I look at it as a pre-release layaway. Instead of plunking down $60 all at once, I can put down $10 six months in advance and pay $10 a month until it's paid off. Plus you might get a little bonus of some kind for preordering. Except for Gears 2, BioShock Infinite, and Destiny, the only games I've ever preordered are Halo games, and that's mainly to get them at the midnight launch. And except for Halo 2 I started off by playing the campaign. The only reason I started with MP in Halo 2 was because my roommate and a couple of our friends also got Halo 2 and we stayed up all night playing LAN. Sure, I could wait another 8-12 hours, which would be spent sleeping, but where's the fun in that? Going to the midnight launch of a Halo game has always been a major event for me. Halo 2 was the first midnight launch I went to, and I remember being in such a rush to leave work (my shift ended at 10 PM, I think) and get to the mall on time to get a decent place in line that I forgot my jacket and got a little sick from being outside the mall for over an hour in the cold night air of late November, but to both my 24-year-old self and my 35-year-old self it was totally worth it, because I had a great time. It was also pretty neat seeing how dark and spooky the mall was after closing, as the mall entrance and GameStop were about the only sources of light in the place. Fortunately Halo was released in September so the weather was a lot warmer (highs average in the low 80s here in late Sept.) and we ordered pizza to eat while we waited. This will be my sixth midnight launch, and I don't see any reason to stop.

Now where was I? Kinda lost my train of thought. Oh yeah. I! HATE! SAUERKRAUT!