This gamer managed to score an early copy of Bioshock. (Source: screenshot)
Early shots of Bioshock in its packaging. (Source: 2K Games Official Forums)
Computer glitch sets the internet ablaze as gamers comb stores
It was chaos on the virtual streets as word hit that Toys R Us was selling copies of the hotly-anticipated Bioshock a full six days ahead of its August 21 street date. Members of 2K Games' official forums linked early images of the game in its' packaging, sitting atop an Xbox 360 Elite with Madden '08.
Initially, gamers thought 2K had switched the release date to today, with speculation that the title was available for purchase throughout the country. Forums around the Internet went wild at the dearth of information available, hunting for lucky players on Xbox live. One such was found soon after initial word broke, who'd already earned several achievements and appears to be making good progress through the game--his gamercard is shown here but I've obscured personal information in the interest of preserving his tranquility.
Unfortunately, hopes were dashed as official word came in that the release date had not been changed, and that Toys R Us had taken the title back off their shelves. Brendon Lindsey of GamerNode.com says, "I just got off the phone with one of the PR guys over at 2K. According
to him, this whole situation was just a broken street date by some Toys
R Us employees who didn't know Bioshock had a street date (or didn't
care), and the resulting snowball effect that caused. At this point 2K
isn't entirely sure why so many Toys R Us stores went and sold the game
early ("It's not like street dates are a new concept"), but they are
going to look into it once they put out this fire."
It would seem the mix-up was caused by the lack of a street date in Toys R Us' computers, which would explain the wide geographic area of the reports. All the other major retailers still maintained a street date of August 21, and now the only available copies of the game seem to be on EBay, with one such auction already at $140 with 15 hours still left.
In the meantime, I have plenty of other great games to keep me busy. What's another six days?
"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak." -- Robert Heinlein
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