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While this is inspired by Aliens Colonial Marines, this is probably a bigger issue than just that one single game


So the big question, should you Pre Order?

According to him it looks like a no thanks to all the bad releases, silly DLC/cut content, Video Game Press Embargo, etc





What does Dakka think?

However I didnt see the whole video so I am not sure if he ever mentions Kickstarters. This seems to just be pure pre order from gamestop, amazon, etc

I was saying this was going to end badly 6-7 years ago when it first became an issue. Way back when, Game Informer had a really really good article about the subject critical of the future hazards of pre-orders and DLC content... You know. before Game Informer sold their souls to Activision and EA.

Companies no longer release demos because they A) know that it will reveal the game to be bad, and B) that people will realize its not their cup of tea and not buy it. They released Day 1 DLC to encourage preordering, sometimes doing something very stupid like ME3's From Ashes DLC which should have been in the game by the default (and funny enough it was! You just couldn't use it). And of course there's the Capcom insanity.

Then there's the talk of destroying the second hand market, making console direct download only, advertisements in the middle of game play. Perhaps the dumbest thing about A:CM, is that people took EA to court because they were butt hurt about ME3's ending, but no one will take Sega to court on what really can be called false advertising. It's Fable II all over again and we all know how that turned out.

The industry is imo in a very precarious position where they are destroying consumer confidence.

I pre-order often enough, though rarely instigated by any of the "bonuses" offered - which honestly irritate me when they are bona fide exclusives; as opposed to the random almost always out-of-game bonuses that come in the Collector's Edition versions, which I also buy on occasion.

There are some titles (/series/companies' work/people's work) that I will purchase regardless; those I almost always pre-order.

Once disappointing by a pre-order though, that title (/series/companies' work/people's work) get relegated to the "wait and see" groups.

I struggle to recall ever pre-ordering a game that was new IP and by unknown folk, regardless of random excitement and buzz.

I tend to pre-order if it is a game series I am particularly affiliated with or have an over-zealous love for some examples here are:

Dead Space, Bioshock, Pokemon, Most Final Fantasy's and anything Zelda/Metroid related.

Generally as soon as I hear of a game from any of these and the one or two I am probably forgetting, I pre-order as soon as.

I rarely do it for the extras etc, more from a love of the series or previous installment.

I however no longer pre-order from game, after 7-8 pre-orders coming from them, showing up 3-4 days late, I no longer pre-order nor buy anything from them anymore as their customer service is terrible.

I pre-ordered Dead Space 3 from them the day it went up for pre-order, it was due for release on the 8th of Feb (Friday), they sent me an email on Thursday 7th (well into the evening.) telling me it had dispatched. This meant I had to wait until Monday to get it, while some of my friends who live minutes from me (also pre-ordered from GAME) were sitting playing it on Thrusday/Friday. Don't understand the logic at all.

No because most of the games that are released are not worth the ink on their cover art. And no game is worth the silly things you get in pre orders anyhow.

 Trondheim wrote:
. And no game is worth the silly things you get in pre orders anyhow.

Because pre-orders are so much more expensive compared to released games, that makes perfect sense.
Discounts and used games are unrelated.

The only time I've ever pre-ordered and was genuinely excited about the 'extras' was for 'Space Marine' which I was obviously going to love. Who didn't want their own purity seal?

Also Darksiders 2, big fan of the series, came with all the DLC and Death's mask is pretty kick ass and the artbook is amazing.

 kirsanth wrote:

 Trondheim wrote:
. And no game is worth the silly things you get in pre orders anyhow.

Because pre-orders are so much more expensive compared to released games, that makes perfect sense.
Discounts and used games are unrelated.

Actually here in the somewhat dim nation I call home, this has been the case for certain games. But I hope for other gamers you are not cursed with such things

If it is a game you are certain you are going to buy no matter what I don't see why it would be a big deal to pre-order something, especially if it gets you a bonus. That number of games is fairly small for most I would think.

 Trondheim wrote:
Actually here in the somewhat dim nation I call home, this has been the case for certain games. But I hope for other gamers you are not cursed with such things

And working in the industry, I understand that.
If you think a game is going to stink - as you state most games do - you would have to be a goon to pre-order.
If you expect a good game or even a game you want anyway, your reasoning fails.

 LordofHats wrote:
I was saying this was going to end badly 6-7 years ago when it first became an issue. Way back when, Game Informer had a really really good article about the subject critical of the future hazards of pre-orders and DLC content... You know. before Game Informer sold their souls to Activision and EA.

Companies no longer release demos because they A) know that it will reveal the game to be bad, and B) that people will realize its not their cup of tea and not buy it. They released Day 1 DLC to encourage preordering, sometimes doing something very stupid like ME3's From Ashes DLC which should have been in the game by the default (and funny enough it was! You just couldn't use it). And of course there's the Capcom insanity.

Mass Effect 3 actually had a demo. They even had a demo for the MP, just masquerading it as a "beta".
By the way, "From Ashes" was not a preorder bonus. It was for buying the Collector's Edition. Mass Effect 3's non-Collector Edition had no real preorder bonus, unless you ordered through GameStop/Game or some other retailers which I am not aware of which got you the N7 Valkyrie, M55 Argus, and the N7 Defender Armor.

Personally, I am not too fussed about preordering. But I tend to do research before deciding what games I'm going to buy.
I make a point of reading the developer comments, seeing the various videos and the like they produce over the development cycle etc.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
I was saying this was going to end badly 6-7 years ago when it first became an issue. Way back when, Game Informer had a really really good article about the subject critical of the future hazards of pre-orders and DLC content... You know. before Game Informer sold their souls to Activision and EA.

Companies no longer release demos because they A) know that it will reveal the game to be bad, and B) that people will realize its not their cup of tea and not buy it. They released Day 1 DLC to encourage preordering, sometimes doing something very stupid like ME3's From Ashes DLC which should have been in the game by the default (and funny enough it was! You just couldn't use it). And of course there's the Capcom insanity.

Mass Effect 3 actually had a demo. They even had a demo for the MP, just masquerading it as a "beta".
By the way, "From Ashes" was not a preorder bonus. It was for buying the Collector's Edition. Mass Effect 3's non-Collector Edition had no real preorder bonus, unless you ordered through GameStop/Game or some other retailers which I am not aware of which got you the N7 Valkyrie, M55 Argus, and the N7 Defender Armor.

So what you're saying is. ME3 didn't have a pre-order bonus, except it did.

If its the case where I don't want to play the game immediately then I wouldn't bother. However even if I do want to play a game on its release day I'll just pick up a retail copy on the day as its not as if all the collector's edition will be sold out by then (which of course include the obigatory DLC). Most of the preorders just include things like a new gun anyway, so it won't make much of an impact on how the actual game is played (in the case of Fallout NV, which I did preorder, though didn't get the DLC code because GAME sucks, the actual content was easily replicable via mods).

Come to think of it I also got filched on the ME3 Collector's edition too. ...Youknow, that £70 one. ¬¬

I rarely pre-order because I'm a weirdo who hates game-hype. This usually is because when many people hype a game my expectation or it falls, so if/when I play it my expectations are met and not exceeded so the game is crap to me. Last game I pre-ordered was Space Marine and frankly I was kicking myself for a while as to why I ordered a game I felt was worth £15, not £40 I paid for.

I think though that if you KNOW you will buy a game you see on pre-order - either at release, prior to or way after - you may as well pre-order it. Paid DLC and Day1 shizzle can get stuffed. I care not for your extras that should've been in the game from launch; if it wasn't there from the start it won't be there in the end because my wallet won't open for that.

 Soladrin wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
I was saying this was going to end badly 6-7 years ago when it first became an issue. Way back when, Game Informer had a really really good article about the subject critical of the future hazards of pre-orders and DLC content... You know. before Game Informer sold their souls to Activision and EA.

Companies no longer release demos because they A) know that it will reveal the game to be bad, and B) that people will realize its not their cup of tea and not buy it. They released Day 1 DLC to encourage preordering, sometimes doing something very stupid like ME3's From Ashes DLC which should have been in the game by the default (and funny enough it was! You just couldn't use it). And of course there's the Capcom insanity.

Mass Effect 3 actually had a demo. They even had a demo for the MP, just masquerading it as a "beta".
By the way, "From Ashes" was not a preorder bonus. It was for buying the Collector's Edition. Mass Effect 3's non-Collector Edition had no real preorder bonus, unless you ordered through GameStop/Game or some other retailers which I am not aware of which got you the N7 Valkyrie, M55 Argus, and the N7 Defender Armor.

So what you're saying is. ME3 didn't have a pre-order bonus, except it did.

I know it did, but now that I think of it it wasn't From Ashes (though it was still crap that you had to buy Collectors to get it or pay extra). It was some gun or something.

I have preordered 2 games both were like a week before release. Witcher 2 and BF3. Witcher 2 was so awesome that I couldn't play for a month (because the game was buggy) and BF3 which was even buggier made me not to buy an EA product ever again.

I hope you like it there EA say hi to Activision.

Preorder games for physical goodies, or perhaps if you score some sort of deal on DLC down the road.

The last straw for me was Space Marine. I preordered, and I'm pretty damn sure they said that was going to be the only way to get a power sword. Well a couple months down the road, it comes out as DLC.

It might seem silly, but I'm taking a risk preordering a game that might be crap. I want to be rewarded for taking that risk in a way that I can't replicate at a later date.

I will pre-order a game if I am interested in picking up a Limited or Collector Edition like I did with Mass Effect 2 & 3. There has to be something more included in the game than just DLC codes, things like the soundtrack or an artbook.

Day 1 DLC is a terrible way to treat your customers. This is content that was likely being worked on at the same time as the on disc content (and the files for it are often on the game disc as well) and is just another way to get more money out of customers. By all means have a plan to release DLC for the projected life span of the game to keep it popular but Day 1 DLC is just pathetic.

Other things that irk me about pre-orders are the different bonuses you can get depending on which retailer you place your pre-order with. What doesn't help either is that some of these bonuses are limited to a certain region.

EA & BioWare will always rank as one of the worst offenders for DLC with ME3. To unlock all the DLC that was released along with the game (not including later DLC) you had to buy the Collector Edition, pre-order from a certain retailer, play the demo of an EA game, buy the action figures from the game and buy high end Razor gaming accessories.

 Necroshea wrote:
Preorder games for physical goodies, or perhaps if you score some sort of deal on DLC down the road.

The last straw for me was Space Marine. I preordered, and I'm pretty damn sure they said that was going to be the only way to get a power sword. Well a couple months down the road, it comes out as DLC.

It might seem silly, but I'm taking a risk preordering a game that might be crap. I want to be rewarded for taking that risk in a way that I can't replicate at a later date.

Out of curiosity, did you get it on PS3 or Steam?

Because the power sword was, for the Xbox, unlocked by playing "Kill Team".

Steam

I never pre-order. Also I only buy day one/close to if it's sequel from a series i like or has a good multiplayer component. Otherwise i will wait for a couple reviews (EDGE magazine and Gametrailers(i think their reviews are underrated)), or the inevitable price plummet (e.g. this December: Dishono(u)red for £0.98.)

I used to wildly anticipate release dates, after being burned too many times i am now more cautious.

 Necroshea wrote:
Steam

I figured as much.

A lot of people had problems with the Power Sword and Steam.

I don't bother anymore.

I can't remember how many games I've pre-ordered but I've been disappointed pretty consistently. I suppose I was gullible and believed hype.

I wait for reviews now. Pre-order bonuses aren't worth the gamble, really, in my opinion.

Fool me once, shame on you, etc. etc.

I've pre-ordered 2 games: Borderlands 2 and Injustice. Both I got from GameStop as they had additional ingame content I wanted. BL2 had the extra arena, extra skins, and the worthless relic and a few guns to start with which were better than the regular starting crap. Injustice comes with 3 bonus skins and 20 additional levels. Skins...meh, but 20 levels as a "free" bonus for not buying the game at discount, when I already wanted it immediately? Sure. I'd rather order from anywhere other than GameStop, but they really do have the pre-order monopoly. Shame, really. Most other places are better.

I only preorder games that I feel are an opening day necessity. There have only been 2 that I felt met my criteria.

I never pre-order, I wait till I see some reviews before I purchase a game.

Pre-ordering bonuses are nothing compared to 1st day DLC that definitely should be a part of the game (ME3, I'm looking at you) or the abundance of DLCs altogether.

I only pre-ordered a single game , but it was heavily researched, I played the demo and still had a lot of doubts.

I rarely pre-order, and then it is only if its for the same price as the release version. The various crappy 'bonuses' hold little interest for me, I think the last game that I pre-ordered was X-COM and I got Civ 5 for free out of it as well as various odds and ends for TF2.

I find the lack of demos odd given how popular demos were in the pre/early internet age. On the other hand given how easy it is to simply download the whole game perhaps the need for demos has lessened, its certainly how I get my AAA demos these days.

I preorder when it's a new installment in a series I love. I preordered Borderlands 2, which was insanely worth it since you got the Mechromancer class for free when it was ready (also one of the most fun games I've ever played, but that's beside the point. Preordered Halo 4, and while the bonuses were pretty meh, I was going to pick it up week of release anyway and I wanted to make sure I got one. I've got Bioshock: Infinite on preorder right now, and I can't wait.

Never pre-order games, I don't see the point for me as a customer. On-disc DLC is a plain rip-off as you, as a proper customer, pay MORE for stuff that's already on the disc. I always crack games to get the on-disc.

Same goes for the even WORSE day 1 DLC. Cut stuff off from a game and sell it for more? Just wow.

If I want to play a game when it releases, I pre-order. Usually a Collector's Edition when available. The thing is, I rarely find games that I absolutely HAVE to play when they release.

If a CE has cool enough swag, I go for a pre-order. Usually this only happens with certain publishers though. Blizzard, BioWare (shut up! they said they'd change, they won't do it again!) are two examples.

If I'm particularly hyped for a game I'll preorder also. X-Com Enemy Unknown is a good example (although this also had a demo that I played repeatedly...). That's about it.


I was going to pre-order the CE of Aliens: Colonial Marines, but they didn't have a PC version of the CE. Turns out that was all for the best!