do you pre-order or buy games day 1 ?

[Aaron Sylvester]

Err neither of those options. Here's my typical process:

0) Watch gameplay trailers or play alpha/beta/demo (if available), see if I'm interested
1) Wait for game to fully launch
2) Give it a week, no need to hurry
3) Read all the official and unofficial reviews that have come out during that time (Escapist included)
4) Ask IRL/online friends whether they liked the game
5) If all of the above check out, I buy the game.

I don't just throw my money away on games like that lol, especially not with pre-orders.
Pre-ordering is from a bygone era, something you did to ensure you got the product on release day before it sold out from shelves...or to beat the crazy release-day queues at the local game store. But now we have infinitely-available digital copies that are only 1 click away from our warm chairs at home, pre-ordering is just dumb. Unless the devs are giving away some MASSIVE perks or something.

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

I'll usually only pre-order when there are bonuses involved. Other than that, I'll usually wait till the price comes down at least a little.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Back in the day stores did actually sell out of games. To my knowledge this no longer happens. FF8, FF9, 10 even perhaps all sold out. So pre-ordering was par for the course back then.

Nowadays with digital distribution there's never a shortage, so I only pre-order games I know I want on release. Bonuses tend to be no incentive at all, but why not get them if I'm going to get the game anyway.

 

[SangRahl]

I pre-order franchises that I know I not only enjoy, but will likely devour for more than one playthrough.
Batman: Arkham Asylum? Three full S/P playthroughs, including Harley Quinn.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations? Pre-Ordering through Gamestop ::shiver:: meant not having to fork out for that Portal-esque S/P & M/P Map DLC combo that I didn't want to begin with.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown? Practically on the day of it being listed on Amazon... My crappy laptop might chug a bit with Skyrim, but it only gets fatigued after 5+ hours of waxing X-Rays.

Now, I've held off from Pre-Ordering ACIII, mostly because I'm still dealing with the alien invasion, and I'd rather wait and pay once for the ungodly plethora of store/shop-exclusive S/P content they doled out for Pre-Order bonuses, this time. And, yes, I'll gladly pay for more side-mission content in an Assassin's Creed game. The DaVinci and Copernicus DLCs for AC:B were a blast, well polished, and worth every cent.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I only do it if it's a game I know I will definitely like for sure like Legend of Zelda or that company has one of those game deal likea limited edition stuff like a figure or t-shirt ete. I am a sucker for those limited/ bonus edition for of the time (I ain't going to fork out an £100 cost limited edition).

 

[Fiad]

I do, but only if I know for sure that the game is going to be one I will enjoy. So from a franchise I like or from a dev that has a history of not making bad games. Only time I have gotten screwed over by hype was Prototype, and that was more from a friend who kept pestering me to preorder it.

 

[King of Asgaard]

I wait for reviews to come out, and for any known big issues be reported and hopefully fixed.
THEN I'll buy a game.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

I'll pre-order if it's actually worth my buck to do so. Like if the game comes with an art book, and it better be a damn good art book that isn?t just full of concepts that were already put up online or that can be collected in the actual game (Looking at you Mortal Kombat) Or if it comes with a making of DVD or something. Otherwise they can keep their Song Bird statue.
As for day one purchases, if I like what I have seen through all the footage and what I have heard up to release you bet I will buy it day one.

 

[malestrithe]

For games I want, I preorder. I rarely by Day one.

 

[DeltaEdge]

I've only pre-ordered a game once. That on March 13th of this year to get Tales of Graces f. I don't usually care about getting a game on day 1, but I really care about the Tales series and desperately want more of them to be localized, so I showed my support by pre-ordering and getting it on day 1. Since I was grounded at that moment, I didn't end up getting to play it until about 2 weeks after launch anyways lol. I also caught wind of the fact that Tales of Xillia will be hitting the States in 2013 so that is also definitely on my pre-order list.
Although I pre-ordered that game and plan to pre-order this game, there's also the fact that they have been out in Japan for a while before their Western release, so I can't say I knew nothing about the games before pre-ordering. But I think I could honestly say that the only reason I don't pre-order more frequently is because in the past I didn't used to keep up with release dates of games that I had my eye on, but now I expect to pre-order a lot more in the future such as the new Disgaea and the aforementioned Tales of Xillia.
Also, there is the fact that these games are from well-established franchises. I don't know if I would go out of my way to pre-order a completely new game, unless it looked really good.
(Also notable, I'm someone who can just walk into a store look at some game boxes and choose simply based on what I see on the cover art and case description, so I am a bit more willing to buy on a gut feeling than some. That's how I found the Tales series )

 

[Tallim]

Very much depends on the game. I very rarely pre-order and so far I think the only games I ever have pre-ordered this gen were Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

Oh and also Blood Bowl Chaos Edition so I could get the tasty discount for owning earlier bits and have it all ready to go on release.

 

[Baldr]

It depends, I use to pre-order at Gamestop, I stopped doing that when I found it wasn't worth the money. I usually go digital if I can, Amazon for games I can't get digitally/collectors editions, Wal-mart for games I want at midnight.

 

[Batou667]

I have never, ever preordered a game. Bargain bucket rummager for life!

...until Halo 4, that is. I am officially and unashamedly giddy as a schoolgirl about the launch of this game. I preordered it and have taken the whole week off work so that I can play through the bastard thing co-op with my brother and a couple of friends. Sometimes you just have to get caught up in the hype and enjoy the "being there", you know? I suppose that's similar to why people queue for midnight book launches when they could just download the damn thing for Kindle at their leisure the next morning. The product isn't changed, but the experience is.

 

[neverarine]

skyrim is the only game i have ever pre-orderd or bought on the first day, most of my games are bought months, or years after they have been out... like waiting for a GoTY edition

though interestingly enough i have no problems wasting money with pre-ordering anime :/

 

[Snatcher]

I only pre-order games if I''m realy sure that I want it.

 

[DanielBrown]

Only pre-order if it's a game I'm really hyped for and that I trust to be worth the money. When I do it's generally a month or two before the release date. Lately I've been cancelling pre-orders to spend money on more important things(booze) however.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I preordered Assassin's Creed Brotherhood because GAME had some sort of deal where you got your money back if you completed it within 7 days. As it happened, I had just come into some holidays, so it was a no-brainer. Otherwise, no, never pre-order or launch price, I'm FAR too cheap for that. Armored Core V I might have preordered if there was decent extra content, only because if there is a single franchise that could possibly make me preorder it would be Armored Core, but the bonuses were a bunch of parts you could get during regular play anyway, which is just such a f***ing joke. ^^

 

[Ljs1121]

Assassin's Creed 3 (which by the way is so amazing guys I can't even) was the first and so far only game I've ever preordered.

Typically I wait a few months for the price to go down but in this case I had to have it immediately.

 

[EHKOS]

I only pre-order if it's a limited edition. I missed out on the ultimate loot chest because I didn't act fast enough. I have the Ultimate Songbird locked down though!

 

[Catfood220]

I will pre order games if I am interested, mainly from Amazon as it is convenient to have it delivered to my door. I will also buy on day one/week of release mainly as an impulse thing or if I've enjoyed the demo. Otherwise I will wait until it gets cheaper.

Usually I have no regrets, but I wish I had of had the funds to buy Skyrim last winter when it went down to about £20. It would of saved me buying it in January for full price and getting bored of it a couple of weeks later.