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[michaelius]

The thing with Zavvi is: When I ordered, I did it knowing that the game will likely be shipped too late. Because, to be honest, I'm patient when it comes to this game. I wasn't really interested in it before, I know almost nothing about it, I haven't watched the anime (I don't really watch anime in general). I can wait. I'd just like to know whether I'll actually get a copy from Zavvi or not, because I would like to own a physical copy of the game eventually and I would like to get it for a decent price and not only find out that my order won't go through once the game is in short supply and I'm fucked.

I mean, today's "only" the release date, so it's not too bad yet, but I hope that we'll get some clarification from Zavvi soon.

Yeah it's Zavvi - i've put dozens of orders there and they are always slow but sooner or later they will send it.
For fast ones use Amazon, Ricedigital or base.com

But at least they offer free shiping to continental Europe so I can wait a bit more

 

[Deleted member 13876]

So does Zavvi straight up lie about when they ship stuff? They're using the same postal services other companies use so it doesn't make any sense why their stuff takes 4 times as long to arrive.

 

[WhirlwindMonk]

I was looking around at all the online stores I could think of yesterday and was unable to find this game for purchase. Then I realized, the US doesn't have a release date yet. I've never played a visual novel before, but I've been looking forward to picking this up. Any suggestions on some of the better games in the genre that I can pick up now on Vita to get me ready?

Danganronpa is probably the biggest suggestion, though that has a lot more gameplay than more "pure" VNs like Steins;Gate. Virtue's Last Reward is the other big one, but that's a sequel to 999 which was only on the DS (though I'd say it's worth picking up a used DS or 3DS for that game alone).

On PC, the first chapter of Higurashi was just released on Steam and is fantastic, though quite different in genre and setting from Steins;Gate. Really, right now, if you need your VNs in English, PC is the platform of choice. That's where the official releases and fan translations of the major classics are. Check out the Visual Novel Community Thread for more suggestions.

We're seeing more VNs on handheld in English as time goes on, but the ones like Steins;Gate where the only gameplay is choose-your-own-adventure style choices are still pretty rare.

 

[LiK]

So does Zavvi straight up lie about when they ship stuff? They're using the same postal services other companies use so it doesn't make any sense why their stuff takes 4 times as long to arrive.

They're fine for international orders but all I keep hearing is how slow they tend to ship stuff within EU. I never understood that.

 

[Oldsql]

Well fuck.

Accidentally bought the PS3 version from the PSN store rather than the Vita one. Upon further inspection I'm not even seeing a Vita version on there.

The same thing happened to me and they refused to change it or give me a refund. I should really learn how to read next time

 

[Deleted member 13876]

Oh well, I'll play it on PS3, but would have preferred the portability of the Vita here.

 

[ramyeon]

Okay, so this sounds like something I would enjoy, although I'm not huge on Visual Novels. I just can't bring myself to pay the $62 they're asking for the digital version and can't find a much better price for the physical version at the moment. I won't regret buying this, will I?

 

[marcincz]

SG on Zavvi is sold out from few days.
I ordered in the last week of May and wonder when they'll send it to me. Unfortunately in my country only one or two shops offer this game.

 

[LiK]

Okay, so this sounds like something I would enjoy, although I'm not huge on Visual Novels. I just can't bring myself to pay the $62 they're asking for the digital version and can't find a much better price for the physical version at the moment. I won't regret buying this, will I?

If you like awesome sci-fi stories, totally worth it.

 

[Shantom]

Hello Shantom,

Thank you for getting in touch for an update on your order.

I am really sorry to let you know that we have had to cancel your order because our suppliers were unable to provide it.

I understand how disappointing this might be. We have tried other suppliers but we have not had any luck. We will be removing the item from our website as soon as possible.

If a charge has been taken for the order, then a refund will be requested upon cancellation and the money returned to your account within 3-5 working days.

If there is anything else that we can do, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Kind regards,

Jord

Zavvi.com Customer Service Team

Zavvi are shit. I ordered it over 3 months ago, when it first went up on their site.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

Man, I don't know what to do. I can't decide whether to get the PS3 version Global Priority, pay $65 and get it Tuesday or pay $45 and get it anywhere between 6/18-24.

 

[marcincz]

Zavvi are shit. I ordered it over 3 months ago, when it first went up on their site.

I have my answer. Time to cancel preorder.

 

[Kresnik258]

Sorry to hear that guys. I stopped using Zavvi quite a while ago because they weren't able to fulfill an order of mine either.

 

[calc84maniac]

Some reviews:
Punk and Lizard - 10/10 (Warning: full review vaguely spoils a number of plot points)

Steins; Gate is a long and deep story that thunders along at a cracking pace, delivering shocks and emotional punches. This is a puzzle-free visual novel and the first playthrough is best enjoyed with a cup of tea and your feet up. Once you’ve reached the first ending, the game is on. Use your in-game mobile phone to make seemingly innocent choices that will actually change the course of history, creating multiple timelines in your desperate search to save your friends and find the One True Ending. And believe me, you will not rest until that happens. Beautiful graphics, great story, catchy music and a big fat loot drop of trophies including an attainable platinum, Steins; Gate is as close to perfect as they get.

God is a Geek - 9.5/10

Have you ever fallen in love with an album or a book so much that you wish you could go back in time or erase your memories and experience it blind? That’s how I feel whenever I think about Steins;Gate. I’d even go so far as to say it is the best story I’ve experienced of any medium in over a decade. Having watched the anime years ago, I am blown away by how much more I enjoyed the visual novel. If you’re even remotely interested in time travel or are a fan of the Back to the Future movies, experience Steins;Gate as soon as you can.

Also, a nice Playstation Blog post: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2015...ure-steinsgate-launches-on-ps3-ps-vita-today/

 

[YianGaruga]

Zavvi is cancelling orders? The fuck?

 

[JimPanzer]

the art and music are fuckin incredible

 

[flohen95]

Zavvi are shit. I ordered it over 3 months ago, when it first went up on their site.

What's infuriating is that they don't cancel the order themselves and that they don't inform you about anything. I'm still sitting here with my order in place (which I placed on the 4th of March, so they should've known how many copies they'd have to order) and I haven't heard shit from them. I don't understand what's so hard about informing your customers.

 

[Saphirax]

Zavvi are shit. I ordered it over 3 months ago, when it first went up on their site.

Lmao, wait...so in order for them to let you know the order has been canceled, you had to contact THEM first?

Brilliant

 

[Acquiescence]

There have already been a couple of reviews added to the PS3 version of the game's Metacritic page. There's no link to read them though, so they're publication-only for now I guess.

Playstation Official Magazine UK - 9.0
Games Master UK - 8.6

And yes, chalk me down as another who's been screwed over by Zavvi. Still, for the super cheap price I pre-ordered it for, I guess I can't moan too much. Waiting for stock on the day the game comes out is incredibly shitty service though.

 

[Omikaru]

While the way retailers are acting in regards to unfulfilled orders is in no way acceptable, it seems this game has been grossly understocked.

ShopTo still has Vita and PS3 regular editions in stock. £21.85.

 

[Saphirax]

http://www.365games.co.uk/ has the ps3 version in stock for 22 pounds. The Vita version however still says 'preorder', so not sure if they're having stock issues or they're just slow.

 

[marcincz]

Great. Cancel my preorder and taking SG in local shop in Poland. First and last time I preordered something on zavvi.

 

[Atolm]

Waiting for Amazon to ship my copy...hopefully I'll have it by Monday.

 

[PikkonX]

Danganronpa is probably the biggest suggestion, though that has a lot more gameplay than more "pure" VNs like Steins;Gate. Virtue's Last Reward is the other big one, but that's a sequel to 999 which was only on the DS (though I'd say it's worth picking up a used DS or 3DS for that game alone).

On PC, the first chapter of Higurashi was just released on Steam and is fantastic, though quite different in genre and setting from Steins;Gate. Really, right now, if you need your VNs in English, PC is the platform of choice. That's where the official releases and fan translations of the major classics are. Check out the Visual Novel Community Thread for more suggestions.

We're seeing more VNs on handheld in English as time goes on, but the ones like Steins;Gate where the only gameplay is choose-your-own-adventure style choices are still pretty rare.

Thanks a ton for the info. I do own a 3DS and wanted to pick up 999 back in the day, but never got around to it, so I'm loooking to pick that up now too. I loved the Higurashi anime, so that's definitely on the list as well. Now to read through the Community thread!

 

[Big Papa Husker]

http://www.365games.co.uk/ has the ps3 version in stock for 22 pounds. The Vita version however still says 'preorder', so not sure if they're having stock issues or they're just slow.

Anyone know how fast 365games orders take to get to the US?

 

[Tohsaka]

Still waiting for a shipping confirmation from Rice Digital, and I can't remember my password for their site so I can't check the order status. I tried resetting my password on their site a few times, but it hasn't sent me a new password and their support staff hasn't gotten back to me yet. I checked my spam folder, there's nothing in it though.

 

[Yaari]

So Zavvi doesn't even have the game in stock? No way they'll be shipping it anytime soon then. What a bunch of clowns.

My last order, Final Fantasy Type 0, I cancelled a day before release. Next day I got a shipping notification, so I thought I was going to get it. I waited for 2 weeks and nothing came, then the 3rd week I got my money back. Whatever.

Not sure where to buy now. I don't want to buy in GBP because its really expensive right now.

Edit: Amazon FR not expecting stock until June 10 either. Sigh.

 

[ramyeon]

If you like awesome sci-fi stories, totally worth it.

Okay, I caved and bought a digital copy :x

 

[michaelius]

So does Zavvi straight up lie about when they ship stuff? They're using the same postal services other companies use so it doesn't make any sense why their stuff takes 4 times as long to arrive.

Hard to say but from my experience ordering to Poland:

Zavvi - dozens of orders I did - from 1 to 5 weeks for delivery - preorders usually sent on release date or bit later.

Base.com previously dvd.co.uk - few orders I've done - never took more than 1 week

Rice digital - only one order but it arrived it 2 days

 

[Yaari]

Anyway Zavvi sucks but at the same time I question the supply of these games in general. Amazon UK running out is pretty ridiculous as well. I guess there just aren't many of these games around.

 

[Saphirax]

Anyone know how fast 365games orders take to get to the US?

I'm not in the US, but when I ordered from them before I got my stuff faster than when I ordered from GAME. A week or less.

 

[Interface23]

Amazon Spain has them apparently

 

[Mandelbo]

So, when should I be saving to make it less burdensome to see every route? The very nature of the phone system means you don't know when you've made an important choice or not, so I'm guessing that keeping a save at the start of every chapter would be a good idea, but if there's a better way to do this or a way to jump to certain sections once you've finished it once, do tell!

E: also, is there a way to cancel a text once you've selected reply?

 

[E_Darkness]

It came today. I ordered from Amazon. Looking forward to playing it at some point.

I sorta regret not getting the artbook, it looks fairly neat. But seeing as I managed to get the game for £13 (leftover vouchers), I won't really complain about missing it.

 

[Yaari]

Amazon Spain has them apparently

Thanks! Bought it from them. Zavvi was 7 EUR cheaper, but the fact that they probably weren't going to send it anytime soon, and that I'd have to wait 2 weeks, I'm fine with that.

 

[Mamont1537]

So, when should I be saving to make it less burdensome to see every route? The very nature of the phone system means you don't know when you've made an important choice or not, so I'm guessing that keeping a save at the start of every chapter would be a good idea, but if there's a better way to do this or a way to jump to certain sections once you've finished it once, do tell!

E: also, is there a way to cancel a text once you've selected reply?

If I remember right you don't have to worry about routes until like Chapter 4. After that you just make a separate save at the beginning of each chapter, use spoiler-free guide and skip function to get all endings.
(game structure spoilers)

Spoiler

Later chapters are usually about character specific events, so it's one chapter = one ending.

 

[--R]

And GAME just sent me the confirmation e-mail today. Well, It'll arrive on Monday or Tuesday, so I don't care that much but it's a shame, I could have it today.

 

[MetalDeer]

While I highly recommend at least trying to get a few endings blind, here's a flowchart for all the endings and some extra stuff in case anyone has trouble. Spoilers, obviously.

I probably never would've gotten the true ending without that.

 

[Grim Patron]

Some reviews:
Punk and Lizard - 10/10 (Warning: full review vaguely spoils a number of plot points)

God is a Geek - 9.5/10


Also, a nice Playstation Blog post: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2015...ure-steinsgate-launches-on-ps3-ps-vita-today/

Thanks for linking it my review. My rice digital EPK edition shipped a few days ago. Hope it reaches soon.

I'm holding out on an NA release for double dipping on PS3 if there's some NA bonuses.

 

[Shizuka]

GAME UK sold out of Vita limited editions.

 

[Saphirax]

Ordered an hour and a half ago from ShopTo and it's already been dispatched. Hopefully it won't take too long to arrive.

 

[Prelude.]

I contacted Zavvi, let's see what they say. It's ridiculous that pre-ordering early doesn't give you any priority.

 

[YianGaruga]

I contacted Zavvi, let's see what they say. It's ridiculous that pre-ordering early doesn't give you any priority.

I don't think they shipped anyones copy yet

 

[Prelude.]

I don't think they shipped anyones copy yet

So they have no stock at all? What are they even doing?

 

[Mandelbo]

If I remember right you don't have to worry about routes until like Chapter 4. After that you just make a separate save at the beginning of each chapter, use spoiler-free guide and skip function to get all endings.
(game structure spoilers)

Spoiler

Later chapters are usually about character specific events, so it's one chapter = one ending.

While I highly recommend at least trying to get a few endings blind, here's a flowchart for all the endings and some extra stuff in case anyone has trouble. Spoilers, obviously.

I probably never would've gotten the true ending without that.

Thanks. I'm not gonna use a guide from the outset, just after I've gotten at least one ending blind.

 

[E_Darkness]

I don't think they shipped anyones copy yet

I remember I was going to go with Zavvi originally because nothing bad has happened to me when I've ordered from them

Spoiler

I always get lucky and miss when they fuck up

, kinda glad I didn't this time.

 

[jonno394]

Anyone received their LE set from Rice Digital yet (Upa and badges version). I *think* mine shipped on Wednesday evening, hoped to get it today but :/

My postie has a nasty habit of leaving parcels on my doorstep (i live in an apartment block) and unsure how much I trust my neighbours.....

 

[Omikaru]

I was hoping to be playing this by now. Alas, my 64gb memory card (less than a year old) has decided to take a shit on me.

That's £60 (plus the customs fees I paid) pissed up the wall. Luckily I had a 32gb in my PSTV, but now that's without a memory card.

At any rate, redownloading what I can to my 32gb is taking up my time (PSN's UX on Vita is shit), so I haven't had time to play this. So mad.

 

[Shahed]

My GAME order with the artbook arrived today! Haven't opened it up yet and it'll probably be a little while till I start it. Need tk finish up Danganronpa first

 

[ultra7k]

Just ordered my copy from videogamesplus. They seemed to have it in stock for a reasonable price, so if anyone else is in Canada they can take advantage of that.