Chalk one up for digital distribution, as certain (sadly unnamed) high street game retailers are refusing to stock Rising Star’s Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The Wii game, which is currently averaging a highly respectable 80% on Metacritic, might be rather tricky to find if you were planning to buy it yourself despite impressive sales figures elsewhere: 30,000 units on its first week in Japan and 52,000 in the States.
Despite those figures, according to the article on MCV, here in the UK, the game will not be available to buy in the majority of video game retail outlets because retail is “becoming increasingly choosy and actively reducing the variety that is offered to consumers – if it is not first-party, a sequel or supported by a multi-million pound advertising spend, they are just not interested.”
Tough words, but as the site says, those stores will happily take the game in pre-owned and then retail it at a cut down price, make more profit and not have to worry about buying lots of copies up front.