An oddity in nearly 2 years of game preloads.
Paper Mario Color Splash releases at retail on October 7, but digital preloaders may have the full game now.
First found by @Electivirus on Twitter, the 8GB preload appears to include the unlock key that is normally only made available at midnight Eastern time on the day of release.
IT'S TRUE
DIGITAL COPIES OF COLOR SPLASH CAN BE PLAYED RIGHT NOW DDMFKJDJFBF pic.twitter.com/We2Bed3M2a
— Alola Form Bidoof 🐻 (@Electivirus) September 23, 2016
UPDATE: We have confirmed that the preload did unlock the full game temporarily, but the preload option has been removed from the game's eShop page. Presumably, those who downloaded and ran the game before the shutdown at about 8:45 Eastern will get to keep the game.
Letsa go pic.twitter.com/sJzrfcADTf
— Donald Theriault (@DonaldMick) September 23, 2016
I'm still shocked this isn't "normal" yet. Digital distribution doesn't really offer good value, so early releases are something I expected to become standard practice... I guess the need to keep retailers (and gamers who prefer to buy retail) happy is still to strong?
Yep. Retail got MAJORLY cheesed off ...
... Nintendo put Wind Waker HD out digitally two weeks early.
From what I remember (and could find online), the digital version was only available early to those who bought a Zelda Wii U hardware bundle (which had a regular Wii U, but the GamePad and some gold symbols on it) that came with a download code for the game. And I never saw reports of retailers being upset with it (because you still had to buy the console bundle to get the digital copy of the game).
I don't recall hearing about this. Do you have a source handy to point me to? I'm curious.I'm still shocked this isn't "normal" yet. Digital distribution doesn't really offer good value, so early releases are something I expected to become standard practice... I guess the need to keep retailers (and gamers who prefer to buy retail) happy is still to strong?
Yep. Retail got MAJORLY cheesed off when Nintendo put Wind Waker HD out digitally two weeks early.