GTA V And Early Gaming Releases

Trevor, Michael and Franklin GTA V is likely the most anticipated game of 2013 and perhaps one of the most eagerly awaited games of all time. As a gamer myself, I'm as happy and overjoyed as the next that GTA V has finally been released. I even popped down to Tesco this morning at 10am to collect it - trust me, that's early for a university student. Although the official release date was September 17th some people received their copies early. This happens with almost every game, especially big name titles that people pre-order months in advance, but should it be allowed? If you're one of the lucky few that have ever received a game a day or few days before the big release then you're probably very happy about it and might not like this article. Of course there isn't anything that can really be done to stop it, though that doesn't mean it should be tried. You have to understand, I love the GTA V series and of course I'm not talking about those companies or magazines that receive copies early in order to review the games to talk about in their monthly issues or promote on their YouTube channels. I understand that the game needs to be reviewed and promoted in order to sell, and I'm sure Rockstar chooses wisely who they give early copies to. What I am talking about, however, are those regular people that order from online stores to have the game delivered to them on the release date. To me a release date is a release date for a reason. It's so that all fans can receive the same content at the same time. So why should some get it early just because they ordered from a certain online store? Now, I understand that often these online stores give special offers - my brother ordered his from a site that promised £5 off if it was delivered any later than the release date. So to meet these conditions I have no doubt they send out the games in the post a few days beforehand. And sometimes they arrive early. Obviously this isn't 100% the fault of those online stores, but they are certainly part of the problem. If any other store that allows you to pre-order and pick up your copy of the game gave it to you a day or few days before they'd likely be given into trouble for it - yet nothing seems to happen to these online stores that send out games early. It's not the fans I'm annoyed with, you understand. If you received your copy of GTA V early then congrats, I've no beef with you and I hope you enjoy the game! It's these companies that disregard the rules to fulfill promises they shouldn't make so you give them business. As we are all fans of the GTA series and all pay (roughly) the same price for the brand new game, we should all receive it on the release date at the absolute earliest. To me there should be no exceptions, and companies that break that rule should be punished for it. But that's just my opinion on the subject. What do you think? Should we just disregard release dates in the hopes that next time we'll be the lucky ones getting a game early?
Contributor
Contributor

Mark is a 21 year old Doctor Who fanatic studying film and media, living in Edinburgh, and user of the site tumblr. He enjoys humour, nights in, and long romantic walks to the fridge.