Attaching special bonuses to an upcoming release, serving as a magical enticement to get you to fork over cash before a title comes out, is not a new practice– nor is it reserved to the gaming industry. I'm personally well familiar with receiving all sorts of solicitations for buying a CD before its release date, from bonus songs to videos to promo concert codes. With games, bonuses come specific to the retailer you're purchasing from too, with GameStop in particular usually running away with the lion's share of consumer "gifts."
Nevertheless, as commonplace as this practice is, am I the only one thinking things are starting to get a bit out of hand? Last week my email inbox was greeted by an Impulse announcement notifying me about their particular pre-order bonuses for Dragon Age: Origins. One of the items in particular, a special ring that increases your XP when worn, really threw me for a loop. I mean, in a MMOG this kind of thing makes sense– I got such an experience-boosting item for buying the collector's edition of Aion, for example– but in a single player RPG? Why do I need to collect XP faster?
When pre-orders are vehicles for anything from otherwise unavailable items to even demos, I start to wonder if the only way to get a full game is to buy multiple copies of it from every retail outlet and online distribution website. It makes me wonder if these value-added incentives are getting absurd, and whether or not this stuff ever tips the balance on a sale– personally if I'm going to pre-order a game, I was going to do it already and the special presents are just icing on the top, but never anything that seals the deal.
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No u!
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