every month. Because, they just didn't have the time put in at the store to get the numbers. Alternatively, in my case, I had Senior Game Advisers stealing my customers to make sure they hit their quota. (For example, if I "sold" the reserve on the floor, they wouldn't let me ring them out.)

As a gamestop manager, there is pressure to hit the quota, and, if I were a manager, I would give hours to top performers, because it makes my job easier. However, that is true in every hourly-based entry-level field. If you do a good job, you will get more hours.


Though, I agree, the estimated release date was probably decided on to entice people to reserve.

 

[ndayday]

this is no better than "my dad's friend works at capcom" and other pure verbal rumors.

 

[Crome]

I would think Gamestop is the type of company to commit their employees to secrecy but really I have never seen Gamestop leak anything before

I think gamestop leaked COD:Ghosts