GameStop has just announced that pre-ordering Madden NFL 10 for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 will net its customers an exclusive demo of the title. The demo will features four five-minute quarters, with the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers as the playable teams. Codes for the pre-order demo will hit stores by July 15, and the demo is slated to go live by the end of July.
Not surprisingly, Electronic Art’s Madden NFL is one of GameStop’s biggest seller, year after year. The pre-order hype for the games usually starts only months after the last edition is released, and usually involves streamers, employees wearing football jerseys, and mock in-store football fields. While the push usually results is high pre-order sales, over the past few years customers have come to grips with the fact that the retailer will get a bajillion copies of the game on launch day regardless. There’s just no immediacy.
With this pre-order offer, I have a feeling that’s about to change, and GameStop will see the biggest Madden NFL pre-orders they’ve seen in years. Prepare yourselves, GameStop employees — it’s going to be a hectic summer.
