What is the point behind "street date" for video games?

[reycri]

Who benefits from not allowing stores to sell a video game even when they already got them in stock?

I don't get it.

[Julio_Strikes_Back]

If games are sold early and torrented, pirates are more likely to download them.

[Nerazzurri]

-Making sure that everyone will get it on the same time.
-You'll know when you'll exactly get the game instead of calling the gamestore every time checking if it arrived.
-Easier for promotion and telling people when it'll exactly come out instead of telling them it'll come out sometime in early September

only a few days left..

[Tunesimah]

It's probably to give all stores a fair advantage and not have any anarchy in the streets over a game's release.

For The Beatles, I'm sure it's a marketing thing too... to coincide with all that other stuff that's being released.

[mva5580]

What blows my mind is how you NEVER hear of a DVD breaking street date, but yet for video games it happens on damn near every release.

And yes I'm fully aware that movies *do* get leaked, but it's very, very rare. And by that I mean being able to buy it in a store early, not being able to pirate it online.

But yes, I agree with your point. If a game is physically in a store, I don't understand why a store just can't sell it. If you REALLY don't want your game sold early, then don't send it stores early.

[MostSpartan14]

If you REALLY don't want your game sold early, then don't send it stores early.

What do you expect them to do, send them the day the game releases so people are pissed off because the store doesn't have the game on the day they said they would or they wouldn't have enough copies for everyone that wanted the game or preordered it.

[RUL_Retep]

Actually the point of a release date is so a company can give it's stock holders a look into what their fiscal year's sales will look like for that part of the year and to provide advertising and drill into peoples heads a certain date.

[reycri]

...only a few days left..

Yeah, but it's a long weekend and I'm bored at night after a day at the beach.

[FrogKid28]

If games are sold early and torrented, pirates are more likely to download them.

Arrggg

[DookieMan]

And also so it doesn't get sold until 9/9/09, which is a hell of a reference. :P