News came in this week that EBgames Garden City is green lighting a midnight release for Final Fantasy XIII on March 9, 2010. Pre-orders will obviously have gauranteed copies but I’m betting my marbles there will be more than enough to go around. I’ve yet to reach out to other EBgames (or Gamestops, cuz we have those now.), but we could be seeing more midnight releases across the city. Hardcore fans may want to pre-order anyway as EBgames/Gamestop offer a special bonus:

Reserve Final Fantasy XIII and receive a 32-page mini strategy guide. This mini guide contains direct samples from Piggyback’s 260-page, complete guide to Final Fantasy XIII. Available for store customers only, while supplies last.


What’s odd is that Final Fantasy XIII won’t be having it’s own collector’s or special edition. Games with half the hype and half the fanbase seem to be jumping on that collector’s bandwagon, offering slightly more straight from the developers and publishers at a premium price.

Speaking of EBgames though, I figure this would be a great time to share a little related story. Remember this post? Well it’s still holding true as EBgames/Gamestop’s policies make it clear:

For Winnipeg, trade-ins must be towards a partial payment for a similar item on the same transaction and no cash or store credit will be given.

Selkirk is still untouched by the Winnipeg only law and has complete flexibility over the handling of trade-ins and instore credit. Phil H. of Winnipeg residency, drove to Selkirk this past week and traded in a slew of old games. He walked away with over two hundred dollars of credit slapped on an EBgames card. Probably wouldn’t be worth the drive if you only had a Mary-Kate and Ashely Girls Night Out cart to trade in… but a duffle bag full of games would pay for itself!

Thanks Brian!

Image Final-Fantasy-XIII-box-set-618×554 Originally uploaded by AccessWinnipeg