The Persona 4 pre-order art book a.k.a. my Gamestop rant...

[josekortez]

Question - I pre-ordered Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 from Gamestop and got screwed on getting the art book when I went to pick up my pre-order (i.e. one of the employees read it while he was on the can during his break and it probably fell into the toilet). I promptly demanded my money back from the pre-order, told them that's why I never pre-order anything from Gamestop and wondered aloud why the universe isn't just enough for Gamestop to be one of those major companies filing for bankruptcy for questionable business practices while others with good reputations fail.

Ahem.

What is the likelihood that a copy of Persona 4 ordered from Amazon will actually ship with an art book if it wasn't pre-ordered? Also, can anyone else think of a place where I could get this art book with a purchase of Persona 4?

[Toandirte]

Same thing happened to me. I ended up calling the other Lamestop in town and the worker said that sometimes people didn't want their extras so call him back on Fri. 12/12 to see if there was one avaible. I wonder if I should hold my breath?

[Sudo]

Got my pre-order today from Amazon, but I doubt you'll get an art book if you didn't reserve it. I'm fairly certain that it was for pre-orders only.

[Princess-Isabela]

gamestop sucks big time, it's not worth going there preordering anything(unless it's the only outlest that has exclusive item you care for), amazon is awesome, - their customer service is first class.
if preordered it, you will get it for sure.
even if you didn't there might be a chance you'll get artbook if they have enough.

[Richter Belmount]

I specifically preordered mine with the intent of getting that artbook on amazon.com. It seems that amazon is doing a better job to get pre orders and exclusives for games , and is taking Gamestops monopoly on that away. Thank god for amazon , Gamestop is balls.

[Fuyukaze]

I realy hate coming to the defense of Game Stop as I generaly consider them to be a bane upon humanity, but here goes.....

Chances are very likely that the lame ass sounding excuse they are giving you is in fact, more then likely, the truth. Lots of GS and EB stores have aparently not been getting there books. Best thing to do is politely ask to speak with the manager and ask if they can find out where your art book is and if you'll be getting it. Dont buy the game though untill they can find out where it is. If you realy must have it though, your best bet is to get it from Amazon. Odds are good you'll be able to get it. Getting bent out of shape and throwing a tantrum isnt going to do either you or them anything good.

[Hwj_Chim]

(Amazon even shipped mine early) It is cases like this that make me hate gamestop.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I preordered my copy on Sunday (or Monday, I forget) off Amazon. I HOPE I'll be getting the artbook. :\

[izarate]

Gamecrazy might have them. I just received this in my inbox today:

[Half Japanese]

For what it's worth, didn't Atlus sort of integrate their webstore into Amazon a few months ago, meaning Amazon took over the direct selling/order fulfillment of Atlus merchandise? If anything, they would be more likely to have the art book at this point than anywhere else. Shoot customer service an email and see what they say.

[exit]

The EBX in the mall said they never received the books, not that I pre-ordered the game or anything, but my friend asked them out of curiosity. Not that I'm trying to defend Gamestop or anything, maybe they just never received them, it wouldn't surprise me the least. I was actually kind of disappointing that they didn't pack it in with the game like they did with Persona 3, but since I could care less about the art book, I quickly got over it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

The EBX in the mall said they never received the books, not that I pre-ordered the game or anything, but my friend asked them out of curiosity. Not that I'm trying to defend Gamestop or anything, maybe they just never received them, it wouldn't surprise me the least. I was actually kind of disappointing that they didn't pack it in with the game like they did with Persona 3, but since I could care less about the art book, I quickly got over it.

I thought the preorders got a book and an extra CD. Right?

[josekortez]

Dont buy the game though untill they can find out where it is. If you realy must have it though, your best bet is to get it from Amazon. Odds are good you'll be able to get it. Getting bent out of shape and throwing a tantrum isnt going to do either you or them anything good.

Yeah, the saleswoman kept hunting around behind the counter and would periodically raise her head to say, "Just swipe your card!" I replied with, "Not until I see an art book on this counter!" She went into the back room for ten minutes, probably had a smoke to calm her nerves, and then came back out.

And I didn't throw a tantrum. First, she tried to convince me that the game came out last week, which it didn't. Then, she said I didn't come in within 48 hours, which was wrong because their automated line just called me yesterday to let me know that the game was in, so I believe she was in the wrong here and didn't want to accept blame.

I simply explained to her that it sucks that she and the rest of her Gamestop cronies need to assault their customers with a cacophony of pre-order suggestions just to keep their jobs, and I said that she had two choices: (a) putting my $5 back on my debit card or (b) giving me the $5 back in cash because I didn't want her to think I was a satisfied customer. I also said that I knew that it didn't make a difference about whether I was a satisfied customer or not since the millions of Grand Theft Auto and Madden fans are the ones who keep Gamestop open so they don't have to file Chapter 11.

As far as I know, this is still America, and I still have freedom of choice about whether or not I want to go through with a transaction where a corporation doesn't want to provide me with everything they promised. Not providing a pre-order bonus that you baited as an incentive for me to pre-order is just bad business, in my opinion.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I had a similar situation a while back. I wanted to buy one of those Metal Slug Anthology (PS2) reprints that popped up in Gamestop. I noticed my store had one in stock, so I went to the store and asked if they had a copy. They said yes. Then I said I wanted it and they said the game was at an employee's house.

I stared at them and left. And then I got it off Gamestop.com for twelve bucks shipped.

I haven't bought anything worth more than three bucks there since.

[PapaStu]

I've in-store pre-ordered stuff from GS/EB stores before (before and after the merge) and had this happen. Was I upset? Yes. Do I know if the store even got enough to cover the pre-orders? No clue, but I know this is often the case that they didn't even get enough to cover orders.

What I have done since then though has gotten me my special item ever time. I order it online. Either Amazon or GS online orders (if done before the game releases) that mention the special goodies when you order it will give them to you. Sometimes a game might be delayed a day or two in shipping out (seems to happen to amazon) but i'll be damned if I don't get my goodies using this method.

[Daria]

I'f I'm dead set on buying a game for it's pre-order bonus I will always buy it online. Even Gamestop.com is guaranteed to ship with your items. Although these days I'm much more likely to buy from Amazon. The stores either don't get them on time, or the employees keep them.

Now if I miss out on a pre-order I know Gamestops good to just ask them for it. Because obviously they aren't going to the people that actually bought the game.

[exit]

I thought the preorders got a book and an extra CD. Right?

I didn't even know the book was for pre-orders, my friend just asked the girl behind the counter and she said that they never received any. The soundtrack is included with the game, much like with Persona 3, which makes me wonder why Atlus didn't just pack it all together like they did with Persona 3. Maybe it just cost too much, or maybe they didn't want to go through that fiasco they did last year and delay the game a week because the book spine was shabby.

[mailman187666]

I pre-ordered off of amazon but I used the super saver shipping or whatever. I also ordered one of those social link packages that comes with the extra CD and calendar and whatnot. I haven't gotten them in yet unfortunately because I went with the free shipping.

[heybtbm]

I picked up my pre-order yesterday and the guy at the counter handed me the artbook. I had no idea what it was or that it was a pre-order bonus. I thought it was a free copy of Game Informer or something.

When I got home I put the artbook in a box in my basement with all the other pre-order crap I could care less about. I really should go through that box and start selling some of that stuff on ebay. One man's trash is another's treasure I guess.

[Sudo]

I didn't even know the book was for pre-orders, my friend just asked the girl behind the counter and she said that they never received any. The soundtrack is included with the game, much like with Persona 3, which makes me wonder why Atlus didn't just pack it all together like they did with Persona 3. Maybe it just cost too much, or maybe they didn't want to go through that fiasco they did last year and delay the game a week because the book spine was shabby.

The art book is physically too big to include with the game. It's the size of a comic book or magazine.