These last two weeks we have had some good new games come out.  Most notable of the lot are Red Dead Redemption and UFC 2010.  Fairly well selling though it is, UFC 2010 is NOT selling at near the rate that most retailers expected.  Extra copies abound.  Red Dead Redemption (for the xbox 360), on the other hand, is in VERY short supply.  They are both symptoms of the same problem, and both have the same solution:  game reservations/pre-orders.

Back in the stone age of gaming, retailers just had to make wild guesses about how many and which game to get.  Sometimes they guessed right; sometimes they didn’t.  Then a fairly bright boy came up with the idea of reserving your game so that it would be there on launch day for you.  Many gamers and retailers alike rejoiced.  The gamers knew that they could get their coveted (forget the 10th commandment) game when it came out, and retailers knew that they could get some guaranteed sales, and ALSO get a better idea of how many people were actually going to buy the game and order a more realistic quantity.  Sadly, this service has come to be associated with overly aggressive sales individuals and is now shunned by the very people it can most benefit.

Now, I understand why this is.  I did my time with the Gameschtappo.  I know how much pressure there is to pre-sell a title.  I understand how it can be tiresome to have the local gameschlepper pummel you with incessant prattle about how if you don’t pre-order “insert game title here,” the western world will spiral into oblivion.  I understand that this leads many people to assume that somehow, the game store people are trying to cheat you.  Maybe some are.  However, many of us did it, not because our corporate masters forced us to, but rather because we knew that it would benefit our customers.  If you really want the game, why is it such a torturous thing to put a little money down on it?  It isn’t an extra fee.  It is fully refundable.  It guarantees your game will be there.  I’ve been on both sides of this.  It is to help you.

Now, what does this have to do with Red Dead and UFC?  Simple.  More UFC is around than needs to be.  Do you NOT think that the retailers are going to keep prices higher on other games to help cover that extra needless expense?  Less Red Dead is here than needs to be.  Do you really enjoy driving from store to store being told , “No, I don’t have any”?  If people would get past their manic insistence against reserving, 1. your game would be there for you,  and 2. prices might very well drop, as the game companies would have one less needless cost to find a way to pay for.

Folks, it’s not a competition where you are the loser and the evil corporate bastages are the winner, if you reserve a game.  It is a win win.  Now, go out there and win one for the Bowser!

Tags: game characters, pre-order, preorder, rervation, reserve, video game