"PoP + Splinter Cell" or "Rewarding the fence-sitters"

[Stugein]

I posted this originally to the IGN boards after reading an article there. Reposted here for discussion.

The article that prompted this is located here.

Basically if you buy Prince of Persia during the month of January you score Splinter Cell for free. Great deal. Excellent.

So what about those of us who bought PoP before, like when it came out or the days and weeks following? Yeah PoP is fun and I am having a blast with it, but I certainly would've waited to buy it had I known this deal would be coming down the pike. I'm annoyed. Rewarding the late-comers and leaving the folks that gave them high initial and holiday sales out in the cold.

I've noticed this marketing trend on an upswing recently. It's been done for a long time on various scales, but it seems to be getting popular among marketing weens to boost post-release sales. The whole "Special Edition DVD" fiasco. Movie gets released. The fans buy the DVD. A month later you have the "Special" version with a gajillion extra features and 3 weeks worth of bonus footage. Not too long ago Sony released an Everquest expansion and made it available for pre-order from their website and downloadable to those that preordered. However, come release time (or soon thereafter, I don't recall exactly) there was a boxed version available in stores that came with a keychain and bonus in-game items that you could only obtain if you bought the boxed copy. Now this deal with PoP + Splinter Cell. These are just some examples.

If this trend continues (which I assume it will) what is the point of preordering anymore? Where's the incentive to buy a game/movie/whatever when it first comes out? Why risk getting shortchanged as a fan by buying a product at release when it is becoming apparent more and more that folks will just get rewarded for ignoring the inital product launch anyway?

Maybe I'm just bitter since I bought Prince of Persia early and am probably going to also end up blowing cash on Splinter Cell while other folks who didn't think Prince of Persia was worth the purchase alone will get rewarded for sitting on the fence about it.

[Inyidd]

Just to set the record straight, SoE made no secret about the keychain/in game item bonus before putting the expansion up for sale.

[Stugein]

No, it was not a big secret or anything. But it still rewarded those that did not preorder. It's just one example.

[Elyssanda]

one could say it gave something to those who went out spent time looking for the box, bought it, and came home rather than just downloading it with a few button clicks.

Personally, I prefer having a cd for every program I own.. so I waited.

[Stugein]

Somehow I don't see a Sony marketing drone going, "Golly gee guys! These folk who preordered are fine, but what about the gas mileage and time lost to those users who went out to stores in search of a boxed version? They need to be reimbursed somehow!"

But I'm not trying to focus just on the EQ part here. It's that marketing scheme in general. Rewarding the late-comers. "Action Man VII: Return of the Fury Fist of Chaos" gets released on DVD. Fans of the film run out and buy it. Two months later the "Special" version comes out with all the extras and the fans who initially supported the release are stuck with either (a) a lower tier product or (b) spending double the cash just to get the features that they would have gotten for the price of one had they just waited. With the whole Prince of Persia/Splinter Cell deal. People who waited are now getting rewarded with an extra game for FREE. Those who bought PoP and supported it come launch time got hosed or have to pay full price for the second game.

I understand the scheme. It is good marketing. It boosts lagging sales in the months following a release, when interest in the product begins to wane. It extends the life of a product in the minds of the targeted audience. It's good business sense. My question though is, where is the incentive to preorder this stuff or buy these products at launch anymore? Why buy a game on the first day when next month you can get that game and another game free? Why buy a DVD at launch when you can get the "Special" version a few weeks later? Why preorder an expansion when you can go get it in a box and get all the fuzzy extras included?

I'm the type of person who likes to get stuff at the outset. I have always bought games and movies I want on or soon after the launch date. I preorder more often than not. More and more lately I find myself regretting doing so.

[Quesci]

Originally posted by Stugein
My question though is, where is the incentive to preorder this stuff or buy these products at launch anymore? Why buy a game on the first day when next month you can get that game and another game free? Why buy a DVD at launch when you can get the "Special" version a few weeks later? Why preorder an expansion when you can go get it in a box and get all the fuzzy extras included?

Because some people gotta have it now. And they pay extra for it, either in the form of higher prices or missing extras.

Taken to an extreme, you could complain that someone who starts in Everquest now can get the EQ Evolutions box, with five expansions, for only $30. How is that fair? I paid at least $150 for those five expansions!

If you have to be the first on your block to have something, you will pay more for it, and it will have less features.

[Draggar]

Originally posted by Quesci
Because some people gotta have it now. And they pay extra for it, either in the form of higher prices or missing extras.

Taken to an extreme, you could complain that someone who starts in Everquest now can get the EQ Evolutions box, with five expansions, for only $30. How is that fair? I paid at least $150 for those five expansions!

If you have to be the first on your block to have something, you will pay more for it, and it will have less features.

I lose some disks, so I found a copy of EQ, Kunark, and Velious for less than $10. That cost me about $90 orig

[ceno65]

Same thing with GoD, you can get some little staff toy, a ingame staff, and a month subscription to alakazms.

[Furyrpied]

Quote:

No, it was not a big secret or anything. But it still rewarded those that did not preorder. It's just one example.

I did pre-order LDoN but I did so at EBGames. I don't have a credit card so I do not have the option to pre-order online.

I think that anyone who pre-ordered (online or not) should have received something.

But that's just this halfling's oppinion.

[thrashette]

open your eyes.

If this trend continues (which I assume it will) what is the point of preordering anymore?

The point of preordering is to allow software companies, who invest most of thier money up front, to recoup some of thier losses prior to release.

If you think that the preorder system in any way designed to benefit the consumer, you have a rude awakening coming. The companies know that you are buying sight unseen, and once they have your money they have no motivation to give it back.

I find software companies that allow preorders to be despicable. They are very often the same companies that as a rule release buggy, incomplete, delayed games.

I also find that the people who give these companies orders for nonexistant products, to be the drivers of rotten game quality. If people refused to buy games until you knew that they were complete and polished, we'd have a better industry. As it is, we have a games industry based on hype, fanfare, and 0-day releases rather than on gaming fun and polish.

In the case of Sony/Verant/989/Red Eye...we have all been there, we have all done that, and we all have the T-Shirt that says 'I pressed the Connect button for 9 days straight in Velious!!! '

You think that you got ripped on your preorder? Yes, you did. But it's not becasue you didn't get a 50 cent keychain. You got ripped because you gave your money early to Sony, who has a 7 expansion track record of releasing incomplete, buggy crap that takes 2 to 3 weeks to straighten out.

Don't believe the hype. Keep your money until you play a demo, or at least read a release review. In the case of Everquest, if we all waited to pay Sony until people can actually log in for a couple expansions, maybe we could all log in the first day in three or four more.

[Cantatus]

This really isn't anything new. There are two types of customers: Those who buy something right away and those that don't. Companies need to find a way to ensure their product continues to sell after the initial rush has fallen off. They need to find a way to appeal to those customers who might be sitting on the fence.

Personally, I refuse to pay $50 for a Computer or Playstation2 game. To me, that is just too expensive. Sure, I have to wait a few months, but I'd rather not pay full price. There is the rare case where I will buy a game as soon as it hits the shelf (usually FF games), but I usually wait for a sale or additional perk.

Keep in mind though that there are usually a lot of perks for pre-ordering as well. Sony often lowers the price for those that pre-order. Several MMOGs that have been released recently have had some nice pre-order deals. For instance, pre-ordering Horizons got you access to two items you could only get from pre-ordering and a CD with a bunch of extras. Of course, there is also the added bonus of being able to play the game and not have to wait.

[Cavel]

Here is the deal... Retail stores that Sell Games are loosing money because of the ability to Download games. Some companies that Make said games are being sympathetic to that, knowing that if these outlets go under future games that they produce will not have a physical shelf space to gain sales from. It is simple marketing and money making.

The Difference between the pre-order and Box set was approx $5 more for the Box for LDoN. Now looking at what it cost to make a box, press the cd and pay off the artist for the cover art the boxes would net SoE around $3-4 per unit more than the download... This is Smart marketing.

So they are now not only satisfying your want for instant gratification and also putting a pretty box on a shelf to entice others to buy it.

Not disturbing to me at all... Just good Business.

[Malthorn]

Would this be a bad time to mention that I pre-ordered LDoN. Got the key chain, the in game bag, free shipping and that it was cheaper than what you could get it for from SOE.