Why I love HMV

After feeling I was done with the nonsense of EB games' preorders and just general annoyance with their practices I decided to move on from them for my video game purchases. That is when HMV kicked in, as I hope many of you have noticed, the physical based music industry is currently floundering thanks to downloads and digital media so HMV has had to move into selling games and so far I am very impressed. Unlike stores such as superstore they get their shipments day one and all available at the right price unlike some other places that are still charging $70 despite our rising dollar. So I hoped to finally test them on preorders to see how well they would work. Now I would like to state that I feel preorders are mostly unnecessary because unless the game is going to be very rare or the preorder bonus seems worth it to you (see: Big Daddy figurine) you will find many copies of that game either way.

However I also felt the need to check how well they work at preorders to see if it is as good if not better then EB games. It was mainly on a whim though, I noticed a sign advertising a free shirt with a preorder of GTA 4 which I though was terribly lame and I'd never wear it but a fairly larger preorder bonus none the less. I went up to the counter and the young woman there looked at me like I was crazy when I asked to preorder the game, although she knew what it was she had no idea how to do it. However I feel this was mainly a problem with a new thing being introduced so they were unaware on what to do, but after a quick call to another employee it was resolved. So I was surprised at how it worked, first no deposit was required at all they just special ordered it for you and you pay it all when you come in which was great and they keep all your data in the computer if you have ever ordered anything from them before which although EB does it's still pretty handy for a newcomer to the preorder business. So I left with a new respect for them but not fully expecting to get the shirt (not like I really cared).

So on launch I walked in and promptly got my copy with no hassle, I walked up told them my name and got the game and to my surprise I actually got the shirt (albeit way to big but hey). All this work that HMV has apparently put into this has surprised me and I am very impressed with them so, keep up the great work HMV I will be preordering from you in the future.