Is pre ordering is a terrible idea?

[lacktheknack]

I never do, as I like sales a lot. And Steam has a ton of them.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Pre-ordering is only a good idea if you think they will run out and can't wait for the next shipment. Although per-ordering digital distributed games is a hilarious idea using that logic.

 

[Gothproxy]

I got burned badly when I pre-ordered Tron a few years ago. That stopped me pre-ordering cold. Now that I've gotten over that incident, I've actually pre-ordered a few things, Lollipop Chainsaw and Black Ops 2, though I'm still a little gun-shy about them. I guess we'll see in the following months if my fear was misplaced or if I should give up pre-ordering anything altogether.

 

[Soulfoodman]

You can get some really neat stuff from pre-ordering. Borderlands 2 and The Mechromancer is a great example. Pre-ordering Assassin's Creed III gets you a cool looking game case. From personal experience, I traded in my DSi towards a 3DS pre-order and got $75 of credit. I haven't bought the 3DS yet, but the price has dropped now so it would be easier than ever.

I really don't see a reason not to pre-order a game that you have an interest in. There's no real commitment and you could get some extra stuff just for putting $5 down early. You win some, you lose some, that's life. I decide whether or not a game was worth buying by playing it, not by relying on someone else's appraisal. If there's enough doubt, I can just rent the game.

 

[chadachada123]

Pre-ordering is stupid in most cases, but there are some cases where I think that it's warranted.

If the game studio is particularly trustworthy, or the game being particularly well-hyped, then your chances of being screwed are fairly low, and pre-ordering may be justified if you're sufficiently excited or if the pre-order bonuses are sufficiently awesome.

Otherwise, I'd say it's too big of a gamble, most of the time.

I'll be pre-ordering Halo 4, and have already pre-ordered Borderlands 2, but won't be pre-ordering anything else this year.

You could consider this analogous to seeing a midnight release of a movie. It makes little sense to do it for a series that you know nothing about, butttt if it's a series you already love...go for it, if you accept the risks.

 

[Eddie the head]

Halo 3: ODST--Awesome

Yeh?

I don't even understand why someone would preorder, there are probably five stores in your city that will have the game. Then there's internet sellers and stuff.

There is not 5 stores in my city that sells games. There is a wal mart and umm a Gamestop. That's about it. And I live 20 miles form there.

 

[xDarc]

Now I really don't like the box metaphor, it feels weak, but preorders are essentially not terrible because:
1) It lets the publisher a rough idea as to the sales.
2) It gives the store a rough idea about how many products to stack.
3) It gives the consumer a little something extra for ^.

Fuck these companies and fuck pre-orders.

Let these motherfuckers GUESS at how many copies they are going to need.

Like back in YE OLDEN DAYS.

DO YOU KNOW WHY?

Because if they shipped too many copies, guess what happened to the price? It went down a hell of a lot quicker.

Pre-orders ensure there is only just enough to go around, keep the supply artificially low and the price as high for as long as possible.

It's a crock a shit. Anything they didn't do 20 years ago is not your friend, it's something some asshole came up with to fuck you.

 

[Treblaine]

I don't pre order because NOTHING is a sure bet in this industry:

-Bulletstorm:
From developers People Can Fly, the guys who made painkiller. Oh god, what the hell happened. Their parody game looked like they are goign to destroy all the evils of modern FPS gaming but it instead followed all the worst tropes.

-Too Human:
Silicone Knights used to be my favourite developers, of Blood Omen and Eternal Darkness, yet this seems to get everythign wrong.

-Bodycount: from developers of Black, yet it turned out shit.

-Dead Island: That trailer and the developer's dreaming WAY oversold the game

-Haunted: Hell's Reach = best mod for unreal mutated into the worst game using the Unreal 3 Engine.

-Dragon Age 2: enough has been said about this

-Metal Gear Solid 2: most underhanded bait and switch and this, THIS is the ultimate "fuck you" ending, I don't care what Mass Effect fans say

-Metal Gear Solid 4: oh no, this is worse than a bad ending, this is HALF a game, it's full of pointless complexity yet no depth to gameplay, it's an utter mess that promised to be good but falls flat

-Duke Nukem Forever
-Castlevania: Lords of Shaodow
-Resident Evil 5 (should have known after they fired their lead creative director)
-Almost every Sonic game

And so on.

And even when the game is good, buying on launch you pay he highest price to get it in usually it's buggiest and most unbalanced state. Yes, Steam tends to offer 10% off by standard for pre-order but it's still not worth the risk. I ALWAYS wait for the reviews and opinions of people who have ACTUALLY played the game.

Demos are not enough. Metal Gear Solid 2 lied with it's demo, the demo advertised a VERY different game from what was sold

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

I only purchase games through digital distribution and usually only directly from the developers. I've no reason to support retailers and I do my part to hasten their demise. As such, there's no reason to ever pre-order--unless there's some really, really. really good game content that comes with it.

 

[Strain42]

I'm honestly just gonna wait for games now, turns out so much cheaper and better value in the long term.

Good for you. I've been saying this for years, but most people seem to think that's some sort of gamer blasphemy or something.

This isn't sarcasm, I do really wish more people would realize stuff like this.

 

[Valdus]

I never pre-order, a company has to earn my trust before I'll give them money up front. Until then I'll wait to see what the game is like (usually using youtube clips or trying it if a friend already has it etc) before buying...and will usually wait a few months so it's a little cheaper.

The closest a company has to making me break this is the developers of Dark Souls.

 

[Rastien]

Hm only things i have ever pre-ordered are games i know i will like... come to think of it i have only ever pre-ordered Blizzard games... x) all wow expansions starcraft 2 and now diablo 3

Have yet to be disappointed with blizzard /shrug, only annoying thing is the fact that the online purchase of diablo 3 is £45... most i have EVER paid for a game when the physical copy is £33.

Only reason i did this is due to the fact i can play it the moment it goes live as pre-orders tend to show up on the day or even after release day from friends experiences with amazon and the like.

 

[MetalMagpie]

Never understood the point of pre-ordering. Even with the biggest releases I've never had a problem with waltzing into the store on release day and grabbing a copy. Really doesn't seem like it accomplishes anything other than wasting money on something you may realise you don't want further down the line.

I only purchase games through digital distribution and usually only directly from the developers. I've no reason to support retailers and I do my part to hasten their demise. As such, there's no reason to ever pre-order--unless there's some really, really. really good game content that comes with it.

*shrug* I don't often pre-order games (hell, I don't often buy games in the first few weeks after release!), but I've placed my pre-order for Borderlands 2 for two reasons:

1. I completely fell in love with the first game, and like the sound of the new stuff they've added.

2. By pre-ordering on Amazon, I get the game for £26. If I walked into a shop on release day, I would have to pay £35.

Of the two reasons, the price was the decider! Amazon tends to start off with upcoming games quite cheap, then hike them sharply just before release. It's worth getting in there early if it's a game you think you'll almost certainly want in the first week.

If I'd given in to temptation and pre-ordered Diablo III a month ago, I could have got it for £28. After the beta weekend, the price rose by £5...

*keeps looking after the pennies*

 

[endtherapture]

I'm honestly just gonna wait for games now, turns out so much cheaper and better value in the long term.

Good for you. I've been saying this for years, but most people seem to think that's some sort of gamer blasphemy or something.

This isn't sarcasm, I do really wish more people would realize stuff like this.

Unless it's a company who gives out free DLC and stuff, there's no point.

I couldve save £20 on Arkham City and a good tenner on Mass Effect 3 just by waiting, and that isn't even DLC that's just the price of the base game.

I saved £15 on Skyrim just by waiting a month and playing Oblivion instead.

 

[Treblaine]

Pre-ordering is stupid in most cases, but there are some cases where I think that it's warranted.

If the game studio is particularly trustworthy, or the game being particularly well-hyped, then your chances of being screwed are fairly low, and pre-ordering may be justified if you're sufficiently excited or if the pre-order bonuses are sufficiently awesome.

Otherwise, I'd say it's too big of a gamble, most of the time.

I'll be pre-ordering Halo 4, and have already pre-ordered Borderlands 2, but won't be pre-ordering anything else this year.

You could consider this analogous to seeing a midnight release of a movie. It makes little sense to do it for a series that you know nothing about, butttt if it's a series you already love...go for it, if you accept the risks.

But Halo 4 isn't being developed by Bungie, it's being developed by the as-yet untested 343 Industries, a new studio. Yes, it's made up with SOME of the guys from Bungie but not all of them and you can see with Bulletstorm how splitting up a talented studio you don't so reliably get greatness afterwards.

(I never found movies that bad for midnight showings as it's a small investment as I can always bail if it's naff, or worse I make fun of it with my friends and try not to piss of the other movie goes. Though some films have been so awful I practically break into full blown MST3K with everyone in ear shot.)

 

[AbstractStream]

I used to pre-order like crazy, but have stopped after various various disappointments.
Not that it's a terrible idea, but it would be the cautious choice not to pre-order. I get the feelings companies know this and therefore offer "prizes" if you pre-order and buy.

To be honest, the only company that I trust enough to continue pre-ordering is Atlus. They haven't let me down yet and I don't expect them to.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well to that I say. Want to gamble? Try a casino, and stop giving businesses ideas how to take people's money before they even have a product done.

To be fair, there's risk in everything, and every purchase is a roll of the dice to some extent. Even if you know you like the product, there's issues of quality and so on.

Gambling is never limited to the casino.

On the other hand, like a casino, you should accept your losses. People who buy on blind faith and then complain that they were "tricked" or "cheated" need to understand what a pre-order is and run with it. I don't think people take enough responsibility for their actions these days, and that applies heavily to purchases as well.

People people should gamble, but maybe shut up about it.

However, the casino analogy is a pretty good way to demonstrate my point. The odds are stacked against you, but people tend to remember and celebrate the highs.

 

[Vegosiux]

On the other hand, like a casino, you should accept your losses. People who buy on blind faith and then complain that they were "tricked" or "cheated" need to understand what a pre-order is and run with it. I don't think people take enough responsibility for their actions these days, and that applies heavily to purchases as well.

I agree on that. But I am displeased that such behavior somehow made pre-ordering and things attached to it "mainstream" and that someone who pre-orders is considered superior to someone who doesn't.

As said before, one of the contributing factors for not being to keen on pre-ordering is lack of brand loyalty whatsoever, most likely, and maybe the other is that it makes you look rathe rfanboy-ish, but those are not the only ones.