Speaking to the Gearheads of War Blog, which his brother actually works for, Cliff Bleszinski (aka CliffyB,
the Gears of War Icon) has said that some retail stores might actual start selling the game before November 12, which is the official release date.
Gearheads: Why release it on a Sunday?Cliff: The Sunday date is the date Microsoft believes all of the major retailers will have the game in stock so that's the date they want to build excitement around. What we've been told is that hardcore game shops like EB & Gamestop will have their trucks lined up at Microsoft's warehouse as 12:01AM on November 7th (the date the game actually ships) and will get stock to their stores as quickly as they can - at their own additional expense no less! They'll be able to sell it the minute they get it so some of those stores will have the game well before the 12th. It could take a few days for the game to work through the distribution channels of the giants like Wal*Mart and Best Buy but they should all have it in stores by the 12th. Microsoft figures this is a game that will sell well to the mass market so they want to make sure that when people show up in the stores the game is there. So that's why the 12th is being called Emergence Day. Microsoft also told us they're going to be planning something cool to coincide with that date.
So it looks as though some stores might even have the game as early as November 7 - a full 5 days before the official release.
You can read the full interview at the Gearheads of War Blog
here.
