Other than getting a better deal, it doesn’t matter where you buy a book, a DVD or even a pair of shoes to get the complete package. You walk into a Barnes and Noble or order on Amazon, you pay and then receive your item. The transaction is complete with you getting what you paid for. A straightforward process if there ever was one. But in the video game industry, it matters a great deal where you buy your game and even when you buy a game. The “when” is usually in a two-day span of the game’s release. This leads to a lot of confusion and controversy among consumers about a recent trend of pre-order exclusive incentives.
A few years ago, the main video game retail store was GameStop. But retail stores wanted a piece of that video game pie. Stores such as Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and even Target want to entice gamers to buy the game at their store. It’s not a bad concept from a business standpoint. Lock-in an exclusive in-game item and the gamer will choose our store over the competitors. Take for example Gears of War 3. Each of the aforementioned retailers, except Target, offered a specific character that could be used in multiplayer. It didn’t change how the game played, just how your character looked. Sometimes, pre-order incentives take the shape of t-shirts, money or a better edition of said game for no extra charge like the recently released Dark Souls, a hardcore role-playing game that is infamous for its difficulty. These usually amount to soundtracks and art-books but they are free nonetheless.
However, some pre-order incentives can affect the game to a degree. L.A. Noire had pre-order incentives in the form of full cases that the player could take on. You could also receive suits that improved some facet of combat in the game. These were later released, for a price. Battlefield 3, one of the most anticipated games of the fall season, has several pre-order incentives from GameStop. One, which has been reacted with organized boycotts, includes the “Physical Warfare Pack” which gives the buyer two guns and two attachments for guns. However, it has been confirmed that these items do not change the game in a significant way. “Owning these items will give you a more varied arsenal, but it will not give you a significant advantage on the battlefield.” The other pre-order incentive is the Back To Karkand DLC, which includes four Battlefield 2 maps updated with the current Battlefield 3 engine. These will be released later, for a price. In theory, you can play the game without getting any of the pre-order incentives but taking things out that are sold to you later is something I do not condone.
The above incentives are the ones that really drive me up a wall. I won’t be buying Battlefield 3 on day one so this “Back to Karkand” and “Physical Warfare Pack” are huge incentives for me not to get the game at all. Knowing that I would have to buy maps that others got for free or be outgunned does not appeal to me in the slightest. Leave your opinions of pre-order incentives below or shoot me an email with your comments.
