[quote name='LeonSKennedy']True, but the foundation of supply and demand is that if you have a product with high demand, you can sell it for as much as you want and people will still buy it. What I'm trying to say is Activision could have come out and said they were selling the game for $79.99 instead of $59.99. I highly doubt that hardcore fans of COD4 and COD WAW would balk at paying $79.99 for what they consider to be the best game possibly ever made (I say possibly because it may just be more of the same- I expect a Metacritic score average in the mid 90's though).
In other words, as a retailer, you know you're going to sell the game like hotcakes. Why offer a $20 gift card or credit if you don't have to? For those unable to purchase from Amazon or Wal-mart, do you truly think they're going to say screw buying it from Toys R' Us or another retailer offering a lesser deal (I would actually be one of those because I'm content playing what I have, and waiting for demand and prices to drop).
To me that's what's idiotic. Also, if Wal-mart truly wanted to, they could sell the game for $19.99, and no one could compete, even Amazon. That would better support your argument of the retailers trying to do whatever they can to get you into their store this holiday season.
I do however expect someone to offer $5-$10 PS3 and XBox titles, $10-$20 Wii titles, $5 Blu-rays, a $200 laptop, and a $600 46 Inch LCD 1080p HDTV this Black Friday. As a result we all win![/QUOTE]
I think the problem with your supply and demand argument is that your applying it to a specific vendor, when it is only true in a more universal sense. Yes, since MW2 is in high demand, vendors can charge more for it. The PC price is a good example.
However, all supply and demand tells us is that CoD:MW2 is going to sell a crapload of copies. What it doesn't tell us is which vendors gets those sales. That is why we have antitrust regulation in place. Even with high demand, prices are kept in check due to competition. MW2 may go on to sell 4 million copies on release day, but if you're a vendor selling the game for MSRP with no added incentives, you may not get any of that 4 million. Therefore, each store will still try to one up the other. It may start out as a $10 credit, but with a game like this that promises to sell so many copies, it may be worth it to a vendor like Amazon to give a $20 credit instead in order to grab another million sales they would not have had otherwise. It worked on me.