Unlike some company’s we know, Square-Enix!, Atlus knows how to cater to their fans, by the way I was just kidding about that statement. While checking out a demo for “Persona 4″ last week, MTV’s Multiplayer Blog noticed that “Persona 4″ was shipping on December 9, which is a date before Christmas but after the Thanksgiving sales rush, Black Friday. So why not just wait until January or February, when people might have gift cards, etc.?

“The one problem is from a retail standpoint, retailers are very averse, across the board, to bringing anything in after Thanksgiving,” said Atlus’ manage of public relations and sales Aram Jabbari. “If they can avoid any product in December, they will.”

Until February, Jabbari explained, retailers want to move their excess stock. They don’t want new products. Atlus recently received word “Persona 4″ is approved for release and will hit its release date. If that hadn’t happened…

“What that means is, if a game [like 'Persona'] is to slip and it was set for the first week of December, it’s essentially the kiss of death,” said Jabbari.“Every retailer would cancel orders. That’s why you don’t see many games coming out December through February.”

[‘Persona 4′ Must Release On December 9 Or Receive The ‘Kiss Of Death’ From Retail via MTV]