Video Game Preorder Incentives

Video game publishers are very keen it seems to get you to order their software titles before the release date. In an attempt to bribe people in to preordering the latest video games, some publishers will offer a free gift or some free game content to those that are prepared to place a preorder.

Red Dead Redemption - Free Golden Guns

Preorder Red Dead Redemption from Amazon UK and you will receive an unlock code for the 'Golden Guns'. This is a bonus that will actually help you progress through the game.

The player that holds the Golden Guns will gain more fame per kill and the more fame you can get in this game, the more side missions they will give you. You will have more civilians to rescue, more people to duel with and of course, more fame means it's cheaper to bribe the local law men. You can preorder the game here.

Arkham Asylum - Free map (Expired)

A new trend of late is free downloadable content, or DLC for short. To entice early adopters developers are offering free exclusive content to buyers. These deals are normally tied to a big name retailer, such as GAME in the UK and Gamestop in the US. This content normally consists of in game objects, characters or maps and can be downloaded from the Playstation Network or Xbox Live. The clincher here is that this content is not available to anyone after the game has launched.

If you preorder the new Batman game - Arkham Asylum through GAME they will allow you to download an exclusive map/level named Scarecrow combat challenge. Arkham Asylum is available on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. This game is released on the 28th August 2009.
You can preorder Arkham Asylum on the PS3 here

Gran Turismo PSP - Free car (Expired)

Well it's not really a free motor vehicle, but another piece of DLC. If you preorder this game, the publishers of GT5 on the PSP are offering a download code that will entitle you to download one of five free cars. The game is released on the 1st of October 2009.

Take your pick from the following street racers:-

2009 Bugatti Veyron
2002 Enzo Ferrari in Giallo Modena
2008 Citroen GT
2009 Nissan GT-R Spec V
1974 Lamborghini Countach LP400

You can preorder Gran Turismo on the PSP here

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Expired)

If you preorded X-Men Origins: Wolverine from Gamestop in the US, you could have gained access to more exclusive DLC.

For people willing to preorder there was 4 new rooms to download and play. The four rooms were separate to the game itself and formed a new game of sorts. Of course if you didn't place a preorder you would have had no chance to download this DLC in the future, that's just not the way it's done.
Wolverine is available now here

Some Preorder bonuses you wouldn't want

Not all preorder bonuses are worth gloating about, take a look at these giveaways - No More Heroes toliet paper, a Haze syringe pen, a Chrono Cross analog desk clock, a Mirror's Edge Runner's Bag. I'd stick with the DLC if I was a publisher!