You shouldn't pre-order Alien: Isolation (or any other game)

Polygon: That’s the reality of the situation. Good pre-order numbers sound good on earnings calls, and they’re evidence of an upcoming successful launch. They can be a PR weapon if a company wants to crow about strong early support for a title. They’re treated like money in the bank, and rightfully so: A customer is more or less committing to buying a game before they’ve read a review or heard from others who have played the game to completion.

[GeofferyPeterson]

Pre-ordering is for impatient or rich people only.

[matrixman92]

if you cant afford the 5 dollars on a game, you probably shouldnt be spending money on games in the first place

[MartinB105]

5 dollars? Preorder with Amazon; it costs nothing. :)

[Alex_Boro]

What's the point of paying 5 dollars in the first place?

[tgunzz]

Preordering is for anyone who anticipate, or is excited about a game (destiny/Hmcc/sunset overdrive/etc/etc)... Preorders are refundable as well, and for those that don't offer, a simple push from the gaming community would easily change that policy. Most game devs who trust in their product will normally chronical tons of game play previews as the game approaches release. For me, I grow skeptical when a dev is so heavily focused on the graphical side of it's development. I tend to hold off my purchase until I get a chance to play, or enough feed back is out there. At the same time, a person can just rent a game first.

[Regis]

Preorders are not refundable when it comes to Sony or Microsoft as faar as I know.

[MartinB105]

Why? Pre-order with Amazon. It costs nothing and you're free to change your mind right up until the product ships.

I wouldn't do it with a game that I'm unsure of, but I see no reason not to do it with a game that I know I'm going to buy anyway.

[CorndogBurglar]

Rich people? Why is that? You aren't paying any more for the pre-order than you are for the game when it releases. Also, if you pre-order, you can slowly put smaller amounts of money down on it until it releases instead of paying the full $60 when it comes out.

But most importantly, like someone else said, if you have to be "rich" to pre-order in your mind, then maybe you shouldn't be playing video games at all. Check your priorities.

But its okay. I realize this is troll bait...

[admiralvic]

Sigh~ I'm getting sick of the "you shouldn't preorder anything" articles and am really waiting for the "you should absolutely never buy anything on day 1" or "if you purchase something without reading a review you're a chump," since it's a two way street.

Yes, some games have over the top preorder bonuses and I would be sad if things like Alien: Isolation became the norm, but there is still a long road until we hit that point. Especially since many preorder items turn out to be pack ins / special editions (CoD, BF4, Darksiders II, Batman AC, Injustice, the list really goes on for a while). With that being said, the issue I have with people jumping on the "we're evil for helping publishers / retailers get things right and promote them withholding content" is that sometimes preordering makes sense.

For starters, some retailers like Best Buy make it a no brainer to purchase something.They have a nifty program called GCU, which knocks 20% off new games and that drops anything at $60 down to $48. This discount really comes in handy for collector's editions, since I reserved Destiny's LE for only $80. Best Buy also tends to offer credit with some games and thats another $10 in credit Destiny and others like Wolfenstein offered a whopping $25 in credit. Other retailers like K-Mart will give you $20 for newer games and these usually stack with other promotions to bring the discount up to insane levels. In fact, I was able to score $45 back in credit for buying Mario Kart 8 on release. Even places like Amazon can inadvertently offer a good deal, like before The Witch and the Hundred Knight came out, Target dropped the price from $50 to $20 to preorder and Amazon matched it. Because of the low price guarantee, anyone who had preordered it prior to that point got a $30 dollar discount that Amazon DID honor.

In the end, preordering is not this absolutely evil thing that we should never consider and doing so makes you a sucker. Some places offer actual deals, most preorder bonuses are worthless crap (For instance, Destiny simply offers you early unlocks according to the official site) and a fair amount of this content turns out to be bundled anyway. To put it simply, there are things we should take a stance for and against, but telling people they shouldn't preorder anything ever is just arrogant.

[ZombieGamerMan]

Oh yes god forbid developers try to offer us free bonus content that's not just some rinky dink gun skin, oh how horrible these guys making Alien Isolation are for recreating the second half of the movie as bonus content to be enjoyed free by putting $5 refundable dollars on a game I am interested in. They should feel ashamed/HEAVY SARCASM

Seriously guys if you are willing to pay $20 or $90 more for a collector's edition which brings extra game content like skins, weapons and what not than you should be more than willing to accept story based content made free by just pre ordering a game.

[Godmars290]

"but there is still a long road until we hit that point."

Newsflash: we have literally hitting that point.

A big ticket, AAA game is exploiting the popularity of its source material to both secure sales, and get more than the initial $60 sales price.

What is it going to take to make you see that we are smack dab in the middle of this particular train wreck? Non-high profile titles getting their content sliced up while still costing $60?

Though really, the only - ONLY - case where pre-orders might be a good thing is Witch and the Hundred Knight because not as many copies of it are going to be made as Alien; Isolation.

[Kurisu]

Pre-ordering is an OPTION. If you don't want to pre-order, then don't.

[CorndogBurglar]

But...you're not paying more than the initial $60 to pre-order that AAA game that is "exploiting the popularity of the source material." You're just paying some a little early.

This is where people make mistakes in their arguments. You don't pay more to pre-order. The money you money you put down is going toward the game. They don't charge you a penny more.

And to be honest, i don't care about the extra content because its content that will eventually be available anyhow.

I was pre-ordering games back before they used to offer any extra content. I remember pre-ordering Halo 2, Soulcaliber 2, and Ninja Gaiden on the original X-Box and not getting anything extra. So the extra content reall doesn't bother me.

[Godmars290]

@Kurisu:
And just like what's going on with iOS titles and microtransactions, its the minority of gamers willing to pay for trivial s**t that's creating conditions which the majority have to deal with because that pandering scale has become the business model.

@CorndogBurglar:
They confirm a sale. That allows companies to make/confirm projections and effects stock prices which then sets bonuses. Its speculative projection which makes the idea or expectation of a product more valuable to the company than the actual product. Effects it quality.

It does little, or less and less, good for the consumer because the final product can be put out in any condition than what was promised, as Aliens Colonial Marines proved, or with this new DLC tactic with content either removed as a way to incentivise for pre-order, used as excuse to charge more than asking price, or not offered at all after the pre-order phase effectively punishing and denying regular customers.

The whole counter point is that back in the even the $5 put down months before a title's release rewarded retail companies as that money sat in a bank if only by a few cents. Now its gotten worse because the potential profit margin via manipulating consumers only looks to go higher.

[Alex_Boro]

Pre ordering regular games at places like gamestop is stupid because they never sell out (unless it's a collectors edition) but the only time I pre order is on amazon so I get it release day. I wouldn't pre order this aliens game since the last one was a huge disappointment made by a great studio.

[TitanUp]

For me pre ordering games helps manage budgets, organize backlogs and future titles.

I have 11 games pre ordered for the ps4 just 5$ each but paying 80$ a week on games isn't too bad. if i need to cancel a game or see some pre release gameplay i dislike i can always cancel the game and receive full refund.

[WeAreLegion]

Played the demo at E3 and absolutely loved it. It felt like Outlast with Aliens. I already have it paid off. I can't wait!

I pre-order games so I can pay them off little by little AND so I can pad pre-order numbers for my friends who still work at GameStop. (I worked there for four years.)

[Palitera]

I didnt play it, but it seems like utter crap to me.

In the end, we'll see who was right...

[ironfist92]

"Didnt Play it...Seems like Utter crap."

This...This is precisely what very wrong with gamers mentality today.

How does that sentence even make a little bit of logical sense.

[Palitera]

^ you're very limited if you don't understand I'm not saying it *is* crap, but from every little piece they've shown it *looks like* a turf of a game.

How could someone say a game rlz or sux before the release, genius?

This logic you criticize for lack of comprehension is exactly the logic you do when you buy a title you have never played, derpino.

[Dannycr]

I agree with you (didn't play it, but saw it demoed by the devs) and I'm happy to see some love for it.

I also agree with your reason for preordering. I buy mostly collector's editions and if I remember correctly, amazon has a policy that once you preorder something, you pay the price that was placed when you preordered it, even if it goes up.

[TripC50]

I have never pre ordered a game... but im thinking about starting with Destiny

[Theyellowflash30]

You also shouldn't go to Polygon on the account they said Mario Kart 8 would sell 2 million copies in one year based off the current install base of the Wii U.

Mario Kart 8 sold 2 million in one month.....and its not even X-Mas yet.

For some reason, Polygon couldn't comprehend more people would actually go out and buy a Wii U for Mario Kart 8.

Moral of the story.....

Don't F**cking listen to what Polygon has to say

[Ozmoses]

So I shouldn't pre-order my movie ticket if I wanna see the "big release" on the night it comes out???

So I shouldn't pre-order the concert tickets for my favorite band as soon as they go on sale??? I should just have faith and hope I'll get one at the door???

Quit acting like video games are the only CONSUMER ITEM in the world that has PRE-ORDER attached to it...

Tired of everyone being a little whiny Consumer... I mean it's YOUR MONEY... YOU CHOOSE HOW TO SPEND IT!!!

[Jdoki]

You can't tell me what to do!!

[Spotie]

Well, they CAN. They just can't MAKE you do it.

I'll preorder when and if I feel like it. I don't usually put money down on a game I know nothing about, so there's little worry there. In all my years of doing so, there's been one game I wound up disappointed with, and I don't even remember its name.

As for this crazy idea that you're somehow committing money, these idiots must not be aware of the fact that you can always- ALWAYS- get your money back. And that's if you preorder somewhere that requires money. That's not even necessary everywhere.

More crap from Polygon.

[Jdoki]

You can't tell me that they can tell me but can't make me do something! :)

[KinjoTakemura]

If I want to pre-order a game, that's my constitutional right to do so. Having an opinion is one thing, but when you spend your days and nights trying to convince other people that your OPINION, is the right OPINION, it's simply a sign that you need to get out of the house.

[Kran]

"You shouldn't pre-order any game... but I'm gonna mention Alien Isolation in particular cause reasons"

[ironfist92]

Pretty much this.

Im all for the Alien Isolation pre-order DLC, as its actual story content.

But plenty of games offer scraps of aestetics, maps and weapons for no reason other than to boost sales.

[Double_O_Revan]

Everyone is getting so butthurt over this game. Why? It looks fantastic. I haven't bought a game day 1 in over a year, and have been generally buying when games drop to $40 or so. But I'm so hyped for this game that I was going to buy it day 1 anyway. The preorder bonus makes it all that much sweeter.

[bloodybutcher]

I usually don't preorder anymore, but i made one exeption for the witcher 3 collectors edition. 150€ will mean less meat to eat, but it's worth it xD gotta get that figurine, besides it's nice to be able to enjoy a witcher game on ps4. I'm also happy that this series made Andrzej Sapkowski's witcher saga more popular in western culture.

[ironfist92]

Ive been wanting to play that series, but I take it Witcher 1 and 2 arent on PS3, nor will they be ported for PS3/PS4?

[bloodybutcher]

Unfortunately no, the first one was pc only, 2nd one pc and x360.

[Ryan741]

Haters gonna hate, if someone wants to pre-order then all the power to them.

[CorndogBurglar]

Im having a hard time seeing why pre-ordering is bad. This article fails to give any real reasons other than, "it helps retailers and publishers save money."

Again, i have a hard time understanding why thats a bad thing.

[46889337]

Didn't CA already confirm that the DLC would be available at a later date? If that's the case, then why are people still complaining about this? You don't have to preorder the game to get the extra content. And anyone who does so is doing it based on their own choice, not because they had no other option. For all we know the content could be included with the game at some point, or released as a stand alone title.

Do you want the extra content, but don't want to support preorders? Fine, buy the game at a later date and purchase it separately. Don't want to purchase DLC because you hate paying for extra content? Fine. Wait for a special edition with all the content included at a cheap price. They are giving you other options for obtaining this content, so there's really no reason to complain about this.

The only reason this became a controversy was because of the ACM fiasco, which people still don't seem to realize was a completely different game, made by different developers.

[Einhert]

I am not pre-ordering the game because they are purposely witholding part of the game to be DLC.

Oh well I will be acquiring the missing piece of my game.