I'm guessing they paid a lot of money for the spot prior to the layoffs/restructuring, or they planned to pay for the spot and forgot to tell the person in charge of that to not pay/submit for it. Corporate structures don't tend to communicate as well as they should.
I was thinking that too. They made their restructuring statement not too long ago so there is a possibility that this was slotted just before the word from Sega East.
The trailer is the same one as on the Ebgames website, except the one in-store does not post a release date (the trailer on the website still does, and hasn't been updated since Jan). Anarchy Reigns did have a release date set, so does this mean that they gave us a trailer with no release date with the full intention of promoting the game before they knew that it was to be changed to TBC?
I mentioned our pre-order system because they are usually pinpoint accurate on release dates and changes. Any delays/cancellations get immediately posted even before they are announced.
I can't speak for American stores but Canadian ones are still taking pre-orders, and are still slated for July 3rd. Sega has updated the date of Aliens Colonial Marines with us, so if they are cancelling AR, they should have informed us so that we can update our system (regardless of them making a public announcement for it).
Buzz through the store is that if they have Video Advertising and a release date, it is DEFINITELY getting released eventually. Sega will be doing something unheard of now if they decide to drop it indefinitely...but then again with Sega, you never know
If I hear/see anything else I'll post.