To Pre-Order or Not To Pre-Order...

I've never understood the point of pre-ordering anything that I know I can find in-stock at some store somewhere.  When I worked at Circuit City every year Madden came out we sold a lot of copies but we prepared for that buy having a lot more on hand.  So whats the point of pre-ordering a game or a movie?  In my mind there is no point.  I will admit I pre-ordered Madden 10 last year for no reason, then went to Game Stop at 11pm the night before it came out and got my copy and played it once that night before going to bed and not playing it again until a time later in the evening of the release.  Which means I could've just bought it from the store during the day like anyone else.  But hey I was unemployed at the time and I had time on my hands, going to Game Stop at midnight wasn't a big issue.

This year it is different....

For one I pre-ordered Avatar on bluray from Amazon because I'm a prime customer and get free shipping and the bluray was going for $16.99 when pre-ordered via Amazon.  The bonus to all of this was the fact that it showed up at my door step the same day it was released to the stores.  I got it on time, cheaper, and didn't have to go anywhere to get it! FTW! (for the win).

So when my homeboy told me that amazon had a special for pre-ordering Madden 11 I figured I should check it out, since I was partially thinking about pre-ordering it from Game Stop again and taking advantage of their special offer for getting it from them.  You can pick it up at midnight (I'll probably be sleep), some events get unlocked, and you receive 20,000 coins to use in the game for different game modes.

But then I check Amazon and they tell me if I pre-Order Madden (or any other game you might want, like Halo Reach or Call of Duty: Black Ops) that I will receive a $20 credit towards the next game that I buy.  This is a no brainer... I immediately pre-Ordered mine.  It will be at my door step August 10th, I'm not paying shipping, and Amazon does an auto price match, so if someone else is selling it for less than $59.12, they will refund you the difference.

Here's the exact wording for the deal: 

Get it the day it comes out! Pre-order and select Release-Date Delivery at checkout. See details. Get a $20 Video Games Credit Pre-order Madden NFL 11, for Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360, and get $20 off a future video game purchase. The promotional code will be placed directly into your Amazon.com account within 2 business days after the product ships. Offer valid when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. Promotion valid on all existing pre-orders. Limit one per household. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time.

Amazon aides in the fight to be lazy.  

If you have a student email account (.edu) that is still active and you can check it with ease, Amazon is giving out free PRIME accounts, which means 2-Day Shipping is free.