Remember how weird it was when 7-Eleven started selling select promo-partner games at their stores? Remember how awesome it was when they completely ignored street dates of aforementioned games and sold them regardless of labels warning them against doing so? Well, now you can buy AAA games at 7-Eleven year round, starting with seven this holiday season: Guitar Hero: World Tour, Fallout 3, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Quantum of Solace, Gears of War 2, WWE Smackdown! vs Raw 2009, and Call of Duty: World at War.
“This is not just a holiday promotion for us,” said Michael Jester, 7-Eleven category manager for gaming and electronics, “but a brand new product line-up that will be available year-round. We may not be a total entertainment destination … yet, but we’re hoping to expand our selection beyond the high-dollar, hot- selling games to include options for all budgets, like value-priced video games as well as DVD movies.”
In addition to offering “AAA” games, the chain is also going to up the ante with their MMO prepaid card selection, bringing the total to 20 titles, and "...includes Nexon, Habbo, Gaia, Guild Wars, gPotato, Runescape, Aeria, City of Heroes, Exteel, ijji, IMVU, Neopets and Sims2 prepaid game cards."
Yes, that’s right; somehow 7-Eleven is turning the free-to-play Guild Wars into a pay-to-play game! (Or, better yet, adding furniture-based microtransactions!) Amazing, isn’t it? Less than a year of barely being involved in the videogame retail industry, and already they’re changing the way games work.
With their efforts to … honor … release dates, as well as their new award as Easiest Game Selling Store for Teens to Steal From, 7-Eleven is poised to make a mark on the gaming market.
Or, most likely, not.
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