by Joe Gandolfo- jgand@pcfootball.net
08-13-02

Well August 12^th was supposed to be the big day! The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived. That was the day that EA was to release Madden 2003, and the game was supposed to hit store shelves.  

I had made plans to go out later that day after I had gotten off work to see if some of my local retail establishments had put it out on display as of yet. I decided to start out at my local mall, and began my search at Electronics Boutique. The first thing I saw as I round the corner is a huge cardboard cutout of the Madden 2003 box cover. I thought to myself "cool, they must have it out then". As I entered the store I noticed that they had boxes for Sega’s NFL2k3 and NFLFever2K3 on the shelves, along with NCAA 2003. Unfortunately, they did not have Madden 2003 out on the shelves, but they did have the strategy guide prominently displayed on the front counter. There was a box near the counter that said the game would be on the shelves on the 14th, but no one there could tell me if that was the PC or console version.

I then decided to try my luck at Circuit City. Now, when you walk into a Circuit City nowadays the layout is pretty much the same. You see the televisions playing some form of music highlight video as soon as you walk in the door, trying to entice you to buy one of these boxes that will bring your family hours of joy and happiness. Just beyond that as you walk further into the store are the DVD players and camcorders – more high ticket items. Lining the walls of the store are the larger items that wont fit in the middle with the CD’s and DVD’s. Over here in the left corner you have the big screen TV’s, and in it’s own special media room you have a home theatre set-up. Go further along the wall and you have Receivers, Speakers, Car Stereos and CD players. Back to the right of the store where you are headed are the PCs, right across from the digital phones. Just beyond that are all the console games and their cartridges. 

So where oh where could the PC software be? Oh, it’s over there in the extreme right corner of the store. Mind the cobwebs. 

Now yeah, I understand that Circuit City carries a lot of merchandise and that they have to try to sell as much high-ticket stuff as possible. But what happened to the days when the PC Software was actually right next to the actual PC’s? I mean, wouldn’t that make the most sense instead of hiding it away in a corner like some dark family secret? Anyway, I started searching the titles for the sports games and found that they were all situated in one place. Yup, you guessed it, back in the farthest corner of the store, visible only with either binoculars or better yet, the Hubble Telescope. Imagine my lack of surprise when they did not have the 2003 version of Madden. But, they did have plenty of Madden 2002 in stock, and what is that I spy stuck up in the far right corner of the PC section like a redheaded stepchild? Ah yes, copies of what some consider to be that well known abortion: Madden 2001. 

Now Circuit City did not even carry any advertising for the game in the store. No cardboard cutouts, no coming soon notice, nothing. The only cardboard stand I did see was for the DVD release of “Lord of the Rings”. Thanks guys, but I’m going to wait until the “Special Edition” comes out in November. I decided to take a look at the console section to see if they had gotten their version of the game before us. Again, there were no new editions of Madden to be found. The only new release from EA that was on the shelves was NCAA Football 2003.

So it was on to Best Buy. I can usually find something at my local Best Buy; after all I was able to find a replacement Hepa Filter for my vacuum cleaner when the store I bought it at in the first place (Wal-Mart) was out of them. Well I looked around for help in the PC dept for five minutes, finding neither someone in a blue shirt or the game. Just out of curiosity (again) I wandered over to the console section to see if they had that version in yet. Not two seconds after I stepped into the XBox section when a college freshmen in a blue shirt came up to me and said "Good Afternoon sir, can I help you find anything?" 

Yeah junior, find somebody to shag his ass over to the PC section to answer a few questions for me. Like why is everyone hanging out in the X-Box section of the store when there are customers all over the place?  

When asked about the availability of the PC game, junior didn’t have an answer for me. So he went off to try to find one for me. Five minutes go by and no junior. Ten minutes and no junior. Finally after fifteen minutes of waiting I decided that enough was enough and started to head for my next destination. On my way out the door, there was junior, trying to explain to an outraged mother that it was perfectly legal for Best Buy to sell the new Eminem CD, and that it in no way reflected upon his personal character or moral values. 

Yeah junior, been there, done that, never again.

OK, CompUSA won't fail me right? After all, they were the ones that I got my Pentium 4 from. They were the ones that we got our digital camera from. They were the ones who installed a front panel USB port for us for the cost of the parts. They couldn’t let me down, right? Wrong. All they had was that huge cardboard cutout and no mention of when it would be on the shelves. There was very little in the way of sports games on the shelves as it was, but at least I did find Brittany Spears new PC game where you can audition for Brittany to go out on tour with her. 

Happy happy, joy joy. 

By this time I was starting to feel it, and I decided to make the long drive home and just call it for the night. I just decided to relax for the rest of the night, kick back and watch the Dolphins-Bucs ga.....wait a minute! What the hell is this? The game isn't on the shelves and ESPN IS SHOWING THE COMMERCIAL?!?!?

Sometimes you just can’t win. 

In looking around the forums here and at MM I’ve noticed that a lot of people are saying that they can’t find the game anywhere either. 

Personally, I plan on holding off for a couple of days and resuming the search. However, the wife wants me to drop by Staples on the way home to pick up some paper for the business. I don’t think it would actually happen, but how epic would it be right now if I was to walk into Staples tonight and I was to find Madden 2003 on the shelves staring at me like Hamlet’s father? How ironic would it be if I were to find the game that all of us are waiting for, not in a store that specializes in games or computers, but in an office supply store? 

Hey, in a world where corporate executives can conspire to drive up the electricity prices for an entire state, anything is possible. 

Until next time….