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The latest entry into Capcom’s popular courtroom drama series, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations was released for the Nintendo DS on October 23. As with most games from major publishers like Capcom, stores nationwide stocked their shelves with the game almost immediately, and most fans were able to easily obtain a copy and get to sleuthing.
Unless they pre-ordered one from Capcom.
Infendo reader Andrew sent us an interesting email yesterday regarding his pre-order of the new Phoenix Wright. To show support, Andrew placed his pre-order through Capcom directly. Here’s an excerpt from his email:
And if the active 21-page thread on Capcom’s official bulletin board is any indication, Andrew’s experience is far from an isolated one. It seems Phoenix Wright fans nationwide are demanding justice. Rambunctious ranting and raving had run uninterrupted for more than a month on Capcom’s boards until one of its customer support managers interjected with “good news†last night, informing fans that shipments are finally being sent out.
The Capcom employee also thanked posters for their patience – though there isn’t much to be found in that thread, understandably – and enthusiasm for the game, which broke sales records for Capcom’s online store. He also reiterated the 10% promo code Andrew mentioned in his email, though some frustrated fans feel strongly that the offer is inadequate.
While speaking with a Capcom representative this afternoon, he expressed genuine regret, saying he and his colleagues “feel terrible†about the situation surrounding Trials and Tribulations. He cited mistakes in the allocation of shipments prior to launch as the source of the problem.
“To say we’ve been working overtime on this would be understating it,†he said.
He offered assurance that Capcom is working hard to get copies of the game to those who pre-ordered it. The publisher has recollected press copies and even employees’ personal copies to send to customers. He also expressed hope that this problem wouldn’t leave a “bitter taste in gamers’ mouths,†ruining an otherwise “great game.â€
A calmer Andrew emailed Infendo an update this afternoon. Capcom emailed him shortly after he contacted us to let him know the game had finally shipped to customers with a pre-order…one month after its release date.
No word as to whether or not the promised pre-order petite plush will be included.
Wow, thats just terrible. I can’t believe capcom would do something like that.
So, did people ordering from Amazon or a game store have the same delay issue?
“Trials and Tribulations”, indeed…
Unless someone died before they got their copy late, relax. You will all still get to play a great game at SOME point… yeesh.
David:
No. Only those who ordered directly from Capcom, as far as I know.
I have seen this before. Best Buy did it to me. Since they already have your money (from the preorder) you are a lower priority than filling the retail supply chain. My Wii Play pre-order got “Back Ordered” from bestbuy.com and made it to me a week after release. All the while the shelves at a local Best Buy were covered with them. A sneaky little tactic for maximizing profitability at the expense of the loyal customers. Not really very good business sense in the long run. This month long wait does seem a little extreme though. There may be something else going on here.
You would think that a Pre-Order would get filled first and easiest. They know the requirement is there ahead of time and they already have payment, right? Right?
Good thing I didn’t order at their store… I was tempted but finally decided to wait a little longer to get my hands on it (in-store).
I pre-ordered from their store in September! It was more than 1 month before it was released. When I got the backorder notice, I called them on the phone, and the girl didn’t really know what was going on, but she was nice and she said she’ll find out then send back an e-mail. That e-mail was basically an apology.
Then there was the e-mail with the 10% off coupon, which admits to it being their error, and it does indeed say “Rest assured that if you pre-ordered the game, you will still receive the Phoenix Wright plush toy.” So it better have a plushie!!!
I didn’t bother to use the coupon, for making us wait over a month, it should have been a 50% off coupon! That 10% wouldn’t even cover the shipping, so it’s not worth it.
Today I received the shipping notice, but there’s no mention of the plushie. It’s disappointing in general. It’s not as if we’re whining about it, it’s just unfair that everyone else, including those who pre-ordered in stores got the game. You would expect that going out of your way, going directly to the source, you would be treated with priority…..