If there's one thing we learn from major console launches, it is that technology and particularly gaming companies hold their customers in the utmost contempt. Customers are mugs who have money in their pockets, and as far as the gaming industry is concerned it seems to be a crying shame that they actually have to provide you with any product to get it.
Ultimate example: Pre-orders. We've all heard a great deal about these over the past couple of months - "PS3 Pre-orders sell out in seven minutes", "Pre- orders being sold on eBay" and so forth. Really and truly however, pre-orders should be renamed "Non-statuatory expressions of interest and tokens of false hope."
When Nintendo launched the Wii here in Europe yesterday there were many people with pre-orders who have been told that they're not going to get their orders by Christmas; though, paradoxically, any games they may have pre-ordered are now in the post while gamers who did manage to secure a Wii are scouring the country for extra supplies of actual software. We could, quite amusingly, now see games rather than consoles going on-sale on eBay.
One woman who spoke to the Beeb put it quite well: "I pre-ordered the console in November from Woolworths website for my son's Christmas present.
"I received an e-mail today informing me that as Nintendo had not shipped enough I might not receive my order.
"So the fact that I had the foresight to pre-order and not disappoint my son means very little as they obviously expect me to camp outside Woolworths for days on end."
Precisely. A pre-order is not a promise that you'll receive a console - indeed, a pre-order isn't for your benefit. It's something for the sales folk to smile about and send out press releases on the back of, while it's the guys and gals who freeze their nuts and other assorted pieces of fruit off in the December nights camping outside of HMV who get the units. Nobody wins, really, except the people selling the consoles: They know that 9/10 disappointed pre- orderers will pick up the console at a later date.
This might seem like a crazy idea, but how about we make pre-orders stick? That is, if you pre-order in the allotted amount of time, you get a unit. Crazy idea, huh? No camping outside of HMV, on top of your pre-order, and no disappointments at Christmas for those with foresight.
Fat chance, but a nice idea. One day, the consumer will be king. For now, he's just a walking, talking wallet.
Comments (4)
Man, you speak the truth on that one. I worked from a gaming store around the
time of the XBOX 360 launch. We had 10 units but only 20 pre-orders. I knew some
poor chumps weren't going to get it. Oh well, live and learn. I don't pre-order
anything only special order because I am a diva, lol.
Posted by Kevin | December 8, 2006 3:21 PM
Posted on December 8, 2006 15:21
This is exactly why I gave up on consoles so long ago. I, like many people that
game, want to play the latest and greatest when it is brand new. With
"shortages" of not only the games, but the consoles themselves for months on end,
we feel like we have been left out in the Cold. I would like to give "Twilight
Princess" and "Resistance" a try. They looks great. Six months from now when I
can finally buy a console at MSRP or without Stabbing some poor bastard to death
in a Wal-mart parking lot I will not be interested in those titles. Simply put,
Those companies have lost their window to sell me a system. Maybe I am a
minority here, but if 5% of gamers are like me, then they are not only passing
up the possibility of selling a million more consoles every generation, but all
of the software that goes along with them.
Posted by Tracy | December 9, 2006 4:38 PM
Posted on December 9, 2006 16:38
When it comes to pre-orders, steer well clear of the big online distributors
like Amazon and Play. They simply can`t handle the task.
You stand a much better chance of getting your pre-order by going into a decent
highstreet store like GAME. Picked up my 360 and my Wii on their respective
launch days with zero problems. Friends who used Amazon or Currys online had
less happy stories to tell.
Posted by Scoob101 | December 11, 2006 7:24 AM
Posted on December 11, 2006 07:24
There were a lot of dissapointed people in Swindon Currys at Wii launch. They
were told that despite their pre-orders all of the Swindon stock had been
transferred to Cribbs Causeway in Bristol
Posted by Spiny | December 11, 2006 1:13 PM
Posted on December 11, 2006 13:13