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PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke

Posted Aug 9, 2011 at 5:30AM EST by Ryan F.

Listed in: PS3 Tags: Michael Pachter, preorder

That's according to video games analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, and personally, I have to agree.

battlefield-3-pwp

Speaking at last week's episode of Bonus Round, Pachter said: "The whole pre-order game has become a joke. Pre-orders are purely a function of hype, marketing, and incentives. Retailers get incentives for signing people up. You know what, pre-orders the level of Black Ops means something... Homefront set pre-order records, remember that? These games get hyped, but you're not comparing apples to apples at this point." Pachter explained.

Pre-ordering your games has long been a staple of the industry. While other might treat it as a measuring stick for a game's popularity, nowadays, it has become a big money marketing scheme for a lot of publishers and retailers. Gone are the days that you need to pre-order to ensure that you have the game ahead of its official street date.

These days, publishers will offer exclusive contents to specific retailers or a slightly different version of the game depending on the platform. If you don't pre-puchase your game ahead of its release, you will be missing either a piece of content or some other perks that other people will have.

Is pre-ordering your video games a necessity today folks? What do you like/ dislike about the scheme nowdays? Share your thoughts below or continue the discussion at the forums.

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I hate this "preorder to get an exclusive skin/character/level" type crap. I miss when preorders gave you actual physical goods like artbooks, soundtracks, or other such incentives, not some stupid alternate skin which is for appearances only in your game.

Its especially worse since how many retailers all have their OWN preorder "bonuses", so unless you buy 3-4 copies of the game, you are missing out on content that we all know is already on the disk.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — Keith_ 2011-08-09 11:13

yeah, let me preorder a game that will be in stock anyway just so i can plunk down $60 to get an extra avatar for the PSN.

Fuck that nonsense, i'll wait 3-6 months for the game to drop down to $30

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — Gmer88 2011-08-09 11:19

It really is a joke. With all of the retail stores we have now plus online shopping, there will never be a shortage of games on their release day. I have never pre-ordered a game and never will. I could care less about that "extra content" that comes with it.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — DeltaDAWG 2011-08-09 11:54

I don't think it's a joke at all. If the bundle doesn't seem worth it to you then don't buy it. Otherwise if the bundle is something you would want then knock yourself out!

"Is pre-ordering your video games a necessity today folks?"

When was it ever a necessity? If you want a certain game that will be a major hit and you want it on day one then sometimes you're better off pre-ordering. But you never HAVE TO pre-order anything. Unless of course you want whatever special bundle.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — Zook024 2011-08-09 12:37

As I can recall, I have only pre-ordered two games in my life. The first was KH2 and that was a blast for me at the time, and the other more recently, was NFS Hot Pursuit.

I bought it using trade-in money from text books on Amazon and still felt short changed. I fell for the EA hype machine and did not fully learn about the game. I didn't find out a head of time that use just about half of the games features you needed to be connected to the EA servers at all times which was not possible for me and so for the first couple months I had the game I was not able to use the DLC code or even simply take in game photos. I really felt like I got half a game.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — Mickle 2011-08-09 13:47

If you enjoy the whole midnight opening thing and making some kind of event out of buying your game then fair enough you getting more entertainment for your money, but personally i think it's a bit dumb to spend £40+ without trying the game first, and a bit of worthless on-disc DLC isn't ever gonna change that, i guess i do feel a bit jealous though because some people can go to these midnight openings and keep getting that Christmas feeling.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — 7777777 2011-08-09 16:19

i agree 2 a point,but also think of it as if a store has 200 copys an its a popular game wouldn't u want preorder so u'll get it. on the other hand i hate the fact if u preorder u get this, i preorder xmen origins wolverine an got a bonus content ''danger room'' an that was basic..buyt when i look'd n the ps store it was 5or10$ for that crap an people bought it now thats unfair.

jus like addons 15$ or whatever u got a clan or a group of people if they dont have it they cant join that map. then they have them dlc maps separate from the reset,so all u can play are those 3or4 maps i paid 4 the game an maps an i have 2 change mode 2 mode 2 play them instead of them all togher. mind u sumtimes that price so high people cant get them.

lastly socom4 preorder, if u preorder socom4 u get 2 guns an a map plus this socom prowhere u get free maps etc everytime the comeout ok. now if u didn't preorder u have 2 buy socom pro at 10 or 12$ how is that fair. once again u got a clan or group an y'all cant join n curtain maps because people dont have that content. big problem game its n the new boards on top of u have 2 keep chang'n modes. less people n the new maps ''price an we gettiing half of the game at 60$" i think that hurts value of that game an the feeling of a half finished game.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — dokuganryu 2011-08-09 17:31

to be honest, i've always hated preordering games. the only one i did do it for and actually thought it was worth it was Izuna, the legend of the unemployed ninja, parts 1 and 2. those games were (and still kinda are) hard to come buy. i was glad i did it. for everything else, most of the gamestop employees keep that shit and don't give it out if they had extras... so unless you worked at a game store, then there was no point...

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — MyOption 2011-08-09 23:56

I think pre-order unfair. Especially if the player will get an advantage over player who did not pre-order (Especially if pre-order add-on include special weapons etc). I think this is why, some people just loose interest on the game altogether, since they cannot compete on fair grounds.

# ... — SeRosiS 2011-08-10 01:11

Back when games were worth the money and came out ahead of time for those that pre-ordered.

Nowadays it is pointless in that concept but now a viable platform for making more money off the easy customers.

# RE: PoV: The whole pre-ordering your games scheme has become a joke — anykill 2011-08-10 09:53

I preordered the BF3 and i got Dead Space 2 for free! because I'm on alpha.
I think it worth!

# On the fence — Scottyb 2011-09-22 18:53

It's a bit silly, pre-ordering. You know you can stroll in on release day and pick one up, so why bother?
I do it sometimes simply to pre-pay, so when it comes out I don't have to worry about having the money. But even that's a risk, as you may be able to get a better deal elsewhere.
Some games offer timed content, or free stuff like unlocked cars and all that. It's stuff I'm going to play through the game and unlock anyway, so why bother? Also, in something like NFS or GT, much of the fun is starting off small. If you start off with the best gun or car, it's just dumb.

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