Is preordering even important anymore?

I'm just been wondering this, seeing as how Gamestop has a new VIP type deal for people who preorder in full. I don't know the details of it, though.

Also, Fable, one of the big big releases of the season, was pushed constantly by EB and GS workers to preorder, or you might miss out, but I just went in today, the day after release, to find EB sitting on about 50-100 (a rough estimate, but the case was stocked full of copies) non preorder copies.

This isn't even counting the fact all non games stores have yet to receive their copies, and they'll get tons of them in on the first place. Is preordering really important for games like Halo 2 (regular edition) or GTA: San Andreas? Or for games in general?

It just seems EB and Gamestop get enough for everyone now, and you've got 5 or 6 other stores who sell video games that will make sure they've got a ton of copies for everyone as well.

The stores push this so hard and I wonder if preorders have increased since a few years ago, or fallen?

The only time I even consider it is on a smaller release, because EB or Gamestop are getting in the habit of ordering 1 or 2 copies of lesser releases no one preorders. I know the local EB, with 50-100 copies of Fable, got in a whopping two copies of Gradius V.

News you can use.

Kids, buy your new games on ebay instead, or support your local gamestore.

That is all.

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Originally Posted by PepsimanVsJoe

or support your local gamestore..

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When my local gamestore is too retarded to get overnight shipping on Fable, and tells me "oh, it should be here Friday, or maybe next Monday", and dosen't even bother to get in ANY copies of The Sims 2, he can promptly kiss my ass.

AFAIK, pre-ordering is only important if:

1) you know they're going to sell out and you want it ASAP and

2) there's some preorder bonus you really want.

It's not like there's much extra effort or extra money involved here.

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Originally Posted by Roufuss

I'm just been wondering this, seeing as how Gamestop has a new VIP type deal for people who preorder in full. I don't know the details of it, though.

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Basically you don't have to wait in line. You just walk in, show your slip, get the game and leave.

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Originally Posted by Mzo

AFAIK, pre-ordering is only important if:

1) you know they're going to sell out and you want it ASAP and

2) there's some preorder bonus you really want.

It's not like there's much extra effort or extra money involved here.

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Sounds about right.

Well, for Fable, our GS only got 6 extra copies, so if you do your shopping there, it would have been a good idea.

The other factor is that, if your store goes the extra mile to get you the game a day early, odds are they won't sell you a copy if you don't have a pre-order.

That may not be a big deal to some people, but I'm weird about getting a game as soon as humanly possible. When I worked at GS I was even known to give up my discount & buy stuff from EB if GS didn't ship it on the release date. (That happens a lot with them on budget or niche titles)

JM

I really don't think preordering is important at all.

Unless like Mzo said:

1) you know they're going to sell out and you want it ASAP and

2) there's some preorder bonus you really want.


I really don't think it's necessary. I don't think I've ever ran into the problem with a game selling out on the first day. The only time preordering has been a factor was when I was buying a system.

"is preordering necessary"?
no

I went to GStop a few minutes ago to get GV. Right after me, someone asked if they had Fable in.

"Did you preorder it?"
"no"
"Nope, sorry"

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

I went to GStop a few minutes ago to get GV. Right after me, someone asked if they had Fable in.

"Did you preorder it?"
"no"
"Nope, sorry"

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That sucks, but I've also heard that GS or EB will sit on extra copies for a day or so just to be asses to the people who didn't preorder. This way, next time the customer will just preorder thinking they don't get in enough copies.

And yea, it has happened to me, and I did call corporate about it. Went to get a game in the morning, same situation as joust described, stopped by later that night when a different employee was there (because I wanted to see if anyone cancelled their preorder), and when I asked he gave me a funny look and said "we've had extra copies all day, I don't know why our manager would tell you that", and sold me a copy.

I was pretty furious.

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Originally Posted by Videodrone

Basically you don't have to wait in line. You just walk in, show your slip, get the game and leave.

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That's stupid, I usually do that anyways :confused:

I don't really think there's been a time I wanted to get a game and there's been a huge huge line.