Is pre-ordering really worth it?

[Kingpopadopalus]

Pre-ordering is not worth it.

What does pre-ordering do? It "guarantees" you a copy of the game and maybe some in-game cosmetic items.
If you're pre-ordering from Gamestop, you're not guaranteed shit. They WILL sell your reserved copy if someone comes in and wants it before you get there. And yes, that happens on day-one releases, too.
Cosmetic items are complete bullshit. It's a marketing ploy and a retarded one at that.

Almost every game I've ever wanted on day-one has been in stock from where ever I bought it. The ONLY game that failed that was Dead Island, and that's because it's pretty SHIT on PC, which I found out the hard way.

Even if all you have to do it put down $5, it's still not worth it.

Unless you want to an edition of the game that will be in limited quantities, don't. You can always get those editions. You might have to wait a little while, but you can still always get it.

Hey look, someones jaded at gamestop, WHAT A SHOCKER! Oh and btw, the gamestop near me even lets me extend how long they keep it for me due to pay issues. Why not just take your bias else where.

OT: Yes, pre ordering is awesome, extra goodies, guaranteed copy, going to a midnight launch is tons of fun. All great reasons. Also no excuse for you to not have the game.

 

[Collymilad]

For a minority of games, maybe.

For most games though I'd say no. Most of the stuff you get for a pre-order is worthless. Like I said there are a few decent ones but they are the exceptions rather than the rule in my opinion.

Also I don't like the way they push pre-ordering as some sort of way to guarantee you won't "miss out" - I don't know what it's like where other people live but the last game I had trouble getting hold of was GTA: San Andreas and what that was like, 2004? If you believed the retailers around here you would pre-order every game, they seem to think they are like gold dust or something. Not that I buy a lot of games from shops anymore.

 

[Novokane]

Pre-ordering is not worth it.

What does pre-ordering do? It "guarantees" you a copy of the game and maybe some in-game cosmetic items.
If you're pre-ordering from Gamestop, you're not guaranteed shit. They WILL sell your reserved copy if someone comes in and wants it before you get there. And yes, that happens on day-one releases, too.
Cosmetic items are complete bullshit. It's a marketing ploy and a retarded one at that.

Almost every game I've ever wanted on day-one has been in stock from where ever I bought it. The ONLY game that failed that was Dead Island, and that's because it's pretty SHIT on PC, which I found out the hard way.

Even if all you have to do it put down $5, it's still not worth it.

Unless you want to an edition of the game that will be in limited quantities, don't. You can always get those editions. You might have to wait a little while, but you can still always get it.

look i work at a gamestop and i can goddamn assure you that I make sure people who preorder their games actually get them... although one person I'm working with tend to sell to the highest bidder (wich i find excruciatingly annoying).

it's like pretty much everything in life there are douchebags and doofus(es?) everywhere but we mostly are nice guys...

or maybe its just cause my gamestop and myself are from canada...

 

[krazykidd]

I say only pre-order special editions because there is limited stock. For regular games don't preorder . There is always stock and even if by misfortune the store you go too sold all it's copies ( which is rare if it's not a special edition ) there is always walmart.

 

[Kingpopadopalus]

look i work at a gamestop and i can goddamn assure you that I make sure people who preorder their games actually get them... although one person I'm working with tend to sell to the highest bidder (wich i find excruciatingly annoying).

it's like pretty much everything in life there are douchebags and doofus(es?) everywhere but we mostly are nice guys...

or maybe its just cause my gamestop and myself are from canada...

Not entirely true, Green bay Game stop is extremely nice, I preorder and if something comes up where i have to wait for next paycheck they still save it for me. I love my local gamestop and I know all the workers personally just from talking with them whenever I went in the shop.

 

[Radelaide]

I'm wondering if all the time and effort is worth it?

What time and effort? You walk in and pay a deposit a few weeks or months earlier and then walk in on release day and pick it up. How much simpler could it be?

I'm broke, it's lots of effort.

 

[StrixMaxima]

I seldom, seldom preorder anything.

I only do that if I am a rabid fan of said franchise, studio, etc, such as I've done with Skyrim, my first preorder in quite a while.

Other than that, it's Game of the Year Editions all day long for me.

 

[natster43]

I preorder pretty much anything I think I am going to get. Either for the preorder DLC, or the stuff the collectors edition comes with. It also means that if I know I won't have money when a game is going to come out, I can pay it off early and just pick it up then.

 

[J-dog42]

Pre-ordering is definitely worth it in my book. A lot of places like EB Games automatically upgrade you to limited editions for free, plus it allows me to pay it off over a long time. Also, at the moment EB gives you a 50% bonus on trade ins if they go towards a pre-order which suits me just fine.

 

[natster43]

look i work at a gamestop and i can goddamn assure you that I make sure people who preorder their games actually get them... although one person I'm working with tend to sell to the highest bidder (wich i find excruciatingly annoying).

it's like pretty much everything in life there are douchebags and doofus(es?) everywhere but we mostly are nice guys...

or maybe its just cause my gamestop and myself are from canada...

Not entirely true, Green bay Game stop is extremely nice, I preorder and if something comes up where i have to wait for next paycheck they still save it for me. I love my local gamestop and I know all the workers personally just from talking with them whenever I went in the shop.

Same here. The better one that I go to in the mall (because there are two in the same mall why not) in Johnson City NY hasn't done anything like that to dick me over. I still have the collectors edition of Disgaea that just came out on preorder and I just need to wait until after New York Comic Con to pay it off. They are really nice about that stuff there. It also does help that they know me and I worked there last year and might be working there again.

 

[Novokane]

look i work at a gamestop and i can goddamn assure you that I make sure people who preorder their games actually get them... although one person I'm working with tend to sell to the highest bidder (wich i find excruciatingly annoying).

it's like pretty much everything in life there are douchebags and doofus(es?) everywhere but we mostly are nice guys...

or maybe its just cause my gamestop and myself are from canada...

Not entirely true, Green bay Game stop is extremely nice, I preorder and if something comes up where i have to wait for next paycheck they still save it for me. I love my local gamestop and I know all the workers personally just from talking with them whenever I went in the shop.

There yo go you prove my point even more. It's not just in Canada then.

Thanks for the support bro.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I'm wondering if all the time and effort is worth it?

What time and effort? You walk in and pay a deposit a few weeks or months earlier and then walk in on release day and pick it up. How much simpler could it be?

This. If you care enough to pre-order a game, you are going to get it regardless of reviews, anyway. Pre-ordering just insures that you get a copy Day 1 and it might net you some goodies.

 

[Vausch]

I hardly ever pre-order unless there's something actually worth it in there or it's a title I can't live without. I made the mistake of pre-ordering Brink on Steam and it put me off doing so for a while. Arkham City might get some interest though...

 

[Philip Collin]

Preordering can be for reasons other than getting bonuses or getting it on day 1. For example i pre ordered Skyrim for pc from amazon a month ago because i saw it online for £19.99. Now that is a significant saving on a game i WILL get (i love modding), as i assume that the release day price will be around £50 like most games nowadays.

 

[Inkidu]

As I mentioned in my blog post here, I pre-ordered Arkham City Steelbook edition. This is my first ever pre-order and I'm pretty impressed with the look I got for my $100, but I'm wondering if all the time and effort is worth it?

Is having the game right on release date so super important? This question would be especially interesting since Skyrim comes out soon and while I have less-than-no interest in it, there are some people going into fanboy convulsions over it.

STFU noob, Skyrim comes with a map if you pre-order it![/joke]

Seriously though, It depends. I basically pre-order stuff so I know I have a copy of a game I'd have paid 60 bucks for anyway. Seriously, I didn't pre-order Dead Island and now I can't find a copy of it anywhere near me.

I would never go for one of the [adjective] Editions. Either the stuff is novel and the game bonuses are actually vouchers and codes, or they're less than useless and the game bonuses are vouchers and codes (I don't have great internet).

It's all about what it means to you. I've pre-ordered and paid for Skyrim already. I can't wait to get that nice cloth map. Reminds me of the good old days...

 

[Tumedus]

How can it not be worth it? There is virtually no cost to it. It's not like you pay extra to pre-order, you simply put down money you were going to spend on it in the first place. If you decide against it, you can shift that money to something else with no penalty. The only cost is whatever minimal amount of time it takes you to actually set up the pre-order.

 

[Von Dean]

I pre-order a lot of my games but that's because I signed up to a store reward-card scheme (you all know the kinda thing i'm on about) and I get double points from pre-ordered games which adds up to a whole lot of points/money off due to the huge number of games I buy,so yeah i'd say it's worth it

 

[Epona]

Pre-ordering is pointless these days if the physical copy requires online activation because many activation servers don't unlock at midnight because of different time zones. For example, I pre-ordered DA2 and picked it up at midnight, couldn't play it till 3 AM though. Not a big deal but it does defeat the purpose of pre-ordering it.

Also, I got some pre-order bonus DLC for DA2 but it's like a Happy Meal toy, disposable and forgettable.

It's a myth that you need to pre-order to get a copy of a new game. As if publishers are going to purposely try to keep their game out of your hands by producing too few.

 

[ultimaavalon]

nowadays, if I know I'm getting a console game around launch, I'll pre-order it, since that's the only way to make sure your copy isn't gutted by a GameStop employee

 

[Epona]

nowadays, if I know I'm getting a console game around launch, I'll pre-order it, since that's the only way to make sure your copy isn't gutted by a GameStop employee

There are other places to buy games. If you are going to buy new, Gamestop is the worst place to go. Try Wal Mart, Target or Kmart.