Do you pre-order games online?

BoyBlunder

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 10, 2003
Messages
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I'm looking to start reserving games online, but I'm wondering how long it'll take for it to come in.

I'd go into a B&M and order them, but to be honest with you, it's easier if I get home from a hard day's work, and the game is in my mailbox :p

Where do you pre-order your games? How long does it take to get them?
 
I preorder my games from gamestop and generally they have prerelease deals that have free next day air shipping aka they ship the night before release and then get to your house the day of release. in fact that is the only place i will preorder or order games on. they are very reliable when it comes to that. I dont know where you live but if its in the US i would definetly highly consider using gamestop if i were you.

but that is just my opinion.
 
i usually pre-order games from amazon, cause i have amazon prime (overnight is 3$ and 2day is free)
 
amazon is now doing release day arrival for most of their pre-orders. I don't think it's free, but like most of their shipping, it's reasonble
 
Yeah for steam! I have pre-ordered every valve game since HL2. Haven't picked up a lot of other games there but more and more are coming out on steam so its only going to get better. Got Red Orchestra and that worked great for a 3rd party game.
 
I never EVER pre-order games. Release dates get pushed and places like gamestop/ebgames try to make you believe that if you don't pre-order, you won't get it on release day. BS!!!!

It's just a way to get money before a game is released. I never had a problem getting my game on release day, no matter which one. Why pre-order then?
 
So dang tempting to just get it all over with right now. :)

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I use Amazon, if anything for the same reason as Spaxspore.

I got screwed a few times over on preorders through EB/Gamestop and CompUSA, as in they told me they couldn't fill the order come release and put me on backorder. I guess I must not understand the point of preordering, if they can't fill them come launch.
 
I never pre-order. I buy my games at Fred Meyer (it's basically a grocery store). They have the games the day they get released, and I get FM rewards points on top of frequent flyer miles. Never understood the whole pre-order thing, just go down to the store and get it.
 
not often, I only pre-order if there is a good pre-order bonus for it.

Even more so online, Ive only pre-ordered 1 game online, the Warhammer Online Collectors edition as I live in canada and the only way to pre-order (at the time) was through the EA store lol
 
Well, there's no tax or shipping costs on that entire order I posted above.

Of course, I couldn't live with myself waiting 5 days for a game when it's been on the shelves at Wally or wherever the whole time. So yeah, that said, I won't be pre-ordering.
 
I preorder for the swag, usually from a local store though. Unfortunately my Gamestop was recently robbed(ignorant fuckheads round here) so all the good preorder swag is gone :(
 
I never pre-order. I'll buy it the day of release and find it on sale somewhere instead. I honestly see no advantage of letting someone else hang on to your money for a couple months unless you live in the boonies and have to drive 50 miles or more to get it. Or you really want that trinket they are offering you for loaning them your money.
 
i dont pre orer games. i dont think ive EVER not been able to get a game on launch day, and like hell im giving any companies my money weeks if not months before i get my product.
 
pre-ordering is like dressing up like a stormtrooper for a star wars movie midnight premiere. ultimately useless, but its done in the spirit of the hype.
 
I tend to pre order if it's a game I really want and there's a small chance I won't get that version (IE where the limited edition.....is actually limited, like the Bioshock and Mass Effect LE's).

Otherwise I just pre order games I know I want close to release day (if I'm doing it through the mail, IE gogamer generally).
;
 
I haven't preordered games for a long time because a lot of times I end up disappointed. With the exception of Orange Box I always wait for reviews before I buy.
 
First of all, pre-ordering online never gets it to you faster than just walking into the store. Even for the most sought after title, like Mario or whatever, all you have to do is start checking Best Buy's website when launch dates gets near, and reserve it for in-store pickup. You can even do it the night before launch, or the morning of. I did this the night before for Smash Brothers and Mario Galaxy and the place was a mobbed with people looking for both, I walked right in to the service counter and my copy was waiting for me. I don't love best buy but they are good for that.

That will get it to you faster. But most of the online websites either ship late, or don't update you as to shipping status in a timely manner so you never know if it got sent out or not, or just take a while to get to you. If you want it in hand on launch day, brick and mortar all the way.

Edit: Also, a lot of stores now have online inventory so you can see if it is in-store or not. In the old days it was a lot harder.

Here is a great story from my childhood. For A Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past back in 1992 (I was 12) I was on an actual handwritten waiting list at a local brick and mortar hobby shop called Gamer's Paradise--this was like a real gamers shop with board games and dice and stuff. It does not exist anymore, at least not in the location where I went. For some reason back then I like had no idea what the release dates even were, either because they weren't announced or I just was not that resourceful. So the anticipation was insane because I never knew when to expect the game. So one day I get this call from them, "We have Zelda, but there is a line of people here that want the game and we will only hold it for you for one hour." So I was like the biggest Zelda freak ever and I was totally freaking out because I had been drooling over screenshots for like at least a year, and the last Zelda game was impossible to find because of a chip shortage, so it was just a disaster. Well nobody was home to take me to the store to get it, and the clock was ticking. So I found my mom on her "carphone" and I was like "you have to come home RIGHT NOW, there is an EMERGENCY". So she comes running home thinking like somebody got hit by a car and I'm like "TAKE ME TO GAMERS PARADISE NOW!!" She was mad but I got the game!
 
I never EVER pre-order games. Release dates get pushed and places like gamestop/ebgames try to make you believe that if you don't pre-order, you won't get it on release day. BS!!!!

It's just a way to get money before a game is released. I never had a problem getting my game on release day, no matter which one. Why pre-order then?

Yup, its a money grab.
 
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