Preorders, Retailers & Why You Can't Buy The Game You Want...

[dogbert]

Katamari Damacy was released in the US exactly like any other small PS2 title. The game did well by word-of-mouth but what would have happened if Sony had a line of games that challenged the conventional? A specialy packaged/marketed line of games targeted at people looking for something new. Frankly, putting Katamari on the shelf next to typical PS2 games in typical game stores does nothing for the game.

 

Retail did everything it could to make Katamari fail too. I'm not claiming a grand conspiracy against it just to be clear, it's just it's a small budget, small profile game with next to zero advertising, instead the publisher relied on spreading the meme through word of mouth. Retail didn't support it at all, grossly underestimating demand initially.

 

As stated in another thread, I tried to preorder another low profile Japanese game this week to try & ensure I got a copy. The manager of the store was really keen on the title, talking it up no end, and yet couldn't give me a preorder for it as it was too low profile for the chain to take a preorder. He said there was no way of guaranteeing a copy ahead of time & he didn't know how many copies he'd get in. That's an atrocious way to treat consumers.

[bickle]

I wonder if there could end up being a situation like the retail music industry, where mass chains carry all the "big" titles, and smaller independant stores exist by catering to independant or specific interest markets. I don't know if its good or bad, but I wonder if it will end up that way.

 

Food for thought: another one of the biggest games in recent memory (Bejeweled) came about from a small development team & was distributed in "non-standard" ways.

 

BTW: I looked up Greg Costikyan's bio & didn't recognize any of the games. Anyone have any info on him & his credentials? Is his opinion held in high regard?

[Romier S]

As stated in another thread, I tried to preorder another low profile Japanese game this week to try & ensure I got a copy. The manager of the store was really keen on the title, talking it up no end, and yet couldn't give me a preorder for it as it was too low profile for the chain to take a preorder.

 

I wanted to comment on your ordeal with trying to preorder that particular game Brian because it brings up another situation that definitely intrigues me. In my regular visits to Gamestop's and EB's in my area I am amazed to find that these stores are now moving (or have already moved) in the direction of not even carrying low key titles UNLESS they are preordered. The few Gamestop chains we have around here especially operate in this fashion.

 

I remember asking the release date for lower key titles a few months back at a few Gamestop's where they continually pushed me to preorder. I commented that I would come in the day of the release and just pick it up and thier replay was literally: "If you don't preorder this particular game, I guarentee you we won't have it since the copies we recieve are based on our preorders." Wanting to test theory I revisted that store (with the game already purchased from a local EB) and they indeed had no copies in the store, nor did they recieve any.

 

Since then my curiosity has grown as to whether I had been outright lied to simply to get my preorder money or if indeed that is how these stores are beginning to operate. If it was difficult for lower key games to thrive on word of mouth, I can only imagine the barrier needing to be broken down when they cannot even be found on store shelves unless you are informed enough to go in a preorder!

[JoeyN]

Gamestop here only carries major releases on launch day, unless you preorder it. Everything else takes a week or two to arrive. However the EB's around here always have everything on launch day

 

capt

[Camp]

I remember asking the release date for lower key titles a few months back at a few Gamestop's where they continually pushed me to preorder. I commented that I would come in the day of the release and just pick it up and thier replay was literally: "If you don't preorder this particular game, I guarentee you we won't have it since the copies we recieve are based on our preorders." Wanting to test theory I revisted that store (with the game already purchased from a local EB) and they indeed had no bopies in the store, nor did they recieve any.

 

Since then my curiosity has grown as to whether I had been outright lied to simply to get my preorder money or if indeed that is how these stores are beginning to operate. If it was difficult for lower key games to thrive on word of mouth, I can only imagine the barrier needing to be broken down when they cannot even be found on store shelves unless you are informed enough to go in a preorder!

 

In a nutshell, here's how the whole pre-order thing works:

 

There are three tiers of pre-order games:

1. Guaranteed titles

• AAA titles (like Gran Turismo 4)
  
• Every store in the chain will receive at least a few pieces (even if the store has zero pre-orders)
  
• The retailer pays (a lot) for same day/next day shipping
  
• These titles are typically guaranteed based upon ship date -not release date
  

(generally, a title's publisher will promote a release date (like March 1st) but many retailers consider that the 'ship date' -with the bulk of their stores actually receiving the game on the next day (March 2nd).

 

2. Guaranteed Pre-order games:

• These are the bulk of games sold - "catalog titles"
  
• Every store in the chain will eventually receive copies of these games
  
• The retailer will pay for same day/next day shipping for all pre-orders (with minimal overflo for walk-ins)
  
• The retailer will *not* pay expensive next day shipping for stores without pre-orders or for overflow copies of the title (for walk-ins) -these arrive via less expensive (and slower) delivery channels
  

 

3. Hard to get Pre-order games:

 

• These are games purchased in very limited quantities by the retailer (most $19 value new releases, imports, smaller publishers, etc.)
  
• Not every store in the chain will receive these games (generally, this decision is based upon sales history by genre/similar titles)
  
• Pre-orders will *not* be sent same day/next day -instead, the pre-order game will arrive via the slower delivery channels used by the retailer's replenishment process
  

 

I guess there is (technically) a 4th category: Games like Halo 2 which arrive at the retailer before the hard release date. However, these situations vary by title and store volume.

 

It's also important to remember these are very generalized lists. Not everything is 100% for every retailer but it's pretty damn close.

Obviously, the reason for the various categories is cost savings due to shipping. Paying for next day delivery to 1500 stores is not cheap. In a market where the margin averages ~ 30% you need to carefully manage expenses.

[dogbert]

The newly relaunched NextGen site has an interesting article on running an independent game store, particularly about the finances of it.

 

As an aside, our local GameStop didn't get enough copies of Battlefield 2 in to cover preorders. What's the point of preordering again?

[Brandondragons]

Running your own game store can be a money pit/disaster. It is even worse if you do not live in a major city like NY/LA where many of those shops do other kind of gaming services *cough modding cough*. However, one idea I had was for another small sotre, like say a comic book shop, to run an independent counter. This way their income would not depend upon the games and they could serve (and make money off of) a select clientel.

[dogbert]

A comic book/independent videogame store? Two of the worst money makers out there combined into one store Independent comic stores are as much of a money sink as videogame stores unfortunately.

[Josh]

A comic book/independent videogame store? Two of the worst money makers out there combined into one store Independent comic stores are as much of a money sink as videogame stores unfortunately.

 

There was a place in NYC that did that for a while - they recently dropped the videogames within the last year.

[General Zot]

Explains where all the old video game shops of the 80s & 90s went to. Man, that sounds like a shitty deal for the retailers.

[Brandondragons]

I even wonder how long Gamestop/EB can survive. It is only a matter of time before Bestbuy, Walmart etc. figure out that used games are the way to go. How long before these stores start having their own little "EB" in-store.

[General Zot]

I would go even a bit further Brandon and say that once people start getting more info off the net everyday, that online swap sites might eclipse brick and mortar used games entirely. Sort of like what Netflix is doing to Blockbuster and Hollywood Video today. Not shutting them down completely, but really putting the pressure on to change the way they fundamentally do business.

[Josh]

Isn't this potentially a short-lived problem, though?

 

Aside from those who will collect games and what-not, I still believe there will come a day in a generation (or two) in which we won't be going out to stores to buy games anyway. We'll just download them. This, of course, completely undermines the used game market, which is exactly what the publishers want.

[Brandondragons]

That is a very good point. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Walmarts and such transition to the kings of online.

 

After re-reading what I wrote I shivered a bit. Are we moving to that 1984 vision of the future or what?????

[Carlucci]

Isn't this potentially a short-lived problem' date=' though?

 

I still believe there will come a day in a generation (or two) in which we won't be going out to stores to buy games anyway. We'll just download them. [/quote']

 

This is coming in the Phantom!

 

Oh wait, you said in a generation or two. Nevermind.

 

 

Carlos.

[Camp]

As an aside, our local GameStop didn't get enough copies of Battlefield 2 in to cover preorders. What's the point of preordering again?

 

I hear you.

Stores are issued cut-off dates for accepting guaranteed pre-orders. It's usually a week or 10 days out (depending upon the efficiency of the retailers buyers & supply chain or can be set by the publisher of the title). Stores are *supposed* to notify customers after the cut-off date that their reservation is not guaranteed for the initial shipment; however, many managers opt not to share that info as pre-orders are one measure of their performance. They'd rather gamble with the posibility that a large number of people with reservations won't show up to buy the game until the second shipment.

[General Zot]

That reminds of the Seinfeld rental car bit:

 

Rental Person: Sir, we can give you this other car.

Jerry: Where is the car I reserved?

RP: That car has gone out, we can give you something else.

Jerry: I want the car I reserved. What is the point of reserving a specific car when it isn't here when I get here?

RP: I understand what a rental is sir.

Jerry: I don't think you do. If you did, my car would be here...

[Camp]

[secretvampire]

Aside from those who will collect games and what-not, I still believe there will come a day in a generation (or two) in which we won't be going out to stores to buy games anyway. We'll just download them. This, of course, completely undermines the used game market, which is exactly what the publishers want.

 

Good Lord, I hope this never comes to pass. I don't think it will for a long time honestly, but I still dread the day. Currently, not enough people have the bandwidth to make an online-only distribution model possible. I don't want to have to buy through the publisher brand new, I don't want to worry that if my console dies my games go with it, and I don't want to have to "dial home" every time I want to play a game.

 

I want a physical copy with nice artwork, and I want to be able to buy it at a secondhand store or from another individual dammit! Currently, I am able to buy so many more games than I otherwise would be able to if online from the publisher was the only option.

[Romier S]

I want a physical copy with nice artwork

Agreed 100%.

[EnemaEms]

That reminds of the Seinfeld rental car bit:

 

Rental Person: Sir' date=' we can give you this other car.

Jerry: Where is the car I reserved?

RP: That car has gone out, we can give you something else.

Jerry: I want the car I reserved. What is the point of reserving a specific car when it isn't here when I get here?

RP: I understand what a rental is sir.

Jerry: I don't think you do. If you did, my car would be here...[/quote']

Wow...you butchered that.

 

RP: I know what a reservation is sir.

Jerry: No, i don't think you do. You know how to take the reservation, but you don't know how to HOLD the reservation. And you see, the HOLD is the most important part of the reservation.

 

-Dean-

[General Zot]

Yeah, I'm sure I did.

[bickle]

Last weekend I tried to preorder a 360 at a local Gamestop. Already, they said that their initial set of preorders were filled, and I "might" get one on release date, but they'd be happy to take my $50 now. I couldn't quite grasp what would be the point of a reservation when I might not got it on release date. Nuts to that.

[iainl]

Last weekend I tried to preorder a 360 at a local Gamestop. Already, they said that their initial set of preorders were filled

 

Anyone else think there's something messed up here, when the preordering process finishes before the 'announcing what the price will be' process starts?

[JoeyN]

They will reopen preorders. The same thing happened with the PSP. However it is good to see people are excited about the 360.

 

capt