Should you pre-order videogames?

In light of the recent "Aliens: Colonial Marines" debacle, what does everyone think of TotalBiscuit's take on pre-ordering video games?



I went against my intuitions by pre-odering this game. I was lucky enough to be able to cancel as soon as the first review came out.... but others, not so lucky.

For me, that game has been a great reminder to never pre-order anything.

 

I only pre-order for collector's editions generally.
In the last two years I've pre-ordered Skyrim, ME3 and GW2, none of which I've regretted. Probably my worst choice was Aion, but beta was when it was most fun anyway.
By the time I've made a pre-order I already know I'll like it enough to keep going for a while.

 

Well, what TB was saying is it that it's not just about wether or not you regret it, but about your actions have on the gaming industry and ultimately affect all consumers. I.e., it's bad either way.

 

I only pre order games that I like and I know ill enjoy........

 

That assumes that you are hearing the truth about the video game in question. Which wasn't the case for Aliens: Colonial Marines. But, barring a possible lawsuit from Sega*, Gearbox seems to have got away with lying in the demo video because all that money spent on preorders will not be refunded. That is the problem with preorders. By the time people know what the game is like, it's already too late for them to get their money back if the hype is built on lies. So if people keep preordering, expect more hype built on lies because the lies work.

* If Sega does sue them, it's not going to be over the lies in the demo video, it's going to be over Gearbox signing a contract to develop the Aliens game then producing Borderlands 2 when the contract said they would be working on Aliens.

MMOs are an exception for two reasons:
- Beta access lets you see the game for yourself. Even if you don't play in the beta, you can still see reviews from people who did. Don't like it and you can cancel the preorder.
- MMOs can run out of copies to sell because server resources are limited.

Preorders are already getting worse.

 

I pre-order anything I know I'm going to buy full price if there's some kind of bonus of discount. You can usually still get it "pre-ordered" like the day before, see reviews just in case and get the goodies.
Otherwise I wait...often until the Steam Sale.

I'm a bit torn, because all this preorder stuff is getting out of hand.
I don't Kickstarter games - you're preordering the concept of a game at that point.

 

Come play TERA wit meh lol

 

i preordered sim city digital delux but its sim city so that is a little different than getting some unknown game title

 

Eh if you played society then ya lol

 

I usually only pre-order MMOs if I know 100% that I'll enjoy it. Warhammer and Guild Wars 2 come to mind. Also pre-ordered Mass Effect 2 and 3. Other than that I don't really pre-order anymore.

 

I only buy games that I've played. If you buy a game without playing it, you're making a huge mistake (unless you just have money to throw around).

If Devs release a game that has no Open Beta or Demo/Trial... I don't play it.

 

With a pretty limited budget, I can't really pre-order games. The only time I do is when I really know I'm going to like a game (most recent was Portal 2) but otherwise I have no problem waiting for reviews and waiting till a price drop or catching it on sale on steam.

 

When he puts it that way it's just down right sad. I hardly ever preorder anyway. I used to be a bioware fanboi until ME3 ending. I had every game preordered or bought instantly on release dating back to Baldurs Gate. Now I only preorder...nothing. I'm a steam sale junkie. I have hundreds of games on steam that I haven't played because I picked them up for 3, 5, 10, 15 bucks. =X That's a lot better than 50-60 though.

 

I've only pre-ordered Crysis 3 and Halo 2. Don't regret either of them. I pre-ordered halo 2 because I didn't want to run into the situation of the game being sold out for an extended period of time and really no good reason for Crysis 3. I was going to buy it no matter what and they were offering: early access to the predator bow, Crysis 1, level 5 automatically in MP and a few other perks. So I got a few bonuses for buying a game I was going to get anyway. I don't know if it is good or bad for the industry as it has been happening forever. You'll always run into problems when a publisher is dishonest so pre-orders don't have much to do with that.

 

I pre-order games I'm excited about, especially MMO's as they often come with guaranteed beta access and headstarts.
But it's rare I'm REALLY excited about anything these days.
I've become so jaded ;__;

 

Amen. I love and hate video games nowadays.

 

2012 murdered any passion I had for online gaming. Straight killed it. Everything I enjoyed last year were amazing games from 2011 that I never got around to playing.

 

I only pre order games that have a beta stage and I can get a refund before release if I don't like the game.