In a stunning move, Nintendo decided to restrict sales of Chibi Robo: Park Patrol to Walmart when it comes out on October 2. Wal-Mart isn’t usually the place to showcase niche games, it’s something better suited at a major video game retailer like (love it or hate it) Gamestop. In the past Nintendo has given Gamestop “exclusive” games like Tenchu: Dark Secret and if you shop online, Electroplankton. So, why the switch?
Did Wal-Mart shell out dough to get this as an exclusive title? Nah. Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol comes out the same day as Phantom Hourglass and you can bet Link is going to get all of the attention on October 2nd. Maybe Chibi-Robo fit Walmart’s family friendly image better or it’s going to be part of some promotional tie-in with a new Roomba model. Whatever the reason is Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol will probably be a limited release. Have you tried to hunt down a copy of Tenchu: Dark Secret? No, because it’s awful? Well it’s uncommon and Electroplankton is already considered rare. If you’re a fan of the first game and you have to pick one game to get on day one grab Chibi-Robo. You can always walk into a store and get Phantom Hourglass another day.
