So don’t shop there. EB Games (and the other game stores for that matter) run this scam every time a new system comes out, and every time anyone who doesn’t want their ridiculous bundle wanders in to Best Buy and buy themselves a system by itself.
The upcoming Xbox and PS3 launches will likely be a little more crazy, but I guarantee you can (or soon will be able to) preorder an Xbox by itself at several retailers. Then buy the games you want (which are never a problem getting) and save a few bucks.
The preorder mentality always strikes me as entertaining. I was in one of the game stores the other day and the clerk was working me over for an Xbox preorder like there was someone under the counter with a gun pointed at his beanbag prodding him on. I told him I wasn’t interested ordering something when all I knew about it was its name. His logic was that it was an Xbox so of course it would be awesome. All righty then.
I’ve read accounts on forums from people who placed their preorders months ago, all of which had to go back to the store and either cancel or amend their orders when Microsoft announced the whole noob version/leet version situation.
Why do they do it? Because they’re convinced by the people at the stores that preordering months in advance is the only way they’ll get their hands on a system before August of 2009. Why do the stores do this? Money money money! I did the math once while we were discussing this on another site. I was told that an average store received a good 200 preorders for $50 each. Multiplying that by the number of Gamespots and EBs in the country and you’ve got a serious chunk of change (something like $25,000,000 IIRC). No wonder they push the preorders so hard.
I can see preodering a month out. Maybe two. But if I have to preorder something five months before its release to get one, I’ll just have to wait for the next shipment.