Poll: On pre-ordering games...

[RedxDecember]

I've seen the major problem with pre-ordering games...they sometimes suck. Yes I know there are other ways to pre-order games, like paying the 5 dollar fee so that they'll hold onto it etc. but I'm talking talking about putting all your money into it.I'm thinking about pre-ordering a game called Section 8 at a place where you STOP for GAMES... and the pre-order gift is this awesome blaster and this lion helmet thingy. Also about pre-order gifts is it forces people to buy the game without knowing how bad or how good it is (Starwars The Force Unleashed for example)but if it's good then some people throw the gifts at your face, I get so mad when my friend brags about his stupid flame warthog when we're playing halo wars on live. But another way of thinking about it is that pre-order gifts HURT the game, because lets say, a million people pre-order a sucky game. The news of it sucking will spread like wild fire.
So here's the question... Should games have pre-ordering gifts?

 

[DazZ.]

Only game i've ever preordered is the Orange Box, and the only reason I did that was to play TF2 early.
I doubt id preorder a game for any other reason than the "gifts" because I could easily get it on the day of release if I needed to. Not enough gamers around me to make every game shop go out of stock.

Plus I knew I was going to love the games.

 

[Pandalisk]

I pre-order all the time, just walk into my local store, "Hey "name here" can i pre order " random game here"?. "Sure thing" my name goes down on a list and its all good, see this is why i love local game shops as opposed to main brand stores.

 

[Drakulla]

All pre-order games should come with swag. Pre-orders are only good at stores that take them and you don't even need to pre-order if you go to the bigger outlet stores like Best Buy, Target, K-Mart and or Fry's. You can also be patient and get the game the next day.

 

[Sigel]

I never pre-order games. I let my friends and family make that mistake for themselves, and I get to hear them b*tch about it later.
Also I'm use gaming service.

 

[Herb sewell]

The only game I've preordered is fallout 3, a game I knew I would like. The swag they threw at me (mainly the cd soundtrack) was great but I hate it when I'm forced to preorder a game I otherwise wouldn't like marvel ult alliance 2 just for in game rewards.

 

[New Troll]

Personaly I don't really care. But for people who pre-order, basicly investing thier money into a product before anyone's even tried it, I don't have a problem with them being rewarded for thier investment. Pre-ordering incentives are nice.

I'm more of a fan of limited edition collector's editions though.

 

[TheLastCylon]

I really don't care, but it's nice to get some extra stuff when you get the game.

 

[Bat Vader]

Stuff like GTA IV or Mass Effect 2 is a pre-order to me. Everything else is a rental.

 

[Spucktier]

Personaly I don't really care. But for people who pre-order, basicly investing thier money into a product before anyone's even tried it, I don't have a problem with them being rewarded for thier investment. Pre-ordering incentives are nice.

I'm more of a fan of limited edition collector's editions though.

It's hard to draw a line between beeing rewarded for handing over your money early or on the release date.

DICE and EA did something interesting with Bad Company back in the days. If you preordered, you received a weapon that was not otherwise unlockable. It has the same stats as a weapon that you can unlock later in the multiplayer mode, but it took you some time to get there. As long as there is no longtime gain for the preorder faction, that's fine imho.
What I really like is the BF Veteran status. Own previous games, preorder the new one and your veteran status rises. It's a nice indicator who's really invested into a franchise.

I use preorder for the simple task of saving money. If I know that I'll like a game because I loved the publishers other games, I go for it. OFP2, Uncharted 2 or MW2 are good examples. All three together save me 10 pound compared to the actual price.

 

[Jamash]

I don't really care about pre-order gifts, because I only pre-order game I know I want and also pre-ordering a game comes with it's own incentives;

I get the game for the cheapest price (if the price is increased I still get if for the cheaper, pre-ordered price, and if the price is lowered then I only pay the lowered price).
I get the game delivered to my house on, or before the release date (which also saves me money since it costs me about 10% of the game's price to travel to the shop and pick up the game).
I also get double reward points for pre-ordering, which can be used on future purchases.

However, pre-order gifts are always a nice bonus, especially when you get a surprise gift that hasn't been advertised.

 

[Baby Tea]

I don't pre-order to get gifts, I pre-order to make sure I get a copy of the game.
I used to work at an EB Games (Or Gamestop, for you non-Canadians) and if the game was popular enough, we'd sell out.
Halo 3, COD4, COD5 (Though I don't know why), Oblivion, Metal Gear Solid 4, etc.
All the big names? We ran out.

So I do it just to reassure myself that I'm getting it. If there are more copies than pre-orders, then there is nothing lost! If I get it because they ran out for everyone else, then I just saved myself the time going around to different game stores trying to find it! And I like anything that saves me gas!

 

[HardRockSamurai]

I don't mind pre-order gifts, but I can see why they could get on somebody's nerves. Some of them are really tacky (if you pre-ordered the new Transformers game, you received Gold Optimus Prime as a character), and some are really useful.

I don't pre-order games as much as one would think. This year, I'm only pre-ordering Brutal Legend.

 

[soulasylum85]

i preorder all the time but only on games im 99% sure im going to like. currently i have left 4 dead 2, bioshock 2, and modern warfare 2 on preorder.

 

[yeah_so_no]

Doesn't matter to me. But then, I only preorder when it's a game I know is going to sell out fast but I really want it and don't think I'll be able to get down to the game store in time. All the game stores around me give you a discount if you preorder, so I'm definitely preordering FF12.

Also, your grammar in the poll makes the baby Kratos cry, and no one wants to see Kratos cry.

 

[IceStar100]

I pre order for stuff I want and want to make sure I get. I have Alpha Protacal and Halo ODST limited. Most games just go on my Q for gamefly unless I know I'll play it more then once.

 

[Xcelsior]

The gifts for me provide no incentive to buy the more expensive model. All I want is the game, but for some people the gifts are an added perk/bragging rights. So no they shouldn't remove the gift, if you don't want the gift just buy the normal version of the game rather than the gift one.

 

[stabnex]

pre-ordering is a flawed process fueled by greed and ignorance. the greedy companies want your money for their shitty remakes and you give it to them without getting anything until their arbitrary release date. and when you finally get it, there's no damn refunds when you realize you just bought a game that's been re-released every year for over an entire decade.

I jumped off the pre-ordering bandwagon around the time of FFX-2. The game sucked so hard it dropped $20 by the next week and the trade-in value was only $2 the next day (GameStop SUCKS).

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

I preorder only for special bonuses or to ensure that I am able to get a collector's edition that I want. I've preordered The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (for the Ocarina of Time Master's Edition), Halo 3 (Legendary Edition), Halo Wars (Limited Edition and also flaming warthog), and will soon preorder Halo 3: ODST (for Sgt. Johnson in Firefight, and also to have it delivered to my dorm).

Also, your grammar in the poll makes the baby Kratos cry, and no one wants to see Kratos cry.

People get broke when Kratos cries!

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Getting the demo early or something for preordering makes sense... Only game I ever preordered was Killing Floor, and the only reason I preordered it was because you saved 25% if you did... I kind of liked that, got the game cheaper for preordering it instead of paying extra...

I think the special editions are pretty useless most of the time... Saw RE5's and it looked like paying more for a bunch of useless junk, but MW2 with NVG's... I might actually preorder that and get it the first night if they don't screw us PC people over... Funny how they call the PC version a port when the Call of Duty series started on PC...