Preordering?! More like prewhoredering!

[toblix]

So, like a good little nazi I preordered the Bioshock Collector's Edition last week. Went to pick it up today and found out that, guess what, preordering a game means nothing. Zero. Dim. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Bupkis. Goose eggs. Oh wait, it means that, instead of paying everything when I get the game, I get to pay part of it before I get it.

I mean, I got the game, but only because one was already standing on the counter, with a note with some guy's name and number on it. Apparently he was going to come pick it up later, but the clerk said "I guess, since you preordered it..." and tore the note off.

Also, the fuckwad clerk spent five minutes on the phone, walking back and forth in front of me, talking to his boss about not getting paid for the last two months. Well, guess what, fuckers. That's what happens when you run a low-rent fucking piece of shit operation like EBGames.

Anyway, I'm typing this with one hand, because I'm going to install Bioshock and in preparation I'm loosening up my asshole with my thumb.

[toblix]

...and then, an unknown server error occured! This is a fucking single player game! I'll never buy a 2K game again.

[manny_c44]

Yeah you'll have to just keep on trying to activate it...it took me many tries to connect.

[elmuerte]

Last week I was in a Mediamarkt and I saw boxed Halo3 preorders.

Yes, you could by an empty box with Halo 3 printed on it.

preordering is nothing more than a marketing scam

[toblix]

I always assumed preorders were deliveries "guaranteed" by the distributor, and that they didn't sell more of them than they were certain to get on release day. It's especially worthless when a copy isn't even reserved. The guy who was supposed to get the game I got hadn't even preordered. I got it because I got to the store before him. I'm so done preordering games. Also, not preordering lets me know about these bullshit copy protections that they only release information about at the very end, so I can avoid the really bad ones.

[Thrik]

I only pre-order if it's online, so I don't have to worry about pissing around with any shops; stocks are usually good, and in the case of some like Twilight Princess I got it delivered the morning of the release day which was pretty nice.

Shop pre-ordering is absolute bollocks and is to be lambasted at any opportunity.

[toblix]

Yeah, I'm talking about from stores, not online. Preordering online is just convenient.

[Wrestlevania]

Well, my last two games were both pre-orders - from Blockbuster, if that matters - and had no problems whatsoever.

In fact, my wife went to collect my copy of BioShock this morning and Blockbuster had thrown in a limited edition BioShock faceplate and dropped the price, so got a partial refund too.

Unexpected extra swag and money back?! Fuck-yeah I'm sticking with pre-orders!

[Roderick]

Aye, pre-orders can net you cool stuff, but it's only necessary with limited runs of things; collector's editions etc. There's no way you can score a decent Blizzard CE without preordering for instance.

[Wrestlevania]

I took a snap of the faceplate Blockbuster threw in:

Sure it's not as elaborate as the special faceplates Irrational / 2k Boston sent to their favoured few, but I still like the 'rusted water tank' effect of mine.

[toblix]

Wow, I also got something with my preorder.

A big, fucking nothing. Right up the ass.

[Wrestlevania]

If it's all the same to you, I'd rather you didn't post a photo of the end result...

[Roderick]

Wow, that's a great faceplate! I think it's very sophisticated and beautiful. Were there stickers for the buttons? How does that work?

[Wrestlevania]

The 360 faceplates are actually more substantial than you might first expect. They're actually an entire front facia with metal-sprung port doors.

Here's what the 360 looks like when you've pulled it's face off - note the regular slots down either side, which is where the mounting fins on the faceplace are gripped:

This particular faceplate is black plastic with the metal flake design painted over the top:

Up close, the detail is so precise I was actually expecting it to be rough to the touch:

But it's just part of the exceptionally good paintjob.

[Wrestlevania]

Added a proper detail shot [see above].

[Roderick]

It's very pretty and I am jealous.

[Thrik]

That faceplate is great. I approve of the whole idea of face plates, even though they've had a surprisingly low amount of chatter about them.

[toblix]

I disapprove because th--

What the fuck?

Do those picture not show your Xbox 360 standing in between DVD boxes? Doesn't it explode and melt in there? I keep it at the point where mathematically the distance to all other surfaces are at their maxium, in fear of ventilation being obstructed, and you keep it in there?! How's it working out for you?

Anyway, when just the front is showing, I think they're cool, but when the entire thing is visible, and the front is some crazy color and the rest of it is white I think it's lame.

[Wrestlevania]

No. When the machine's switched on, all the games (two rows deep) come out and the door of the cabinet is left open. The cabinet is also vented at the back, which is good because my stereo (slightly in shot in the first image of the second batch) belches out heat too.

And I've had no problems up to this point, not a squeak...

Though I'm sure the MS Gremlins are carefully scrutinising all such threads and updating their plans as I type...

[Wrestlevania]

That faceplate is great. I approve of the whole idea of face plates, even though they've had a surprisingly low amount of chatter about them.

Yeah, they're a funny thing to be honest.

MS have released just one or two really noteworthy examples themselves in my opinion. Their best was an exclusive version of their 'green circles' 360 branding, painted on their standard off-white, and it was a perfect match for the console. If I remember rightly, it was given out in extremely limited numbers at either E3 '05 or '06 and never made generally available (rather stupidly).

Edit: Ah, found it!

A friend has a very eclectic Viva Piñata faceplate, which is a little too "in your face" for me but it still looks great:

Otherwise, I've seen very few faceplates I'd actually consider adorning my machine with.

[Roderick]

The 'wooden panelling' is especially horrifying. Which is why it's such a treat when a nice one comes along.

[LOPcagney]

That Bioshock faceplate you got looks so much nicer than the one with the Big Daddy. People underestimate simplicity.

[Coldkill]

Game shops FTL. All my games are bought online now for obvious reasons.

That face plate looks great! Although since I don't have an Xbox 360 I can't have one of my own

[Thrik]

That green circles one is really nice. If I had a 360 I'd love it to look something like that; whenever I see a 360 in someone's house it always looks pretty shit with its plain front, and since most people tuck it into some kind of cabinet the fact it isn't a particularly badly designed piece of kit isn't too apparent and it just looks like some kind of futuristic bone.