The plea “Please stop pre-ordering games.” has already been uttered by most game critics.
In order to sweeten the deal when it comes to consumers opting for a Prime subscription, Amazon offers a 20% new games discount for Prime users. This discount will be applicable to pre-release game copies, in other words, pre-orders, and two weeks after the game officially launches. But don’t get too excited because this price cut will affect only physical copies of games and collector’s editions, with digital copies and console-bundled games being left at their regular price.
Besides benefiting from this rather enticing discount, Prime members are also able to receive free shipping on the day of the games’ launch, as well as Prime video, music and photo services. The price cut will be applied to your whole cart once you proceed to checkout, without requiring any code input or other similar processes to be undergone.
By making this discount available, Amazon effectively overthrows its competitors Game and BestBuy that offer similar services. The aforementioned companies offer price cuts to pre-orders only, but they add a preferential stock for subscribed users when an item’s number is limited.
One has to bear in mind that buying a game right at release, or even a couple of weeks after, is not entirely beneficial. Even if your Prime subscription, priced at $99, will have its cost reduced entirely after purchasing several AAA games, game critics and gamers in general advise the public to wait at least 2 weeks before purchasing new games.
We all have seen how games get launched, with examples like the incomplete and bug-ridden Assassin’s Creed Unity making players wish they haven’t even approached the game in the first place. The massive fiasco with Batman Arkham Knight of this year brought some dire tidings as well in regards to the state of games on release.
Most PC players weren’t even able to play through the first section of the game due to the 5 FPS framerate, as well as massive physics and graphic glitches plaguing the entire game. Warner Brothers actually pulled the game from shelves and online stores due to the massive complaints received, releasing the game once again after it was somewhat fixed. Of course, refunds were made available for every customer, but that is just a rare event, it doesn’t happen every time.
Because most big game developers have decided to turn their game franchises into annual releases, these games will most likely be released in an unfinished state. Fortunately, it seems that in the near future it will no longer be the case, at least in regards to Ubisoft, if the rumors that the new Assassin’s Creed will release in 2017, skipping 2016 entirely, will be proven to be true.
Although Amazon offers a 20% new games discount for Prime users, consumers should refrain from purchasing games on day one, instead opting to view game reviews or, at least, see how the game fares in terms of graphics, framerate and stability. It’s safe to say that no gamer out there would like to pay $60 for a game and be left with a broken mess that barely runs to begin with.
Image source:www.amazon.com
