Poll: Preorders... Why?

Ham Blitz

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May 28, 2009
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I preorder pretty much any game I am for sure going to buy the day it comes out, especially if the game is popular. I mean, if I am going to buy the game on the release day, why not enjoy that added in game bonus they throw in?
On a side note of popularity, I am extremely happy I preordered Dead Island for the 360. The game was (and still is) awesome, and after that first day, it was impossible to find the game for weeks pretty much anywhere in my town, because as soon as it game back in stock it was quickly sold out. One person at my local gamestop said (while talking to some people who game in while we were waiting for Gears 3 midnight release) that the game sold out within three hours of them getting it back in stock.
Edit: On a side note, I have never had any problem with gamestop selling my preordered games.
 

Epona

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Jun 24, 2011
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There's never a situation where gamestop will give me a free game and then expect me to pay for it a week later.
That's a damn good point. Next time they ask me if I want to pre-order something, I'll ask them if they wanna give me a game that I can pay for in a week or two.


Its simple if you didnt preorder you dont get a copy.
You've been lied to and the sad part is that you believed it.

If you have a local Gamestop then you probably have a local Wal Mart, Best Buy, Target or Kmart. They won't all be sold out.
 

ultimateownage

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Feb 11, 2009
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Because you get a guaranteed copies and some bonuses. If the price is unlikely to go down, and with PC games it really isn't, why not? I order games online anyway.
 

Raiha

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Jul 3, 2009
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because it helps game companies limit the costs of over production. hopefully some of that money will go back into game development.
 

Yopaz

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Jun 3, 2009
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zelda2fanboy said:
Yopaz said:
Pre-ordered Saints Row The Third for 3 reasons.
1: I know I am going to buy it anyway, why not preload it and have it unlock the second it releases?
2: Octopus gun.
3 Getting a car that can launch pedestrians (or yourself) as a weapon.
Dr_Horrible said:
I pre-order off of Amazon occasionaly (in fact, I'll be preordering skyrim in a week or so). I do it because:
1: Getting it on release day
2: pre-order goodies (like the Skyrim cloth map)
3: I get to play it on release, but still get a physical copy.
I don't know. For me, digital bonuses or tchotchkes really don't hold enough benefit for me to give a store my money and walk out that day with nothing. Maybe if the bonus was a physical object, on the shelf the day I preordered, and I could walk out with something in my hand besides a piece of paper, I'd consider it.
I will admit that it seems useless, but I prefer digital distribution over buying hard copies, so the case is different for me than you, so I guess that's one point where we simply don't click.
Getting novelty items for use in game such as the octopus gun in Saints Row 3 just adds a little to the crazy. It's not much, but I have waited eagerly for that game so I would have preordered it so I could buy it the second it's released rather than waiting for the next day to buy it and maybe find out it's not in stock. I had to go to 4 stores before I found Pokemon White on release date. Also I'm not exactly paying for nothing. Rage isn't released before Friday, but I installed it yesterday. Still, each one to his or her own.
 

Tallim

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Think of it this way. When you put money down "in store" for a pre-order that's extra money the business makes from you by way of interest. It's not much but add it up across the whole company for each pre-order and it's free profit for them essentially.
 

Kyogissun

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Jan 12, 2010
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>why pre-order

Because not 'all' gamestops are so crooked as to sell copies that have been reserved. Just because you hear over the internet and from friends that this has happened doesn't mean it happens at every store.

I'm the same with the 'bad customer service' situation at gamestop, in the past 5 years, the only problem I had as them mistaking my reservation of a guide for Pokemon Black and White as a regular edition versus a collectors edition. Had someone else pick up my copy of Black and the guide, they gave said person the regular guide by mistake, went in later that night and exschanged for a CE guide.

But why pre-order? Because I want to secure my copy, I want to go ahead and pay for it in the store with real money so that way when I go to pick it up, I don't have to be carrying cash on me that 'any' shmuck can use at their own leisure. Plus, I pay it in advance so that way if the time comes around I don't have to worry about paying full price for the game or paying at all.

And again, even though I've seen it be proven otherwise, it secures a collectors edition item at launch in case they have a limited amount from the get go.
 

theevilgenius60

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I preorder games I know I want. Right now I have Arkham City, Skyrim, AC Revelations and Mass Effect 3 paid for. I do it because the way pay scedules work(also because I never know when I'll have to be paying medical bills and such). I never just preorder, I buy the game flat out. The day before release, I get a text letting me know if there is a midnight release or not and am thus reminded to pick up the game. I see no negatives. That it sometimes comes with extra goods is just gravy.
 

Substitute Troll

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Four words...

FIND. A. BETTER. STORE.

I pre-order games from an online shop in sweden, and I've never had any problems.
 

Jodah

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Aug 2, 2008
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1. You often get bonus stuff. Weapons, Armor, Skins, etc.

2. It guarantees you will get a copy on release day (assuming you don't have one of the retarded Gamestop stores.) You know why you hear so many horror stories about Gamestop? Because people rarely post about good experiences. They only post to complain. I have been going to Gamestop for 15 years (it was still EB back then) and I have not had a single bad experience at any of the ones I have been to.

3. If you are going to buy it at that store on day one anyways theres no reason not to.
 
Mar 9, 2010
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I pre-order plenty of my games from GAME in the UK and haven't had a single issue with them. I have friends who go out to midnight releases for their games and I don't understand why. If I pre-order the game then I know that I have a copy, I don't have to wait in line till 2AM and my copy is likely to come a day or two early. I also get some sweet goodies with it too, which is always a bonus.

I don't even have to pay until it's shipped either. They check the card before shipping so it's not as if they only have potential money too. Pre-ordering a game I look forward to is far better than waiting till I get it in the shops.

thaluikhain said:
I've been wondering the same. Surely it's best to wait and see if the thing is any good, the patches come out to fix the known bugs the first users report, you don't need the latest computer to run it and the price starts to drop?
You can err on the side of caution, but why would you want to for a game you're looking forward to? Bugs, price and system issues are nothing when it comes to a game you've looked forward to for 5 months is being released. The last you should have checked before you pre-ordered or before it was confirmed, they usually release those fairly early.
 

EvilMaggot

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i preorder if its a game im REALLY looking forward too... or if there's a little bonus for preording.... thats about the only reason to preorder :)
 

PortalThinker113

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Jul 13, 2010
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Stalydan said:
Cheesus333 said:
I preorder off of Amazon. They only charge you when it's dispatched and I almost always get it a day or two early. In that case, there's not much reason not to.

However, I only preorder a game I'm excited for that I'm definitely going to buy anyway. So Saints Row the Third and Diablo III are a yes, Rage is a no.
That's me all over. If the game is going to be bought buy me anyway, pre-order on Amazon unless the game has a pre-order bonus at another retailer that I can guarantee I'll buy. Hell, I was going to cancel my Amazon order for Batman: Arkham City because GAME was giving out the Robin packs, but then I realised that when I went to cancel it they had changed my order to a Catwoman steel book edition with the Batman Earth One costume instead for the same price! Proving thus once again, Amazon are awesome. GAME and Robin can suck it!

Also, I could change my order to the collector's edition for £55 but I'd feel like it would go to waste on me because I'm living away from home so I wouldn't really have the statues.
Diverting from original topic here, but BWUH? When did this happen? O_O I preordered Arkham City on Amazon and didn't get this... Not in America, I guess?
 

Cowabungaa

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Feb 10, 2008
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Yes, I quite often pre-order games I really want from webshops. They're often a lot cheaper than brick-and-mortar stores (honestly, why do people keep buying there?) and I always have my games in my mailbox at launch day.

It's easy, it's cheap, and sometimes it gets me pre-order goodies to boot. Win-win situation.
 

zelda2fanboy

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AgentBJ09 said:
So then, what's the point of your thread beyond the fact that a preorder was open up to one day before launch and you thought it was dumb that the sale clerk actually used logic? After all, you asked for that game, so I can see plenty of reason for him to ask if you wanted to preorder and pay it off all the way or at least put 5$ down on it.

Either you must associate with one odd store given how often I see you in Gamestop threads complaining about small events like this one, or you just have thing against the company for reasons I can't imagine.
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?

Tallim said:
Think of it this way. When you put money down "in store" for a pre-order that's extra money the business makes from you by way of interest. It's not much but add it up across the whole company for each pre-order and it's free profit for them essentially.
Yes. Why give them that extra money? They're probably even banking on you forgetting you bought the preorder in the first place. Why should you assume the financial risk? You aren't getting it any earlier. It's a weird expectation for consumers to do that and even weirder that we do.

Raiha said:
because it helps game companies limit the costs of over production. hopefully some of that money will go back into game development.
That would make sense, but I doubt it's the case. Target doesn't necessarily tell EA how many preorders they got for Battlefield 3. Considering EA has its own retail outlet (Origin), they are essentially a competitor and that's sensitive information to give to someone that you're trying to outsell.

Crono1973 said:
That's a damn good point. Next time they ask me if I want to pre-order something, I'll ask them if they wanna give me a game that I can pay for in a week or two.
Finally someone seeing this from my perspective. You know, the crankier and pickier we are as consumers, the more retailers are going to go out of their way to offer incentives. You think a bonus gun or an extra challenge map is the best they can do? I beg to differ. :)