Poll: Preorders... Why?

[AgentBJ09]

They take the shrink wrap off of new games and sell them for full price. Annoys the hell out of me. I can't walk into a Wal Mart, buy a new game, take the plastic off, and then expect to return it. It's always bugged me. I'd wait a month for a "new" game from somewhere else, rather than risk having to deal with that. That's the sum total of my animosity towards the company. I just don't shop there. This particular "event" didn't really bother me. You're right, the guy is a salesman and he was doing his job very well. If anything, I was the one wasting his time. I'm sure they are a fine company, they're just not for me personally and I don't fault anyone for shopping or working there.

The point of the thread is discussing why we accept this system as consumers. We don't preorder DVDs (usually), clothes, books (usually), food, other electronics, appliances, or yard care equipment. It's a little strange if you think about it. Video games don't really go bad. I can play Super Mario 64 just as easily now as I could ten years ago. There's stuff like Call of Duty that are very social, skill based, and involve online level building that might be under consideration, i.e. you don't want your friends to get ahead of you. Are games like that designed to get us to preorder?

Actually, yes, you can preorder books and some electronics. Go on Amazon.com and look at the Kindle Fire and Inheritance, which are both available for preorder. Appliances you can 'preorder' as well, with down payments or monthly payments on the items. Refuse to pay however, and it gets repossessed, and maybe sold at a lower value.

As for clothes, you can preorder those as well. Ever heard of Vans, World Industries, CCS, Etnies, or Adio? All are skating companies that let you preorder future shoe designs or sometimes clothes from their best riders.

Anyway, we accept this system for games because most games, as sad as it is, are not mass produced much anymore beyond the first few months of sales because the industry leaves old title behind quickly to focus on the new ones.

Also, those games you listed are high profile titles, and will get produced well beyond that initial set of months, in varying forms if that's what it takes. Others become hard-to-find classics with higher prices like the Shadow Hearts games, or games that just sell low because they're bad, like Morphx.

That said, if you really want a game, a preorder is the best way to ensure you get one, so long as you don't forget that you placed the preorder and actually have the intention of picking it up relatively soon after release. Putting money down on a soon to be released game some people don't like, sure, but which is the publisher going to notice more?

Actual money, or a slip of paper with a signature on it?

The way I see it, what a preorder for a game is is a middle ground between businesses who just take the word of their customers, and those who demand 100 percent up front payment before launch. That I like, and I wish more companies did such things.

 

[revolutionaification]

I've preordered Mass Effect 3, Skyrim and, thanks to a bug in the system when ordering the latter, Virtual Tennis 4 all in-store at GAME. I'd recently got myself a rewards card with them and the last time I was in the guy serving me realised I was admiring the preorders in the case behind him. He was decent enough to mention that preordering was totally free, as all they did was reserve you a copy for a couple of days rather than have you pay to guarantee it. Unlike these apparent complaints about Gamestop, I've never heard anything negative about GAME's services, so I thought it was worth my while.

I've considered preordering from other places, but generally don't want to drop the cash on a game that turns out to be unimaginably disappointing for me. I won't suffer if I can't play it for a few weeks.

 

[bakan]

I do preorder if I really want a game and don't wanna fight for it or if I want to get it a bit earlier.

I usually preorder from online services like Amazon as I had good experience with it.
Oh, and I preordered some japanese games as it can take quite long to import sometimes (e.g. I preordered Demon Souls).

 

[natster43]

Oh if only My digital camera wasn't broken. I could post a picture of all of my reserves. It is a lot.
If that wasn't a hint, I preorder pretty much anything I want to get or am planning on getting at my Gamestop. That way I can:
A. Pay it off over time and just pick it up on release day.
B. Make sure I have a copy if I can't get it on launch.
C. Possibly make sure that I can get it at launch because I may not have money at that time.
D. Free shit man, you may not care, but a free gun or outfit that I can get is worth putting down five dollars about 5 months in advance.
Also to the no guarantees thing, I have five dollars down on a special edition of Disgea 4. That came out when Dead Island did, My Gamestop is still holding it for me because they know me (been shopping there for many years plus worked there and applied for seasonal again) and know that I am going to pick it up when I have the money. Also Gamestop is obligated to hold your game for a week.

 

[Jack Rascal]

But it's not free. They take your money and put it towards the game. I understand that, but while they have my money between when I preordered the game and when I actually get it, I do not possess that money. I can't buy a sandwich with a gamestop preorder form. Believe me, I'm the king of operating on a limited budget, but I know how to save my own money. I don't need Father Gamestop to hold onto my $30 for me. I might want to use that on something else, or be able to pick what retailer I utilize.

Also, I don't know what this reservation / custom order business is. You work there, I take it? It appears you are saying what I've been saying this whole thread. Pre ordering guarantees you nothing.

I am miserably missing your point. This is from Gamestop website (the US site):

"Pre-order any product and if the price drops before the release date, you will be charged the lower price. Online orders are not billed until your shipment is processed, so pre-order today."

How is that off your lunch money? I picked the US Gamestop purely out of the assumption that you are from US. My apologies if you're not.

In some cases you get extra for pre-ordering. I pre-ordered Dark Souls and I will have it tomorrow even though its release date is not until Friday (where I'm from). On top of getting my game before the actual release date I got it for a great deal. I will receive merchandise and a cheaper price tag. The game's retail price here is 64,95 euro's and I will pay 52,95. So I save 12,00, get extra stuff, it's delivered free to my home and I get it early. I have not yet paid the game either. I fail to understand why I should wait until it's released.

Regarding Gamestop, here I have to pay 10,00 euro to pre-order a game. And according to my receipt (pre-ordered Assassin's Creed Revelations from them) they hold my pre-ordered copy for 48 hours after the release date. If I walk in two weeks after the release date it's only my fault if they have sold the copy that was originally reserved for me. Some people may have trouble with this concept but I'm fine with it. I would never assume that any shop is going to keep reserved items for too long. And I don't think 10,00 is too much to pay for getting a copy of a game I do want when released. But that is my opinion and I respect yours for not wanting to pay for something you cannot immediately lay your hands on.

 

[Jedisolo75]

Also, some games give you free DLC if you preorder. That's definitely worth it.

 

[EHKOS]

I only preorder if I know I'm getting the game on day one and I don't have the time to go get it that day or I'm worried it will be sold out etc. I also only preorder if they have a fancy bonus item. One time I preordered Secret Agent Clank for the PSP just to get the little figurine of Clank in a tux for $5. Never picked the game up either, duped Gamestop.

Wow. You were duped. Big time.

I need to think of a way of making people think they have duped me when I sell them a $1 figurine, for $5...

Meh, I'm a collector, it was a pre order exclusive, and it's gonna be worth more someday.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Well since I buy almost all my games on Steam the reason I used to pre-order, because there is only one shop that sells games within 30 miles of my house, and they don't stock much, has become moot so if I want a game I pick it up on release day. Though pre-order bonuses can be cool.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Actually, yes, you can preorder books and some electronics. Go on Amazon.com and look at the Kindle Fire and Inheritance, which are both available for preorder. Appliances you can 'preorder' as well, with down payments or monthly payments on the items. Refuse to pay however, and it gets repossessed, and maybe sold at a lower value.

As for clothes, you can preorder those as well. Ever heard of Vans, World Industries, CCS, Etnies, or Adio? All are skating companies that let you preorder future shoe designs or sometimes clothes from their best riders.

Anyway, we accept this system for games because most games, as sad as it is, are not mass produced much anymore beyond the first few months of sales because the industry leaves old title behind quickly to focus on the new ones.

Also, those games you listed are high profile titles, and will get produced well beyond that initial set of months, in varying forms if that's what it takes. Others become hard-to-find classics with higher prices like the Shadow Hearts games, or games that just sell low because they're bad, like Morphx.

All of the sites you mention for "pre ordering" are online retailers or direct from the company. I don't understand how this is pre ordering necessarily, so much as it is just ordering. Amazon doesn't charge you a dime for it anyways, so the process of ordering an in stock item is essentially the same as pre ordering an item not yet released. The sentiment that "most games" are scarce and rare items outside the release window simply is not true. My KMart has a copy of Mercury Meltdown for 19.99 in the big pile by the checkout. This was a budget Wii title release from the second year of the system's lifespan that got good reviews and was manufactured by a relatively small publisher. Let's not forget discount Greatest Hits reprints of popular games. Or the massive and convenient wall of used games right there in the gamestop. Rare and expensive video games are few and far between. I'm sitting on an unopened copy of Metroid Prime Trilogy waiting for the value to go up, and I bought it year after it came out at less then MSRP.

And it sounds like you're discussing some sort of Rent-to-Own system with appliances. That's another topic entirely, but at least in that situation you get to use the thing you put money towards. This is not the case with video games.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

Most of the time, when I'm short on games to play, I would pre-order games that I am interested in purchasing and getting them on launch day. I'm not always intrigued by the pre-order goodies (most of which are online perks rather than physical goodies).

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Also once all the copies of a certain game was sold out when i went to buy it. So now i pre order to ensure i have a copy. Normally via amazon.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I am miserably missing your point. This is from Gamestop website (the US site):

"Pre-order any product and if the price drops before the release date, you will be charged the lower price. Online orders are not billed until your shipment is processed, so pre-order today."

How is that off your lunch money? I picked the US Gamestop purely out of the assumption that you are from US. My apologies if you're not.

In some cases you get extra for pre-ordering. I pre-ordered Dark Souls and I will have it tomorrow even though its release date is not until Friday (where I'm from). On top of getting my game before the actual release date I got it for a great deal. I will receive merchandise and a cheaper price tag. The game's retail price here is 64,95 euro's and I will pay 52,95. So I save 12,00, get extra stuff, it's delivered free to my home and I get it early. I have not yet paid the game either. I fail to understand why I should wait until it's released.

Regarding Gamestop, here I have to pay 10,00 euro to pre-order a game. And according to my receipt (pre-ordered Assassin's Creed Revelations from them) they hold my pre-ordered copy for 48 hours after the release date. If I walk in two weeks after the release date it's only my fault if they have sold the copy that was originally reserved for me. Some people may have trouble with this concept but I'm fine with it. I would never assume that any shop is going to keep reserved items for too long. And I don't think 10,00 is too much to pay for getting a copy of a game I do want when released. But that is my opinion and I respect yours for not wanting to pay for something you cannot immediately lay your hands on.

I am talking about in store pre orders, not online orders, which are essentially "orders." Your getting the game early is most likely an accident and if gamestop knew that it was arriving before your region's release date, they would probably put a stop to it.

Also, have you seen this story yet?
http://www.examiner.com/video-game-news-in-national/from-software-s-unique-punishment-for-players-who-broke-dark-souls-street-date

 

[staika]

I pre-order all the games I really want. As of today I still have about 5 pre-orders out for different games. It may cost $5 but they take that $5 off the price when you buy it so I never saw anything terrible with it that would stop me from pre-ordering stuff.

 

[GeorgW]

I usually pre-order a few days before the release specifically for the bonuses. Of course, I only buy (what I think will be) my favourite games at release.
I really don't see the problem with paying up front to pre-order. Sure, it's unjustified, they're gonna sell the copy regardless if I pick it up or not and it's not exactly much of a bother to reserve a copy for me, but why not do it?

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Also once all the copies of a certain game was sold out when i went to buy it. So now i pre order to ensure i have a copy. Normally via amazon.

Amazon runs out of copies, even if you do pre order. Happened to Jessica Chobot when she tried to get release date delivery on Ico Shadow of the Colossus.
http://www.ign.com/blogs/jess-ign/2011/09/27/this-is-horse-sht

 

[4173]

Free stuff (why I pre-ordered Arkham City and Human Revolution).



Insurance (WoW Cataclysm and The Old Republic) because day 1/2 is important enough to me that I don't want to take the chance of some random, unlikely bullshit preventing me from getting the game.

 

[erto101]

In Denmark Game Stop gives you a 20 dollar discount if you pre-order (might be 10. I don't go there too often). Still cheaper to buy it on the internet but it's a nice gesture.

 

[Xorph]

I pre-order if there's something of benefit or a collectors edition (Halo Reach, for example, came with a bunch of stuff if you pre-ordered the Collectors Edition). I don't pre-order if it's something tiny like the extra armor and gun from Fallout NV, but in cases where the game is likely to sell out on release date I'll pre-order to guarantee I get a copy the day of release. Also, Gamestop only sells off your pre-order copy if you're like half a week late to pick it up