My local Walmart apparently feels its too good to sell Grand Theft Auto at midnight. This same store has launched every major game of the last six months. Halo 3, Mario Galaxy, Smash Brothers, and even Mario Kart was out on the shelves at the stroke of midnight. So it was quite the shock to me when I entered the store at ten tonight to find out the biggest game of the year wouldn't be put out to some time tomorrow. The clerk could only give me a helpless frustrated shrug as I was the seventieth person that had inquired in the past hour.

I usually prefer to use this store, because the lines are manageable as  major launches go a hundred to a hundred and fifty people isn't an incredible wait.  You are allowed to wait inside the building a blessing on a miserable night like tonight, and the lines do not form up  six hours in advance. Show up a couple hours before and you will be near the front of the line.

I cannot say whether all Walmarts are doing this, but don't screw up the way I did call ahead and confirm that they will indeed have the game available. Unfortunately for me going to this store put me a hour and a half from another comparable retailer so I was pretty well screwed at making the launch. A two or three hour line isn't my idea of a good time, and that is about what I would get with the three other retailers available to me. So I am having someone pick up the title while they are at work tomorrow. 

thats just stupid. i hope people take there business elsewhere.

It's probably the same reason why they ID people for glue, or don't carry rap music.

This is why i hardy buy games there plus some old lady didnt want to sell a terminator dvd to me (i was 20-19 at the time) so i got my dad and as humilating it was to me to have an adult.

Basically it is just very rude, and very inconsiderate there is no reason to not serve customers. They have the game, and if customers are inquiring about making a purchase. You should be more then happy to sell it granted that you are not breaking street date. Instead they decided to send me away very unhappy. They sent seventy people before me home unhappy. They will probably send another hundred people home unhappy. They decided to make a lot of people unhappy. How is that good business.

Thats the last time I try to launch with this particular retailer. Probably the last time I use the chain for my gaming needs. I feel slighted, and there is no acceptable reason to do this.

My Walmart has never released a game at midnight, they always start to sell that kind of stuff at 6 AM

Maybe it's because of the attention Mario Kart Wii is getting. Since Walmart already did a midnight launch a few days ago for one game, they probably pass the next one with only a two days gap. It's really very clever for Nintendo to release Mario Kart two days before and on a Sunday. Just for example, the Best Buy ad last Sunday had Mario Kart Wii on the FRONT PAGE. The WHOLE Front Page. While GTAIV was in the 2nd page with only a column. As a consolation, GTAIV was at back. But Front Page is big time. Very clever Nintendo. I am not saying GTAIV will not sell. But what Nintendo did is really very clever.

Walmart is evil.

End of story.

I work for Wal Mart and we launched the game at midnight...

Here in Wisconsin, Walmart prices health insurance so that it is out of reach for its employees and they qualify for Badger Care.  Then, it tells its employees to come to Walmart doctors and use the Walmart pharmacy so that Walmart can be getting money for Wisconsin providing the health care that should have been Walmart's responsibility in the first place.  This costs Wisconsin tax payers over a billion dollars a year.

Walmart even helps its employees fill out the paperwork for this scam.