YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan

Spc. Eric Jensen, a gamer stationed here, knows exactly where to go when he wants to purchase the latest in video games.

And it isn’t the base exchange.

“I pretty much pre-order everything online now,” Jensen said Friday while checking out the Army and Air Force Exchange Service electronics section, called the Power Zone. AAFES doesn’t always carry the games he wants or have them available in a timelymanner, he said.

“Games either show up late or not at all,” Jensen said.

Airmen 1st Class Brian Parsons, also in the Power Zone on Friday, said he was looking forward to playing “Fable 2.” He was frustrated to learn it hadn’t arrived in the store.

The sequel to the popular 2004 role-playing game, “Fable 2” was released to U.S. retailers Oct. 21.

Another gamer, Matt, who declined to give his last name because he occasionally does business with AAFES, went online to Amazon.com to get his copy of the

game. He said companies like Amazon offer release-date delivery for some games, so servicemembers overseas can receive a game when as it hits the street stateside.

“I pre-ordered ‘Fable 2’ and got it on Tuesday, the same day it came out in the States,” he said Friday at the Power Zone. “Most of the stuff I want to get right when it comes out, I’ll order online.”

Games also can be pre-ordered from the Exchange Online Store, AAFES officials said, but it doesn’t offer a similar release-date delivery option.

Robert Lopez, AAFES Power Zone divisional merchandise manager, said video games often arrive at overseas exchanges later than gamers expect because — unlike DVDs and music CDs — very few video games have an actual street date.

"Because CDs and DVDs are given a street date, they ship to distribution centers and out to the stores prior to the titles’ debut," he said in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes. "This process allows time to receive the product and have it on shelves on a specified date."

Lopez said that’s why overseas exchange customers will see movies and music on the shelves on the same date it’s released in the States, while games take longer. Stateside exchanges are not affected.

"In fact, only major video game releases, like Madden, generally have release dates," Lopez said. "As a result, the turnaround time for each retailer to receive and ship products varies."

He added that AAFES ships all video-game titles by air in an effort to expedite shipping and receiving time and that the AAFES logistics department has a 10-day shipping window for Pacific and European locations from their Atlanta, Ga., distribution center.

"In most instances, products will arrive before 10 days," he said.

But for many gamers, just because there’s a new game on exchange shelves doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the one they want.

"They always seem to get games that nobody wants to play," Parsons said, pointing at 26 unsold copies of October 2007’s "Bee Movie Game," based on the children’s film of the same name.

"And the ones people want to play, they either don’t get at all or sell out quickly and don’t restock anymore for several months," he said. "Half the games they do have are just going to sit here."

Parsons said he’s looking forward to playing several new titles released this month — titles the exchange isn’t carrying yet, including "Fable 2" and "Far Cry 2." And he expressed frustration that among the exchange’s games labeled as "New Releases" were "Lego Batman" and "Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise!" — both released more than a month ago — and "Gears of War," released in November 2006.

"Titles are presented to the buyer and ranked by [the] supplier as either A, B, or C in order of importance," Lopez said, explaining how AAFES picks which games they will carry. "Buyers are responsible for reviewing title submissions and making decisions based on sales potential and targeted assortment strategies."

Nevertheless, some gamers said they still prefer shopping online rather than taking their chances at the exchange.

The Navy Exchange did not respond by deadline to Stars and Stripes queries.