We’ve covered buying outright, but what about pre-orders? Have you ever needed to pre-order anything? Honestly.
Seriously?
With the exception of the Rock Band box set, I don’t think I have ever seen a game shortage. I’ve only pre-ordered one game in my life, Call of Duty 4. That was only because if you pre-ordered it, you could get the game a day early. May not seem like a big deal, but I had played the multiplayer beta and I couldn’t wait another day.
Fast forward a couple of months. I was at the store in January and I saw pre-orders signs for Turok. The perk for pre-ordering Turok was that you got a beanie. A friggin beanie. Ok, but the only problem? I hadn’t heard anything about the game. Just vids and screen shots, no previews, or obviously reviews.
It turned out to be a so-so game, but why were they trying to get you to commit to buying a game that hasn’t been judged as good, or bad? I’m beginning to think that I should be fearful of games that have better than average pre-order goodies, like clothing.
What if a day or two before it comes out, you read on several sites that it’s awful, or you download the demo and it is so terrible you don’t even want to finish. What then?
What if you pre-order a game and it’s a lemon?
You just dropped $5+ that the store isn’t going to give back. Do you go and buy it, or do you just let it be? Tough question. The answer is go pay and then return it without opening it and get a full refund. Ta da, crisis averted, and you’ve still got the pre-order bonus to do with, what you will. Everyone could use a cleaning rag.
It’s these kind of stunts that lure uninformed gamers to their doom. That’s why it’s more important than ever for gamers to be informed. If you have an uninformed friend, you all know you have one, you need to let him know when he’s making a mistake. Especially a Shadowrun sized one.
Friends don’t let friends buy bad video games.
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18 responses so far ↓
1 Dirty Deacon // Feb 18, 2008 at 1:44 pm
news flash Dave, Putting money on a pre-order in no way shape or form commits you to buying it once its released. Your money can be moved to another purchase at any time. I know this because I worked at one. While its true that you can’t get your actual cash back, you are not held down to where that store credit goes.
2 Pojut // Feb 18, 2008 at 1:52 pm
The only times I have preordered a game is when a bunch of my friends plan on getting it on release day and playing it together (World of Warcraft, Smash Bros. Melee/Brawl, Goldeneye, etc.) If it is something that I will be playing on my own, however, I typically try to wait for at least a month or two before I buy it. Ebay and used game stores become a treasure trove at that point. Note that this rule does not apply to games I am super excited about…Mass Effect being the most recent non-reserve bought on release day game I obtained.
http://www.livingwithanerd.com
3 piston11792 // Feb 18, 2008 at 2:02 pm
i know u guys r against preordering, but im not. i dont know why i always do it it’s just a bad habit. the last game i didn’t preorder that i thought id be able to get day 1 was burnout. All 5 gamestops in my area were sold out. i should’ve preordered
4 irish boy90 // Feb 18, 2008 at 3:22 pm
this is where laziness saves me.
I always get games i see on store shelfs and when looking through I come across games I have heard good things about.
5 Applesauce McGee // Feb 18, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I have worked for a mojor Games retailer here in Australia and recently shift to another rival store, and both store allow customers to refund their pre-order money. Just so we all know.
P.S. The only games i have ever pre-ordered were Halo 3 - Legendary (due to limited supply) and GTA 4 - Collectors (again due to limited supply).
6 ajnokia // Feb 18, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I never really preorder games. The only recent game I preorded was Fifa 08 just to get it a day early.
The rest of the games are out on Fridays so I go down at school lunch time and buy them
7 RaiseHavok // Feb 18, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I usually don’t pre-order games, but I had to put down $5 at Best Buy to reserve my copy of Smash Bros. I feel pretty safe that I won’t be disappointed. I also pre-ordered GH 3 and Ratchet and Clank Future because Guitar Hero is rather popular and Ratchet was only shipped early to a few stores.
8 Thunder // Feb 18, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Only thing I have ever pre-ordered was starcraft 2
and thats just because either way I will own it.
9 zbiggie // Feb 18, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I always felt that preordering helps that game publisher. Mainly Stardock. All the games I have from them I have preordered through Eb Games. GCII took a week and a half after the release date to get there but it was worth it. While I also like some of the perks you get with preordering the games like ingame maps , and items you use.
And when I did preorder halo 2 once, for some reason that eb did not get it for 2 weeks (don’t ask me), so I asked for my money back, and they were more then happy to give me back all my money that I paid for it
10 Keith K // Feb 19, 2008 at 1:29 am
I absolutely do not pre-order. I never have and I never will. Not once in my life have I ever experienced a game selling out before I could get my hands on it. Never.
What does happen almost every single time Im anticipating a game is that it DOESNT show up on time. My first stop is always EBGames.. (I know I know.. I happen to know the manager..) They never have anything on the advertised launched date.. Sometimes they’ll have it the next day, but usually 2 days after.
But you know its available somewhere. Thats the problem with pre-ordering.. it wont get you the game first. Ever.
The only way to get it first is to go find out who got their shipment first.
11 haydenkayne // Feb 19, 2008 at 7:16 am
why does everyone make such a big deal about pre ordering?? first its only $5. if ya cant afford $5, than the other $55+ might be hard and you should probably find a new hobby. i personally have not been able to find games on release day, i live in a non metropolis type area so 5 game stops would 2 days to cover. if ya all dont like pre ordering dont do it. must be slow news day for ya guys, why dont you just make up some more fake news, considering it is better than some of your useless stuff. leave the rants to rothbart, he knows what hes doing. oh dave just ask your mom for the $5.
12 Keeton52 // Feb 19, 2008 at 8:22 am
well best friends help friends burn bad games
13 Clstirens // Feb 19, 2008 at 9:54 am
The point of pre-ordering? to pay off the cost of the game as you go.
Many people can’t just have a game budget, or save money for a particular game. Why? because money likes to burn holes in people’s pockets, thats why. So, for some, pre-ordering is a way of oblegating themselves into purchasing something. (as a means of not blowing the cash elsewhere)
I don’t often pre-order though, no.
14 TOO KINGS // Feb 19, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Somtimes people use pre-orders as a badge of honor, like,”hell yeah i Pre-ordered it. I got the deluxe uber edition with a pair of the devs sweaty sox. YES!!”
15 TOO KINGS // Feb 19, 2008 at 12:53 pm
further confirming their virginity…
16 Vote4Drizzt // Feb 19, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I only preprder because of the special item, but that doesn;’t mean I preorder every game because of it, I got Halo 3(EVERYONE I knew was getting it) and a 1600pt card for $65
And I”m going to predorder Ao2 because of the free Grenade Sniper code, It may be a dissappointment, but I am already too into the game to back out now.
17 Mr_Cheerful // Feb 19, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I pre-ordered halo jesus collectors ed, and paid for it full so when i went to pick it up at midnight i didn’t have to wait long and could get home to playit, plus i got a halo cap, I Pwn shirt, and a copy of fanatastic 4 ROSS
18 Episode 29: Absolut Madness | Sarcastic Gamer // May 11, 2008 at 10:50 am
[...] Pre-order madness w/Dave (Article) [...]
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