GameStop removed free OnLive Deus Ex: Human Revolution vouchers

If you recently purchased a PC copy of Square Enix's, Deus Ex: Human Revolution from GameStop, you might be missing something that originally came in the box. Square Enix announced a launch promotion with the cloud gaming company, OnLive, that included a voucher for a free digital copy of the game through the company's gaming service. When GameStop got word of it, the retail chain decided to ensure that its customers didn't partake in the promo.

GameStop is making a push to the digital market with its own cloud gaming service, which is set to be fully running within the next year, and the idea of distributing free copies for a competitor didn't sit too well with the mega retailer.

“Please immediately remove and discard the OnLive coupon from all regular PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Our desire is to not have this coupon go to any customers after this announcement.” stated in a GameStop memo.

The memo was e-mailed to several gaming publications by a Gamestop employee, who declined to further comment on the issue. GameStop's media relations department did confirm the memo, however.

"Square Enix packed the competitor's coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull and discard these coupons," GameStop public relations representative Beth Sharum said.

So, is what GameStop did by opening up Deus Ex copies and removing these promo vouchers actually legal? According to Gamespy's Objection! columns author, Eric Neigher, it all depends on what contracts each company signed.

“Obviously, when one corporation tries to submarine another, and goes about it in a more or less shady way, it looks bad. But, from a legal perspective, a lot depends on what kind of contracts OnLive had with Square, and in turn that Square had with GameStop. If removing this coupon from the PC boxes violated the terms of that contract, obviously GameStop is liable to be sued. If not, there's still an issue as to their responsibility to give purchasers what they expect to be paying for, including, perhaps, marketing materials."

A check on GameStop's website shows that only digital PC copies are available for purchase and hard copies have been pulled from its store shelves. It's also now offering apologies to customers who bought the PC version in the form of a $50 gift card and a buy-two-get-one-free used games coupon.

Despite the company's attempt at a resolution to this issue, there's little left to doubt that its reputation may have been irreparably damaged.

A Special Look at the Square-Enix Store

In the Shibuya district in Tokyo, the Square-Enix Store faces the busy street in front of it, watching as cars and businessmen in suits go hustling by. There are really no stores to speak of near it; the surrounding buildings are primarily dull-gray office buildings and small restaurants that cater to their occupants during lunch time. In this drab palette, a bright-orange giant slime really stands out.

The store itself is located in the bottom floor of the Square-Enix company headquarters, and I'm sure just a few dozen feet above it people are working diligently on the next iteration of the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest series. The square-footage is actually quite small though, much smaller than one would think from looking at the pictures. Size doesn't necessarily always matter, however, as it's packed full of merchandise, many of which is exclusive to the store and can't be purchased anywhere else. I personally walked away with a stuffed Tonberry, a mini, chirping, baby Chocobo, an umbrella with Final Fantasy creatures on it, and a Mandragora cell-phone strap after my last visit there. Even if you don't buy anything, it's an amazing chance to look closely at some of the high-end Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest inspired jewelry on display and really appreciate the detail they exemplify. Or you can just buy those too, if you have the money, and examine them at your leisure. And, of course, there's the floor.

Yes, you read that right. The floor is the best part of the whole place. Why, you ask? It's because the floor is made of black, shiny tiles, with a certain portion of it being see-through glass displaying a recessed space. There, an eternally sleeping, life-sized Sephiroth lies in repose.

The statue is absolutely gorgeous. It is, hands-down, the coolest thing I have ever seen in Tokyo. Luckily, I was able to restrain myself from breaking the glass and taking the statue home with me, so I left the store voluntarily instead of being escorted into the nearest police station. If you ever happen to be in the area, make sure you check it out. I guarantee you the statue is worth it, even if you don't happen to be a Final Fantasy VII fan. If you can't hop on a plane and go to Tokyo this weekend, I hope at least that our little preview of the Square-Enix Store was enough to tide you over until you can.

And with that, I would like to leave you with Sephiroth's sleeping visage to ponder. Make sure to keep checking back for 'This Week in Famitsu' and other news articles, coming soon!

Submitted By: Sherrie Blackwell

This Week in Famitsu

Weekly Famitsu #1180

Cover Story

This week Famitsu returns to its retrospective series with a look back at the history of RPG giant (and creator of two of Japan's best selling franchises of all time, Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest) Square-Enix. However, hopefully most of you remember that before the company was known by its current name, it was actually two separate companies: Square Co. Ltd & Enix Corporation.

Enix (whose name is a play on the words of "phoenix" and "ENIAC", the world's first digital computer) can trace its roots back to 1975, but it didn't get into gaming until 1982 when it held a PC game programming contest. The winners of this contest would eventually go on to create 'Dragon Quest' on the NES, which was released in 1986 and sold almost 1.5 million copies. In addition to its video game business, Enix is also very well known in Japan for its anime and manga publishing divisions.

Square was founded in 1983 and was originally the computer software division of a Japanese power-line company. They released their first game, 'The Death Trap', in 1984 for the PC. The game was a text-based adventure game which somehow managed to sell over 500,000 copies, if you can believe it. However, after Square's initial success, they had nothing but failure after failure. In 1987 Square was on the verge of bankruptcy when they released a game for the NES called, appropriately at that time, 'Final Fantasy'. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fast-forward almost twenty years to 2003. Faced with ever-increasing development costs and huge financial setbacks (caused by the financial failure of Final Fantasy: Spirits Within for Square and the long drawn-out development of Dragon Quest VII for Enix) the two companies merged and formed Square-Enix. Thanks to their combined catalog of games, the newly formed company was stronger then ever, and in 2009 they purchased the well-known 'Western' game company Eidos.

Thanks to their recent addition, beyond the tried and true franchises Square-Enix creates themselves, they also publish a great deal of western games in Japan. They will be responsible for publishing some of the most anticipated new titles this year, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Hitman Absolution, Tomb Raider, & Deus Ex. Square-Enix also operates a store based out of their headquarters in Shibuya, which sells merchandise based on their popular franchises. (Look for a separate post on the blog soon that will give you a first hand look!) Here's wishing this RPG giant many more years ahead of it to add to its already impressive history.

Finally, this wouldn't be a Famitsu article if it didn't have an extensive poll of its readers. Check the results below and see how they compare with yours!

     Game Most Desired to be Remade

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Xenogears
3. The World Ends With You

     Favorite Dragon Quest Game

1. Dragon Quest III
2. Dragon Quest V
3. Dragon Quest VIII

     Favorite Final Fantasy Game

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Final Fantasy X
3. Final Fantasy V

    Favorite Non-Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest Game

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Xenogears
3. Romancing Saga 2

Weird Games Found Only In Japan

Senran Kagura (3DS): When you first heard about the 3DS' ability to project hands-free 3D, what was the first thing you thought could most effectively utilize this new technology? An awesome 3D HUD system on a first-person shooter? Innovative puzzle mechanisms? 3D movies in the palm of your hand? Apparently the mind of the creator of this week's 'Weird Games' pick went straight to... shall we say the fairer sex? Senran Kagura is a new 3DS game coming out this September in Japan. It's a brawler (think old school River City Ransom or Streets of Rage), which is pretty awesome; the genre is a bit rare nowadays. It boasts nice graphics, some RPG elements, and incredibly ...eh-hem, well-endowed school girls in 3D. With over 180 different outfits you can change the various female characters into (counting color variations), including picking out what they wear underneath them, it's pretty obvious who this game is pandering to. Picking out what they wear underneath is important, by the way, because the amount of damage you receive is reflected by the amount of clothing, or lack there-of, left on the girls as the battle progresses. It might be worth it to check it out just for how incredibly rare straight-up brawlers are nowadays, but there's a reason this game was crowned to be this week's 'Weird Games Found Only In Japan'; expect this game to come out in the States when every single person who still believes that games are just for children and wants to ban them moves to Canada.

Hardware Sales: Week of 6/27-7/3

• Nintendo 3DS – 31,545 units
• PSP – 26,587 units
• Playstation 3 – 19,290 units
• Wii – 11,915 units
• Nintendo DS – 6,890 units
• Xbox 360 – 1,874 units
• PlayStation 2 – 1,051 units

Top 5 Selling Games: Week of 6/27-7/3

• Tales of the Abyss (3DS) – 68, 218 units sold
• Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (PS3) – 45,347 units sold
• To Heart 2: Dungeon Travelers (PSP) – 43,979 units sold
• Goldeneye 007 (Wii) – 37,457 units sold
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (3DS) – 26,019 units sold

Top 5 Most Anticipated Games: Based on survey results from 6/30-7/6

• Tales of Xillia (PS3)
• Dragon Quest X (Wii)
• Final Fantasy: Type-O (PSP)
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3)
• Photo Kano (PSP)

We hope you enjoyed this week's 'This Week In Famitsu'. See you next time, and keep an eye out for that first-hand account of the Square-Enix store, coming soon!

Submitted By: Aaron McKeever & Sherrie Blackwell