Metal Gear Solid 4 big tin

Finally, I managed to grab one of the most important items that I did not expect to win any time soon. It's not the french version that comes with all the leaflets (I was told the leaflets don't come with the tin itself though) but at least I got that huge box that was released in VERY small quantities. This one's the Metal Gear Solid 4 kit given to the media. The press kit I got came from Spain and comes with a factory sealed copy of the game, a giant poster, a t-shirt and the most important thing... the big box. No leaflets like the french version. Hope to get those press leaflets some day or so but right now I'm pretty happy that I got this. I really did not expected to find this any time in the future considering that very very few tins surfaced so far.

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Sonic Rush Adventure promo kit

It's not usual to find these promo editions for Nintendo Games. I guess Nintendo doesn't really care about bribing reviewers like Sony and Xbox with those awesome press kits. But suddenly I was able t find this particular edition for the Nintendo DS. I know there are more out there, but unlike Sony editions these are not wasy to find - at all. I am still missing the Dino Excavation Kit for Spectrobes and Chinatown Wars press kit, but honestly I did not even know there was one similar thing for Sonic Rush Adventures and I'm not even sure if there are any mor eeditions like this besides a particular boxset for Another Code (Wii) I lost once in an auction. Will keep searching and if they exist I will get them some day.

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Fairytale Fights? More like Tragedy Fights...

Okay so this game is... not that fun to play. The concept is quite original I must say. The graphics are good looking and the overall impression of the game is actually positive. Well, at least until you actually go as far as trying to play it... The game is ruined with the average gameplay and repetitive levels that only last for the first 10 minutes of fun you'll have while playing it. And yes, this reminds me of Little Big Planet. A lot. I'd say it's some sort of cheaper ripoff. Except that you take off all the good stuff about customization and add a lot of blood and violence to it (just to make the comparison short...). If anyone could find this game enjoyable, that would be kids. In fact, the game itself looks like it was specifically designed for kids. But then, they added a lot of blood and detailed scenes of the animated characters being ripped to pieces, kinda like Happy Three Friends (only with bad and messed up animation). So basically, they did a game for kids that's not supposed to be played by kids... Does this make any sense at all? I wouldn't say that the game sucks like most of you will think, but it certainly isn't that good either. Anyway, I managed to find this enjoyable boxset that's worth to have in my collection. But this thing actually comes with some candies... Will have to throw them away (they don't even have a best before date, is that even legal?)

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First time I ever found this.

And managed to snatch it into my collection. This thing here is a PSP Go! Explore press kit. Comes with the fancy outer card box. Inside there's another box that holds the GPS device, a demo UMD, the press disc, a good looking booklet and even the PSP Camera. Why they included the camera with this kit surpasses me. The PSP Go Explore was quite expensive and it's no longer found in many places at least over here, so I do think that I made a good deal on this one. It's the first and only I've seen so far so I'm glad I got it.

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The Hunt begins again! And it's better than ever before!

A huge success in Japan, Capcom's Monster Hunter series didn't sell so well outside that country. Still, its popularity seems to be rising quite a bit specially with this new release for the Wii. Unlike the latest collector's editions where nothing but a steel case/slipcase, some crappy artbooks and some DLC codes are included, this one is filled with some pretty useful accessories, such as the Wii speak, classic controller, the game (duh...) and a Lagiacrus statue. An additional Rathalos statue was offered on preorders. I'm pretty glad I got this Ultimate Hunter Pack. The price for all its contents with the game included plus the two busts is unbeatable at the moment. Definitely worth the money.

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Too many Buzz games already. Give it a break will ya?

Not much to talk here, this is just one of the few presskits I am missing for the PS2, the Buzz Hollywood Quiz Press Kit that comes inside one of those film cases made of tin. I hate tin, it gets rusty after a couple of years but I added a speciall coating this time. This edition is not a big deal, but I had the chance to get it... and so I did. I believe it was never opened, but I may be wrong.

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My Wallet... Ends Now!

This game is just awesome. Bigger scenarios than ever, epic battles, more violent than ever... let's say that everything the previous God of War games did good, this one did much better. the official playstation network website ran a competition for the media kit of the game. The media kit is awesome, probably even better than the ultimate edition, except for the fact that there is no OST included. As for the rest of the contents, you get: a custom wooden box, some art cards, a scroll, a coin with Kratos' face, the game, a bonus DVD, a leaflet that's much better than the crappy artbook they included in the PAL version of the game... it only really misses the OST to be an amazing edition.

Unfortunately I was not one of the lucky guys to win one of the 10 kits available in the competition, so I had to buy it. And it was a pain to get tis with all the speculation going on due to bloodthirsty bidders out there. The website states that the value of this edition is about 50 euros, but I guess people prefer to pay at least 6 times that value.

Finally in my collection, the one and only... God of War III Media Kit.

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How I loved this game

It's been a very long time since I've played something totally new. Lately there have been many great games, but this one in particular... I loved it. This game is a mix between a videogame and a movie. It kinda reminds me of the good old point and clicks, but taken to a whole new level. The plot was pretty good, the fact that the game has several endings and characters may die in the middle of the game due to bad decisions is also great. In my opinion this game has the best graphics I have ever seen, even when compared to the monumental environments of God of War III. And most of all, I enjoyed playing this game so much that right now I am upset because there is no other game like this around at least for now.

The story revolves around an assassin known as the Origami Killer who kills children by drowning them in rain water. You control 4 distinct characters, including the father of the last boy who was kidnapped in a struggle to save the boy. I must say that knowing who the Origami Killer is before playing the game is the biggest spoiler ever since Aeris' death in FFVII. Loved this game!

Pic above is from the Press Kit and the Limited Edition of the game.

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Final Fantasy XIII

Finally, it came. The first new generation Final Fantasy game. Honestly, the game itself is not that good. It misses so many good things about the Final Fantasy Universe that... I don't know...

There is little to explore, and not that many sidequests to do. Not many places to explore, no cities and houses to go around searching for clues and items... the closes thing you get to that only happens near the end of the game and there isn't much to do anyway. The closest thing you get to a world map is the so called "open world" in Chapter 11 that's little more than a scenario like Calm Lands from FFX with enemies running all over the place. I miss a world map with cities and towns and airships to ride, I miss all those scenarios where you could talk to people and explore the houses searching for bonuses and small sidequests... where's all that gone???

The game is basically a one way road. When you seem to find an alternative path, it only leads you to one of those item balls - in fact you really learn that tere's nothing else but an item ball in every corner, in every alternative pach, in every place that seems to be the wrong way. Some scenarios are just too repetitive and if it wasn't for the battle system this game would be more suited as a hack n slash rather than an RPG with Final Fantasy in the title. the game's still big, but the ending is rushed... The story may become a mess if you don't read the datalog, and a lot of questions are very hard to ask. Despite all that, it's not a bad game. The storyline is good, the graphics and scenarios are stunning and the overall experience of playing the game is good. But still, not what I was expecting for a new Final Fantasy game. I miss those times when I played through VII, VIII and IX. After that it's been a downhill ride, seriously... Just sharing my opinion...

Above we have the two collector's Editions for both PS3 and 360, as well as a sealed copy of the regular 360 game with the limited edition slipcase. I expect to get the limited edition slipcase for the PS3 as well as the HMV exclusive slipcase for both editions. And not to forget the Crystal Bearers on the Wii which I got thanks to a promotion.

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Kratos is back. And more violent than ever

This game certainly lives up to its hype. Basically, what the previous games did well, this one does even better. Yes, the game's that good. A little short, but good. The violence is amazing, quite amazing. A few years back this game would be severely censored.

Above is the Ultimate Trilogy Edition with the Pandora Box and the Collector's Edition that was only available in certain european countries. There are other editions out there, including a media kit in a wooden box that I expect to get some day...

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Sexy w(B)itch

Bayonetta is a sexy witch that can seriously beat the crap of angel-like creatures while spreading her legs 180 degrees in every possible position. She even shoots from her legs while kicking and gets nearly naked as she reaches the climax while fighting some seriously huge enemies. And then we have Joy, some female-like angel that also spreads her legs and nearly masturbates when she first appears in the game. I said I love sexy babes when I first talked about Tomb Raider in the first messages of this blog, but this witch is serious business, she's probably more dangerous than sexy, she's just too much.

Now talking about the game itself, I did like the plot and loved the fast-paced action. It's a great game worth playing, specially if you don't mind some cheesy cutscenes with a fine shaped female ass fighting with extreme violence. Fan-service anyone?

Pic above is for the Climax Edition for X360.

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Black, White, Special Film... Anything else?

Seriously, why so many different editions for the same game at the same time? It makes no sense! I miss the time when games only had a regular release. Then there were those who actually had a special edition. Right now we came to the point where nearly every top game has a special edition and many have two or three different editions, some of which are exclusive to particular stores. And they sell like cookies. And to make it even worse, some are pretty crappy and include little more than a different package and some downloadable codes.

Thankfully it was not the case with this version of Assassin's Creed II. The Black Edition is actually packed with many goodies. No I did not get any other edition of this particular game, and I seriously don't expect to get them until I find a fine price drop. The Special Film Edition will certainly be an exception as it's not as easy to get. This Black Edition was a preorder as well, otherwise I'd probably be stuck with a used edition for a stupid price off ebay right now. Damn it.

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Mass Effectiveness

And this is one of those editions that sold out pretty fast. And then it was only found on eBay for OMG prices. Crappy speculators... I did get it for the retail price but I was 1 inch away of losing it. Right now the hype is over though. It's getting harder to decide whether I should invest in certain editions before they are released or wait until they actually drop their price. They usually drop, but it scares me to see them all sold out and hitting stupid prices after that. I never know if I should buy them now or wait. did buy this one as soon as I noticed it was completely sold out.

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The greatest Pokemon games are back!

It was certainly my favourite game besides the original Red/Blue versions. Pokémon Gold and Silver remade specifically for the Nintendo DS. I managed to preorder this particular edition with a 3D Holographic cover. I did not have enough cash to preorder the two editions, so I guess I'll be missing the Heart Gold version with the same 3D cover for quite a while...

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After taking a break... a new update!

Little time and patience to update this in the last couple of months. I had to make plenty of decisions of what to get and what not to get. As you will probably notice I can't keep up with all the limited stuff that's being released, some of which are sold out even before the release date. Prices for press editions on ebay are also rising a lot and that prevents me from getting them. Times are tough for collectors with less money when some foreign buyers pop up and pay 100s to get their hands in particular editions, increasing their prices to ridiculous amounts, far more than they are actually worth. Speculation on auctions sites right now is pretty nasty thanks to crappy sellers whose purpose is to get easy money from people that really care about particular items. And that sucks. It just plain sucks. I've never seen so many ridiculous buy it now prices before.

It's nearly impossible for me to keep up with this, so yes, I am leaving plenty of stuff behind. I hope that in the future my collection sees better days. I also have a personal life and I simply can't spend a lot of cash right now. I don't think that I will be getting those fancy editions I was used to right now, but I won't give up and I will deffinitely get them in the future. I've left a few behind and they will not be easy to find in the future. I've came this far in my collection and I'm sure I will be able to find them some day.

Here's the first thing I got before last Xmas... a Limited Edition Black Wii Console. I thought the price was pretty good, the console looks nice, it was a good purchase.

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I told you I would not resist for much longer...

...and I kept my "promise". I just could not really stand that one of my recent favourite consoles (probably due to its scarcity) was the only one without its original box. I've spent a couple of years trying to get the box alone but then I figured I'd do better if I'd just get another one complete as the box alone is nearly impossible to find.

Even though it was not the best moment to spend more money for me, I just couldn't resist, so I picked it.

Yes, I am talking about the beautiful Sega Multi-Mega Console. Finally, The only unboxed console I've had is no longer unboxed :). I did act like a 6 years old receiving his xmas gift when this came but I don't even care about that.

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Portuguese exclusive variants of limited editions

Something quite rare in the past, that is now becoming fairly common. Portuguese exclusive limited editions with Portuguese language on the box will certainly become rare variants in the future for several hardcore collectors, specially considering it's such a small country with less people, which means the number of these editions produced must be low. So far I was able to get the following editions:

-Uncharted 2 (PS3)

-Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time (PS3)~

-inFamous

-Forza Motorsport 3 (360)

-Gran Turismo (PSP)

-Motorstorm Artic Edge (PSP)

And I am still missing the following:

- Little Big Planet (PSP)

-The Godfather (PS2)

-Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)

I plan to keep all the editions sealed, but due to the lack of money I was not able to get inFamous still sealed, even though I do have a mint condition one.

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R/C Stuntcopter Boxset and a little something

I am extremelly surprised to find out that even after all this time there are still limited edition being found to my favourite console: the PS1. And this boxset in particular is quite a surprise: an R/C Stuntcopter limited edition with a t-shirt included. After all these years, I have never seen it before.

And at the same time, I found something that took me ages to get after my good friend Defcon got the one I found: a small, collector's edition promo of Italian Job. Thank you so much to Evgenij for sending this little beauty to me for such a low price and SO FAST. It really came VERY FAST by regular mail.

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Another PS1 pack

Another lovely PS1 boxset, a Spyro the Dragon combo edition with a themed disc case. Thanks to my friend Defcon that managed to send this one to me.

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Happy New Year 2010

Been a while. I usually never stop searching for games, but I get tired when I have too much work to do. That's wy I haven't updated this blog for a while. For now, I'll add a couple of the most important purchases. Mainly regular games and collector's editions, but nothing out of ordinary. I've had some personal and proffessional problems last month. Now that they are solved it's time to keep up with this stuff.

And since it's not too late yet, I whish everyone a happy 2010. We'll have some great games coming this year that I can hardly wait.

Let's start with something that could be rare but became quite common in the end. I heard about a boycot. In the end, it was one of the best sellers this year. Basically, I'm talking about Modern Warfare 2. And as you probably guessed already, I did get a Prestige Edition.

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