@dudeglove: Your entire conspiracy theory is banking on the implication that you know exactly what every company is doing with their pre-order money, and I'm going to take a very risky guess and say that you actually have no idea. So what, before release day, my $60 are all put into the "bloated marketing budget," but after day 1, it magically goes anywhere but? Give me a break. Besides, I didn't know marketing was suddenly sleazy. Man, it's like they're in it to make money or something. What a crazy idea!
Also, wow do you buy into crazy ideas easily. Because I pre-order, I'm hurting Giant Bomb? Come on, man. I don't appreciate the assumption that I'm some mad idiot who doesn't know what video games are. Guess what, I already know whether or not I want to buy a game before Giant Bomb ever Quick Looks it, if they ever do, save for some crazy out-of-the-way indie title I never would've heard of otherwise. How do I do this? Because of everything I said before. I know what video games are, and I don't need Giant Bomb or any other website to tell me Assassin's Creed II, Left 4 Dead 2, Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, or Majora's Mask 3D is going to be good.
Oh, and there is a point to pre-ordering: I want it on day one and I want a physical copy (because what's the point of buying digital when it costs the same?) and if I get a cool Retro Lancer skin or a boost to my starting ingame currency, then sure, why the heck not? I didn't pay any more for it.
Finally, me contributing to an "unfinished product" is probably a lot of bull. What you're thinking of is Kickstarter or Indiegogo, where people just scream "I have an idea, and I need money for it!" By the time I get around to pre-ordering a game from Gamestop, I'd be willing to bet it's a lot more finished than you think, so again, who/what is my pre-order hurting? Am I really so bad for pre-ordering GTAV when I know Rockstar, and their track record with that series, or should I have waited for the gaming websites to tell me what I had already known?
So you're right, pre-orders are not killing the industry. I dare say it's probably not even impacting it in any way that you've mentioned. If the game was going to sell anyway, what difference does it make when they got their money?
Log in to comment