Canada's Vagrant Story woes

[05.04.00] » Vagrant Story's North American release date came and went nearly three weeks ago, yet the Canadian market has yet to see the game. Get the sad story inside.

   Gaming enthusiasts in the United States' northern neighbor rarely face penalties for being located outside of the larger commerce market to the south. With free trade agreements being the norm, a videogame's North American release date is usually valid and constant on both sides of the Canadian/US border. The case hasn't been true for Square's critically acclaimed Vagrant Story, however -- due to efforts by the Quebec government, the game's lack of a French-language instruction manual has kept it from being distributed to retailers.

   Several months ago, Quebec's language minister, Louise Beaudoin, threatened to restrict imports of Sony and Nintendo's titles if they did not provide French-language instructions, warranties, and guarantees with their titles. Canada's French province later backed down, but not before a few publishers agreed to follow the province's wishes, includling Electronic Arts Canada -- which, in its partnership with Squaresoft to form Square EA, is responsible for the distribution of its titles in the Canadian market. As a result, Vagrant Story has been held back from distribution in the Canadian retail channel until the publisher produces a new bilingual manual or a supplemental French-language instructional insert. Few retailers seem certain of when this will occur -- some believe the title will finally a week from now, while others suggested another three weeks. EA Canada was unavailable for comment.

   To further confuse the matter, a limited number of Vagrant Story copies did reach the Canadian market, through Electronics Boutique, but were all sold within a day. Apparently, the US-based chain received shipments of the title from their company's US distribution system and was able to offer it for sale when no other Canadian retailer had the product -- a fact that has most Canadian retailers and distributors, not to mention EA Canada, fuming. The GIA spoke with one such retailer, who explains that the Canadian law has competitive safeguards in place to prevent such a monopoly from occuring. In retaliation, the retailer claims, numerous distributors and retailers, and possibly even EA Canada are partnering to bring a lawsuit against Electronics Boutique.

   It's difficult to explain why, at the insistence of the Quebec government, the need for a French-language manual has inconvenienced gamers across Canada located in predominently English-speaking areas, instead of being a problem contained to the Quebec market with its unique French-language laws. Whatever the resolution, it's hoped that in the coming weeks these publishing issues will be ironed out and a simultaneous release date across borders will once again occur.