Game rankings and pre-ordering

[Monte Carlo]

Hi.

 

In my local computer games shop Alpha Protocol is shown as their 20th best-selling game in their top 20 chart. I assume that's down to pre-orders, so a game hitting the top 20 pre-release must be a good thing for the developer, right?

 

I've not noticed this before, is it common?

[Calax]

Hi.

 

In my local computer games shop Alpha Protocol is shown as their 20th best-selling game in their top 20 chart. I assume that's down to pre-orders, so a game hitting the top 20 pre-release must be a good thing for the developer, right?

 

I've not noticed this before, is it common?

I'm not sure, usually people don't tally their sales until after the pickups because (at least at gamestop) a pre-order is only a small deposit, doesn't mean that the person is actually going to pick up the game.

 

I do know that most places are graded on preordering stuff.