Gamestop "giving away" the chance to preorder a Switch.

[Yoshi178]

I feel like I must be missing some context here because everyone seems to hate this idea...

Because I don't hate the idea. I think it sounds like a much more fair way to distribute the pre-orders. Rather than just have it be a first come first serve basis (so I hope you're not working on at that time or that the first couple of people aren't just hawkers looking to cash in on a new system with eBay), it gives everyone who wants a shot at getting one a shot.

But again, I'm assuming I'm missing some kind of context or maybe I read this wrong because people seem awfully mad about this...

You're missing the third option people want: enough stock so everyone who wants to can pre-order.

My fourth option is to give the most disappointing thirty seconds of her life to Natalie Portman on a pile of my lottery winnings but I don't imagine that's going to happen either

If Nintendo doesn't release enough stock to cover preorders, this seems like the best way to determine who gets one is what I'm trying to say here...

Yeah, but there's the problem of Nintendo seemingly deliberately under-shipping to create artificial scarcity. The NES Classic? Shipping less then a dozen units to major retailers, knowing full well how BS that is.

There's also the issue with Gamestop apparently punishing their employees(threatening to cut their hours or fire them) if they don't get enough customers to pre-order something. At least that's the impression recent articles about their "Circle of Life" program have given.

So this is pretty much a double whammy. Nintendo screwing over their fans with lack of product and gamestop screwing over their employees(and no doubt their customers) with this bizarre obsession with pre-orders(and used games, though they make a lot of profit from used games).

Nintendo is shipping 2 million Switch units worldwide for the month of March. the same amount as PS4 when it launched. that's not exactly a small amount.

and even if Nintendo were purposely under stocking Switch units, can you really blame them after no one one bought Wii U? why the hell would you go all out on making a shit tonne of consoles if you're not even sure people will even buy it???

 

[Xprimentyl]

Nintendo is shipping 2 million Switch units worldwide for the month of March. the same amount as PS4 when it launched. that's not exactly a small amount.

and even if Nintendo were purposely under stocking Switch units, can you really blame them after no one one bought Wii U? why the hell would you go all out on making a shit tonne of consoles if you're not even sure people will even buy it???

Nintendo?s last console was shit, therefore they get a pass should they decide to purposely short the market on their newest, supposedly improved hardware? Something about that sounds very ?Stockholm syndrome-y.? As a customer, are you really ok with a company responding to their own short-comings with overt attempts to artificially inflate demand by under-supplying during future endeavors? If nothing else, wouldn?t it show a lack of confidence in the quality of what they?re able to provide if they intentionally set the Switch to trickle slowly out to market? I mean, if they don?t want to risk it on their own product, why should consumers?

 

[CritialGaming]

I feel bad for the game developers who's Switch game will sell like shit because nobody can buy the console that will play the game that they made.

Inb4 this Zelda is the worst selling Zelda in history because nobody can get ahold of the fucking console to run the goddamn thing. Seriously Nintendo is literally the worst company in terms of selling hardware and gizmos.

 

[Yoshi178]

Nintendo is shipping 2 million Switch units worldwide for the month of March. the same amount as PS4 when it launched. that's not exactly a small amount.

and even if Nintendo were purposely under stocking Switch units, can you really blame them after no one one bought Wii U? why the hell would you go all out on making a shit tonne of consoles if you're not even sure people will even buy it???

Nintendo?s last console was shit, therefore they get a pass should they decide to purposely short the market on their newest, supposedly improved hardware? Something about that sounds very ?Stockholm syndrome-y.? As a customer, are you really ok with a company responding to their own short-comings with overt attempts to artificially inflate demand by under-supplying during future endeavors? If nothing else, wouldn?t it show a lack of confidence in the quality of what they?re able to provide if they intentionally set the Switch to trickle slowly out to market? I mean, if they don?t want to risk it on their own product, why should consumers?

Nintendo?s last console was shit, therefore they get a pass should they decide to purposely short the market on their newest, supposedly improved hardware?

yeah that makes so much business sense.

make and put a fuck load of something that you think will sell out on the market let's say 10 million.

then if it turns out your audience thinks differently and decides not to buy anywhere near close to all of that stock, let's just say they only bought half a million.

you're left with just a massive debt over head from all that money you wasted on producing that 10 million product supply that people didn't end up buying at all like you thought they would. at the end of the day have fun being the CEO of that company that's left with 9.5 million units of stock you have left to pay for.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

make and put a fuck load of something that you think will sell out on the market let's say 10 million.

then if it turns out your audience thinks differently and decides not to buy anywhere near close to all of that stock, let's just say they only bought half a million.

Maybe that's why they have only shipped 2 million for worldwide launch day.

 

[Tanis]

It's almost like the anti-scalper...maybe?

I mean, we all know that Nintendo is going to fuck up this launch.

At least GameStop is 'letting' folks have a try at being part of the fuck-up.

Honestly though...if I won, I end up putting it on Amazon or Ebay.
>_>

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Trust GameStop to innovate in the capitalist-asshole-greed department. We have a UK version known as GAME. Even more imaginative naming.

Hot damn! Why didn't I think of that first?
I'm now giving away the chance for anybody to donate funds straight to my bank account! Get it whilst it's hot, peeps! This opportunity ain't hanging around for your lazy ass all day! [small]Except it probably is.[/small]

 

[Yoshi178]

make and put a fuck load of something that you think will sell out on the market let's say 10 million.

then if it turns out your audience thinks differently and decides not to buy anywhere near close to all of that stock, let's just say they only bought half a million.

Maybe that's why they have only shipped 2 million for worldwide launch day.

that was literally the point i was trying to get across to him since he's mad about Nintendo purposely "understocking" Switch units.

makes no sense to put out fuckloads on the market if you're not sure you're even going to sell close to that much right away like he's expecting.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Pre-order the pre-order? We need to go deeper.

"Only from Gamestop! If you Pre-order your chance to Pre-Order a Pre-Order, we'll offer you one Free Pre-Order to Pre-Order any future product! This Pre-Order to Pre-Order is only valid at participating Gamestops."

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

make and put a fuck load of something that you think will sell out on the market let's say 10 million.

then if it turns out your audience thinks differently and decides not to buy anywhere near close to all of that stock, let's just say they only bought half a million.

Maybe that's why they have only shipped 2 million for worldwide launch day.

Seems like the one sensible decision from Nintendo, but then is it all that better if the shipping numbers scream "isn't sure if it will sell that well"?

 

[Yoshi178]

make and put a fuck load of something that you think will sell out on the market let's say 10 million.

then if it turns out your audience thinks differently and decides not to buy anywhere near close to all of that stock, let's just say they only bought half a million.

Maybe that's why they have only shipped 2 million for worldwide launch day.

Seems like the one sensible decision from Nintendo, but then is it all that better if the shipping numbers scream "isn't sure if it will sell that well"?

not really. there are 9 months left in the year after March for them to ship a crapload more units if they need to.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Pre-order the pre-order? We need to go deeper.

"Only from Gamestop! If you Pre-order your chance to Pre-Order a Pre-Order, we'll offer you one Free Pre-Order to Pre-Order any future product! This Pre-Order to Pre-Order is only valid at participating Gamestops."

Pre-order the right to a chance at a possibility of pre-renting a purchase, maybe definitely!

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Yeah, but there's the problem of Nintendo seemingly deliberately under-shipping to create artificial scarcity. The NES Classic? Shipping less then a dozen units to major retailers, knowing full well how BS that is.

There's also the issue with Gamestop apparently punishing their employees(threatening to cut their hours or fire them) if they don't get enough customers to pre-order something. At least that's the impression recent articles about their "Circle of Life" program have given.

So this is pretty much a double whammy. Nintendo screwing over their fans with lack of product and gamestop screwing over their employees(and no doubt their customers) with this bizarre obsession with pre-orders(and used games, though they make a lot of profit from used games).

You know what, man? The gaming public in general has been taking the shit with a smile on their faces for way too long now, what with Halo 5 and the Nintendo Classic... It's about time these dumbass corrupt systems finally bit the real perpetrators in the ass. The customers. They encouraged these behaviors so much with blind pre-orders and fanboyism, and now it's finally beginning to really affect these people like it never has before.

Good.