Can we talk about preordering games - and how stupid this new trend is?

Isn't there big lines even if you preorder and want to pick it up right at release for a popular title?

Derangel said:
If I were to go digital I'd just get the standard edition. I'd rather have the sound track and art book as physical items.
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Someone brought this up to me before, but because of how it is phrased the soundtrack on the physical copy may still be mp3s on a bonus disc, and not as a separate CD itself. I probably should have looked into this further.

I might see if I can just buy a separate art book depending on how it is, seems like many people don't care much about those. I know for SC2, when I last looked, the art book was the most common single item being sold from CEs.
 
I never understood this fascination with pre-ordering a game also. For the most part I'm not a day 1 buyer, I like to wait and see the reviews. And even the few times I did get a game right away I had it in my hands playing it before most preoders would have arrived in the mail. Plus I cant be bothered with situations where I preorder a game I no longer want.
 
cixx79 said:
Me? Not anymore because I pre-order. Viable option but I'll take the pre-order over standing in line. Call me lazy but hey, I'm not a line stander.
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I'm not understanding how pre-ordering helps avoid lines.

In my experience...

if you pick it up at midnight release, Gamestop has a line, and it doesn't matter if you pre-ordered or not, there are lines. If you go to Wal-Mart or pretty much anywhere else, you can grab with little to no wait.

if you are picking it up in the morning, there are no lines, so it doesn't matter if you pre-ordered or not, because there are loads of copies.



I'm curious what your experience is. The only two boxed copies I've bought in the past 2 years have been Cataclysm and Starcraft 2, which came release day shipping from Amazon. I can't stand wasting over an hour of my time going out of my way to brick and mortar stores, and then pay full retail + tax.


eon said:
I never understood this fascination with pre-ordering a game also. For the most part I'm not a day 1 buyer, I like to wait and see the reviews. And even the few times I did get a game right away I had it in my hands playing it before most preoders would have arrived in the mail. Plus I cant be bothered with situations where I preorder a game I no longer want.
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I agree with this. I don't buy many games on release date, because I rather wait to see reactions from players on forums and read through a few reviews (actually read them, scores are crap). Pre-order bonuses are generally meaningless in-game items, so they don't offer a good incentive to roll the dice on a title. If I do "pre-order" a game, it's a few hours before release, that way I can't get stuck in a situation where I have to cancel due to a changed mind or better price.
 
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Only games I pre-order are ones that have goodies I'm interested in having, like my vault tec bobble head. :)

Or games I'm 90% sure will be good and worth my time. Elder scrolls and diablo 3 will be ordered asap and if there is anything interesting in the CE versions I'll get those. Those games have never let me down, if they do they next versions won't be pre-ordered.

I know many people don't care about thinks like art books, novels, music cds, behind the scenes vids etc etc etc. I like some of that stuff so it is worth it to me.
 
eurin said:
I'm not understanding how pre-ordering helps avoid lines.

I'm curious what your experience is. The only two boxed copies I've bought in the past 2 years have been Cataclysm and Starcraft 2, which came release day shipping from Amazon. I can't stand wasting over an hour of my time going out of my way to brick and mortar stores, and then pay full retail + tax.

I agree with this. I don't buy many games on release date, because I rather wait to see reactions from players on forums and read through a few reviews (actually read them, scores are crap). Pre-order bonuses are generally meaningless in-game items, so they don't offer a good incentive to roll the dice on a title. If I do "pre-order" a game, it's a few hours before release, that way I can't get stuck in a situation where I have to cancel due to a changed mind or better price.
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You say you had Cata and SC2 on your doorstep release day from Amazon, so how is that not a pre order? Last I checked they also had a low price guarantee on preorders so you never have to worry about last minute price changes.

Even if you do decide to pre order at Game top or whatever B&M store you choose, and stand in line... at least your pre order guaranters you a copy of the game. Knowing my luck I'd be the next guy in line after the last non-reserved copy was sold...

Personally I get almost all of my games through Steam these days, its just so convienent.
 
RedTalon19 said:
You say you had Cata and SC2 on your doorstep release day from Amazon, so how is that not a pre order?
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Sorry, last line wasn't very clear. I was referring to Steam titles, when I said I purchase them a few hours before release. I did pre-order the Blizzard games a few days in advance, since Amazon stop offering release date shipping.
 
Amazon pre-orders are typically the lowest prices available for new releases because they'll offer a $10-$20 credit towards a future purchase so there's not much point in waiting and paying more after release when it will be marked at full retail price without the credit. Amazon also has guaranteed release day delivery so it's worth it IMO to pre-order regardless of the bonuses if you intend to play the game the first couple of weeks its released.
 
burningrave101 said:
Amazon pre-orders are typically the lowest prices available for new releases because they'll offer a $10-$20 credit towards a future purchase so there's not much point in waiting and paying more after release when it will be marked at full retail price without the credit. Amazon also has guaranteed release day delivery so it's worth it IMO to pre-order regardless of the bonuses if you intend to play the game the first couple of weeks its released.
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Ditto. $10-20 credit and I'll keep pre-ordering my games. I can wait a day if for some reason it doesn't arrive at my door on release day.
 
Seelenlos said:
Or games I'm 90% sure will be good and worth my time. Elder scrolls and diablo 3 will be ordered asap and if there is anything interesting in the CE versions I'll get those.
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I'm in total agreement, and see no "stupidity" in pre-ordering games that people either personally love, and/or feel are going to be quality enough to make it worth pre-ordering.

Since I only use Steam these days, with the exception of a few hard copies of games that aren't available on Steam, it's easy/convenient enough to just pre-order what I know for a fact I'm going to enjoy, which saves time be pre-downloading and being ready for the game's launch.

I've a few games pre-ordered on Steam, and two other retail copies of games that aren't going to be available on Steam, as I feel they're definitely going to be excellent games in their own right, so see no "stupidity" in the "new trend" being spoken of in this thread.
 
Seelenlos said:
I know many people don't care about thinks like art books, novels, music cds, behind the scenes vids etc etc etc. I like some of that stuff so it is worth it to me.
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I like that stuff too, that's why if there's a CE i'm going to get it physical. Don't see the point of paying extra for a PDF art book :confused:
 
Xathlien said:
I'm in total agreement, and see no "stupidity" in pre-ordering games that people either personally love, and/or feel are going to be quality enough to make it worth pre-ordering.

Since I only use Steam these days, with the exception of a few hard copies of games that aren't available on Steam, it's easy/convenient enough to just pre-order what I know for a fact I'm going to enjoy, which saves time be pre-downloading and being ready for the game's launch.

I've a few games pre-ordered on Steam, and two other retail copies of games that aren't going to be available on Steam, as I feel they're definitely going to be excellent games in their own right, so see no "stupidity" in the "new trend" being spoken of in this thread.
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I'm in agreement, with all of it. I think preordering is a great option. Just because someone doesn't want to preorder it or get the game on launch day I don't see why anyone would complain about it.

I don't preorder every game, just games I know I'm going to want on launch day.

And like you stated with steam you can download it before hand so on the day its release you already have it downloaded.

I'm just not seeing why theres a complaint, its all on the choice of the consumer.
 
There is never a shortage of DD games so that reasoning fails. I guess the 10% off some pre-orders offer may be worth it but I just wait for sales before I buy. Pre-ordering is a con, they offer them because it guarantees them sales even if the game is shit.
 
pigwalk said:
I like that stuff too, that's why if there's a CE i'm going to get it physical. Don't see the point of paying extra for a PDF art book :confused:
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It is still art? Besides if you wanted to manipulate and use it for other purposes (such as wallpaper), it is easier than having to scan a physical book. But a physical artbook and lossless OST is the main appeal of physical to me, up to a certain price difference.

Also CEs have other content too, from the soundtrack to some DLC content. Some people also want some extra content just from a fan following perspective. Take the SWTOR CE and Digital CE, most of the content in both is just digital in game stuff if I recall. One of the extras of the physical CE is also an ingame extra, not even physical.

Personally I don't really want the small trinkets that come with CEs usually, since very few are of actual high quality. The Witcher 2 regular edition actually comes with most of the stuff I want from a CE for instance, except the OST not being lossless.
 
I never pre-order, it made sense long ago if there were limited quantities and you wanted to be sure you got a copy on day 1, but now? Plus the gaming market is so saturated that if somehow I did miss getting it on day 1 its not the end of the world.
 
qbanb8582 said:
I'm in agreement, with all of it. I think preordering is a great option. Just because someone doesn't want to preorder it or get the game on launch day I don't see why anyone would complain about it.

I don't preorder every game, just games I know I'm going to want on launch day.

And like you stated with steam you can download it before hand so on the day its release you already have it downloaded.

I'm just not seeing why theres a complaint, its all on the choice of the consumer.
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I'm glad to see there are others of the same mind.

I see absolutely nothing "wrong" with pre-ordering anything, nor do I see it as "stupid" by any means. If you feels it's something you'll enjoy, and you want to have it available as soon as it launches, then pre-ordering is a perfectly "fine/normal" practice.

My wife and I both have quite a few games pre-ordered on Steam right now.
 
I've only ever preordered one game (Pro Evo Soccer 2011), and that's because each year I spend most of my gaming time playing a PES game, so I know it won't be a waste of money. I'll pre-order Skyrim too if it'll net me some freebies.
 
I'll preorder mmos since I HAVE to be there on opening day and I like being able to put a little down and slowly pay it off(swtor CE I'm looking at you).
 
There's no real harm in pre-ordering nowadays plus most sites offer release date delivery for free. Not to mention that you usually get perks for pre-ordering and basically up until the 2-3 days before the game is released you can cancel your pre-order at no penalty (usually) whatsoever.

Seems pretty nice to me! Now pre-ordering a good/bad game is a totally different discussion :rolleyes:
 
eurin said:
I'm not understanding how pre-ordering helps avoid lines.

In my experience...

if you pick it up at midnight release, Gamestop has a line, and it doesn't matter if you pre-ordered or not, there are lines. If you go to Wal-Mart or pretty much anywhere else, you can grab with little to no wait.

if you are picking it up in the morning, there are no lines, so it doesn't matter if you pre-ordered or not, because there are loads of copies.



I'm curious what your experience is. The only two boxed copies I've bought in the past 2 years have been Cataclysm and Starcraft 2, which came release day shipping from Amazon. I can't stand wasting over an hour of my time going out of my way to brick and mortar stores, and then pay full retail + tax.
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Yes, you're absolutely right with Gamestop, certain games I'm hyped about and want to get a copy as soon as they let me. I want to guarantee myself a copy, hence I pre-order, especially in the case of some CE bundles. I've learned to repress that because line standing sucks giant balls and often times I'm not able to stand in line due to work. A big ticket item game being released at Walmart not having lines is strange but arguing that would be moot. I've reverted to digital downloads as well, when SC2 was released, I opted for the digital download. It was great except for the wait to download :(

Some CE releases i'll get physical copies of because I like all the neat doo dads inside and I'm a big fan. Some other CE releases as someone mentioned are cons to guarantee sales even if the game sucks.
 
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