15 Jun 2014

Checkpoint: Post-E3 2014 Pre-orders Edition

by | posted in: Editorials & Features | 0

Checkpoint - Post-E3 2014 Pre-orders Edition

Now that E3 2014 is over, it’s time to tally up all the games that I had on pre-order. This year was extra confusing because Amazon.ca entered the E3 pre-order promotion mix for the first time. Normally that wouldn’t be a fumbling point but Amazon.ca’s promotion morphed throughout the four days.

It started with 30% off three or more titles with many titles priced at  $59.99. By the end, it ended up being 18% off. Then there were titles listed in their promo page that weren’t eligible. On top of that there were a few titles that ended up being cheaper at BestBuy.ca because of how the math worked. But then you realized that some titles weren’t available for pre-order at BestBuy.ca but were available at Amazon.ca, so then you had to come up with more titles to pre-order in order to take advantage of the discounts. And I didn’t even mention the random cock ups by Amazon.ca.

It was a mess but I got my games in and I was happy. I had to make a Google Docs spreadsheet in order to track where every game was but here is the official breakdown:

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20 Jan 2014

Canadian retailers are increasing game prices by $5

by | posted in: Game News | 2

It started with EB Games but now it looks like FutureShop and BestBuy are raising the MSRP of upcoming games by $5 as well.

$65 is now the new $60 and it’s all thanks to the weakened CAD (1 CAD = 0.91 USD).

Not all retailers have followed but when the biggest Canadian electronic retailers have adjusted their prices, it’s only a matter of time. Retailers like Amazon.ca are still offering Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes for $29.99 but there’s no telling how long that will stay at that price.

What about my pre-orders?

Amazon.ca has a pre-order price guarantee, so you can rest assured that you’ll be charged the lowest price available to them.

The price charged when we ship the item will be the lowest price offered by Amazon.ca between the time the order was placed and the end of the day on the release date.

But what about those FutureShop and BestBuy pre-orders that we made during their E3 promotions? The two retailers have a price drop policy but they do not have a pre-order price guarantee like Amazon.ca. However, historically, the price that you see on your order is the price that FutureShop/BestBuy charges on delivery. This included errors like the famous Metal Gear Rising Collector’s Edition for $39.99 ($110 off) snafu from last year.

Although it’s not a guarantee, I’m leaning towards FutureShop/BestBuy to not adjust prices after the fact. If it doesn’t pan out, we all have the right to return our orders for refunds.

“This is the worst thing to happen since $69.99 MSRP”

I hear you. I’m old enough to remember seeing $80.48 on my receipt — that’s including the 15% tax Ontario folks had to pay back in 2005-2006. So how will I cope with the price hike?

Pay what you want, not what they want

I don’t like paying $60 let alone $65 so this price hike doesn’t affect me as much. My rule of thumb over the last 3 years was to pay less than $50 (after taxes) for a new game. It’s an easy rule to follow thanks to FutureShop and BestBuy’s E3 promotions. Hopefully, they will continue with that promotion for many years to come.

If not, I will have to exercise patience and wait for prices to drop to the level I want to pay.

Try not perceive it as a price that you have to pay. If you want retailers and publishers to know that it is not okay to raise prices, then don’t pay that price.

17 May 2011

Pre-ordering Adventures

by | posted in: Editorials & Features | 2

bestbuy-logoThe last game I pre-ordered was Metal Gear Solid 4 which came with a whole slew of bonuses that I eventually didn’t care about. Since then, I haven’t pre-ordered a single game unless there was some sort of deal.

Even though I’ll probably grow tired of Modern Warfare 3’s multiplayer and scoff at the campaign, I went ahead and pre-ordered it for $49.99 at FutureShop. The thing about Call of Duty games is that you’ll most likely get your money’s worth in return via trade in promotions like those found at GameStop. Most of the time, it’s a one for one trade towards a game. The trade in value is that high.

My next tale is one of regret. I assumed the Xbox 360 version of L.A Noire would be the one to get, but it turns out it isn’t. When GiantBomb goes out of their way to mention platform differences, it’s enough for me to switch platforms. Unfortunately for me, changing platforms wasn’t so easy.

I ordered my copy from BestBuy.ca for $50.99 before taxes. A decent discount considering it’s a new release. (I also got 800 Reward Zone points ($10), but that doesn’t really count.) So I noticed that my order status was still “In progress” so I rang BestBuy customer support and asked if I could simply change versions. I was disappointed to hear that wasn’t possible; not without voiding the discount.

Refusing to pay full price, I thought back to last Friday and Dell.ca’s L.A Noire promotion. It was a mere $5 off, but Dell.ca allowed me to use my $20 MasterCard that I received from a mail in rebate offer in conjunction with my regular BestBuy VISA. In the end I paid $62.14 for the PlayStation 3 version of L.A Noire which shipped out today.

That was quite a bit of fuss to get the “superior” version of a game, next time I’ll take my brother’s advice and buy both versions and cancel/return the one I don’t want.

Duh.

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