To those who pre-order games: why?

[Battenberg]

I've pre-ordered one game ever: The Last of Us. The only reasons I pre-ordered that game were a) it was Naughty Dog and they're one of my favourite developers and have never made a game I didn't like, and b) I came across an excellent deal on the special edition that actually cost me less than the standard version. The game was excellent so it was totally worth it for me personally but it's a situation that's unlikely to come up again any time soon so I won't be pre-ordering anything else in the forseeable future.

Really on the whole companies just don't make enough of an effort to make pre-ordering beneficial to the customers imo. Instead of holding features/ bonuses to ransom why not just make the game cheaper for pre-orders so as to both reward your customers' loyalty and reduce the risk factor of paying for something you won't actually get for some time? Then again to look at it another way: $£$£$£$£$£

 

[Creator002]

Didn't read OP in the interest of answering the thread title. I'll edit if necessary.

Why? I'm not very good with money. Even with a budget, I manage to have something come up I need to pay. Petrol, phone bill, broken video card, so on. Preorder in allows me to say "well that's gone, can't spend it."
That being said, I don't preorder often. Only if I know I'll be getting a game regardless, like Fallout 4 and Halo: MCC (bad example, but I still would have bought it eventually).
Basically, if it's a day one purchase, it's often a pre order. Also, EB allow you to return games for full price up to 7 days. Obviously I can't do that with Fallout 4 (never getting a Bethesda game on console again), but most games I buy, I can.

 

[sXeth]

Generally cause Amazon won't deliver it on launch day if I order it then and I want to play the game?
Yeah, not quite what you meant, but still firmly a pre-order in the statistics market.

Generally I'll pre-order in some period after accruing knowledge about the game via released videos/early LPs/Betas/etc. Or potentially because there's a pretty solid idea of what I'm getting for other reasons (Mortal Kombat X for example)

I used to have pre-orders while doing reviews for obvious reasons, of course, barring actual review copies (MY publisher not being a big name to often get those).

Currently the only things really sitting on the pre-order pile are Taken King (Destiny 1.5), and Rebel Galaxy if they open it up. No Man's Sky is the other main title I"m looking at, but still somewhat on fence for. Just Cause and Fallout 4 are in the queue too, but I'm holding off on a franchise I'm not overly familiar with, and given that I'll be on PS4 for Fallout, I learned from Skyrim just how second-class Bethesda handles playstation

 

[Cold Shiny]

I think its just straight up brand loyalty. Sure, we'd all bash a guy for preordering a game we don't want, but the second the new game in the series we love is announced, we preorder it. I'm saying this as a guy who doesn't preorder, but that's what I've experienced amongst my friends and family.

 

[Rozalia1]

Never been bitten by this myself. Every game I've preordered has been fine.
Seems like people make some crappy choices and then try to pass the buck elsewhere. As for those who'll bring up colonial marines, I knew that game would be garbage the day it was announced.

 

[kilenem]

1. I try to just preorder when I have a Chance for Free stuff and for Nintendo Items because some how they think having 3 copies of a game in a store is a good idea. They've at least been doing this B.S since the release of Pikman 3.

 

[anthony87]

Well I pre-ordered MGSV off of a site called Kinguin and it cost me 37 quid.

If I'd waited until release day it would've cost me 60 quid.

So generally I pre-order to save money.

 

[Remus]

For DLC bonuses, for a game I KNOW I'll like (especially if I was in beta), and because I don't like waiting for what I can have now. Is there a better reason?

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I preorder games I know I am going to enjoy.

I am an impulse buyer anyway, and I have a good idea whether I will enjoy something or not.

Right now I have Dishonoured 2, MGSV, Assassins Creed: Syndicate, and Fallout 4 on preorder, all because I know I will enjoy those games. I have ordered them all for PS4 too, as then I know my machine will handle it. In terms of reviews? I am not really bothered. These are all sequels to games I enjoyed, and watching trailers I know I am getting more of the same.

I will read the reviews of course, but I know they will all get good ones.

You don't tend to see many preorder bonuses (that are actually significant) of games without an established fanbase. Maybe a skin change or 2, or an extra challenge map here or there, but no extra sections.

 

[lunavixen]

I generally don't preorder games any more, but when I did it was often because of budget constraints, preordering games that I really wanted, let me pay it off without breaking my budget (as forking out $100AUD at once was often a bit much for me, or more, if it was a collectors edition).

 

[SweetShark]

I only preorder when I am very VERY excited for something.
I think the only things I preorder are X-Com [the new one], and VA-11 HALL-A. Still waiting for VA-11 HALL-A, but because I follow the developers, I trust them blindly.
Also the new X-com already done this before the new Deus-Ex. Don't pretend you are so surprised people, because you are make me feel very disappointed.

 

[Auberon]

Because I trusted CDPR to act fairly and ship a finished product with all the necessary elements, which they did. If you honestly believe Ubisoft and the likes won't rush and cut content for profit and pre-order incentives?

Admirable naiveté, to which Cartman had a perfect response.

 

[Roboshi]

Well I used to be a sucker for those limited/ special/ collector edition when you pre order the game only.

Even then the games I tend to preorder are usually the ones that has a good reputation or a good franchise like e.g. Nintendo, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Platinum Games etc so I KNOW it will be a decent/ good game!

Same here I have not been burned yet from a Nintendo Preorder. Plus, while amiibos are becoming more available now, it's still the best way to get them.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I typically only pre-order games that I feel will have a limited release or have very few copies due to it being a foreign or obscure game (like something from Atlas or NIS).

Not too long ago, I pre-ordered Lost Dimension, a fairly low-key tactical 3D RPG by Atlas that didn't really receive a lot of attention other than a trailer that appeared a month or so before its release. I like the concept of the tactical 3D RPG, as well as the 'Traitor' mechanic in which you have to fight along side 10 other playable characters in order to determine who among them is a traitor that will interfere with your plans of saving the world. You even get to kill a suspected traitor at certain points of the game in hopes that your party might be able to reach the end of the game.

I pre-ordered it because I was certain that there weren't going to be many copies available at launch. On the day that it was released, to my surprise, my reserved copy was the only copy of the game that was available at the store (they didn't even have a display). So yeah, I made a good call and I've since enjoyed playing the game.