Because Stickers and a pen are so needed for a game? rofl go post your hate on something other than a nintendo game.

I didn't say it was necessary, but why couldn't this shit just be part of the main product as a nice little extra? For instance, The Witcher 2 came with the Making of DVD, Soundtrack, Map, and more. That was just the regular edition! Of course not all companies do this and that is quite an excessive amount of stuff to add, but it would just be nice every now and then to see them go the extra mile and throw in a couple of bonus items.

I think you're looking at preorder bonuses the wrong way. While I 100% agree that the DLC should just be there, physical items are different. The way I see it, they're a fantastic perk for buying early. With the way so many things drop now a days... it can be annoying paying the full price. So I think the bonuses are great for that reason, but maybe I am alone.

You really should try to look at it from a business perspective. If owned a business, especially retail, you would look for anything to make buyers want to come to you over competition. Since in most retail environments prices are controlled by the parent companies. Those companies pay just a little extra in order to get those itty bitty extras. And i would be willing to bet you have at some point either pre-ordered something to get an extra or missed out on some free extra by not pre-ordering. It's also used as a tool to get quantity estimates. Which many people don't understand or even think about, if they get you in the store to let them know how many to have on launch day it eliminates problems like short supply and over spending. And you are out nothing by pre-ordering , it doesn't cost anything extra and it guarantees you have a copy set aside and don't have to search for stuff. And you usually get free stuff.

I do think on-disc DLC is kinda BS though.

Thank you for your post, Tidus. I understand the reasoning from the retailers point of view - I just disagree with it. Admittingly, this game was a bad example to express my opinion on - but take something like Twisted Metal. Pre-ordering it at GameStop gave you a code to unlock Axel, a character that wasn't going to be available for another week or two for everyone else. That's bullshit. Or the games that offer maps and unlockable weapons that you have to buy separately otherwise - such as Max Payne 3, Call of Duty. And don't get me started on Crysis 3. A game we've barely seen and already has pre-order bonus items in the pipeline.

As for pre-ordering games, I never have. Why? Because I have NEVER once experienced a launch where I simply couldn't find a copy of a game I wanted. If it was sold at GameStop, I'd go to Walmart, or in most cases now I go to Amazon and get the $10-$20 gift cards. I'd rather that than pre-order at a store that is known for fucking up, not receiving pre-order bonus items in time and selling reserved copies to the public by accident, that kind of thing.

The ONLY time I would consider pre-ordering is for collectors/special editions. But let's face it, even they're a waste of time. All you usually get is an artbook, soundtrack and maybe a fancy boxart that may or may not look as good as the regular edition.