For those in territories where Amazon is a major presence, the online retailer offers discounts when customers pre-order video games. While Amazon in the UK, EU, and Canada have all slowly tried to phase out the bonuses, Americans have been able to pre-order any type of video game, and receive a 20% off discount. Now, however, things are changing. Games that are a remake, remaster, or limited edition will now no longer be eligible under Prime's pre-order 20% off waiver. The new terms and conditions are as follows:

Offer does not apply to certain video game products such as toys to life, collector's editions, re-releases, re-masters, and product bundles including but not limited to console game bundles and accessory bundles.

That means games like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition, Shenmue 1&2 HD, and many more are excluded now. With the competing service of Best Buy GCU ending this year, Amazon is likely free to remove perks from their program, as consumers don't have another option.

Source

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I could maybe understand remasters, to a certain extent anyways, especially if it's a remaster of a game release only a few years ago (since 99% of the time it's just "same game, slightly higher resolution and maybe FPS" and that's it, so one could argue it's the "same" as the game that's being remastered and therefore doesn't "count" in their pre-order discount for whatever reason).

But removing the discount for (actual) remakes? Makes 0 sense to me.

Oh well, guess I'm glad I pre-ordered the Dark Souls Remaster on Switch back in January so I get to keep that sweet $8 discount.

 

[FAST6191]

You can still say that after Final Fantasy 13?

"If you don't preorder, you can end up missing out on a copy"
Of Final Fantasy and Bethesda titles?
Also I do have to do a *points at site we are on*.
Also while modern Bethesda titles usually end up entertaining enough it tends to be after many of the show stopping bugs are squashed and some people made mods and DLC. If you know you are getting a buggy game engine/framework then you can have a great time, however I prefer to make the most of it.

" I'm personally not that cheap of a person, especially when I know that the developer deserves the money for a quality, or entertaining, product. "
They get my money, or someone else's money that bough the copy of the game I am buying. I find game prices to be ridiculously overdone compared to other types of entertainment, ones costing similar amounts and gaining similar orders. Try for whatever you like but about the price of a DVD is where I am at.

I also don't care if I make the lives of stock buyers easier. This is the internet age and space on your warehouse and internet store front does not cost anywhere near as much as it did 20 years ago. Similarly the next step people might go is some kind of ensuring quality, originality and all that jazz, in which case *points at the world we presently find ourselves in*.

 

[jumpman17]

These were pretty much the only games I pre-order. When they are the $30 remaster or remake. Lame, but whatever, I guess.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Is anyone actually surprised?

 

[DKB]

Is anyone actually surprised?

Uh, yeah. It's kinda fucking random and kinda fucking stupid on their part.

 

[the_randomizer]

Is anyone actually surprised?

Yeah, because they decided to make a bullshit decision just because. Just cancelled a preorder because of it. cheapskate bastards. I would love to see people
try and defend this. Uck Famazon.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Well that's a dick move on their part. Stingy bastards.

Not exactly surprising unfortunately, after reading about how they treat their Warehouse employees

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Yeah, because they decided to make a bullshit decision just because. Just cancelled a preorder because of it. cheapskate bastards. I would love to see people
try and defend this. Uck Famazon.

It was a discount. Discounts end. They're obligated to charge you MSRP and not a cent more except for tax. They're not obligated to provide discounts. You can't judge stores because they won't make products cheaper than what the manufacturer suggested they should be priced. Blame the manufacturers for a product being too expensive.

Also, good riddance if it means less wanton preordering.

 

[the_randomizer]

It was a discount. Discounts end. They're obligated to charge you MSRP and not a cent more except for tax. They're not obligated to provide discounts. You can't judge stores because they won't make products cheaper than what the manufacturer suggested they should be priced. Blame the manufacturers for a product being too expensive.

Also, good riddance if it means less wanton preordering.

Oh yes, no preordering, okay, let the dumbass scalpers screw people over with special editions of games. You seem awfully bitter at people who preorder games. Who the hell cares? I still call bullshit, but whatever.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

@the_randomizer looks like someone just tried to defend it

 

[the_randomizer]

@the_randomizer looks like someone just tried to defend it

What a shock. I'll be buying my remasters/special edition games elsewhere. Greedy douchebags, I don't care if it's "it's just business", something being a business decision doesn't make it any less of a dick move.

 

[Xzi]

Well that sucks, but at least remakes are remasters are usually more reasonably-priced then new games to begin with.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

Oh yes, no preordering, okay, let the dumbass scalpers screw people over with special editions of games. You seem awfully bitter at people who preorder games. Who the hell cares?

And somehow 20% discounts are gonna stop scalpers from scalping? Once the initial product inventory sells through, it's going to be scalped. If anything, the 20% discount just helps scalpers get cheaper units and make bigger profit margins as they're buying under MSRP and still have MSRP as the baseline from which to mark up. This is a pretty dumb line of reasoning.

As for pre-orders, are you so quick to forget tales of disaster like No Man's Sky? When you pre-order a game, you're buying something that doesn't yet exist and you can't judge the quality of. Companies can be incentivized to rush our a poor product if they know they can hype it up and bank in on preorders, before reviewers are able to tell people how bad the game is and let people make informed decisions. Preordering only helps companies and does nothing for you, the customer, except leave you in the dark purchasing what amounts to a pinkie promise. Preorders are the real anti-consumer thing here. So if removing a discount helps eat into pre-order culture, then in my opinion, great.

 

[the_randomizer]

And somehow 20% discounts are gonna stop scalpers from scalping? Once the initial product inventory sells through, it's going to be scalped. If anything, the 20% discount just helps scalpers get cheaper units and make bigger profit margins as they're buying under MSRP and still have MSRP as the baseline from which to mark up. This is a pretty dumb line of reasoning.

As for pre-orders, are you so quick to forget tales of disaster like No Man's Sky? When you pre-order a game, you're buying something that doesn't yet exist and you can't judge the quality of. Companies can be incentivized to rush our a poor product if they know they can hype it up and bank in on preorders, before reviewers are able to tell people how bad the game is and let people make informed decisions. Preordering only helps companies and does nothing for you, the customer, except leave you in the dark purchasing what amounts to a pinkie promise. Preorders are the real anti-consumer thing here. So if removing a discount helps eat into pre-order culture, then in my opinion, great.

I never had that problem, and I didn't preorder No Man's Sky, so why the hell should I see preorders as an issue? I don't. But whatever, keep thinking that this will be better. I couldn't give a rat's ass.

 

[SANIC]

They never said remakes, only remasters.

 

[deadman8555]

Glad I got my discount and preorder in before they dropped it.

Right. I preorder anything interesting incase they drop the discount

 

[Hells Malice]

How dare they end their own promotion that they never actually had to do
How anti consumer of them to not give us cheaper games for nothing!!!

Most of you are morons. They don't have to do fuck all, and they owe you absolutely nothing. The level of entitlement in todays society is actually baffling. How people can sit there and be offended by this makes me wonder just how bad the tap water is in some areas that it's killing all of your braincells.

Sure it sucks but it's their decision and their promotion. All this does is become less of a pro for keeping Prime. I assume they do it because remakes/remasters tend to be cheaper than a full retail game and they probably just eat the loss.

 

[psiko74]

So glad my GCU doesnt run out for another 2 years.

 

[gamesquest1]

I believe it's silly for people to shun preorders. It's ridiculous the extent people brigade against it.

I preorder because I know an experience will be good. I preorder Final Fantasy and Shin Megami Tensei because I know I can trust the developer for a good time, even if that game is comparitively mediocre by their past standards.

So for a game like Fallout 4, I would think about the previous games I have played by that developer. I played Oblivion when I was in middle school and had a lot of fun with that. Fallout 3 was also a lot of fun, and so on. This means games like those, from that developer, will get instant preorders from me.

Preorders allow retailers and developers to gauge how much stock they may need and how much initial "success" was gained just from marketing.

If you don't preorder, you can end up missing out on a copy. I guess it wouldn't matter for you if you wait for a GOTY 80%-off discount. I'm personally not that cheap of a person, especially when I know that the developer deserves the money for a quality, or entertaining, product.

back in the day maybe, now the only time a game is impossible to find is if your after a limited/collectors edition, even if a game is a runaway sucess and they didn't produce enough copies to the point you can't even buy it online, they will promptly manufacture more or you can get a digital copy

that said I'm sure there are some franchises people enjoy enough to warrant the pre-order simply to ensure they get it asap

 

[Ericzander]

Once BestBuy decided to stop offering Gamer Plus memberships it was only a matter of time for Amazon to draw back further.

Here's the thing, Amazon (like BestBuy) was losing money on these discounts. Profit margins for video games are very small as it is so when you add a 20% discount on top of it, they're selling the games at a loss. They expected to make this up by encouraging you to buy other stuff.

If you go into BestBuy to buy a game that cost them $55 for only $48 they figured that you'd be encouraged to buy their $30 HDMI cord that cost them $2. Problem is, the type of people who were going to buy games on sale were not the same type of people who would buy a $30 HDMI cord.

I think the situation is similar at Amazon. They reel you in with their discount and then expect you to buy more stuff so that they make a profit. It hasn't been working for them so they're drawing it back. It's unfortunate for us, but it makes sense to them.