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[DJ_Tet]

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.

I'd love for you to find someone who did that and got the game today.

It didn't happen. The only ones who got the game today were the ones who preordered at the right store (apparently there was a problem with xbox distrobution) and actually called in the early evening to pick up their copy.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I think it's somewhat of a matter of "knowing" your stores. They tend to be consistent about their release patterns. Our region sells so many football games that they send a private driver to Louisville (I think that was it) to insure a release date for them, and then all the store managers to one local area to pick up at least pre-orders for loyal customers. Crazy, but so many people were happy to have it tonight.

 

[ChrisReid]

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.

Well.. my savings account generals 1.26% interest.

Say I preorder something in advance.. that means, if they were using my bank, they'd get.. 5.00 * 0.0126 * (1/52) = 0.0012..

Oh my god, if I reserve five games they'll make a PENNY! Christ, these companies are ripping us off.

 

[Craig Majaski]

Right, I've preordered games since 1992...so I know the drill really well. The dates that are listed are always ship dates. When you reserve a game in most areas of the country (Minnesota here) from EB or GameStop, you'll get it the very next day. Tuesday IS the release date for NCAA at game stores because they overnight ship the games for reservation customers. Now, there are RARE occasions where the store will actually receive the game on the SHIP date. This happens when there are a TON of reserves in the area (i.e. Twin Cities). For FF 11 and GTA Vice City they got the game in on the SHIP date due to high reserve quantities...the companies spend extra money to satisfy demand and to be the first place to sell the newest games.

Now, when we talk about Best Buy and Wal-Mart...they tend to ship games slower so I'd expect NCAA to hit those stores on Wednesday. In your case, where only 2 stores had the game tonight, I'm guessing it's because they may have had high reserves, or there were some high reserves elsewhere in the district or whatever. Sounds like this launch was more botched in your area due to missing shipments or whatever you mentioned.

All of this would be moot if the video game industry would adopt to the music and movie industry and release all new titles on Tuesdays...but that doesn't seem likely.

 

[DJ_Tet]

From what I was told, four stores had the PS2 version, and one had enough to sell to people without preorders.

If I can't get a copy tomorrow, I might cry. My rant was not against retailers, it was against the whole "pre-order" system and my distain for it. First come first serve is the American way

 

[fart]

look if you can't find something better to do with your five bucks then whatever, that's fine, but aren't we ignoring the bigger problem here?

who has to play a college sports game the first day it comes out. i mean, LET'S GO LOCAL SPORTS TEAM, AM I RITE???

 

[StrikerObi]

Well.. my savings account generals 1.26% interest.

Say I preorder something in advance.. that means, if they were using my bank, they'd get.. 5.00 * 0.0126 * (1/52) = 0.0012..

Oh my god, if I reserve five games they'll make a PENNY! Christ, these companies are ripping us off.

The interest account on a large account like something owned by a retail outlet is going to be higher. Plus, even if they aren't making much per pre-order, they would be making more considering how MANY pre-orders they get.

But this point was already shot down anyway.

 

[DJ_Tet]

look if you can't find something better to do with your five bucks then whatever, that's fine, but aren't we ignoring the bigger problem here?

who has to play a college sports game the first day it comes out. i mean, LET'S GO LOCAL SPORTS TEAM, AM I RITE???

Have you ever added one modicum of quality to this forum? I didn't think so.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Preorders work fine for me. I put down the full cost, I have a customer history printout that crashes the EB games computer, and I'm pretty much guaranteed the first copy.

From my experience, stores like EB try hard to get in games (in a given store) based on these rules:

1. Number of full pay preorders. (This happened with the PS2 for me. Without full money down, my chances of getting a launch day unit were 50/50)

2. Number of preorders made around a month before shipping. (Make a preorder before they've bought the game from the publisher, and you're basically guaranteed a copy)

3. Number of preorders / money downs (for existing titles) (Providing stock is not exceptionally limited this can usually be handled.)
4. Store Sales (The most successful store in town is always getting extra stock, period.)
5. Number of reserves (no money down) (Some EBs don't even do this anymore...questionable importance)
6. Title Buzz (In the case of Vice City, EB purposely overordered because they knew they could sell the excess stock)
7. Stock purchase rounding (If EB buys 100k units, chances are likely there aren't 100k preorders)

 

[Mike Works]

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.

Explain to me how the system is flawed if EA distributes 10 copies of the game to a district which has 10 stores, each store with 2 preorders each. How the fuck can you improve that system and get those 20 people the game?

 

[DJ_Tet]

Explain to me how the system is flawed if EA distributes 10 copies of the game to a district which has 10 stores, each store with 2 preorders each. How the fuck can you improve that system and get those 20 people the game?

Truth be told, I don't expect to be able to explain anything to you dude.

If you don't see my point, you'll never see it. Do you understand there are people who preordered copies that didn't get their games? Why should I preorder if my copy isn't guaranteed on day one?

 

[ninvampire]

DJ_Tet ... if you really want to maximize your chance of receiving a game on the shipping day you'll need to figure out which stores receive the most business. Those stores usually get feeder shipments that come straight from the fed/ex port at the airport.

These get hand-delivered to the stores with the highest demand for said title. All other stores will have it delivered PON to be in stores by 10am on the following day usually through UPS.

The best way to figure out what stores will be likely to get these hand-delivered shipments get really chummy with the store managers and try to get their projected pre-order #s. Stores that generally get feeder shipments will also be likely to use that information to secure more preorders.

One important thing that I'll point out however is that these feeder shipments will never fill their initials preorders. Mainly because these shipments come later in the day (generally after 5pm). The rest of the full shipment then arrives the next day PON.

 

[Mike Works]

Do you understand there are people who preordered copies that didn't get their games? Why should I preorder if my copy isn't guaranteed on day one?

1) Shipping dates should not count as "day one"

2) They are guaranteed the first copies of the game. Assuming the game comes out tomorrow as scheduled, they will get it day one. If the shipments to the district are delayed for a week, they'll still be the first people to get it (in the district). You're asking what the point of staking a place in line is if you don't know when the ticket booth is going to open. You're going to be the first, or one of the first, to get the tickets whenever the booth does open.

3) You not getting a game today had nothing to do with preorders, especially considering you didn't have one. Nothing.

4) You're pissy that you didn't get the game because the stores you went to got very limited supply on the shipping date of the game, and you went off on a rant on pre-orders. If there were no such thing as pre-orders, I doubt you would've got the game anyway.

5) Deconstruct your argument and see if you have anything left to use.

 

[evilromero]

Oops. I just pre-ordered Metroid Prime 2, RE4, Paper Mario 2, Pikmin 2 and a Nintendo DS. And I put down more than $5 on each. Oh shit.

 

[The Faceless Master]

i hate preorders, but i use 'em because everyone else does...

 

[DJ_Tet]

3) You not getting a game today had nothing to do with preorders, especially considering you didn't have one. Nothing.

4) You're pissy that you didn't get the game because the stores you went to got very limited supply on the shipping date of the game, and you went off on a rant on pre-orders. If there were no such thing as pre-orders, I doubt you would've got the game anyway.

You're absolutely correct. Be glad I don't have the ammo to shoot all of you down. I made perfectly legitimate arguements only to be shot down by pissy posters who wanted just to piss on my ideals. Today is "Day One" whether or not you want to admit it. People got the game today, therefore it was day one. Had I got the game, the post wouldn't exist. I'm just saying the system is flawed. Deconstruct that however you want to. It doesn't change the fact that the pre-order system is flawed.

 

[sc0la]

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.

Gamestop lets you transfer your preorder. All you have to do is bring your receipt and they will call the store you put the order in at and get the code over the phone so your 5$ gets applied. pwnxxored

besides is another 10-12 hours really that much of a wait for any game?

In related news this game was flying off of any shelf it was on today.

EDIT:

Deconstruct that however you want to. It doesn't change the fact that the pre-order system is flawed.

How?? You pre-order = You are guranteed a copy. There is nothing more to it than that. Period. If you want to talk about distribution then that is another thing all together.

 

[DJ_Tet]

How?? You pre-order = You are guranteed a copy.

Not true scola. The gamestop anecdote is nice and all, but no gamestops got copies in my area tonight. They were all EBs. SHAIOHIOTHOHOWNED!

Dumbass.

 

[Truelize]

U think that's bad i pre-ordered from EAstore.com and I haven't even recieved an email notifying me that it has shipped. Ugh!!

 

[DJ_Tet]

U think that's bad i pre-ordered from EAstore.com and I haven't even recieved an email notifying me that it has shipped. Ugh!!

My point exactly. We should all band together and NEVER preorder a game again.

 

[sc0la]

Not true scola. The gamestop anecdote is nice and all, but no gamestops got copies in my area tonight. They were all EBs. SHAIOHIOTHOHOWNED!

What I said was absolutely true. If you pre-order the game, you gurantee yourself a copy.

You asked how you would know which store to pre-order at, if you must have it at 00:01 after release then it is imposible to know. I gave you information that would increase if not maximize your abilty to get the "correct" store. Ask EB if they have a similar policy and if they appear to consistently get games a negligable fraction of your life earlier, then get the pre-order there. Or hey, you could pre-order at all the game stores in your area, then get all your pre-orders refunded after securing the title at the location that randomly gets their shipment an afternoon early. Its just as absurd as complaining about it here.

Dumbass.

See those "jackass" people who put down their 5 bones outsmarted you. They can walk in at their leisure and pick up the game tomorrow with out having an aneurysm. They will probably enjoy the game a whole lot more than you will now as well.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Anyone else think that pre-orders would work better if there was some sort of incentive? I know I sure as well would pre-order a lot more games if they offered like 10% off for pre-orders up to maybe like two weeks before release or something. Otherwise, screw pre-orders. I just don't see the point.

 

[sc0la]

Anyone else think that pre-orders would work better if there was some sort of incentive? I know I sure as well would pre-order a lot more games if they offered like 10% off for pre-orders up to maybe like two weeks before release or something. Otherwise, screw pre-orders. I just don't see the point.

Well considering the retailer's margins on new products is already pretty thin they would be hard pressed to offer any sort of monetary incentive, that is something the publishers would (and perhaps should) do. But there has never really been a market for incentivizing early adopters in video games, though I imagine a publisher that did it thoughtfully could receive some nice hype windfall.

Also you are neglecting things like art books, demo discs, shirts, bables and trinkets, accesories etc. that sometimes get bundled with pre-orders. Not much incentive, but incentive nonetheless.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

I've had bad luck with pre-order for the most part, but some went really well. Like Wind Waker for example, I got a bonus disc for putting $20 down and when I picked it up on release day I also got a t-shirt for free.

 

[DJ_Tet]

What I said was absolutely true. If you pre-order the game, you gurantee yourself a copy.

You asked how you would know which store to pre-order at, if you must have it at 00:01 after release then it is imposible to know. I gave you information that would increase if not maximize your abilty to get the "correct" store. Ask EB if they have a similar policy and if they appear to consistently get games a negligable fraction of your life earlier, then get the pre-order there. Or hey, you could pre-order at all the game stores in your area, then get all your pre-orders refunded after securing the title at the location that randomly gets their shipment an afternoon early. Its just as absurd as complaining about it here.





See those "jackass" people who put down their 5 bones outsmarted you. They can walk in at their leisure and pick up the game tomorrow with out having an aneurysm. They will probably enjoy the game a whole lot more than you will now as well.

Your point only holds if I can't find a copy tomorrow. And I doubt they enjoy the game any more than I do. If I put $5 down on a copy at Gamestop and find out that EB has the game today, how do I win? I don't. And that's my whole point.

Some people in this forum need some reading comprehension. Please, take some classes that teach you how to read. Now. Before you respond again. And I'm not just talking to you scola.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Well considering the retailer's margins on new products is already pretty thin they would be hard pressed to offer any sort of monetary incentive, that is something the publishers would (and perhaps should) do. But there has never really been a market for incentivizing early adopters in video games, though I imagine a publisher that did it thoughtfully could receive some nice hype windfall.

Also you are neglecting things like art books, demo discs, shirts, bables and trinkets, accesories etc. that sometimes get bundled with pre-orders. Not much incentive, but incentive nonetheless.

Unless things have changed recently, wholesale is in the neighborhood of $34 to a major retailer which means the margin isn't that thin. I think I'd be more likely to buy from a place that offered me a 10% discount for putting my money upfront as a reason to preorder now, rather than waiting to release and seeing all the sales that take place at like Fry's, Circuit City, and Best Buy at release. I rarely preorder. When I do, it's because there is an incentive and it's usually a discount online at like EB. It was great when you could get a game with no tax and free overnight shipping. I preordered stuff all the time then. Now that they charge tax, and their shipping got jacked up in price, I almost never order from them anymore since I can get it locally for cheaper, at their own store.

I just don't see the incentive to preordering when it's very rare that you can't get the game at release anyway.

 

[Grubdog]

Deconstruct that however you want to. It doesn't change the fact that the pre-order system is flawed.

Not to me it isn't, I pre-order a game when i'm 100% sure I want it, to guarantee that I get it. And that's what happens, I get the game, as soon as the store I pre-ordered it from has a copy. I don't see a flaw with that, and i'm perfectly happy to keep pre-ordering games I want.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Not to me it isn't, I pre-order a game when i'm 100% sure I want it, to guarantee that I get it. And that's what happens, I get the game, as soon as the store I pre-ordered it from has a copy. I don't see a flaw with that, and i'm perfectly happy to keep pre-ordering games I want.

Good be happy with that. I'm happy with getting the game as soon as anyone gets it. There was no guarantee today.

If I don't get the game tomorrow/today, I'll be happy/sad to eat crow.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Not to me it isn't, I pre-order a game when i'm 100% sure I want it, to guarantee that I get it. And that's what happens, I get the game, as soon as the store I pre-ordered it from has a copy. I don't see a flaw with that, and i'm perfectly happy to keep pre-ordering games I want.

If you had placed $5 to pre-order your game (NCAA 2005 for the XBox) there was no guarantee you got it today. Some did, but some who "preordered" didn't get it today. Good system there.

 

[sprsk]

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

yeeeeees

 

[dark10x]

The stores got screwed. A sibling of mine works at EB, actually, and she mentioned to me yesterday that they only recieved THREE copies for XBOX and 26 for PS2. There were a ton of people asking for the XBOX version, but they simply didn't have enough. It was a screw-up, but there was nothing they could do. :\

 

[sprsk]

my store got 191 copies of the game, more than enough for ps2 and xbox preorders.

 

[gunstarhero]

You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble and aggrivation if you would have just preordered it...

 

[swoon]

holy shit you live in Fuquay, NC.

 

[NotMSRP]

Official day one for every game is Wednesday. Tuesdays and Mondays are more like lotteries. Depends on luck if the stores even get games that early.

You could just place $5 preorders the day before the release if you don't like the idea of them gaining interest on your deposits. Of course, there wouldn't be enough time for the store to order the right allocation amount. Your money is completely refundable.

Yes, the system is flawed. Flawed in distribution, as shit happens time to time. Rather than use the word guarantee, the word probability should be used. Your probability increases proportionally to the amount you deposit: full pay and at various stores. After you get what you want, reclaim your money from the other stores. A bit of work but that will give your probability close to guarantee. Of course, this is only necessary if you must have the game at the very first second. You are guaranteed a copy by the second shipment.

 

[DJ_Tet]

holy shit you live in Fuquay, NC.

The truest thing said in this thread besides the originating post.

 

[StrikerObi]

If you really wanted to DJ_Tet, you could have just pre-ordered it at every fucking store in your area, snagged it at the first one that got the game, and just canceled the other 9 pre-orders. So quit your bitching.

You argument is somehow if you don't get the game on the fucking SHIPPING date (notice that's it not called a release date) the whole pre-order is basically worthless. You're missing the point entirely. That $5 you spent still goes towards the game, and it still saves you a headache of driving to all 10 stores that sell games in your area looking for one.

I've never ever seen somebody so fucking pissy over not getting a game the absolute second it is avaliable anywhere. Get a fucking life. Videogames aren't everything.

 

[levious]

Official day one for every game is Wednesday.

that is not, nor has it ever been true... just look at EB coming soon lists, true, more games ship on mondays and tuesdays... and Best Buy usually releases on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays... but any day of the week is open for a game release. Sonic Saturday, Mortal Monday...

 

[DJ_Tet]

Fuck off tool, it's just a topic.

You act like I think this is life or death, when I was basically just slamming the system. Damn, you think I kicked your puppy.

 

[DJ_Tet]

If you really wanted to DJ_Tet, you could have just pre-ordered it at every fucking store in your area, snagged it at the first one that got the game, and just canceled the other 9 pre-orders. So quit your bitching.

You argument is somehow if you don't get the game on the fucking SHIPPING date (notice that's it not called a release date) the whole pre-order is basically worthless. You're missing the point entirely. That $5 you spent still goes towards the game, and it still saves you a headache of driving to all 10 stores that sell games in your area looking for one.

I've never ever seen somebody so fucking pissy over not getting a game the absolute second it is avaliable anywhere. Get a fucking life. Videogames aren't everything.

Saved for posterity, that wasn't my point at all, but thanks for playing. I think you should take your grumpy ass to bed.

 

[StrikerObi]

Fuck off tool, it's just a topic.

You act like I think this is life or death, when I was basically just slamming the system. Damn, you think I kicked your puppy.

I'm not the one who won't shut up about how I didn't get my precious copy of Generic Sports Game 200X as soon as my buddy down the street did.

 

[DJ_Tet]

I shut up about it last night. Just leave the post ok? I'm not the one who can't let it go.

 

[NotMSRP]

There's no PR explicitly saying Wednesday is the official day. But from viewing patterns of releases for the past few years, Wednesday implicitly is the official day. Wednesday is the first day the general public is able to obtain the latest games without jumping through hoops.

 

[User 406]

I'll chime in on the "fuck preorders" side as I have before. Out of the last few times I preordered, at different stores, three of them did not honor that preorder when it was supposed to arrive. In all three cases I was able to walk into Best Buy and buy the game that same day. I ended up doing so and cancelling the preorder each time.

Now, regardless of what reason might lie behind the failure of each one, be it shipping error or whatever, here is the sequence of events that unfolded before my consumer eyes:

- Sales clerks push preorders. This isn't just for these particular cases, it happens all the time. If I call asking about a release date or stop in the store and ask about a game, I'm told that I should put money down on a preorder to guarantee my copy at launch. If I decline, I'm warned that "you won't be able to get it when it releases if you don't preorder, it's going to sell out and you won't be able to find a copy anywhere." I've been told this for big name releases as well as niche games. If it's a huge release, it'll sell out. If it's a niche game, not many will be shipped and it will be impossible to find. Only a preorder can save the day!

- On the day given to me by the store as the day of release, I call up/arrive at the store, only to be told that they didn't get enough copies to fill all their preorders, so I'll have to wait for the second shipment in a few weeks, or that the truck will be here tomorrow, or maybe the next day.

- I stop by Best Buy THE SAME DAY and see dozens of copies on the shelf. I buy one.

- I go back to the game shop and cancel my preorder.

So what's happened here is that the specialty retailers have pushed preorders with all kinds of talk about guarantees and warnings about unavailability if I don't preorder, only to not deliver the game when promised. When I put my money down, my preorder is guaranteed at launch, but at launch, they don't have enough to cover their preorders? What the?

As a consumer that sure makes me feel like EB & Gamespot are really happy to rack me up as a guaranteed sale on their books ahead of time, but aren't all that fucking interested in honoring the guarantee they promised ME. Meanwhile, other non-specialty retailers have the game in mass quantities. I guess all that stuff about sold out and hard to find games was bullshit. This only serves to reinforce my impression that the game stores just feed me a line of garbage to get me to commit to a sale, then slack off on holding up their end of the transaction.

I don't give a damn about shipping problems, reduced shipments, inventory glitches, or what have you. Keeping that crap under control is their job. If it's such a big problem, then DO NOT GUARANTEE THE CUSTOMER SOMETHING YOU CAN'T ACTUALLY GUARANTEE. Lying to your customers is NOT how you keep them.

So to hell with them. I haven't preordered since, nor even shopped at their stores, and amazingly enough, I've still had no trouble finding the games I want.

Fuck preorders.

 

[levious]

There's no PR explicitly saying Wednesday is the official day. But from viewing patterns of releases for the past few years, Wednesday implicitly is the official day. Wednesday is the first day the general public is able to obtain the latest games without jumping through hoops.

no

you consider going to a videogame dedicated store jumping through hoops?

 

[rawk]

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.

Actually, it seems that they've brought their prices down to the normal $50 lately, at least in my experience. but yeah, that Gamestop used to (and might still) charge 54.99, regularly, for new games, which was odd, considering you could get to an EB without even going outside!

 

[NotMSRP]

no

you consider going to a videogame dedicated store jumping through hoops?

Getting games on Mondays and Tuesdays from anyplace for anybody requires jumping through hoops. Wednesdays is the first day anyone is able to just walk into a store and pick it up without hassle, usually. Wednesday is the first general public day.

 

[levious]

Getting games on Mondays and Tuesdays from anyplace for anybody requires jumping through hoops. Wednesdays is the first day anyone is able to just walk into a store and pick it up without hassle, usually. Wednesday is the first general public day.

ok, not true, I hardly ever preorder without some kind of bonus... I don't know who told you this or if you just drew your own conclusion, but it's simply not true.

Again, if you think going to an EB or a Gamestop is jumping through a hoop, then fine.

 

[ninvampire]

Monday launches are always a case of the game being shipped out out thursday or friday and having implicit warnings to not break street date.

The biggest problem with Gamestop and EB not "honoring" preorders is because it's a company decision to sell-through as much as they can to walk-ups without selling through too many of their pre-orders.

There's generally about a 20% pre-order breakage that gives some stores a little bit of flexibility. I never believed in this practice myself (as it's self-desctructive to future pre-orders) but had to employ it in order to keep my store "competitive" with the other stores in the area. If I were to stand on my morals and had held each and every single pre-order my DM would have chewed me out for not selling-through my initial stock.

So yes, in a lot of ways it can be a flawed system, but its better than nothing. I still preorder major titles for that "peace of mind." I can still run out to Best Buy and whatnot (or whatever is more convienent) and always return to the store later on to get a refund on my preorder.

 

[human5892]

1.) Live in an area where you and like one other guy buy videogames
2.) Be able to buy any new game whenever you feel like it without preordering

Seriously, this whole preordering thing has always been a mystery to me. I can't fathom going into a store and them being sold out of something. I waited in line to get my GameCube on launch day, but that was more for the experience -- even after all of us were taken care of, there were still plenty left.

I guess that's one area where living in a big metropolitan area kind of sucks.