Early ODST isn't just for the French

Even in conjunction with the "Don't Operate Heavy Machinery Under The Influence" sign, this game still got shipped

Apparently release dates are getting more flexible these days.  Multiple reports have come in, starting on the Xbox Live forums, of Australian gamers having their pre-ordered copies of Halo 3: ODST shipped early.

I suppose it’s kind of nice, when you think that most of the time we have to wait several days after the rest of the world to get new releases.

The release date break has been tracked back to Australian game retailer GAME.  People who had pre-ordered their copies online were the lucky early-birds, as apparently their warehouse has messed up the shipment.  The gaff is even more hilarious, as you can see a nice big yellow sticker on the front of the box (that got sent out with the order, no less) that says:

STOP!

Do Not Put On Shelf or Sell before Tuesday, 22 September, 2009. It cannot be sold before this date.  Selling it before this date will violate your agreement.

So it would appear GAME is in deep trouble, considering the pre-orders arrived for gamers on Friday the 18th.  There may be a few warehouse layoffs in progress over the next week.  Anyhow, as reinforced by the release break in France, Xbox Live won’t be punishing any gamer who has a legitimate copy of the game arrive early, so all we can say is “lucky you” to the early recipients.

In the end, it’s not really that big a deal for anyone outside  of GAME’s corporate office.  The recipients have only been given the game four days in advance, which isn’t long enough to give them any significant gameplay advantage.  Meanwhile hundreds of reviewers get early releases of these games to try out, so it’s not like another couple of hundred is going to ruin all of Bungie’s plans for world domination.

Further confirmation of delivery here and here.  Thanks OXCGN for the heads up on this one!