[quote name='ragnar14']I never pre-order big name games [/QUOTE]
Even though its currently riding a fairly large wave of popularity, Persona hasn't exactly been a "big name game". In the town I live in, EB was the *only* retailer who carried Persona 3.
Atlus games in general aren't usually carried by retailers other than EB. Its only recently that we've started seeing Atlus games at retailers other than EB, and I've been buying Atlus games since the PS1 days.
And if you think Atlus games are rare, narrow it down even further to Shin Megami Tensei games (of which Persona is one) I own ever Shin Megami Tensei game released in North America, all of which were bought upon release except for Revelations: The Demon Slayer. Heck I'd be surprised if most gamers can even name the Shin Megami Tensei games that we've gotten over here! I say that mainly to show just how hard they are to come across, and how far they truly are from being "big name games".
Until I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can pickup a copy of any future SMT games at any retailer than I wander into (Persona 4 is the next one we'll get over here), I'll continue to pre-order from EB.