Is preordering even important anymore?

[Roufuss]

I admit, it helps that my game stores seem a bit better run than Roufuss'. That's some pretty crap customer service there, especially seeing as the full copies need to be sold first. The whole point of gutting a copy for the shelf is that it goes last and represents the full inventory of sealed copies behind the counter.
James

Oh James, you know what was awesome, is that the Gamestop that told me Viewtiful Joe 2 wasn't coming until Monday... well, I went back there today to cancel my other preorder for a game, and there it was sitting in the case, VJ 2.

After I drove 25 minutes to a different Gamestop to get it, after I was lied too and told that they weren't getting any copies until Monday, that all their shipments had come, that I was SOL. Oh yeah, and that the phone call saying the game was coming was a mistake, so it was my own fault for beliving the company and driving to see if they had it. (His exact words).

Oh believe me, I was fucking pissed. And the dude that lied to me was the assitant manager, too. When I confronted the manager, he basacially told me "well, maybe he just didn't know, because our second shipment was late". Great, maybe he should have said that instead of insisting there was no second shipment and calling ME a liar for having said I got the phone call

Fuck Gamestop, fuck EB, and fuck preordering.

[Eirikur]

I pre-order when I get stuff. There is absolutely no point otherwise. Stores don't even really hold copies half the time

Fucking word. Gamestop has almost never held my pre-ordered copy long enough for me to pick it up; they tell me 48-hours, I go in within three hours of the store opening and my copy is GONE. Nearly everytime that has happened, and it's incredibly frustrating.

Thank god EB opened a store just down the street, because they're a hell of a lot better.

[Shin Johnpv]

Fucking word. Gamestop has almost never held my pre-ordered copy long enough for me to pick it up; they tell me 48-hours, I go in within three hours of the store opening and my copy is GONE. Nearly everytime that has happened, and it's incredibly frustrating.

Thank god EB opened a store just down the street, because they're a hell of a lot better.

you all shop at some of the WORST Gamestops and EBs in the country

where the hell do you guys shop

[Clash!]

I have never had a Pre-order sold at the GS I shop at. Half the time if I forget to get it the first or second day they personally call me, even after the machine does.

[FatalError]

Preordering is worthless. I've never had much difficulty finding games.

A lot of it is due to the fact that stores like EB and Gamestop want you to preorder games because it guarantees that they will get more copies of the game into the store.

The get 90 preorders, and their store gets 150 copies of the game. Thus the store makes more money, and the supervisors and the managers make bonuses based on how many of the units they can presell. I worked at EB for four years, so I can definately confirm this.

I can go to any locally owned gamestore and get the games without any problems.

[Frogacuda]

Fucking word. Gamestop has almost never held my pre-ordered copy long enough for me to pick it up; they tell me 48-hours, I go in within three hours of the store opening and my copy is GONE. Nearly everytime that has happened, and it's incredibly frustrating.

Thank god EB opened a store just down the street, because they're a hell of a lot better.

It'd be understandable if they didn't make you put money down, but the fact that you do really makes the whole thing sick. Corporate pushes preorders like the company's financial future depends on them, and then doesn't even follow through.

I think they push preorders because a certain number of people put money down and then forget about it, and for EB or GS this is free money. I'm not really going to buy into that business model.

[B-Ri]

i waltzed in and got a copy of San Andreas no prob.

Funny thing is, if you preorder the game from the store, arent you guaranteed the product you preordered within the time limit alloted?

Reason i say this is a friend from my math class was all crazy up the ass for Halo 2, he preordered the platinum edition or whatever the special edition thing was. He ended up walking away with just a regular copy, as the EB employees said they ran out of the special editions, and more copies would not arrive for another week.

[Tragic]

Preordering is worthless. I've never had much difficulty finding games.

A lot of it is due to the fact that stores like EB and Gamestop want you to preorder games because it guarantees that they will get more copies of the game into the store.

The get 90 preorders, and their store gets 150 copies of the game. Thus the store makes more money, and the supervisors and the managers make bonuses based on how many of the units they can presell. I worked at EB for four years, so I can definately confirm this.

I can go to any locally owned gamestore and get the games without any problems.

100% true. My store was within the top 5 EBs for preorders on Halo 2 so we got a shitload of extras. We still have 300 copies in the store.

[Roufuss]

100% true. My store was within the top 5 EBs for preorders on Halo 2 so we got a shitload of extras. We still have 300 copies in the store.

Then I wonder why I preordered Alien Hominid, and the EB near here only got in one extra copy =/

[Tragic]

There probably just aren't that many AHs around period. On the other hand there were a TON of Halos produced so they used preorders as a way to decide where the extras go.