Don’t Be Like Me. Don’t Preorder Games.

I did something bad. Something, really, really bad.

I preordered a game and console.

“Never preorder games” has been my mantra for years, but now I’m a hypocrite. I walked into Gamestop, the evilest of gaming corporations, and I preordered the Nintendo Switch and Breath of the Wild.

The worst part? I feel like my decision was justified.

The Scourge

Preorder incentives are out of control, and with corporate initiatives like Gamestop’s Circle of Life and Bathesda’s silencing the press, the preorder scam is only getting worse.

17 years ago, preordering a game was smart. I have vivid memories of being the only kid at school without a copy of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, because my local game store and Toys R Us ran out.

Flash-forward two years and I’m waking up at dawn and waiting in line at KB Toys because I never preordered a copy of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

I eventually got both games, but certainly not on launch day. I had to do the worst thing a kid can do; wait.

Today’s digital landscape makes preorders completely pointless, unless you really want that in-game preorder bonus. You know, the character/item/cosmetic that’s eventually patched into the game a month later.

Why, Oh Why?

So why did I do the unspeakable? Simple. Nintendo’s supply chain is shit.

The company made mainstream news headlines with its must-have holiday gift last year, and anyone with an obsession of toys remembers the Amiibo fiasco.

Nintendo marketing teams are either masters of manipulation, creating shortages in supply to drum-up excitement, or the company just doesn’t understand that people want to buy their products.

Nintendo Switch preorders are sold out, and it’s out of control.

Either way, it’s clear that people want to buy the Switch.

Retailers can’t keep up with preorder demand, and the initial batch sold out within hours. A quick look on ebay shows that scalpers are selling the console anywhere from $100-$300 over the retail cost.

Gamestop even held a “Pro Day” last week, where they randomly selected 1,000 rewards members and bestowed them with the opportunity to preorder the elusive console. As if the preorder scam couldn’t get any worse.

The Numbers Game

The limited supply of the Nintendo Switch timed with retailer’s push for bigger preorder numbers has created the perfect storm to drain my bank account.

I, among thousands of others, want the Switch at launch. But with corporate agendas at play we’ve been left with no choice but to preorder.

Call me a wild conspiracy theorist, but it seems like every time Nintendo releases a new product, the supply is limited to drive up preorders.

With Nintendo preorders booming, stockholders win, corporate wins, and retailers win.

The only losers in the Nintendo preorder game are the consumers. The people dumb enough to preorder a console that might end up being another Virtual Boy.