WOW
I don’t normally cover triple A titles on this site. I’m a big believer in the indie scene and smaller, more focused experiences being where the true joy of gaming can be found at this stage (with some exceptions).
But this……..this is disgusting and it should be portrayed as such.
I actually thought this was a joke at first. Perhaps it was a slight bit of humor at the state of pre-order culture in this industry delivered by a monotone, emotionless robotic voice.
But no. They’re actually serious about this. What’s worse is that I know there will be people out there who will try to justify this, praising the ability to be able to choose what kind of content you’d like included in your pre-order bonus so that everyone is happy.
Well unfortunately no. Everyone is not happy.
It doesn’t matter that you get to choose. Don’t be fooled by the prospect of choice. This is not a win for the consumer by any stretch of the imagination. What matters is that people who would rather not choose and would rather get the full experience and decide what they like or don’t like out of it are being forced into a scheme that has them basically taking a scalpel to a game before they even try it.
Triple A gaming does not deal in full experiences anymore. Gone are the days when pre-order bonuses or collector editions consisted of physical items that served to enhance your enjoyment of the title but not directly impact it. Granted that’s not all that pre-orders used to consist of. I’m well aware of the harmless bonuses that used to exist but this industry has let this get completely out of hand and consumers share that blame, myself included.
Arkham Knight was a lesson in why you shouldn’t pre-order games anymore.
But with this latest stunt by Square Enix it’s clear that class is firmly in session.
Happy Monday. I’m gonna go vomit.
-Kevin Ryan
Broken Glasses 