How often does a game come out where it's canned like Dragon Age II? Most games come out and generally receive positive scores with most fans being satisfied with their purchase, what difference does it make whether they pay now or later? And my original question was remained unanswered on the people who preorder knowing full well they're going to enjoy it, such as me with the FFXII HD remaster.

Gears of War Judgement
Duke Nukem Forever
Ridge Racer (Vita)
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Sonic 2006

Theme: games from popular series that were critical failures and earned all of their money before people realized they were shit. Lesson: you can assume that you'll like it, bit you cannot be certain in knowing as you say you can.

If it's not shit? Great. Doesn't mean you need to reserve a copy before release unless it's a limited run or a collector's edition. In the case of FF12HD, preordering is entirely unnecessary. It received a regular printing run and even the "limited" edition is far from scarce.

I simply don't see enough games failing for preorders to be the underlying cause of the problem. Halo 5 was right in the middle of the preorder season last year yet it had the shittiest numbers in the series when it came to actual copies being sold. For every point there's a counter-point on preordering.

So quick question: if it's poor sales are an indicator of quality (hypothetical), then would you say that those who bought it day 0-- knowing that they'd love it-- made an uninformed decision based on sales pitches (eg: preorder bonuses) and assumptions that it would be of a higher quality?

That strengthens my point: the culture of preordering lends to uninformed purchasing. It's no different than someone who votes for a political party just because they always have, regardless of the candidate's pros or cons. If a game can make back large portions of its costs on opening day, it incentivizes publishers to prioritize marketing the property over providing a solid day 1 experience.

And we can see this effect in game series such as Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed. Sales numbers are generally trending downwards for both series (although CoD  has admittedly recovered from its spiral as of late). These complaints vary from stagnating gameplay to game-breaking Day 1 bugs.

I'm not hitting a hard "no" on preordering. Under certain circumstances it is, in fact, acceptable. This exception is using preordering for its original purpose: making sure that you can actually get the product when it releases. You see this more clearly in performance venues such as concerts than games, as spacing is infinitely more limited than how many copies of a game can possibly be printed. If you understand that a game will have a limited run, then it's alright to preorder. But if you're preordering the standard edition of Call of Duty 42: Space Boogaloo, then that's an irresponsible use of your money. Just wait a day at least to see user feedback before you blow nearly $70 on a game that might actually suck.

After reading through the posts, I believe some of you guys have pre-order confused with putting money down on reserving a copy. Companies don't make any money on a game until it's finished and shipped to the consumer.

You are agreeing to pay money for a product before you could see whatever flaws it has. A great example of this is Dragon Ago II. Prior to launch, multiple sites had given it scores between 8 and 10; if you want reference on where it sits now, it has an average user score of 4.5.

Besides that, you're arguing as if a significant number of people cancel preorders. If people who place them don't cancel, they're paying money under the same condition: whether it's day -365 or day 0, you're agreeing to pay a product of undetermined quality.

Vote with your wallet. It doesn't only mean to boycott bad releases, but also to purchase when you're actually informed.

I haven't heard "what's your damage" since one of those early 2000s Lindsey Lohan movies.

It's the basis of modern cinematography. It-- on its own-- isn't an outstanding movie, but it revolutionized the technical side of film.

It's also why the whole "the new Citizen Kane" comparisons that get thrown around occasionally always fall flat: they use it to just mean "this movie/game is really good", but it offers nothing new and groundbreaking from technical standpoints.

It sucks, yeah, but don't wish away your life. You'll miss the little things that you take for granted.

Hail quads

Hopefully I can put something on the Sun/Moon dual pack in the near future, Persona 5 CE as well.

If it weren't for collectables, I wouldn't even think of preordering either. It's only applicable in the cases of limited editions or limited supplies, and the standard copy of a game rarely deals with either.

Quote from: Prime, Field Researcher on August 01, 2016, 12:14:58 AM

If you don't have a Wii U or New 3DS, the Smart Boy will be releasing soonish as a legal way to play games on your phone. At that point, it's all on the consumer to actually buy the product. Running out of excuses.

Didn't even know that was a thing. Neat.

It's great. And since it only uses the cart to verify what game is being played (similar to Gen 8 consoles), a dead cart can be played just as well as one with fresh batteries. On top of that, it can replicate the save file from the emulator to the cart in case you want to play on a different device.

Quote from: Prime, Field Researcher on July 30, 2016, 02:35:50 AM

I don't see the point of watching a speedrun that takes at least five hours to complete. I'll dedicate an hour, two if it's really interesting, but things tend to stop being fun when you take the speed out of it.

Glitch Runs go for ~An hour and a half tho

Which is why under an hour is perfect, but I'll watch something under two hours if it's neat.

I'd travel Germany. I just adore Gothic architecture.

your intelligence has been damaged

INT is unnecessary

Skooma jump for 2 second time-save is worth the medicinal lobotomy

I watched a Halo 2 speed-run once, never thought that would be a thing.

And the Oblivion, Skyrim ones are neat

s k o o m a
k
o
o
m
a

Death happens

Quote from: Verbatim on July 25, 2016, 07:30:14 AM

I'm subscribed to gunnermaniac3 on YouTube, who currently holds the world record for Pokémon Red, Yellow, and Crystal.

Not familiar with Pokemon speedruns. Is it to defeat all the gyms asap or to collect all pokemon asap?

Any% for Blue/Silver means "underflow/code your way to the Hall of Fame/Red", 151/100% is catch 'em all. For Red, Yellow, or any Pokémon game that isn't held together by ducktape  (not very many), it's the Elite Four.

Red races are fun.

Quote from: Prime, Field Researcher on July 25, 2016, 12:56:28 AM

#KillTheAnimals

That isnt canon though

Fuck canon, save the frames.