BioShock Infinite Steam Pre-Orders Now Include a Copy Of XCOM

[StrixMaxima]

I was going for the preorder, because this preorder model is not bad, until I saw that you can already buy the Season Pass DLC thingy for the new Bioshock.

Then I closed Steam. I will not support day-one DLC and Season Passes, ever. I'll get both titles in 2014's Winter sale, complete and without bullshit, for less than half of that, thanks.

 

[cidbahamut]

If you're not part of the solution...

 

[PortalThinker113]

Wow. Amazon just updated their pre-order bonus for the PC download version of Infinite to match Steam's. They are now giving away XCOM: Enemy Unknown in addition to their previous bonuses of the "Mind in Revolt" eBook and $30 in 2K Games credit. This is rapidly turning into an arms race. Why can't all pre-order runs go like this?

For the record, I was one of the poor suckers who pre-ordered Aliens: Colonial Marines. I was burned, badly, and it still stings a bit. However, call me crazy, but that hasn't completely put me off the practice of pre-ordering. Bad games happen sometimes; that's the risk we run when purchasing games. If a game is coming out that I am 99% sure that I will love (Bioshock and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon are two recent examples), I'm still going to allow myself to get hyped, and I still just might pre-order. It's honestly just fun, it allows me to get the thing paid for early, and when things like these Infinite bonuses start flying around, all the better. I've even needed to pre-order to actually hold a copy for myself a few recent times- I would not have gotten Kid Icarus: Uprising on launch day if I hadn't pre-ordered. My pre-order was the last one in the store.

That being said, Colonial Marines DID teach me to not blindly pre-order things. I certainly have been evaluating my purchasing strategies, and from now on I am going to be significantly more careful about what I buy on launch day. I didn't pre-order XCOM, Walking Dead, or Spec Ops, and those turned out to be my three favorite games of 2012, so waiting for a while to see what has lasting resonance is certainly a valid tactic. I plan on being a more careful consumer overall, and hopefully I'll be less prone to impulsive purchases.

My point is that we certainly need to be careful with pre-orders, and we can certainly afford to think more about our decisions as consumers, but I'm not at the point where I'm completely shunning them just yet.

 

[Jaeke]

Wow I found out about this about a month ago and invested in hopes of the 3rd (X-Com Copy) reward being hit.

I was chewing my nails since about 3 days ago the bar just reached the1 1st tier and was only at like %80 to the second with barely a week left.

This article comes out and in a day the cap for tier 3 is already hit.

Awesome.

 

[UnderGlass]

Show me somewhere I can get infinite and Xcom for under $45 in the near future (that's how much infinite and xcom each cost on steam here in the UK). They're both games I really want to play, was going to buy Xcom (finally have money!) and then saw this.

Huh, I just looked on amazon (US) and infinite is $60 for the PC. I suppose it makes less sense to preorder over there.

It's certainly a good deal for me personally, and I have some problems with the pre-order culture that games suffer from, but make all decisions on a case-by-case basis.

If you're in the UK then you need to bookmark Lewie Proctor's site [a href=http://savygamer.co.uk/]SavyGamer[/a]. He tracks daily internet deals, including coupons etc. It has a UK leaning, but is generally valid for everyone, cross-platform, and presents all the info in a clean no-nonsense fashion. I've seen XCOM there at least 3 times since release, for under £20 and at least once for around £13-14. I just bought Tomb Raider the other day for £28 off GamersGate using a 10% code I picked up off the site (the best all-round deal I could source) and today he's showing a a copy for £18.58 with free delivery

You just need to be patient and check back regularly. Particularly before you go and buy the game. XCOM is also one of those titles that will most certainly be heavily discounted in the next few Steam sales, if you're not all that in a hurry to own it right away.

 

[tredien]

Tempting, but considering Steam charges more than the retail stores from around where I live for new games I think I'll pass.

This, exactly this.

 

[unstabLized]

Oh how tempting this is... You have no idea. I absolutely love XCOM, and this is an amazing opportunity to get both Infinite and XCOM, but.. I just don't know why I'm getting a bad vibe from this whole thing.. There's something telling me that I should wait and see what happens, and usually my instinct has turned out to be right. The game looks amazing, XCOM is amazing, and the other goodies are awesome too, but I have to pass on pre-order. I just have a bad feeling about this..

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

I'm kinda pissed it actually reached its goal, the sooner this pre-order bubble bursts the better it'll be for everyone.

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

If you really want XCOM, buy XCOM. If you kinda want it or wouldn't mind, just wait 'till it's super-cheap during the summer sale or end of year, and buy it then. The DLC crap and the hats totally aren't worth it, forget them.

Let the reviewers actually do their job and review the game before you buy it people! Whether it's almost assuredly a slam dunk is irrelevant. Pre-ordering, sight unseen is something we've become trained to do by the big publishers. It benefits no-one but their bottom line. And this belief that they can sell us the game, sometimes up to a year before it's finished, using gimmicks and marketing ploys ultimately hurts us, the customers in the long run.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is only barely behind us for christ's sake!

For the most part, I agree with you. I very seldom pre-order anything. However, if they throw in another game I was on the fence about (XCOM) and some goodies for yet another game that I play regularly (TF2) and include that with a game I'm fairly certain I'm going to buy anyway (Bioshock: Infinite) ... well now you have my attention

I think this is an example of exactly how you SHOULD be doing preorders. The bonuses are completely unrelated to the actual game. It's not like they're forcing you to buy BS:I early to unlock some cut content, DLC, or other integral parts of the game. I'm a little iffy on the "Industrial Revolution pack," but can't be arsed to look up exactly what's included there. And if that pack flies in the face of all I just said, well, then at least bioshock got it *mostly* right. A step in the right direction