Do you pre-order games?

[Skyblade]

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

I prefer Total Biscuit's analysis.

I still preorder though. But I do have some restrictions. First, I don't preorder games sight-unseen. That's just silly. Further, the games I preorder are largely imports, and frequently lesser known/lesser promoted titles.

Why is this important? Well, it's worth noting that originally preorders were something done to benefit customers. They were a way to ensure that you would be able to get a game that a store otherwise might not get in quickly, or even at all.

I can't recall the number of times preordering has gotten me a game that otherwise would never have come into a store, or that store employees didn't know about.

So, yeah, I've preordered Rune Factory 4. The rest of the series was brilliant, the videos I've seen of it look great, and it has gotten phenomenal reviews in Japan. And the game is not a triple-A title. There are a lot of people who still don't know of the Rune Factory series, and it's not the sort of game that a small store will typically get in immediately.

I'd also preorder a game to show my support of it. I'd preorder Final Fantasy Type-0 as soon as a translation was announced, just so that Square would realize that there is a dedicated fanbase for that sort of game.

[Flaming Ice]

It depends on the game.



Some games most likely will never go down in price so there's really no point in waiting but other games go down $30+ dollars. And, on top of that, wait a bit longer you get the game + DLC......all depends on how long you wait and how much you want to spend.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I believe the only game I have ever preordered was Xenosaga II from Gamestop. I really wanted the bonus dvd which had all of the cinematics (or at least 4 or 5 hours of them) from Xenosaga I. I went in on the day the game was released, and they told me they ran out. They told me to go to another gamestop to see if they would have them. That Gamestop said whether they had them or not, they can't give the preorder bonus to someone who didn't preorder from their specific store. The original Gamestop, when I went back the next day, just told me sorry and that they weren't getting anymore. I was so upset as a kid then that I decided I'd never shop at Gamestop again. I think the only thing I've bought from there since is Xenoblade Chronicles... but now it's just because I know I can get games for cheaper elsewhere. Either way, that sour experience is probably why I haven't ever preordered a game since, either.

[Depression Moon]

I think the only retailer in my vicinity that does that is Gamestop and I don't smurf with that terrible company anymore. The post above me is a good example of why they're a bad company. The only game I ever pre-ordered was Final Fantasy XII.

[Jowy]

All depends on the pre-order swag. I got a clock for reserving Chrono Cross and a completely bad-ass 25th anniversary goodie box for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin a while ago. Lately it seems like you're only rewarded with a code for the on disc DLC with is totes bulltrout. I preordered the MGS3: Subsistence limited edition a while back too and that was a wise decision. I've never seen another copy since.

[Wolf Kanno]

Depends on the publisher. I wouldn't really pre-order something SE was releasing but like NeoCracker points out, Atlus is another story and is pretty notorious for not flooding the market with copies so their games disappear quick. Still kicking myself for not picking up Devil Survivor 2 when I had the chance and I live in a large city that has multiple places to acquire copies and its still hard to find. Hell I picked up Soul Hackers the other day and learned it was the only copy my Gamestop got in. So for big publishers I don't really do it too often except to maybe pay off the game before hand if I know I'm going to be broke around that time.

I don't pre-order for bonuses, some games get cool swag but I'm there for the game and I'm completely against DLC pre-order bonuses, easily the most annoying thing about companies like Ubisoft. I will also never pre-order something that I can't confirm the release date for. Fall of 2013 is not a release date, if I could, I'd be happy to know the hour the game was going to hit store shelves. Other than, I do pre-order but not very often. It depends on factors like the publisher and genre of game.

[Mirage]

Not really. Maybe sometimes if i get something fancy for doing it. It's never because I'm worried about not getting the game on launch day, if I even want it at launch.