The EB where I live had all their copies reserved, but there was a stipulation: you HAD to be there on launch day, otherwise your reserve gets bumped. Unfair? Maybe. But seeing how many reserves they got (I think it was 300 in my little 50K burb) it was probably the best way to keep everyone happy.
I played it. It garners an "OK" out of me. Sure I enjoyed GTAIII, didn't beat it, but I enjoyed it. Vice City, even with its slight graphical updates and additions of new vehicles, just didn't have the same attraction as GTAIII. They could have sat on the game a bit longer, fixed up some more things (like allow your guy to SWIM, I mean, Vice City IS surrounded by water, made the targeting even better, etc.). It just reminds me of a new 200x sports game that gets released every year.