Pre-launch product hype is a mistake

I don't understand why marketers try to create product hype before launch dates. By advertising, posting reviews, and posting youtube videos of products before their release date, they just ensure I never buy.

Why? I have a life, and that life does not involve managing consumer product release dates.

I have responsibilities at work, and I manage them with Outlook, attask.com,and subversion. I have responsibilities at home that I manage with Excel, google docs, IMs, and a whiteboard on my fridge. I'm busy. I don't want another tool to manage future books, movies, music, and games.

...so when I hear an author on NPR discuss his new book, I check amazon.com to buy it. If it's not released yet, then we're done: he missed a sale. This happens a lot. Why don't they release products before they try to talk us into buying them? Do Sears salesman spend 20 minutes talking you into buying an appliance, then refuse to sell it to you? No, because that would be stupid.

I just saw a vid of gyromancer and it looks great*. I have my wallet out. ...but I can't buy it, because it's set to release "Q4 2009". They should have held the video until then. It's old news by the time it hits the shelves, which means fewer sales.

*all I ask is that they release it in English on PC.