Support NeoGAF

[DJ_Tet]

What's the point? Well here's the point, if I wanted NCAA 2005 for the XBox tonight, I needed a preorder. I do want that game now, and I don't have it, cause I didn't preorder.

What's the rant about?

Well, I called 10 stores in the area, 6 didn't get the game at all tonight. 2 others had the game, but ONLY the PS2 version. 2 others had a total of 7 copies left for the XBox, not enough to "fill" preorders, but if I "had" a preorder, I could have one of the copies.

How am I supposed to know which store to get a preorder with? What if the store I preorder tha game with doesn't get it first? The concept is so flawed that I refuse to go along with it. I won't do it. I'll suffer without my game for one more lonely night.

F everyone who preorders. If you put down more than $5 in advance, you're a jackass.

Don't make these stores rich just cause we are impatient bastards. Instead, make them poor by blowing up their phones the night before they are supposed to have a game. See if you can steal someone else's preorder.

I have no doubt that there is probably 2-3 copies of NCAA 2005 XBox just chilling at the store tonight without anyone buying it. I called at 7:30pm btw. Those stores lost a sale as I am not going to be driving to Raleigh to buy from them tomorrow (when they get hundreds more in stock), but I will be driving to my local Fuquay Varina store.

 

[yodathesoda]

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever read.

 

[ManaByte]

Don't worry. Even if you got it, you couldn't play online tonight anyways.

 

[Hellraizah]

Hahahaha, pre-orders make companies rich. Hahaha, yeah, they have a MASTER PLAN.

 

[Soul4ger]

Blame EA, not the stores. It happened here, too, and in several other regions They didn't have enough copies ready by today. Another slite at Xbox? Me thinks so.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

my blockbuster already had it for rent tonite. I had no idea it was even out. For somereason i thought it came out next week.

 

[Meier]

I pre-ordered expecting I'd get it today but the place I pre-ordered at isnt selling it until tomorrow either.

 

[stonedwal]

I'm sure waiting another day won't kill you.

 

[Minotauro]

Dude, the stores use preorders in order to gauge anticipation for each game. If no one preorders a game, they won't order very many copies of it. Conversely, if there are a ton of preorders, the store will make a large order.

I've never really understood all the resistance to preorders. I'd much rather put $5 down and not have to rush around to a bunch of stores and worry about whether or not I'm going to get the game. $5 is really very little to pay for the piece of mind.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Buy it online next time

 

[Wario64]

Preorders help the store figure out how many copies to order. If you don't like preordering, start shopping at Best Buy then. Quit your bitchin

 

[DJ_Tet]

Well that didn't go over so well.

My point is, even if I had preordered, only 2 stores out of 10 had the thing. I can get it anywhere tomorrow. A one in five chance isn't that great though. Stop pissing in my thread.

 

[Craig Majaski]

Exactly. I mean, if you want it on the first day it's available (which in most areas of the country will be Tuesday), then reserve the game! If you can wait a few days, then pop into Wal-mart or Target or Best Buy (Wednesday they should have it). I don't feel the least bit sad for anyone that doesn't preorder. Do you think it's cheap to overnight (or in some cases, same day) shipping games? The premium to pay for getting it first is your $5 down, which goes toward the game anyway. I doubt EB or GameStop wants to overnight 200 copies of a game when only 20 have been reserved.

 

[fart]

it generates revenue as well as aiding inventory management. hopefully no one here's claiming that the act of paying a store money to reserve a copy doesn't generate some additional revenue.

 

[Ferris]

Wow. I'm actually speechless. My Gamestop didn't get it in today. Big freakin' deal. $5 down to make sure I get one? Who the hell cares if they have my $5???

I give them $5. They give me a guarantee that I'll get my game as soon as they can get it to me. I see no down side.

You know... piss and moan all you want, but pre-ordering is a good deal. Does it cost me extra? No. Do I get my game? Yes. Isn't that what it's all about? Maybe I'm wrong... I'd rather buy it from Gamestop than freakin' Wal-Mart.

 

[Suikoguy]

Well that didn't go over so well.

My point is, even if I had preordered, only 2 stores out of 10 had the thing. I can get it anywhere tomorrow. A one in five chance isn't that great though. Stop pissing in my thread.

Huh?
So since you did not preorder you had to bother 10 stores and find only 2 had it beacuse you could not put $5 on a game that has been annouced for over 6 months.
Stores that said they did not have yet it, may just not have had a copy to sell you.

 

[StrikerObi]

Honeslty, who the fuck expects to get their games on MONDAY? If you do you need a smack in the head to zap you back into reality. Sure games "release" on Monday, but they are never really avaliable until Tuesday (and for big stores like Best Buy it's usually Wednesday or Thursday).

Hahahaha, pre-orders make companies rich. Hahaha, yeah, they have a MASTER PLAN.

And actually, pre-orders do technically make stores richer. If you put down money for a game months in advance, that pre-order money can now sit in EB's back account and accrue interest. That's time value of money, take a finance class.

It's also been mentioned that they also help stores guage how many copies they should order, because dead inventory in a game shop is a horrible thing. Botique stores can't afford that. Big stores like Best Buy can, because they have the shelf and storage space for it.

Honestly though, what's so wrong with pre-orders from the standpoint of the buyer? Sure that money could be earning interest in your bank account, but the pre-order amount is so low that's pratically not even an issue for the consumer. Now, for EB, it's a big issue. They get tons and tons of pre-orders. All that money adds up and the interest on it can be a pretty good amount. For you though, it's not really much of a loss to pay $5 now and $45 when the game comes out. Plus half the time you get some tiny little bonus or something (sure it's not much, but you can't argue with free shit). They also ensure that you DON'T have to run around to 10 stores to find the game. You don't even have to leave your home to pre-order now. EBgames.com lets your pre-order games online and pick them up at the store.

In short: Pre-orders are good for everyone.

 

[Gantz]

I preorder my games but I think stores should make a policy to receive at least 10-15 copies of all new releases the first week the game is released. I think it's pretty lame that stores only carry copies for preorders the first week a new game comes out.

 

[cvxfreak]

I don't get it, you don't LOSE any money for pre-ordering, you just put it TOWARD the cost of the game. So what's the problem?

 

[Suikoguy]

it generates revenue as well as aiding inventory management. hopefully no one here's claiming that the act of paying a store money to reserve a copy doesn't generate some additional revenue.

Yes, they do make money off from it,
minor intrest, but mostly from morons who don't visit the store within 60 days of release + 6 months to get their $5 back if they don't want the game. After the 60 days + 6 months the credits are destroyed.

 

[Ferris]

it generates revenue as well as aiding inventory management. hopefully no one here's claiming that the act of paying a store money to reserve a copy doesn't generate some additional revenue.

Yeah... I suppose so. Much like theft from crooks detracts from said revenue. Two sides to every coin. They want your pre-order so you'll buy it from them. They want your money. DUH! Why do you think they're in the business? To perform favors for you? No. They want your money. They want the profit off your gaming needs. So does Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Chuck-E-Cheese, and even Walt Disney. They ALL want your money. Welcome to the real world.. fart.

 

[Wario64]

Just cause you preorder a game doesn't gurantee you'll get the game on the same day it ships. It just means they'll hold a copy for you from their shipment. Boohoo, 1 day, big deal. If you knew that you weren't gonna get the game on the same day as it ships, you wouldn't put down $5 on it cause you don't want to help the stores get rich? Whatever man. Yeah, let's make let's drive them out of business because they couldn't get a game on the first day! Hey guess what, it takes time to transport goods from the manufactuer to retailers. But forget that, let's drive these retailers out of business cause they don't have my previous game on day one. Let's get rid of retailers altogether and incur more costs in purchasing games!

 

[Agent Dormer]

Stop bitchin' and pre-order it next time.

 

[Suikoguy]

I preorder my games but I think stores should make a policy to receive at least 10-15 copies of all new releases the first week the game is released. I think it's pretty lame that stores only carry copies for preorders the first week a new game comes out.

The number of copies shipping most of the time equals reservations + whatever the pack is.

For example, Packs are 12, store has 16 reservations, store has 8 extra copies
Store has 20 reservations, store has 2 extra copies.

It would be pointless to JUST send the reservations, when the box they are using has room for a few more

Some compaines I think insist that they ship more, which is why some games have plenty of extra copies, or if a store has an abnormally low # of reservations, they may send one pack more.

 

[fart]

the boutique ordering system also raises prices for consumers. if the store is putting a lot of labor into reducing unsold inventory they're going to have to charge more per unit because they won't get the economies of scale going. it's fine for the retail firm because they know they have a customer on the other end of the pipe, but not necessarily so great for the consumer.

not to mention taking the marketing incentives of charging a supposedly insignificant amount to lock someone into a games purchase months in advance could very well be producing marginally more sales on products that are otherwise less popular. what it will do is tend to lock the consumer into buying the game at that particular store, whereas the more general consumer algorithm involves price checking in a marketplace.

 

[StrikerObi]

I preorder my games but I think stores should make a policy to receive at least 10-15 copies of all new releases the first week the game is released. I think it's pretty lame that stores only carry copies for preorders the first week a new game comes out.

If they're not going to sell 15 copies then it's going to rot on their shelf. It eventually becomes so old it's pratically non-sellable. That's really bad for a small store. Like I said before, this doesn't matter for bigger stores because they can afford the space.

Ever wonder why used games get so much more space and better placement at stores like EB and GameStop? Because it's all profit to them. Any money earned on a used game goes right to EB. The publisher sees none of it. Because of this they can afford to let it sit on the shelf. The long-run pay-out is worth displaying it. At the same time they don't want to keep a 6 month old new copy of a game on the shelf, especially because it will draw attention from the used, more profitable, copy of the game.

 

[DJ_Tet]

The point is, even if I HAD Preordered the game, I only had a 1-5 chance of getting the right store. God you people are dense, I'm not cutting myself over this, just wondering what the benefits of pre-ordering are. EVERY store will have it tomorrow. If I still can't get it tomorrow, I'll say you all were right.

 

[Wario64]

So preordering a game is now a lotto to see if you're gonna get the game on day one? lol

Man, it's just 1 friggin day

 

[Suikoguy]

So preordering a game is now a lotto to see if you're gonna get the game on day one? lol

Man, it's just 1 friggin day

Actually, I would not even call it a day
I think almost every EB and Gamestop will have it at 10AM tomorow.

 

[Mike Works]

Well that didn't go over so well.

My point is, even if I had preordered, only 2 stores out of 10 had the thing. I can get it anywhere tomorrow. A one in five chance isn't that great though. Stop pissing in my thread.

And that's the fault of the pre-order system? You do realize that without a preorder system, the odds of a store having a copy of a game for you would be less than what you're faced with? If 2 of the 10 stores had 5 copies each, without preorders, each store probably would've gotten 1 copy.

Blame the company supplying the games if there aren't enough to go around, not the store itself.

 

[Agent Dormer]

Oh, you wanted to know the benefits: T-shirts, and knowing you contributed to your slimey EB clerk's ramen and hentai fetish.

 

[StrikerObi]

the boutique ordering system also raises prices for consumers. if the store is putting a lot of labor into reducing unsold inventory they're going to have to charge more per unit because they won't get the economies of scale going. it's fine for the retail firm because they know they have a customer on the other end of the pipe, but not necessarily so great for the consumer.

not to mention taking the marketing incentives of charging a supposedly insignificant amount to lock someone into a games purchase months in advance could very well be producing marginally more sales on products that are otherwise less popular. what it will do is tend to lock the consumer into buying the game at that particular store, whereas the more general consumer algorithm involves price checking in a marketplace.

I agree with most of this (especially the latter part, hurray for margins!). But I don't believe that the boutique system raises prices for consumers, at least not in the video-game market. I've never seen a game more expensive at EB or GameStop as compared to Best Buy. At least, not a release. Over time, large retail outlets tend to drop their prices sooner (see Circuit City's $5 bonanza) where as EB will still sell that game at full price until there is some sort of "official" price drop from the publisher. But at lauch at least, Madden is going to cost you $50 no matter where you buy it.

 

[DJ_Tet]

So preordering a game is now a lotto to see if you're gonna get the game on day one? lol

Man, it's just 1 friggin day

You're right, it's just one day. Point is, I can get it anywhere tomorrow, and most of the places where I could have preordered get it tomorrow, so why should I preorder?

I didn't see no t-shirts for NCAA either.


edit=Why the hell else WOULD you preorder a game WARIO if you didn't want it on day 1? Today is day one, people are selling the game, but had I preordered at the wrong store I would still be SOL.

This is not a rant on me not getting a game on day 1, it's a rant on the whole system. You don't buy new games anyway so I don't see why you care.

At least some made good points on the benefits of preordering, you haven't contributed one good thought to this thread, so what's your point?

 

[fart]

Yeah... I suppose so. Much like theft from crooks detracts from said revenue. Two sides to every coin. They want your pre-order so you'll buy it from them. They want your money. DUH! Why do you think they're in the business? To perform favors for you? No. They want your money. They want the profit off your gaming needs. So does Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Chuck-E-Cheese, and even Walt Disney. They ALL want your money. Welcome to the real world.. fart.

it's not the job of the informed consumer to smile and nod while they're getting bilked. the marketplace is profit-driven, yes, but consumers have to measurably profit from transactions as well for the marketplace to be a socially justifiable mechanism.

 

[Suikoguy]

I agree with most of this (especially the latter part, hurray for margins!). But I don't believe that the boutique system raises prices for consumers, at least not in the video-game market. I've never seen a game more expensive at EB or GameStop as compared to Best Buy. At least, not a release. Over time, large retail outlets tend to drop their prices sooner (see Circuit City's $5 bonanza) where as EB will still sell that game at full price until there is some sort of "official" price drop from the publisher. But at lauch at least, Madden is going to cost you $50 no matter where you buy it.

Another good point, EB and Gamestops don't tend to have "Sales" persay.. maybe every once and awhile, hehe.
EBGAMES.com seems to though, no idea.

 

[StrikerObi]

The point is, even if I HAD Preordered the game, I only had a 1-5 chance of getting the right store. God you people are dense, I'm not cutting myself over this, just wondering what the benefits of pre-ordering are. EVERY store will have it tomorrow. If I still can't get it tomorrow, I'll say you all were right.

You're missing the point of the fact that you actually expected a game that was supposed to be "avaliable" on Monday to actually BE avaliable on Monday. How long have you been playing games, honestly? For as long as I can remember, games have almost always been "released" on Mondays, but never ever avaliable until Tuesdays, except in rare cases.

If you had pre-ordered then you wouldn't have had to look at 10 stores today and 10 stores tomorrow trying to find a copy. The store would have called you when they got the game. Sure it might be Monday, it might be Tuesday, but at least you wouldn't have had to spend hours looking for a copy.

 

[fart]

I agree with most of this (especially the latter part, hurray for margins!). But I don't believe that the boutique system raises prices for consumers, at least not in the video-game market. I've never seen a game more expensive at EB or GameStop as compared to Best Buy. At least, not a release. Over time, large retail outlets tend to drop their prices sooner (see Circuit City's $5 bonanza) where as EB will still sell that game at full price until there is some sort of "official" price drop from the publisher. But at lauch at least, Madden is going to cost you $50 no matter where you buy it.

actually i think gamestop and eb (those are the two major boutique firms at this point) charge about 5 bucks more on average for new titles, and they tend to drop their prices later, not to mention the business in used games (arguably a boon for consumers). hold on i'll finish this later.

 

[DJ_Tet]

You're missing the point of the fact that you actually expected a game that was supposed to be "avaliable" on Monday to actually BE avaliable on Monday. How long have you been playing games, honestly? For as long as I can remember, games have almost always been "released" on Mondays, but never ever avaliable until Tuesdays, except in rare cases.

If you had pre-ordered then you wouldn't have had to look at 10 stores today and 10 stores tomorrow trying to find a copy. The store would have called you when they got the game. Sure it might be Monday, it might be Tuesday, but at least you wouldn't have had to spend hours looking for a copy.

You're absolutely correct. I didn't expect it to be available today. The thing that bothers me is that people have the game and won't sell it this late at night. I got the last big release I wanted KOTOR without a pre-order and a day early. Sometimes it goes down like that.


I suppose if I was worried about actually getting a copy tomorrow I could preorder. Tomorrow it will be easy to get this game though (at least it better, unless I've got a lot of crow to eat). My point is the system is flawed. If I pre-ordered at one EB and a different actually has a copy of the game, I'm SOL. That's my whole point. It's not about the $5, if I put the $5 down at the wrong store, they won't sell me a copy.

 

[Hellraizah]

And actually, pre-orders do technically make stores richer. If you put down money for a game months in advance, that pre-order money can now sit in EB's back account and accrue interest. That's time value of money, take a finance class.

I have an accounting degree and I work for EB, by the way. The "conspiracy theory" about how pre-order money is aimed at making interest over time needs to die, seriously. Each store have his own account, so, if they make interest over the pre-order money, it's probably something like 5$ a year.

The true reason it's great for stores is really that it helps gauge how many games we need at launch. Head office has to dispatch it's inventory, and they have to know how much this store or that store will sell, or have a good idea about it. It's simply that, there's no evil involved, and yeah, you're right, it's good for both the customer and the store.

 

[StrikerObi]

actually i think gamestop and eb (those are the two major boutique firms at this point) charge about 5 bucks more on average for new titles, and they tend to drop their prices later, not to mention the business in used games (arguably a boon for consumers). hold on i'll finish this later.

Seriously? I have honeslty, in my entire life never ever seen a game sold OVER it's Suggested Retail Price at EB or GameStop. And apart from the occasional "first week of release sale" (ie - finding new GBA releases for $25 instead of $30 for it's first week of release at Best Buy) I've never seen a game sold for LESS than it's SRP at a store like Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

As for used games, this is another thread completly, and it's been done before. Used games stifle creativity. For this reason alone I won't buy them (unless the game in question is out of print and can cannot be found new).

 

[Mumbles]

The point is, even if I HAD Preordered the game, I only had a 1-5 chance of getting the right store.

Unless the game shipped on sunday (which it didn't), you've got no right to complain about that, either. In my experience, it's very rare for a game to show up on it's shipping day in any store. IOW, it's not that it's late to most stores, it's that a couple got a few copies in early by sheer fluke.

But what really makes the rant ridiculous is that you're the one calling the preorderers idiots, when they have the game, and you're whining on an internet message board

Seriously? I have honeslty, in my entire life never ever seen a game sold OVER it's Suggested Retail Price at EB or GameStop. And apart from the occasional "first week of release sale" (ie - finding new GBA releases for $25 instead of $30 for it's first week of release at Best Buy) I've never seen a game sold for LESS than it's SRP at a store like Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

Actually, EB and Gamestop seem to overcharge most new games if they don't have any competition in their location. It's annoyingly random, though, so you have no idea whether or not the game will be overpriced unless you call them or get to the store.

Worst example of this is the Gamestop in the Copley mall, and EBX in the Prudential in Boston. They don't consider themselves to be competing, even though the two malls are right next to each other, and connected by an overpass.

 

[Mike Works]

edit=Why the hell else WOULD you preorder a game WARIO if you didn't want it on day 1? Today is day one, people are selling the game, but had I preordered at the wrong store I would still be SOL.

Because your case is very rare. I don't know, maybe you live in Bumfuck, Missouri, but pretty much every EB in my city gets at least 1 copy of a new game when the game is released. If you pre-order ahead of time, then guess who that (at least) 1 copy of the game goes to?

Have fun waltzing in and picking up Halo 2 or GTA:SA this fall.

And if you don't want the game within the first few days, then you don't preorder. It's all very simple, I don't understand why you're spazzing over pre-orders when it was blatantly obvious that your stores suffered a shipping/drought issue.

 

[StrikerObi]

I have an accounting degree and I work for EB, by the way. The "conspiracy theory" about how pre-order money is aimed at making interest over time needs to die, seriously. Each store have his own account, so, if they make interest over the pre-order money, it's probably something like 5$ a year.

The true reason it's great for stores is really that it helps gauge how many games we need at launch. Head office has to dispatch it's inventory, and they have to know how much this store or that store will sell, or have a good idea about it. It's simply that, there's no evil involved, and yeah, you're right, it's good for both the customer and the store.

Alright then, my interest statement is flat-out wrong then. I was only using deduction (and my college accounting and finance classes) to put two and two together, but I did not have the fact that the stores keep seperate accounts. I mean, obviously they do, but I figured the head office saw some of that money too.

Also, do the numbers show that pre-orders do increase marginal sales?

 

[DJ_Tet]

Because your case is very rare. I don't know, maybe you live in Bumfuck, Missouri, but pretty much every EB in my city gets at least 1 copy of a new game when the game is released. If you pre-order ahead of time, then guess who that (at least) 1 copy of the game goes to?

Have fun waltzing in and picking up Halo 2 or GTA:SA this fall.

And if you don't want the game within the first few days, then you don't preorder. It's all very simple, I don't understand why you're spazzing over pre-orders when it was blatantly obvious that your stores suffered a shipping/drought issue.

I'll give you this, my case is rare. Sorry for polluting your forum with a worthless post.

I'm not spazzing, I'm just making a point, rare or not.

 

[Wario64]

Like I said before, preordering a game pretty much guarantees that a copy will be available to you for the first week of the game's release. You are right though that you would expect a game to be available the first day when you preorder a title, but you should also expect some stores to get it a day or two after its shipping date. Now if you were living in my area, where I live near a distribution HUB and get games on the same day of shipping day, and you didn't get your NCAA game today, that'd be a different story. But still, you shouldn't be expecting all stores to receive the game today. That's why Best Buy or Circuit City usually advertise new games going on sale on Thursday or Wednesday.

Again, preordering just means they will hold a copy of the game for you, usually up to 72 hours or so. It doesn't title you to receive the game the same day it ships

 

[Hellraizah]

Alright then, my interest statement is flat-out wrong then. I was only using deduction (and my college accounting and finance classes) to put two and two together, but I did not have the fact that the stores keep seperate accounts. I mean, obviously they do, but I figured the head office saw some of that money too.

Also, do the numbers show that pre-orders do increase marginal sales?

I've never seen proof that pre-orders improve marginal sales.... the only reasons they push us to get in pre-orders is because you know the customer will come to your store to buy the game if he puts cash on it at your store, and the head office base their inventory dispatch off of that factor.

But hey, if they were counting on that money to get interest, trust me on this one, they WOULD tell us...... Hey, what's a good way to motivate managers ???? Tell them everything that's positive about what they're asking you to do. Maybe they are really having a master plan on this one, but I've NEVER heard such a thing inside the company.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Yeah I know Wario. I'm 28 for those who are wondering why I expect a game to be widely available on a Monday. I know that's not the way it works. The point is, a few stores got the game in today, and people are out there with pre-orders who didn't get their copy today. Some did, some didn't.

If I pre-ordered at a shop and they told me "We'll have your game within 72 hours of when we get our first copy" I'd laugh in their face. With that time-frame, I'll go to Best Buy like you said.

I'm not pissed that I didn't get a copy (well I am, but I understand why I didn't), I'm more pissed that there was nothing I could do to guarantee my copy. I understand I don't have the right to bitch, but to me the whole system is basically worthless.

Guess what Mike, there are people in my area, Bumfuck, err I mean Raleigh NC, that preordered, and didn't get their copy. Sure some people did, but many apparently didn't. It's just one day sure, but I'd be REALLY pissed if I paid the game in full and still didn't have a copy. The whole system is just flawed.

 

[StrikerObi]

there was nothing I could do to guarantee my copy.

Buy online, pay for same day shipping. Sure it costs a lot more but you could have done it if you absolutly needed it today.

 

[----]

The only game I am ever going to preorder this generation is Halo 2. I learned my lesson when I didn't preorder Zelda The Ocarina of Time and had to go more than a week without a copy. Halo 2 is the most anticipated game of this generation and I'm not going to take any chances this generation. Otherwise I never preorder any games and am perfectly fine not playing a game on the day it comes out.

 

[fart]

I have an accounting degree and I work for EB, by the way. The "conspiracy theory" about how pre-order money is aimed at making interest over time needs to die, seriously. Each store have his own account, so, if they make interest over the pre-order money, it's probably something like 5$ a year.

The true reason it's great for stores is really that it helps gauge how many games we need at launch. Head office has to dispatch it's inventory, and they have to know how much this store or that store will sell, or have a good idea about it. It's simply that, there's no evil involved, and yeah, you're right, it's good for both the customer and the store.

sounds reasonable to me. you have to give us the marketing tactic angle though.