I stopped by Fry’s Electronics today… after hearing a rumor that the 2008 retail release of Slide America could be found there. The retail version hit stores February 5th… and after checking all the major players (Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Wal-Mart) to no avail, you could say I was a bit confused.

It felt really good to see this on the shelf at Fry’s:

I felt a major sense of accomplishment seeing it in a retail environment like this. This project has come so far… and to see it… not only on the shelf – but placed & tagged face out was amazing. We still have not been sent any of this copy… so this was my first time seeing it in its retail skin.

How could this joyous encounter be overshadowed by a sense of dissapointment? The fact that I had to buy my own copy to get one makes for a good start. I really dislike the artwork on the DVD. I understand the need to appeal to a broader market that may not know about drifting… but I don’t fall into that demographic, so I’m unsure of its effectiveness. This cover is not what Slide America is (to me). I fought every aspect of this cover design. In the end… all I asked was for the Slide Style logo be placed on the back. Somehow even that request fell by the wayside.

I suppose that all success comes with sacrifice. With that in mind… I can let the petty details go, and know that at the end of the day… we did it. We really did it… and nothing can ever take THAT away.