Virgin bundle destructs following Derby 2 delay

Virgin Our Price was forced to tear down its window displays and turn away customers asking for the chain's advertised Playstation/ Destruction Derby 2 bundle after Psygnosis postponed the double-A title until the New Year.

Virgin staff erected window displays flagging the exclusive u229 bundle on 11 November but were told to take them down just hours later.

Psygnosis told Virgin Our Price and the head offices of other high street multiples that the slippage was due to a "class B bug" in the Playstation version of the software.

But publicly the Sony-owned publisher claimed the revised 17 January release date was a tactical move designed to avoid a crowded Christmas release schedule. "Why would the same version be released in the US if the game had a bug in it?" said a spokesman.

"We're not happy and very surprised," said Bart Saunt, product manager at Virgin Our Price. "Destruction Derby 2 looked like the strongest title to go with. We had an extensive marketing campaign supporting the bundle which included millions of inserts through the national press."

Psygnosis refused to comment on the bundle but said it would support retailers when the product launched in January.

Sony Computer Entertainment has told multiples it is not in favour of Playstation bundles involving double-A releases.

"It's entirely up to the retailer which titles they bundle," said Geoff Gelbier, distribution manager at Sony Computer Entertainment. "Obviously we would discourage the bundling of premium titles wherever possible because we want the full u44.99. We wouldn't give marketing support to such bundles."