Do you pre-order games?

There's a big debate going on right now following on from pre-order schemes like those on Steam and games like Alien: Colonial Marines not living up to what was previewed.

So, do you pre-order games? Or don't you? Why do you/don't you? What do you think of pre-order bonuses in general?

I don't pre-order games, well it because I don't understand about pre-order stuff. I only buy games from the nearest game store only. It seems easier. But this is opinion :)

I reserve certain games. Just depends what reservation perks are. If it is something I can sink my teeth into, yes. If it isn't worth it, then no.

I think I have preordered a small handful of games in the past but it's not something I do regularly.

Entirely depends on the game, but it's not a common thing. I preordered Bioshock Infinite because yes, but I don't know what the next game I'll preorder will be. Nothing has grabbed my interest nearly enough to warrant a preorder.

If I see it as a 'must-have' game, then yeah, I pre-order it. But I don't buy games all that often to begin with compared to some people here... I buy maybe one game every month or two on average, I'd say.

When I had a regular income, I'd pre-order every game I wanted, mainly because I live in a small town and the local game store generally only gets enough to fill pre-orders + 5-10 more, depending on the presumed popularity of the game. Games like CoD, or other popular series they have many copies. But games like Otomedius Excellent, I was the only pre-orderer, and they only got my copy in, so had I not pre-ordered it, I wouldn't have it.

I think pre-ordering is ridiculous. The "bonuses" are ridiculous. Pre-ordering DLC is ridiculous.

This guy makes all the points:

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Jimquisition : Previewed, Preordered, Prescrewed

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a good example of why we need to stop giving money away for the idea of something. As long as we have all learned something of being... apprehensive of an end product because of it.

Aliens was the last game I'm letting colleagues talk me into pre-ordering :p

I rarely pre-order games or buy games upon release. Usually the price drops about 25% after a few weeks or months of release and I buy it then.

[QUOTE=Loony BoB;3261583I buy maybe one game every month or two on average, I'd say.[/QUOTE]

I pretty much only buy games if it's my birthday or Christmas. Seriously. I'm worse than you on the 'buying games' front.

So yeah, I never pre-order. I understand it, to an extent, but it's not as if the game is going to run out of stock or anything.

I don't tend to pre-order unless there is something that I want that comes as a bonus. A good example is the last game I pre-ordered was Borderlands 2. This was because that pre-order came with the Mechromancer (admittedly a few months down the line).

Other than that, I don't pre-order because I don't buy games at lauch (mostly), except when I will pay launch price for a new game, like FFXIII-2, or Fire Emlbem Awakening to name 2 from recent memory.I haven't finished either, but it would be a shame if these franchises didn't continue due to low sales, so I'll pay the extra a launch.

I tend to pre-order all my games. With some of the titles Atlus and NIS release it can be hard to find them a short while after since it's a niche market, though lately it's not been so bad in that regard.

The bonus stuff is nice at times, though I don't really care to much about it. It's an easy way to remember to set asside just a little bit of money at a time for things, and I'm likely to buy it day one anyway if I want the game. So it works out nicely for me.

Edit: Alright, in response to 'The JimQuisition' linked. I agree with most of his points, but not his conclusion. I think his points are much stronger that we shouldn't be pre-ordering from these companies that keep smurfing us over rather then points against pre-order all together. And DLC Pre-orders are... odd.

I haven't pre-ordered games since early high school, at least a decade ago. Back then I did so occasionally, but I don't even buy games on release anymore, so there's just no point in bothering and paying full price.