Seriously. What the hell?
We’ve already written about the pretty shady practice of taking pre-orders for video games that haven’t been officially announced, but I think EB Games has taken it to the official endgame here. The Nintendo NX was only announced yesterday, and by announced we mean ‘barely even mentioned in some Nintendo press conference’. It doesn’t even have a proper name yet: NX is just a codename.
We don’t have a price. We don’t have a release date. This is insane and it goes without saying: don’t put down money to pre-order a games console that doesn’t exist. That is a bad idea.
I’m as excited for new Nintendo hardware as the next person, but we probably shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of behaviour.
Comments
31 responses to “EB Games Is Already Taking Pre-Orders For The Nintendo NX”
Oh EB
Oh, EB.
*laugh track*
No, we most definitely should not encourage this kind of behaviour.
Especially since, to date, EB Games has done a woefully sub par job of supporting the current line of Nintendo products.
– EB doesn’t ever market the Wii U, and when it does it’s sandwiched between the other two or right towards the back of the shop/catalogue
– EB doesn’t do bundles that might actually coerce people into buying the Wii U + games that are worth a pack-in. EB would do this often with the previous gen off their own bat and that’s how I got my 360. With a Rockstar game packed in a bundle.
– EB take all the amiibo stock for themselves/mates/ebay as soon as stock is available.
– They have dollar signs in their eyes every time a AAA game lets them pack in a statuette, cloth map or hold a midnight launch, but if Nintendo stuff is truly as popular as that FB post touts, how about supporting what Nintendo stuff is out now?
I agree with most of what you wrote, but in the interests if balance, EB don’t actually choose what they market. They sell wall space (and shelf space) to the highest bidder. EB aren’t really neglecting to market the WiiU, Nintendo are.
Same can be said about the Vita.
Thankfully my PS4 library is digital-only for this gen, EB no longer gets my money and I would encourage others to follow in my stead. What they do in pre-orders is borderline illegal, their customer service is total shit and the raft of pre-owned games that keeps them afloat is going to break in the next few years.
Anyone that does pre order now deserve to be pointed and laughed at.
I’m going to do it just for the heck of it.
What do you mean? The Ouya turned out to be a smashing success. ^_- **Anti-Poe shield**
*Clap… Clap… Clap…*
The sad thing is people will just blindly pre-order this straight up.
Well it’s a Nintendo console (or handheld). It’s not exactly a huge roll of the dice. I’m not going to pre-order but if I did it’s safe to say it will get enough Nintendo games on it to justify the purchase regardless of what it is. My Wii U may not have the biggest library of games but I’ve absolutely got my money’s worth out of it, and it’s hard to imagine they’ll screw the next console up that badly.
They want your money and they want it now – just in case of bankruptcy.
But seriously, it’s just to cater to the market. If one person comes in and wants to preorder a virtually unannounced product they need to be able to offer it. It’s about appealing to the miniscule percentage of people who would actually want to have this option – it doesn’t really have anything to do with EB.
They’re catering to their customers, as all businesses should.
I don’t really see this as shady business (although in the time I worked for them I saw plenty of that). They need to maintain their image as being on top of things, as being the best option in Australian retail, of being completely aware of what’s happening in the industry, and of being relevant. The more they represent themselves as offering more services than buying online or going digital the longer they’ll stay profitable. It’s not shady, it’s just … business.
That’s a pretty weak excuse in my opinion. If someon comes into the store asking to pre-order a non-existent console, they should inform the person if that rather than take their money. It could and likely will be years before we see this product, taking pre-orders from the uninformed is incredibly shady.
But its not non-existant. We don’t know anything about it apart from a confirmation of it’s status as a work in progress and a codename. But we know it exists, that its coming, that Nintendo have a new product in the works.
And people will be told about the lack of information available, simply because that’s the way a pre-order conversation at POS works.
“Yeah, they just announced they’re working on it. No, we don’t have a release date or a price, all we know is that it’s being worked on. Oh yeah? Mario, eh? I know, right! I’d say Galaxy 2 is my favorite. Yes you can, it’s a minimum $10.”
People don’t just turn up to donate. They expect something in return, and that’s generally what you get at EB. I’m no fan of them for better reasons than most, but one thing they do have going for them is an employee pool on the frontline that love to play and talk gaming. The chances of someone coming in and asking about the NX, dropping $10, and not leaving with the relevant information is fairly remote.
I tend to know more about games than most of their employees I have interacted with, and I know fuck all the majority of the time. I actually have a friend’s girlfriend who works for them and doesn’t even play any games.
Can you elaborate on said shadiness? Genuinely curious!
Since when was that their image? 😛
They work hard to maintain it, particularly in rural areas where you know a fair proportion of the customer base by face and buying habits, if not by name.
We’ve got to bare in mind how the average EB customer perceives them, and not necessarily the average commenter on a gaming site.
I know what you mean and agree with it, but we’re not actually their target market.
Actually, you seem kind of right and kind of wrong.
EB would have to eventually create something in their database that allows them to take pre-orders for a non-existent console and to record product details.
EB is getting people’s money NOW rather than in a could of year’s time. It would help them financially. I wonder how many people would pre-order and how much the pre-order is and thus, how much interest they are making just from having people’s money now.
You’re right about that. It also helps them guage the interest in the Nintendo product line, and adds to that customer’s profile so they can target their advertising.
It’s entirely in EB’s benefit, for these reasons as well as those listed above.
I’m just arguing against it being “shady”. Given that pre-orders are in no way an obligation to buy, and that deposits are refundable, it seems a bit reactionary to call it shady when the customer maintains all their rights and can opt out at any time with no consequences.
Game taking pre-orders up to the day before they announced their liquidation, now, that’s shady.
that worked so well for GAME. I remember reading people’s comments about preordering the WiiU? and then GAME went into administration and all those preorders went *poof*
why are they even allowed to have preorders on vague ideas, for all they know it could be japan only please understand
Yeah i was wondering this too. surely they must be treading a fine line on some consumer law?
Prob would take a $10 downpayment on a PlayStation5 as well if you offered it to them. Release Date: Within the next decade
inb4 it’s a mobile phone that they can’t even stock
A little early for April fools, isn’t it EB?
How is it shady? You can get your deposits refunded in cash, no questions asked. If you want to preorder something that hasn’t got a release date or solid information that’s your own choice, you aren’t forced to preorder it nor are they actively telling people too, it’s just an option available to customers. Man you write a lot of click bait non logic sometimes mark…
What in the name of fuck? Surely this is illegal, it isn’t even confirmed that it’s a dedicated console and not a mobile phone on a plan or something.
Anyone have a linky? I can’t find it in the store…
I can see it now, the Nintendo NX comes out and it is somehow still slower then the PS4/XB1.. ….
So EB Games is allowing people to pre-order something no one knows about, yet do not have the Heavensward expansion for FFXIV (which can be pre-ordered for PC’s on the SE store) available for pre-order… and think I’m talking about FFXV or Type-0 when I call them asking about it >_>
EB Games, lrn2game