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7-Eleven hits Halo 3 launch hitch

Delivery snafu causes shooter's debut to be delayed at many of the chain's locations; Slurpee vendor still interested in selling games.

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7-Eleven may have been the most and least unusual participant in the flood of midnight retailer launches for Halo 3. Although the all-night convenience-store chain doesn't regularly carry console games, there are few--if any--retailers as accustomed to working the graveyard shift.

Coming soon: Halo 3 Slim Jims and Yoo-Hoo.
Coming soon: Halo 3 Slim Jims and Yoo-Hoo.

However, that nocturnal experience was all for naught at some 7-Eleven stores because they didn't actually have any copies of Halo 3 to sell. A representative with the company told GameSpot today that the company's distributor mistakenly sent out part of its allocation of games using second-day delivery instead of overnight express. Nevertheless, the rep did say that the "vast majority" of participating stores received their copies as planned. About half of the company's stores were involved in the Halo 3 promotion.

Despite the bump in the road, 7-Eleven is hoping that gamers won't be too turned off by the situation; the rep said the company is looking at a selection of other games to sell in its stores for 2008.

"We did some research early last year of our core customers, mostly male 18 to 24," the representative said, "and asked what they liked to do best with their leisure time. Without a doubt, the top three responses were movies, sports, and computer and video games."

The representative also noted that gamers having trouble finding a copy can call the store's customer-service hotline at 1-800-255-0711 to have someone check on which 7-Elevens have the game in stock and call back with the nearest locations.

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