To those who pre-order games: why?

[OpiateChicken]

I think I've only pre-ordered 2 games: Pokemon Stadium for the N64, and Halo: Reach.

The first one was because, back in the day (at least around where I live), all the stores would actually sell out of stuff on the first day, and I really wanted to get my copy to play on the first day with my friends.

For Halo: Reach, I really wanted the whole Legendary package which I was pretty sure would sell out. It didn't, but I don't regret the purchase.

I'm not into video games like I used to be and I don't care that much anymore if I get stuff on the first day or not. I generally don't pre-order anymore.

 

[sageoftruth]

I pre-ordered once, by accident. Not sure if it counts, since I basically paid nothing for it. I got it as a freebie while buying computer hardware. Since the game wasn't available to play yet, I guess it sort of counts as having a preorder dumped in my lap.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The problem with your line of thinking is that people actually know a great deal about many of the games they pre-order.

This. Who the fuck is buying products without any clue about what they're in for? It's not like it's hard to get information, between demos, betas, gameplay videos, or familiarity with long running franchises.

I pre-order if I'm getting the thing anyway, and they incentivize the pre-order. The incentive doesn't even need to be large. 10% off? Sure, why not. It's 10% I wouldn't get off at launch, when I'd buy the fucking thing anyway.

I've been pre-ordering (either digitally or physically) for something like 20 years. Guess how many purchases I've been upset with during that time? Virtually none. The only one I can even THINK of offhand was SimCity, and I played the fucking demo. It was an informed purchase. I might've dodged the week one server issues, but it wasn't server issues that ultimately sank the game.

Hell even ME3 I got value out of due to the inexplicably boffo multiplayer.

I could give less of a shit about people pre-ordering. The problem isn't pre-ordering. The problem is people making uninformed purchasing decisions.

 

[Kyle Winston]

I do not pre-order for any special bonuses. If there is a game coming out that I want and will get, I will pre-order it.

 

[Worgen]

If I'm planning on getting a game at launch and there are preorder bonuses then I will preorder, but if I miss the preorder, even if I want it at launch, then I will wait since I missed out on those bonuses. But its only for something that I'm planning on getting at launch, of which there are very few.

 

[Pickles]

I very, very rarely do it. I preordered Bioshock 2 collectors edition because I loved the first one and the CE came with some really sweet extras. After that I preordered Diablo 3 which proved to be a mistake.

Since then the only game I've preordered was the Witcher 3. This is partly because of the discounts I got from GoG for owning the first two and living in Australia, and partly because I had enough faith in them that the game would be worth it.

 

[bliebblob]

Not sure how much help my input will be, but for completion's sake:

The only thing I've ever pre-purchased so far was guild wars 2, and even then it was for a hyper-specific reason: the three day head start. No, not because of any aspirations to "win" the inevitable max lvl rat race, but because of the way summer break panned out that year. Those three days made the difference between having 5 days of uninterrupted time with the game I'd been looking forward to all year, or only 2. Not that there was much risk of getting burned: I'd been keeping an extremely close eye on it for months, and even if it hadn't turned out every bit as amazing as I'd hoped, sheer joy of finally getting to play would no doubt have blinded me to it anyway. At least for that one week.

 

[Beliyal]

So far, I only preordered one game; Pokemon Omega Ruby. The only reason was that there was a discount for the preorder, and seeing as I had to also pay the shipping, the discount was helpful. Other than that, I knew what I was getting with a Pokemon game, so there's that too. No way I could've regretted that decision so preordering was just a matter of saving a few pounds.

For anything else, I'm really not keen on preordering. Especially with bullshit practices like this and a million different types of possible preorder bonuses. I just don't really see the point. I usually don't even play the game immediately on release so I can always wait for reviews and discounts. I guess I'd preorder in cases like with Pokemon; a well-known franchise that I am closely familiar with, I know the game will not disappoint me and I understand the deal I'm getting. But if they tried to pull stuff like this, I'd probably abstain from a preorder out of principle.

 

[Bat Vader]

Usually the only time I ever pre-order a game is for a Collector's Edition. I pre-ordered the Uncharted 4 CE yesterday. Others CEs I have pre-ordered are Tales of Zestria CE, Fallout 4 CE, and the Mirror's Edge Catalyst CE.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Generally not a big fan of pre-ordering either. In between the time you pre-order a game and it gets released, there's any number of things that could be revealed that you don't like. Trailers, and even gameplay trailers can give you completely misleading impressions of how the game is played. For example, the Last of Us, while a good game, gave a really skewed impression of how dynamic their gameplay was. The trailer made it look amazing. In the actual game, it was... alright. Plus, there's the fact that a game can look completely great on paper, and not be fun in execution. Skyrim was this for me, on paper everything sounded so much better than Oblivion (a game I liked, but had a number of issues with). When I played it I was fairly disappointed, and actually preferred Oblivion to it.

Waiting for at least some reviews is usually the better idea. Get some information about the game from someone not being paid to make it look good.

That being said, sometimes the pre-order bonuses are pretty sweet. And I know 100% that when a preorder for The Last Guardian comes out I will be getting it (with the gorgeous artbook it'll inevitably be coming out with). The first to games are among my favorite, and no matter how bad the reviews of the game are, it's something I'd still want to gauge for myself.

 

[Gretha Unterberg]

Leason learned:
wait a year and get the full (gameoftheyear/platin/superlative) version of the game.
You know, with all pre-oder bonuses and DLCs.

 

[Guffe]

Sorry if this is a bit rambly, I've been wanting to make a thread asking this for a while and never got around to it. But after this bollocks:

I'm going to quote you because I'm not 100% sober and paranoid that you won't otherwise read what I write to you.

So... On Topic:

Why I preorder games?
1 reason, and one reason only.
Well it might be several reasons in one?

First of I own a Nintendo console, not sure how it is for the other consoles here.
The stores in my country (Finland) usually get a maximum of 5 copies for each game at launch. Which means if I have work that day, I won't be able to go and get the game when the store opens, and therefor I might risk not getting a copy.
I very seldom pre-order stuff, within the last year I've pre-ordered MarioKart, Bayonetta and SmashBros.
The next one I think I will pre-order is the new Zelda game.
There really is no other reason than the fact that I want it at launch and I want it as a physcial copy.
The NintendoEshop has good launchdate deals and I think this'll lessen my pre-ordering even more (from the 3 games a year I'm currently at)...

Soooo yeah... pretty much that

 

[darkcalling]

I preorder when it's a game I want anyway and the bonuses are nice.

As for the "bullshit DLC practices" you refer to I've never felt like a game was incomplete without a particular bit of dlc, day 1 or not.

As for paying sight unseen, I've never been disappointed in anything I've preordered. That includes Splatterhouse and Duke Nukem Forever. Not great games by any means but I certainly had fun. Maybe I'm just less critical than some.

 

[Nailzzz]

I don't do the typical preordering that the OP is referencing. Instead I support kickstarters. One major difference between Kickstarter and preordering Is that if I can pay less than retail on a game while often getting beta access typically. So far I have been having great luck picking good ones. I am currently playing Grim Dawn, which I am really enjoying.

 

[FPLOON]

I think the biggest reason why I sometime pre-order is because the thing I'm pre-ordering is an official translated import of something I want to support as well as let the store remember to stock it on their shelves... Sure, it's petty, but glob dammit! That one time where a local Gamestop employee explained to me what happens to "super-niche video games" that end up on the pre-order list made me realized that pre-ordering's another way to gauge how many copies should be held at the location in question... which only kinda makes sense if you don't want to have too many copies that just won't sell in general...

Other than that, pre-orders works best with physical copies of games due to either their limited supply and/or as a means to engage how many copies should be available at the store in question, especially the "super-niche games"... But, I still can't wrap my head around digital pre-orders outside of securing early downloading access when the servers slow down and shit on [digital] release...

Damn, me! You're, once again, on a roll in terms of "ninja"ing what I was going to say... How do you do it?

So... only pre-order if:

-The game's "obscure" to the point that we're even lucky that it even got a localized release...
-Physical Collector's Editions (with physical items that will not be available afterwards...)
-You trust the company in question...
-It's FUCKING Pokemon!

And, even then, there may be a chance for a physical Collector's Edition copy of a game to belong to a company you either lost all trust in and/or you've never trusted them in the first place... So, in other words, only pre-order basically any "obscure" game that come out of Japan... unless they, too, are a "GameStop Exclusive" somehow... (Damn you, Tales of Hearts R!)

Okay... Now, you're just showing me up... Stop that!

*ahem* Anywho, most of my pre-orders are localized games considering they're not always on the "must supply" list in comparison to more mainstream games in general... Other than that, all them extra physical goodies are just that added bonus that, in no way, effect the main core of the game in question...

 

[pookie101]

if im going to get a game anyway it usually comes with some dlc, etc if i preorder. long term works out cheaper to preorder than to buy the dlc separately.

only game ive preordered thats bit me in the ass was rome 2 and they patched that up until its playable for me

 

[Quellist]

Does pre-ordering a game that's already out in Japan count? If so i preorder games that i know i am going to like, Xenoblade Chronicles X (on preorder since june last year) and the Tales Series (Honestly i would preorder those without seeing any gameplay videos or reading reviews, they are simply That Good).

So its about either prior knowledge or having absolute faith in the developers. Pretty much the same reason i kickstarted Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity and Torment.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Seldom. I consider it, but it's rarely concrete in my case.

Last time it happened was with The Witcher 3, and that's cause CDPR offered a whole bunch of other stuff alongside it as well as store credit on their site.

Ended up buying quite a few games using that credit, which more than made it worthwhile. This was also about 6 months before release, so at that point I had seen enough footage and had enough faith in CDPR after The Witcher 2 to pre-order.

Currently, I'm considering buying MGS V week one, but my enthusiasm is fading. There's also literally nothing on the horizon I'd pre-order.

If I do, it's because I know I will enjoy the game regardless and because it offers enough contingency to justify the price.

It's why I never buy anything from Ubisoft ever again.

 

[wings012]

I never preordered games, but I do prepurchase them? I suppose it's sort of the same thing. Generally I only do it when the game is within weeks of coming out.

I only do so because of prepurchase sales and/or bonuses.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

People who preorder the week before launch? Not an issue. There's enough info by this point for the diligent consumer to grasp the products general quality. I would say that, for PC users especially, to be mindful of terrible ports (since most footage we see is from consoles anyway this is mostly a PC issue, but if a game is made on one console then ported over, it can be just as disastrous). A good tip is to look at how willing the company is to show off PC contnet and if you can, hold off until the early reviews come in. If there are no PC reviews, that's a Red Flag. Though Witcher 3 came out with no PC reviews so... eh... what was my point again?

People who preorder upon announcement when there is nothing but a Trailer and some shopped screencaps? Not very savvy. But you have to learn this for yourself. Sometimes the game will be fine and your money well spent, but make no mistake, in the current state of the industry with AAA developers not meeting the AAA quality despite bloated production costs, it's very unwise to put money down on product that has nothing but an artists rendition to go by. It's always a gamble.

Preorders, in a general sense, I don't have a problem with. Caveat Emptor. However, there are definitely certain practices that are undeniably shady (gating off content from legit buyers, place of purchase exclusivity, tied in DLC...).

The Squeenix multi teared preorder shenanigans looks outright scummy. Particularly the early release prize. I'd rather the game not be rushed out the door to meet such an offer, but what am I saying... QA is for losers.

EDIT:

I always get worried that preorder culture is going to be (or is currently) used by devs to reach their goals. That the preorders are going to act as a budget boost to get a game over the finish line. I don't like the idea of the quality of a finished game to be tied to buyer demand. Make the game, and if it's good, demand will follow (as long as you market sensibly).