In the olden days, pre-order incentives meant an art book, or a soundtrack, or a statue. Something ancillary that wasn't part of the game experience so I didn't feel like screwed if I skipped it. Yeah, it was nice to have a solid steel case on my shelf, but if I skipped it, who cares, nobody gives a shit about Dante's abs after 6 weeks. Now pre-order incentives are parts of the fucking game. A campaign, A dungeon, a game mode, a character, a weapon. Which means if I want to play the whole fucking game, I have to buy the game before that game comes out. Which means if the game is jacked on release (GTA5, Diablo 3, Dishonored, Watch Dogs, Battlefield, the list goes on) I just have to deal with it or stare at a $60 paperweight on my shelf. Well I don't want to deal with it. I want to wait until the game comes out and find out if its worth my 60 dollars cause that's what being a consumer is. I want to wait and see if someone puts it on sale, or if my favorite mom and pop store that doesn't do pre-orders is going to offer it early, or I may just not want to buy MKX in April cause I got shit to do until May. I want to have options as a consumer. The problem is, if I wait even a single day after release (or in most cases, 48 hours before release), the price of the game goes up by x dlc dollars. If I want to buy it from a retailer that doesn't do pre-orders, the price goes up. If I want to look for a sale, the price goes up. If I want to buy it for a different platform because the one I platform I pre-ordered it turns out to be the balls version, the price goes up. If I just don't want to buy it before April 14th, the price goes up. Either that or I'm the asshole on the block who made a stand and got a dick in his mouth instead of a full game cause nobody else cares. That's the problem. And its a needless problem. Pre-order money does not benefit development or consumers at all. Boon didn't get a raise cause you pre-ordered. Paolo didn't get an extra two weeks to test cause you pre-ordered. WB didn't green light an extra dlc character cause you pre-ordered. Its just a Dillon & Dutch caliber hand shake between publishers and retailers to fill the coffers before release instead of after it like god intended. Its Wimpy getting his free hamburger on Monday and short changing me on Tuesday. So they can make more money for less game because the games in development have started paying for themselves before anyones even played them.
