70°

Please Stop Pre-Ordering Games

2014 was total dog chod. I’ve been alive since 1988, I’ve been gaming since about 1992 and I’ve never experienced a worse year for games than the one we just had. Admittedly, it may have started off quite strongly with the release of indie gems such as the ridiculous ‘Jazzpunk’ and the time-gobbling card-battler that is ‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.’ But in the great lands of AAA, no hero was born. Sure, there were some decent offerings. ‘Titanfall’ was good sport for a while and ‘Smash Bros Wii-U’ may have rescued Nintendo’s pride at the 11th hour, whilst Telltale Games continued on with their various adventure seasons. But they were mere consolations in a very boring year for gamers and I think I may know why.

xHeavYx4055d ago

What's with people telling other people what to do with their money?

Godmars2904055d ago

Would agree with you, but the over all result being discussed impacts on quality. There is a direct connection between pre-orders becoming more and more of a thing, and either titles with content removed only to be offered as pre-order bonus and DLC, or so buggy they're unplayable.

With pre-orders being a thing, its impossible for consumers to speak with their wallets which is supposedly the only way they can communicate with game publishers. The best they can do is argue with a clerk for store credit.

Gh05t4055d ago

@Godmars290

Last time I checked the whole point of a preorder was as a consumer to guarantee you had a copy on the release date. Now they offer incentives for that which I don't necessarily agree with but the premise is still the same.

If I want to guarantee I have a copy at my store I have to preorder it. If I preorder digital it is because I have the money now and before I spend it at the bar let me spend it here and not have to worry when the game comes out and if I took one too many trips to the pub ;) that week.

Everything this author is complaining (giving them the benefit of the doubt) is caused by the publishers and has zero to do with WHY there is such a thing as preordering.

How publishers choose to read in and make decisions based off of preordering is there decision. If they got the information another way they would do that too. Be mad at the publishers not the consumer that wants to buy a product they think will be great and pays for it in advance.

Godmars2904055d ago (Edited 4055d ago )

@Gh05t:
You're dismissing that with digital copies, getting it first or being assured that you'll get a copy at all on release day, is a nonexistent issue. That with limited and collector's editions, that such is just fan-service crap that's been thrown in with a copy of a game - and i think there's even a case where with a CE the game *wasn't* included - that has no real or overall impact on the game in question. Unless its DLC which makes a game easy, or stuff that was cut out of the full game.

What we are seeing however, because of the pressure to get something out on a specific date, are games that are buggy and broken. Ones that need patching over the course of months, but then because they didn't happen to sell enough, don't get fixed.

It is a problem which anyone who pre-orders only enable.

ziggurcat4055d ago (Edited 4055d ago )

@godmars:

"What we are seeing however, because of the pressure to get something out on a specific date, are games that are buggy and broken. Ones that need patching over the course of months, but then because they didn't happen to sell enough, don't get fixed.

It is a problem which anyone who pre-orders only enable. "

again, as it's been pointed out already, that's the fault of the publishers. if they let devs just take as much time as they needed to iron out those issues, we'd see a lot less of the broken crap we've encountered in recent months.

so, that particular problem has got literally nothing to do with pre-ordering games. (edit) the ability to patch games post-release is the obvious culprit.

"With pre-orders being a thing, its impossible for consumers to speak with their wallets"

people can still speak with their wallets. pre-ordering doesn't affect ones ability to not buy a game since there's usually a tonne of information (whether it be reviews or gameplay footage) that allow us to still make those decisions.

Godmars2904055d ago

"that's the fault of the publishers. if they let devs just take as much time as they needed to iron out those issues, we'd see a lot less of the broken crap we've encountered in recent months."

No. That's actually the fault of the gamers. Complaining when a game gets delayed. Publishers are just as bad, regarding the quarterly impact a delay would have on stock prices, but then a bad game hurts them just as much if not more.

Still, causing the demand which compromises a game's quality is as much the fault of gamers "who can't wait" for a title is as much of investors looking to make hundreds times profit in their investment.

ziggurcat4055d ago

@godmars:

"No. That's actually the fault of the gamers. Complaining when a game gets delayed."

if publishers let devs take their time, there would be no delays, so no... it's not the fault of gamers, either.

and saying you can't wait for something is just expressing excitement, and not demanding that the product be made available immediately.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4055d ago
hduce4055d ago

I can't stop pre ordering games especially if Best Buy is going to give me $10 in reward certificates. This is on top of the $47.99 I pay for new games through Gamer's Club.

CorndogBurglar4055d ago

Something people seem to never bring up in these discussions about pre-ordering is this:

Without pre-orders, retailers don't really have a good idea of how many copies to buy for their store. So they usually don't buy enough. The buy a much smaller amount to stock their store, because no retialer is going to risk buying hundreds of copies that might not sell. They lose money doing that.

It would go back to the days before pre-orders were a thing. The days when popular games were harder to get on launch day, or maybe even the first week of release.

So if people want to stop pre-ordering thats fine. I just hope people realize that they may not be able to get their physical copies on release day, and possibly longer. You would see more people resorting to digital downloads, and I don't think going digital is a very good benefit for customers. Not if they don't also have the choice to buy physical also. But if Digital downloads rise in popularity, who know what would happen in the future.

IxWoodstockxI4055d ago

I will always preorder games that I know I will love. Halo, Gears of War, Uncharted, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda games, Metal Gear Solid ,etc. Don't tell me what to do!!

oODEADPOOLOo4055d ago (Edited 4055d ago )

I pre-order based off whats reliable, and that I enjoy the most. But the moment they prove to be unreliable ill stop. You can reward a company for being reliable and pre-order, but if they take advantage and half ass the next game, they're gonna have to earn their money back.

My list of pre orders is:

1)Batman LE

2)Uncharted

3)Metal gear

Every other game im looking foward to I'll wait for cheaper price and or day after reviews.

Godmars2904055d ago

You realize that with, "pre-order based off whats reliable, and that I enjoy the most" Aliens: Colonial Marines would have "sold" better based on what was Gearbox's reputation before then?

oODEADPOOLOo4055d ago (Edited 4055d ago )

@ godmars290

I wouldn't count that as part as something that would have been trustworthy just because of the studios rep. Its was a new franchise and genre for them and even the new Aliens game suffered from backlash from trust issues even though the studio working on it was known for it's A.I.

If you want a better example look at what happened to batman origins when Rocksteady handed developement of an established franchise with alot of trust to WB Montreal, who later prioritized DLC over fixing the game.

It's all about recognition of franchise AND developer without both there is limited or partial trust.

BlissSeeker4055d ago

You get told what to do every day.
Have a nice day :)

IxWoodstockxI4055d ago

Yeah its called life. LOL. Nice Try dude.

TXIDarkAvenger4055d ago (Edited 4055d ago )

Why do people even pre-order games? More than half of games released lately is usually incomplete BS.

Sitdown4055d ago

Preorder bonuses? Why not get $10 from Best Buy.

lameguy4055d ago

Pre-ordering itself costs nothing - you're not charged until it's released so it's a very easy thing to do.

Then comes the bonuses. Most bonuses are pure junk though and are either cosmetic or trivial in consequence.

Some bonuses, like access to betas or larger content items, are perhaps more enticing especially if you had resigned yourself to buying at or near full price anyhow..

martinezjesus19934055d ago

You put in 5 bucks to preorder a game, and are not forced to pick it up. Saying that preorders are the reason why a couple games last year were messed up is just stupid.

Gh05t4055d ago

To guarantee a copy is available for me when I am ready for it or to set money aside when I have it toward something I will want in the future... because what is the difference between giving the money to a retailer when I have it or putting it in a "piggy bank" until the day of release. Both affect me the same, one again guarantees me the game though (unless something goes wrong).

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4055d ago
SliceOfTruth8884055d ago

I have no problem "reserving" digital downloads that i get to predownload when i know iam going to purchase the game on day 1......this article is stupid. So what you are asking for is for game companies to hesitate even more to bring out original IPs due to the fact there is no initial support for the game and they will need to rely on a gamers word? If thats the case my god gaming is doomed

lameguy4055d ago

Sadly I'm at fault. After not pre-ordering at all last-gen, I've pre-ordered twice this gen. Once for Destiny (big ouch) and now once for FF-Type0.

I was blinded by the beta opportunity for Destiny and picked it up, but boy do I wish I had waited and paid <40 for it instead of the full 60.

FF-Type0 enticed through its FFXV demo and Type0 is a relatively known entity since it's already been released (we kind of already know what we're getting into much more than Destiny)

Thankfully, there are no other titles lined up with 'worthwhile' pre-order bonuses so far for me...

martinezjesus19934055d ago

Idk about where you preorder but most places dont force you to pick up your preorder. And the Destiny thing, didnt you play the Beta to realize if you were going to like it or not??

lameguy4055d ago

I... I just thought there would be so much more :(

I convinced myself that they were just using the beta as a networking test and that the story content would be kept aside until launch.

Both of my pre-order are from Amazon and they always ship pretty freakin close to the release date (like 3am that morning) so there's little ways to stop it once the calendar flips over.

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