Saturday!
Well, maybe not the *LAST* pre-ordered game, but when the thought flitted across my head as I plopped 5 bucks down for South Park: The Stick of Truth
Stick of Truth, however, has me squealing. First off: Obsidian is doing it. So apart from a few bugs, the gameplay will be there. Second off: Matt and Trey are both (reportedly, anyway) involved with the game. So apart from the aforementioned bugs, the story should be there.
I am also worried: Obsidian is doing it. There may be, erm, *MORE* than a few bugs.
In any case, it looks like that will be the last game until maybe the next Dragon Age that will make me pre-order. And when Dragon Age demonstrates that, yes, Bioware is dead, dead, and gone forever… *THAT* will be The Last Pre-Ordered Game.
Probably.
So… what are you playing?
I don’t understand preorders. Or, for the most part, buying games before they become ridiculously cheap. But I’m happy that other people are lining up to subsidize my free-riding.
But even assuming you have to have it on release day, do retailers run out often enough to make preordering worth it?Report
Well, the pre-order does two things:
1) Reserves a copy for you. (There have been a non-zero number of times that a game I wanted was sold out and I had to drive to another store or, worse, wait a couple of days.)
2) Gives you wacky in-game stuff. A ring that has you get 2% more experience! A handful of different skins so you can play the game with a different colored outfit! Perhaps even a copy of the game’s soundtrack!
Now, I haven’t had a game run out on me since, oh, the PS2 days, I’m pretty sure so that first one doesn’t really seem to apply anymore but I admit to have been excited about my pre-order bonus for the original Dragon Age (the aforementioned ring).
The South Park pre-orders are, and I’m cutting and pasting this:
Pre-order South Park: The Stick of Truth and get the Ultimate Fellowship Pack for free. Said pack gives you four bonus costumes with special perks: Necromancer Sorcerer boosts your fire damage, Rogue Assassin lets you earn extra gold, Ranger Elf increases weapon damage, and Holy Defender raises your defense.
Gamestop gives you:
Super Spaceman Samurai Pack which includes three more costumes. Superhero buffs your character at the start of every fight, Samurai buffs you when you defeat an enemy, and Spaceman provides an emergency shield.
So that’s awesome.Report
I’ve been spoiled by Steam. I can’t remember the last time I bought a game on physical media.
I have bought a few pre-orders in recent years, thought I wasn’t swayed by the extras, they were games I would have bought soon after release anyway. I’ve also put an embarrassing amount of money into backing Kickstart projects. The latest craze seems to be Early Access games. I haven’t bought any of those directly, but I received keys due to Kickstarter backed projects and Humble Bundles.
(On an unrelated note, I think Steam Sales and Humble Bundles are turning me into a digital hoarder.)Report
Preorder mean you process a node before its children.Report
I don’t think I’ve ever had to do that.
I haven’t pre-ordered a game since…..one of the Halos maybe? And I only did that because I have a standing weekly Xbox game with the same two friends I’ve been playing games with for years, and that was our next game.
(So far Left for Dead 2 has had the highest hilarity per moment, because none of us are exactly great at shooters).Report
I have never done a proper preorder, but I have a good list of videogames I have supported on Kickstarter. Other than Shadowrun Returns, I am still waiting on most of them. I like the idea of supporting the games that I want to see made.
I thought I would not be able to do any boardgaming last week, but one of the guys came through, so I finally got to try out Dreadball. It was fun, though it is really designed for league play, where the players can develop over time (and the risk of player death is a bigger deal), than for one-shot games. I hope I can find a league now that I am in a bigger city.Report
Well the only thing I can say is that the South Park promotion of the Stick of Truth was funny as hell. Do you watch South Park Jay?Report
I watched it at the very beginning but stopped soon thereafter. When we dropped cable, I never saw another episode.
I understand they maintain high quality and, if I find myself linked to a youtube or whatever of a five minute clip, I’ll watch it… but I never really went out of my way to keep up.
Which is weird because it shares many of my sensibilities.Report
It truely does.Report
I only preorder when they give me cool shiny coins.Report
Skyrim’s my only pre-order. The previews looked good, and Elder Scrolls has a heck of a track record. Otherwise, I wait for Steam sales, being a cheap bastard.Report