Alright I am a major pre-order fanatic. But this happened gradually. I remember during the GameCube era I would show up to EBGames the day a game was coming out just to hear it was out of stock. I would spend a whole day trying to track the game down usually Walmart or Zellers would have the game in but sometimes I wouldn't find the game anywhere. Example Animal Crossing and HarvestMoon:AWonderfulLife both games I never got for about two weeks because they were always out of stock.

So when the DS launched I made my first pre-order. I pre-ordered the Nintendo DS. I wanted to ensure I got the hardware day one as it looked like it would be out of stock. Once I had the hardware I realized other crazy popular titles like Pokemon games were much easier to aquire if you simply pre-ordered. Then of course Nintendo started giving away pre-order bonuses for some games encouraging me to start pre-ordering more software.

Then Wii was announced and I was told that EBGames would only be taking five pre-orders. I realized the hardware would be impossible to find if I didn't pre-order. So I camped out infornt of EBGames and got my pre-order. I think it was well worth the pre-order as I got to enjoy my Wii while everyone else sat without one.

Today I pre-order games well in advance. When I have more money I try to pay for games outright months in advance so that come time for the games release I know my copy is sitting all paid for waiting for me. It's just so much less of a hassle to pre-order!

If that's the case wouldn't it just make sense to start at Wal-Mart or some other place?

I'm not trying to critisize, but Gamestop/EB orders only 1-2 extra copies of a game to make your preorder so they will run out.  Every other store doesn't do that so it would be pretty rare that you wouldn't be able to find a new game anywhere else.

I understand ordering a system or special edition, but most any normal game, there isn't much of a point.

EBGames is a five minute walk from my house while Walmart/Zellers are about a fifteen minute drive. So I always check EBGames first and in a few cases two that I can remember well nobody had the game in stock. I always check Walmart/Zellers second then its off to FutureShop. But there have been cases where I can't find the game anywhere day one.

I'd consider Animal Crossing and HarvestMoon normal games, I just like to ensure I get my games day one regardless of which games they are!

actually i take that back, i just pre-ordered Bad Company 2