Preordering (at gamestop) seems kinda pointless

[JC48573]

tbh, my last preorder was Gran Turismo 5 CE at gamestop. I think Kmart is beginning to catch on and in some way affecting Gamestop sales. I did pick up Wild Arms Alter Code F today though at gamestop.

[Balasubbie]

Why's it pointless?

[Jmustang1968]

Preordering is great for smaller distributors like nisa and atlus. They ship out based on preorder #s. Gamestop now often gets some sort of preorder bonus as well, be it free dlc or other random goodies...

[Evildeadmanwalking77]

It depends on the game. If it's like the new Madden, Halo, Call of Duty etc. then I don't think it's pointless. I've only preordered a game like 3xs at Game Stop. Unless it's something I REALLY want, then I just wait for the price to go down on new releases for the most part. I'm not big on pre ordering in general but I don't find it pointless.

[isiolia]

I stopped bothering when they stopped holding them for a week. Last time I preordered something there was Bioshock CE - I went in that friday as I'd been busy, and they'd already sold it (keeping in mind too that, while it had been a while, I used to work at that store). They did transfer one from another store n' all that - but I could just as well have preordered it from Amazon at that point.

So that's what I do now.

I've kind of stopped going to Gamestop much in general. They barely have PC games at all, standards for used games are way down, and nearly anything else that almost any other store wouldn't have anyway, is probably a stickered-up gut copy.

[dsheinem]

I think the reason the OP says it is pointless is because it is always more expensive.

If you preorder releases on Amazon you often get $10-$20 in credit, a price that's cheaper by a few bucks compared to retail, and/or DLC and the like.

If you wait to buy in store on release day, Kmart usually has $10-$25 gaming coupons plus other incentives (e.g. a free game or a newer game for $20).

Unless you really want some GS exclusive DLC, or you really need a game at midnight, there's not much reason to preorder from GS.

[noiseredux]

I've kind of stopped going to Gamestop much in general. They barely have PC games at all, standards for used games are way down, and nearly anything else that almost any other store wouldn't have anyway, is probably a stickered-up gut copy.

so what are you saying? Gamestop is evil?

[isiolia]

I've kind of stopped going to Gamestop much in general. They barely have PC games at all, standards for used games are way down, and nearly anything else that almost any other store wouldn't have anyway, is probably a stickered-up gut copy.

so what are you saying? Gamestop is evil?

Aren't they though?

Most of that though is more an observation of how far standards have fallen since I worked there (well, Software, Etc at the time). For example, back then, we'd not take very scratched up discs, or ones with certain types of damage (circular scratches). We required a complete case for disc games. That sort of thing.

[Opa Opa]

Aren't they though?

Ehh... Who isn't these days?

Anyway... I'll only preorder a game if I really want it. If there is some kind of bonus (like a soundtrack for example) exclusive to GS, I'll get it at GS.

I am starting to like Amazon for preorders though. Great service.

[t0yrobo]

Well considering the already mentioned deal you gat from Amazon, and that the DLC Gamestop usually gives out is a bunch of crap I don't want to support, yeah it is pretty pointless. I'll only preorder smaller releases that might be hard to find, otherwise I just go to Target where they have a nice big stack of every new release (sometimes before GS).