KazeoHin
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2011
- Messages
- 9,058
I've seen it discussed in other threads. I've seen it mentioned here and there. But lets get straight to the point and give this the full topic it deserves.
In the modern, digital age: there are few reasons to pre-order video games; In fact one can argue that pre-ordering a video game is a form of self-punishment. I'm not directly a developer, though I do align myself VERY closely with the opinions and needs of full-time developers, and my secondary source of income is directly tied to the video game industry, or as I like to call it: Interactive Arts. So allow me to be the guy who basically tells you to stop doing the thing that the industry is trying so hard to make you do, even if it means going against what a LOT of publishers tell developers to communicate.
Pre-Order culture is hurting the players. This form of economy actively rewards publishers to rush out half-baked content as quickly as possible, take all of their pre-order income to the bank, and start on another would-be 'snatch and run' project. You'll hear publishers talk about how a game will make more money in its first week of availability than the rest of its lifetime during their seminars and lectures. Essentially advising to chop up a game into as many pieces as possible to be available as day-one DLC, or pre-order/retailer bonuses, basically putting more time and effort into getting pre-orders and DLC awareness than into product QA. The publishers sell Pre-Orders, not games: the games don't need to work. As soon as you've deposited your money into the publisher's account to purchase a product that has yet to be released, you've communicated to the publisher that their marketing is more lucrative than their software. This is why you see E3 In Game™ trailers that are completely pre-rendered. This is why you see entire sections of voice-acted, narrative relevant gameplay chopped up and sold as day-1 DLC. Every time you pre-order a game, any game, from any studio, large or small, you are telling the publisher, not metaphorically suggesting, not 'might as well be telling them', but objectively and literally communicating to them that you care more about a game's marketing than the actual quality of the game.
Just don't pre-order games. It does not make sense.