Pre-Order Bonuses

[ThaBenMan]

Lately I've been noticing a prevalence of special bonuses awarded (mostly by Gamestop, I think) to people who pre-order a game. For instance, a code for Guitar Hero: World Tour that unlocks all the songs immediately. For Dead Space, a powerful suit of armor right at the start. And most recently, for GTA: Chinatown Wars, 10,000 in-game dollars and the best weapons.

I for one would not find these to be incentives to pre-order said game at all - I want to play myself and earn those things.

What do you all think? Would these encourage you to pre-order, or is Gamestop just wasting it's time?

 

[Ago Iterum]

If I was going to buy the game anyway, I'd take the bonuses. In the UK's main game store, aptly named 'GAME', you get reward points, you make them by spending money, and you can spend them in store, and for pre-ordering you get triple points. So here it's always worth it.

 

[WilliamWhite1]

I think it's definitely an incentive to be told if you pre-order, you'll have your game locked-in, and with bonuses in the beginning.

The fun-lovers would love having the extra items which could make the game easier, the cunning would like having the bonuses that nobody else has, but perhaps the 'hardcore' gamers would despise getting the extra stuff. Depends on who you are.

 

[Beffudled Sheep]

Some of them give me another reason to pre-order a game while others just make me laugh.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

It's really annoying honestly, and I think they did it to 'fight' against digital distribution.

I remember you got more missions for Far Cry 2 if you pre-ordered it. That's like saying "buy the game at full price here, and you get the actual full game - buy it somewhere else for full price and you don't."

 

[Soulgaunt]

those do sound like they would most likely make the game easier, which is why I think they should instead have bonuses like the GoW pre-order, except maybe an idea better than just a golden Lancer.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

I never much liked the pre-order codes thing to unlock crap faster, because that doesn't seem much at the end of the day. I more preferred things like the shirt I got for pre-ordering Battlefront 2. But I do support more crap for games I'm going to get anyway.

wtb Brutal Legend crap with my pre-order...

 

[I Stomp on Kittens]

Its makes people want to pre-order more i think. I think its okay if it dosn't affect in game in any way shape or form.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

pre-order gears of war and get a golden lancer in game.
why would i want a golden lancer if the regular one works just the same?

pre-order cod waw and unlock the m141 carbine 61 lvs early

great now if i can stop getting noob tubed long enough to use it.

pre-order gta china town wars and get 10,000 dollars and all the best weapons.

you said 10,000 dollars and instead you give me doll hairs. why did i even order this game when i dont own a ds

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I usually pre-order any games I'm interested in getting anyways. The extra stuff is just a bonus. I think its mainly trying to fight against things like steam though.

 

[hearty0]

IMO a good incentive is that the pre-ordered game has a discount(like cortex command, overgrowth(I actually don't remember if this has the discount), etc.) so nothing is spoiled, but it means that while your still taking a leap of faith it's a cheaper leap than it could be.

P.S. Both the games I named also let people play each alpha/build when they pre-order(CC already has a demo system so you can play anyways) so you can play with what you payed for right away. Plus I think it's cool to play the game as it slowly evolves into a real game.

 

[Soigieoto]

pre-order cod waw and unlock the m141 carbine 61 lvs early

great now if i can stop getting noob tubed long enough to use it.

No one got noob tubes in the beginning though...
plus i don't seemed to get noobed toobed as much as in COD4.
just sayin

 

[SimuLord]

I almost never preorder because even a game that seems can't-miss might ship with major flaws that don't get ironed out until a patch or two and by then the price has come down. Still, as with anything there are exceptions. I don't see how Empire: Total War could possibly go wrong and the demo battles look great, and for preordering I get the Gold Edition of Rome so I no longer have to worry about keeping the discs around, the game will be on my Steam account.

 

[squid5580]

Hmm lets see I have recieved 3 T-shirts, a winter hat, a mini plastic sword, a lego Batman keychain, a hardcover art book, a comic book, a Star Wars action figure, an informational book and a poster all from preordering from Gamestop. Not to bad for throwing 5 bucks down on a game I was going to buy anyways.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

ya but they get regular gernades. and every soldier seems to have the abilty to throw them farther then a profsienol (bad spelling sry)quarterback

Hmm lets see I have recieved 3 T-shirts, a winter hat, a mini plastic sword, a lego Batman keychain, a hardcover art book, a comic book, a Star Wars action figure, an informational book and a poster all from preordering from Gamestop. Not to bad for throwing 5 bucks down on a game I was going to buy anyways.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I pre-ordered many games for the bonuses. Like "Mirror's Edge"'s tote bag.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

If I was going to buy the game anyway, I'd take the bonuses. In the UK's main game store, aptly named 'GAME', you get reward points, you make them by spending money, and you can spend them in store, and for pre-ordering you get triple points. So here it's always worth it.

What about halo wars, pre-order the special edition, get a XBOX Live trial and a extra warthog.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

My favorite pre-order was of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence; came with a soundtrack featuring not only tracks from the game, but remastered versions of tracks from Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night. There need to be more soundtracks offered with pre-orders.

 

[z0nbie]

I collect a lot of things ( I'm a huge comic nerd, own comic statues, lots of weird odds and ends ... my basement looks like a comic book/video game shop ), if I'm going to get a game anyway and they want to give me more just to hold a copy for me ( and on top of that I won't have to worry about it selling out or going anywhere but that particular store ) I'll get it. Also , I love collectors editions that come with a statue or a HC book. Something tangible ( I could care less about a code to unlock something I'm going to get in game anyway ).

 

[ThaBenMan]

Well, yeah, I agree with all of you guys saying that free physical stuff is sweet, but I'm talking more about codes to unlock game content.

And many of you have made a really good point that I hadn't thought of - that they are offered to try and prevent buyers from downloading the games from Steam or similar sources rather than from Gamestop. I usually never download a game anyway (unless it's an Xbox Live Arcade game), I'd rather have a disc.