David-D--NelsonThe addition of DLC this generation has made the pre-order bonus as common as can be.
There's a lot of competition out there these days so it comes as no surprise that developers and publishers have teamed up so often lately to entice gamers into that all-important full price purchase. Having a strong showing in sales early on is important to the lifetime success of a game.
We've seen extra costumes, multiplayer maps, special guns, even early access to beta tests of games yet to be released. If you watch the news closely you've probably seen a lot of pre-order records being smashed this generation. I wonder though, is that because of all of these enticing little extras?
I know for certain that the number of pre-orders I have put in are way up, but that's because I've never pre-ordered a game before this generation. It was always easier to run to the store and just get the game on day one because extras were rare and I didn't really care about them. The truth is I still don't. For pre-ordering Tales of Xillia I got a sweet upgrade to the Limited Edition, but I would have done it even without that.
I got into pre-ordering because Amazon has a price matching guarantee that has helped and they used to offer $10 credits now and then. I haven't seen one of those in a long time but I keep pre-ordering the games I really want just because it's convenient now.
Do you pre-order now more than before? Do you pre-order games at all? If so, what drives that decision?
Sometimes preorder bonus'. Mostly developer reputations.
I pre-order for three reasons:
-Discount on the price (Amazon is great for this)
-Early access (something I did recently for FFXIV)
-On PC side I do it so I already have the game installed and ready to go ahead of release.
It really depends. Its about the same reason i buy special editions. If they give good stuff then i don't see why not. Although i haven't preordered from gamestop in about 8 months. Amazon/psn is too good.
Goooood, goooood…stay away from GameStop.
Maps, guns, cameos – Futureshop Canada also gives a free steelbook case for COD pre orders every year
….and how would you know that?!
Last edited by ulsterscot on 8/27/2013 10:46:11 PM
how?
hmm – well because i have about 3 Futureshops within 20 minutes of where i live in BC.
Although I do buy most of my games at EB Games (Gamestop)
I wanted to preorder DMC for Vergil's Downfall, I gotta admit that I would preorder XIII-3 for the 1st class outfit (but XIII-3 is not my priority, X/X2 and KH1.5 are… along with over 100 other titles on my list).
i do agree about what others have stated about gamestop. they are like the devil. i felt so filthy trading in my games to get Dragons crown.
the thing that usually causses me to pre-order is either an urge fo a genre, nostalgia, or the artsy-2d styling, or a really killer game that gives me a retro feeling, be it rayman, a good fighting game like kof or blazblue or mk9 that was a redo of mk3(altered reality i mean) or something like Catherine or El Shaddai. sometimes ill get a game just to get the urge for the genre, like last fall for no real reason, i just knew Hitman Absolution was going to be good. i love the feel of it, and in my opinion id rank it right up there with uncharted and tomb raider and all the rsst as one of the best of this generation. sometimes its my fanboy that comes out, like for transformers games or something like that, but i can usually refrain. i was good last year i fought the urge to get madden until december and was able to save about 25. one thing i miss is here in RI where i live in Newport we used to have a best buy. it closed down about 15 months ago. best buy was awesome for finding a collectors item game and getting it on sale. like castlevania lord of shadows. full box art and digital copy of symphony of the night. i am not one for pre order bonuses for those wondering if i would hit that topic. i tend to think the add on of game music or art is kind of lame. its not very hard for a publisher to print out a cartoon booklet and a cd and put it in a newer higher end case and charge 10 more bucks for it. i prefer it when games give me some unlockable items or bigger roster over that. i did almost bite on the madden 25 anniversary edition. money became a factor and it was a no go.
Wall-of-Text….I must defeat you!
i saw transformers somewhere in your wall of text. got to love a transformers game when its well done.
I sentence you to be exposed before your peers
Tear down the wall
*Attack*
-105 HP
Usually a free bump to the collectors edition.
David D. Nelson that picture is an insult to every FF fan in existence.
Anyway, for me if the game is a D1P game I might as well collect the goodies by putting in my pre-order. That way I get a little something more for committing early.
….
Cloud with boobies is just so wrong =p
Last edited by Temjin001 on 8/27/2013 11:25:51 PM
LOL
Isn't Cloud with boobies awesome?
hahaha, when naming the pic in the html I hedged between "Lightning in drag" and Lightning as Cloud". Decided to err on the side of caution.
I'm just waiting for the Tifa costume… they seem to have scavenged, Yuna's FFX costume already. Games should be confident in their own art direction and presence and not have to feed of past successes. Though I have to admit, if there was ever a Vivi costume… That would be kind of awesome.
Last edited by Vivi_Gamer on 8/28/2013 3:15:03 AM
The fact that I will buy the game anyway, and from time to time, I can slowly build up the price to fully paid. A little $20 dollars here, another $20 there, $5 on this day, etc. Usually for Collectors Edition, which I have only bought 3 of.
Did the same thing with the Ps4. Gamestop was asking for $100(?) initial pre-order pay? Well, I had my Ps4 paid in two payments.
I must admit I'm looking forward to getting the LE for preordering FFX HD. That kind of thing is worth securing, as difficult as it is giving SE money.
Meh, I too have it pre-ordered. It's a Squaresoft game so of course it's amazing.
I love the softness of that square.
collectors editions, special editions and depends how bad i want the game or console inquestion. i pre-ordered only BOII this gen was going to for BF3 but ran outta time um btw i do regretthe BOII cos the game did not live up to my expectations. but yeah gud bonouses, limited/collectors editions mostly cos i like steel game cases and special extras and stuff.
happy gaming =)
i preorder for the limited edition bonuses, but Mostly due to having a giftcard where I can just used it right away, cause I might lose it.
First is game quality. Games like Uncharted and The Last of Us is the only games where i went as far as getting the collector's edition.
Second is sometimes Multiplayer. A game loses value when a game loses multiplayer support. For example, MAG worth $60 bucks until it becomes $0 when the server is shutdown. The earlier you get the game, the more value you get out of the game.
I got the inFamous 2, GT5, LittleBigPlanet 2, Bioshock 2 and the Uncharted 3 collectors. All were great in their own right but I decided no more because they mostly came with useless trinkets(with the accepting of Bioshock 2, came with an awesome art book, vinyl soundtrack and cd) but man I wish I had jumped on that Last of Us one with the Joel and Ellie statue. I got the art book on Amazon by itself so which is great so I guess I got half way there.
A TLOU blackout made me miss out on that Collectors Edition. I desperately looked within an 80 mile radius for availability after launch. No luck.
Typically dont pre order anymore because I can find the game no matter what it is. We have about 5 retail stores and 2 gamestops where I live. Needless to say theres no shortage and most of the time the dlc isnt worth much, although its a nice incentive for nothing more.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 8/28/2013 1:49:07 AM
Another bonus of amazon over a retail store is avoiding tax.
I live in Oregon.
Oregon blows because you can't pump your own gas. GAS!
The main incentive for me used to be art books, but I have gotten tired of them tiny little artbooks. And now a lot of western developers are releasing A4 sized artbooks separately,they just don't appeal to me any more.
The other enticement is a making of documentary, but now with Youtube, they end up getting uploaded online so thats another major bonus down.
Other than that it is DLC and the mere concept of having planned DLC for day one is just a kick in the teeth. That content should be in the game for everyone. But of course that is the main form of pre-order bonus nowadays, nor will it change next gen.
I think the best Pre-order bonus I got was with Final Fantasy XIII-2. You got a package with a steelbook, DLC (Costume & Battle), some art cards and a little novella explaining events inbetween games. Stuff I have never gone back too but I wanted it at the time.
I recently Pre-Ordered the special edition of Beyond: Two Souls at Amazon, because the price was so cheap – 33 pounds. I paid 45 pounds for the special edition of Heavy Rain & it had the same features – Special case, DLC, other digital features. I have not seen anything of Beyond other than the first trailer, I presume it plays like Heavy Rain, but I can have such faith in Qauntic Dream to to that.
I pre-ordered that atrocity of a game, all I got was an Omega thing in the arena.
I also pre-ordered Beyond: Two Souls from Sony for $35 until a week later when they decided it was a mistake and canceled my order. F*ckers.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 8/28/2013 10:00:20 AM
Really, how lousy, I have that with the MGS HD Collection. I can see that happening with Beyond, but my pre-order is there and ready just in case.
I beat that Omega so many times, even 5-starred it, but I never got it on my own team, I did download the Snow, Sazh and Lightning Epilogue DLC, but that was when it was on sale and I don't know if anyone else has gone back to their save of XIII-2 but I didn't understand anything about my set up, it was good for the time but it I just looked at and felt completely confused, I think I'll just have to play through it again any, I haven't properly played it since the release playthrough.
anything that looks interesting ill preorder, what do you have to lose?
if i dont like it take it back and get your money back, you havent lost zip.
that and the fact that for some reason my local EB always orders like 4 copies of each f*cking game, so every time i dont preorder something im waiting for weeks to get it.
i remember when they f*cked up my last of us joel edition preorder, but luckily a friend of mine ordered two so he gave me one.
only thing i hate about preorderes is you have to go to that specific store, and because of work that gets annoying and im not always in the same place.
so many times ill be somewhere for work on release day and end up going to the store where i am on the day wanting to pick up the game but they dont have stock forcing me to go somewhere after work instead.
i wish they would let you order at a store, than ring the customer service line and have it transferred to another store without you having to be at the actual store.
which is such a pain in the a$$, i use to do allot of work at rhodes so i preordered like every game releasing this year there, and i havent had a chance to go back there and cancel all my preorders.
what a massive waste of money that was!
why cant i just ring the store and tell them to cancel it and transfer it to another store?
saving me going for a 3 hour drive there, and 3 hours back!
I hardly care about pre-order bonuses, I only pre-order when I know the game would be so good, I couldn't wait a day to play it.
The only game I have pre-ordered to date is Tekken Tag Tournament 2. The game was out on arcades for a year and gameplay videos were all over youtube. I knew it'd be so good that I couldn't wait for it.
If I had the money I'd pre-order GTA V. I have played all GTA's since III, barring china town wars, I liked IV and the DLC's as much as the rest. I know I'll love V.
I pre-order RPGs because I know they will become hard to find. Other games depend on if I want them right away or not.
oh yeah, niche JRPGS, they become impossible to find and actually go up in price.
I don't preorder.
I never preorder. I couldn't care less about the extras except if they really offer something substantially important to the story or campaign.
As far as availability, we usually get new releases about two weeks after the release date in NA, so I would still have to wait to get the game anyway.
i pre-order when i know i want and will enjoy the game.
with 13-3, i was pushed by the bonus, but i was sure i was gonna enjoy the game enough to get it anyway.
The last time I pre-ordered was the special edition of GTAIV. The massive disappointment that ensued stopped me from doing so again.
I will buy GTAV, but only after reading independent reviews from sites like this and from gamers.
Pre-order perks are pretty much never an issue for me if I am not excited about a game. Pre-ordering Skyrim granted you virtually nothing beyond the midnight release, which was more than enough for me. My overall interest in the game and, honestly, my financial stance at the time of release are what determine my pre-ordering.
Don't pre-order much unless it is a niche title that I think I would find difficult to pick up.
Also you can put down a deposit early so that helps your finances pay it off in installments.
Also I used to do it to make sure I got a copy. They don't seem to run out very often anymore especially with the bigger titles.
I don't seem to bother with the little extras like dlc weapons or outfits. Demons Souls was the best purchase with art book and excellent guidebook.
I think Soul Sacrifice on the Vita was my last pre-order.
I pre-order the games that I really really want and am willing to pay full price for. If I happen to be pre-ordering anyway, I look for the best bonuses I can get.
Last edited by Andivarious on 8/28/2013 11:16:08 PM
A hot commodity title (Assassin's Creed) an older title ported over to PS3 (FF X + X2 HD collection) and MAINLY/primarily a bonus "behind the scenes" disc works for me.
exclusives, and knowing I will have a copy of the game/etc without having to worry about it selling out before I can make it to buy being that if I didn't pre order in the first place. Also it helps me to drop a little amound such as $20.00 every few months on a game nearly a year before its release to insure i'll have it payed off before it launches.
I mainly pre-order(and yes I pre-order a LOT more than I used to, like almost exclusively now..) to make sure I get a copy of a game I want. What got me started pre-ordering was just that, missing a game I wanted because it was literally sold out EVERYWHERE in my area. This was towards the end of the PS2 era and I hadn't gotten into ordering stuff on-line yet, so I was rather limited to what was locally available.
I only preorder a title I know will be scarce