Is pre ordering is a terrible idea?

[Something Amyss]

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.

I'm not sure that's actually the case. It was interesting to explore, but I don't think it particlarly is true. I think people got used to it when scarcity was an issue, and continue in part because of pre-order bonuses. For some, it may be the hunt, though.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Depends on why you're preordering. If you're sure you'll like a game, have at it. If you're preordering for a retailer=specific bonus, that's probably not a good idea.
In my case, playing largely Japanese RPGs, it's usually best to preorder in order to show support and to make sure I land a copy before it dissapears and becomes ludicrously expensive (particularly for Atlus games). I'll be preordering Last Story, certainly.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

So my son sees AssCreed 3 on the cover of Game Informer and says he wants it. So I go on Gamestops site to see how much it is and the damn game doesn't even come out until Oct 30. That shit is getting old, why are they making a cover for a game that isn't even available for 6 months? It is getting harder and harder to shop for games online when half the shit you find isn't even out yet!

I know, I am the only one who seems to have a problem with this.

To drum up anticipation for the game and to provide early information to perspective customers? :-/ Seems like a pretty normal thing to me. That's like complaining about movie trailers because you want to see the movie but it isn't out for a month or two.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

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.

The thing is, not every game ends up being cheaper. I would use Radiant Historia as an example. Fantastic game, but because of Atlus' insistence on limited print runs, it became ludicrously expensive until they reprinted it A YEAR later. I got lucky and found a complete copy used for $40 in time for Christmas, but that game was more than $100 at one point. I love Radiant Historia, but I wouldn't pay more than $60 for ANY game.

Not saying you're wrong, because for most games you'd be absolutely correct. I'm just saying that in come cases, preordering can be a good thing.

 

[Epona]

So my son sees AssCreed 3 on the cover of Game Informer and says he wants it. So I go on Gamestops site to see how much it is and the damn game doesn't even come out until Oct 30. That shit is getting old, why are they making a cover for a game that isn't even available for 6 months? It is getting harder and harder to shop for games online when half the shit you find isn't even out yet!

I know, I am the only one who seems to have a problem with this.

To drum up anticipation for the game and to provide early information to perspective customers? :-/ Seems like a pretty normal thing to me. That's like complaining about movie trailers because you want to see the movie but it isn't out for a month or two.

Sure a month in advance but 6 months in advance is too far out to drum up anticipation. I also believe that a game on the cover of a gaming magazine should already be available. Movie trailers don't get their own magazine cover 6 months in advance.

 

[loa]

Ah there's also the thing with "goty", "gold", "complete" or whatever they're called nowadays editions that come out later and contain all the dlc.
If you pre-order or get the game early, you don't get that. All you get is some gimmick and a much more costly purchase.

I wonder what the reasoning behind conditioning the playerbase into waiting by "punishing" early purchases is.
Must be some brilliant marketing strategy, I'm sure of it.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

So my son sees AssCreed 3 on the cover of Game Informer and says he wants it. So I go on Gamestops site to see how much it is and the damn game doesn't even come out until Oct 30. That shit is getting old, why are they making a cover for a game that isn't even available for 6 months? It is getting harder and harder to shop for games online when half the shit you find isn't even out yet!

I know, I am the only one who seems to have a problem with this.

To drum up anticipation for the game and to provide early information to perspective customers? :-/ Seems like a pretty normal thing to me. That's like complaining about movie trailers because you want to see the movie but it isn't out for a month or two.

Sure a month in advance but 6 months in advance is too far out to drum up anticipation. I also believe that a game on the cover of a gaming magazine should already be available. Movie trailers don't get their own magazine cover 6 months in advance.

Sometimes they do. There was a trailer for the Hobbit last December, and that movie isn't out until this December.
IDK, it seems like a pretty standard marketing thing. Games take a lot of time to make, so getting the word out early can let people know that the game exists and tell them more about it, allow them to keep an eye on the game's development, etc.
I get that it might confuse some people, but for the most part its a pretty ordinary thing.
Although, i do have one I will complain about. Hey, Square? Versus XIII looks cool. Why'd you announce that in 2006?

 

[Epona]

So my son sees AssCreed 3 on the cover of Game Informer and says he wants it. So I go on Gamestops site to see how much it is and the damn game doesn't even come out until Oct 30. That shit is getting old, why are they making a cover for a game that isn't even available for 6 months? It is getting harder and harder to shop for games online when half the shit you find isn't even out yet!

I know, I am the only one who seems to have a problem with this.

To drum up anticipation for the game and to provide early information to perspective customers? :-/ Seems like a pretty normal thing to me. That's like complaining about movie trailers because you want to see the movie but it isn't out for a month or two.

Sure a month in advance but 6 months in advance is too far out to drum up anticipation. I also believe that a game on the cover of a gaming magazine should already be available. Movie trailers don't get their own magazine cover 6 months in advance.

Sometimes they do. There was a trailer for the Hobbit last December, and that movie isn't out until this December.
IDK, it seems like a pretty standard marketing thing. Games take a lot of time to make, so getting the word out early can let people know that the game exists and tell them more about it, allow them to keep an eye on the game's development, etc.
I get that it might confuse some people, but for the most part its a pretty ordinary thing.
Although, i do have one I will complain about. Hey, Square? Versus XIII looks cool. Why'd you announce that in 2006?

Sometimes they do what? Get their own magazine cover 6 months in advance? Simply having an ad 6 months in advance is fine but making a game, not available for 6 months, the cover of your magazine is not fine.

 

[HellenicWarrior]

I only pre-order if in my mind it's a virtual guarantee that the game will be good and I'll invest some time in it. Then again if I play a game for longer then 20 hours I've reduced the cost of the game down to a dollar or two an hour which I'm happy with. Some games (Skyrim, Bf3) I've probably paid a couple of cents per hour of enjoyment so I'm over the moon about that

 

[HellenicWarrior]

*edit... Damn captchas forcing a double post!

 

[black_knight1337]

I only pre-order games that I know I'm going to enjoy. Everything else I usually wait till a while after release when the price comes down and there's plenty of information readily available.

 

[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.

The thing is, not every game ends up being cheaper. I would use Radiant Historia as an example. Fantastic game, but because of Atlus' insistence on limited print runs, it became ludicrously expensive until they reprinted it A YEAR later. I got lucky and found a complete copy used for $40 in time for Christmas, but that game was more than $100 at one point. I love Radiant Historia, but I wouldn't pay more than $60 for ANY game.

Not saying you're wrong, because for most games you'd be absolutely correct. I'm just saying that in come cases, preordering can be a good thing.

This is true, and some games don't get cheaper at all (Pokemon Diamond and Pearl for instance are still like $35 even though it's been about 5 years) So you just sorta have to make a judgment call.

Like in my case, I do wait for most games to drop in price, but if it's a game I think might not drop or might become hard to track down, I pick it up when I can.

To use a very odd example, I own the game Devil Survivor: Overclocked...I don't even have a 3DS yet.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

By concept no it's not for those who don't have 60 dollars day one for a new game you can pay over time and still get your game. In sense it's a layaway that helps out gamers pay for their games and I really couldn't get new games with out it. Now the whole please pre-order to get free stuff is a bonus and tactic being used to insure more pre-orders. Say what you want but it helps me out greatly since game-stop does this.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

It's all basically up to you.

I usually pre-order games that I am sure to buy and just want to keep them on hand so that I can buy them on their day of release. I don't really tend to go with the pre-order bonuses as a factor to making me want to get the game, I just want to purchase the game when I am able to on that day.

 

[SuperNova221]

I've had the same thoughts recently too, for the same reasons and came to the same conclusions. Pre-ordering plays on hype and literally only benefits the people selling the game. That's why discounts and bonuses need to be added, to incentivise the risk.

That said, the biggest real problem with it is isn't that it benefits the company selling the games, it's not as if they force people to pre-order, it's more that people don't seem to actually take the risk into consideration. People assume it will live up to the hype, then when it doesn't, instead of taking it on the chin because that was part of the risk involved in pre-ordering, they whinge that they deserved better.