Only in certain places on earth...

Some time ago I created a post about the portuguese limited editions. Well, it's been a while and I got a few other editions with portuguese boxes as well. And they are:

- Little Big Planet (PSP) Special Edition
- Might and Magic Clash of Heroes (DS) Special Edition Boxset
- Combat of Giantes: Dragons (DS)
- Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii) Limited Edition
- Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Wii) Limited Edition
- Rayman Raving Rabbids Party TV (Wii) Limited Edition
- Metroid Prime Trilogy Collector's Edition
- Alan Wake Collector's Edition
- God of War Trilogy
- Heavy Rain (PS3, already posted some time ago).

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Modnation Racers

At first glance, this press kit didn't seem anything special at all. It had a funny shape, but overall it did not seem much more than a box in the shape of a car. But it's actually quite interesting. Inside this box there's the game, a press disc, a PSP code to download the game, colour markers and stickers. The car is all black and white with the logo of the game. The driver is plain white. Just like the game, the press kit was made in a way that you can customize your car and your driver by using the markers and the stickers included. I find that quite original.

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Bayonetta again

This time I found out an unusual slipcase for this game and I couldn't resist so I ended up buying.

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Coffrets, Sondereditions and Boxsets...

One thing about Europe is that it has so many different countries with different languages that some countries sometimes receive special box sets and limited editions unavailable in the other countries. Like the example bellow... a french edition of Sonic Dark Chronicles. here are several other packs like this one for other consoles as well. There's even at least another French DS Sonic Rush Adventure pack that I hope to get some time soon.

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Super Mario Galaxy Wiiiii :)

I though the previous game was amazing. I simply could not expect that they could do an even better one. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is just amazing, impressive, awesome, I'm having a lot of fun playing this game. If you have a Wii and don't have the game yet, go buy it! It's a must!

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Red Steel 2

The first game was no big deal. But this one came out better. Play.com released a special preorder pack with a couple of extra stuff. It's nothing more than an extra box with some codes, postcards and a bullet replica. I bought it with this pack that comes with the Wii MotionPlus.

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I felt cheated this time.

Demon's Souls, a really good game that was not coming to Europe. After a while I thought I'd have to import it, even though I'm not a fan of importing games because my priority is always PAL. Then I checked the only place I could find the Deluxe Edition. And when I saw the prices, I nearly passed out.

But I managed to find a factory sealed version of this beauty somehow. And I still payed a bit, but not the abusive prices I saw on ebay. The next couple of days a certain Black Phantom Edition was announced to Europe... Oh well, it was too late as I already bought the Deluxe Edition and decided to keep it anyway, specially knowing how much a sealed edition may be worth in the future.

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Alan what? Awakens? Sorry what's that?

Well, I have not played this game yet, I don't know exactly what it is about and I have only seen pictures of it and heard it had a limited edition. When I realized it was good and people were buying this edition so fast, I decided to get it as well otherwise I'd be stuck with a used copy in the future. It's not usual for me to buy a game without knowing about it. It's a much bigger crime when that game is a good one. But even I have my sins as a collector. And I bought this game with closed eyes this time. Call me whatever you want.

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Back to the days when Disney Games were amazing...

If you collect older Sega games chances are you must have heard about this before. It's no big deal, but now the most Mega Drive and Master System dedicated collectors usually search for this particular box set. I never searched for this too much but I eventually came across for a good price and decided to pick it up.

This is the Disney collection double pack that comes with two games inside a plastic case. It was supposed to come with two Disney games for Mega Drive, Master System or possibly Game Gear (not sure about this last one because the boxes don't fit so well). The pack I found still had the original paper insert but only came with one disney game. I took the picture rom the back of the box because, well, it looks better.

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Go to Hell!!

Well, this was another game released around the time Darksiders came out but unlike that game this one actually caught my attention. The game's nothing special though, I was expecting a hit but after all the game's josu average/good for some. But anyway that's not the point of this post...

I knew there was a Divine Edition released in the US. Over here (in Europe) we received an edition of the same caliber called Death Edition. But then I came across something that's probably quite rare... There was actually an european release for both PS3 and Xbox 360 of a Divine Edition in a much larger boxset that included and extra action figure. I was quite surprised and still managed to snatch a sealed one. I already know that some companies like to offer certain gimmicks exclusie to one particular country, but EA seems to be giving particular attention to this one country that gets exclusive stuff like this...

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The Darkside also Shines. I totally underestimated this game.

This was one game that did not convince me the least when I first saw it in action. Darksiders, your usual DMC/GoW ripoff with little innovation hits the shelves, gets the good review scores, sells well enough. I wasn't very convinced. To tell the truth I only expected to buy this game much later (and much cheaper...) but then I came across what seemed to be a promotional case for the game that I had not seen before. So I picked it and when I got it I was quite surprised to find out it was actually a press kit.

Now, to admit my mistake as an experienced and advanced videogame collector and player (/Bullshit) when it comes to evaluate games from looking at screenshots, trailers and reviews before actually playing them, I have to admit that I was quite wrong this time and this game is actually good. Unlike many other failed attepts to copy elements from successfull videogames, this one actually does the job quite well in mixing all the elements together. Being an action/adventure game (the hack and slash sort), you will find way too many similarities with games like GoW, DMC, Soul Reaver and even bits of Zelda or Shadow of Collossus, all adapted in a good way.

And to apologize for understimating this game, I really felt like writing my personal review about this game.

-The gameplay is good, a little repetitive but still fun to play once you get used. The combat system is very simple, no tough strategies required, just fun to play. It may make the game easy, but honestly I found it fun this way.

- As the game develops, the scenarios keep getting more and more interesting and involving, with a great diversity of environments. There are forests, sewers, destroyed cities, deserts, underground areas, devilish dungeons, chathedrals and several different scenarios you can visit and explore, and they all connect close to each other quite well. The "snake holes" used to travel to certain points you visited already actually works well and allows you to go back to a previous location without needing to walk all the way back. You even get the horse later, which helps travelling faster in certain open areas.

- The map system can be quite confusing though, as it seems to work with layers that have different intensity (the highlighted rooms is the level where you are, whereas the faded rooms are either above or bellow and have their own highlighted map if you press up or down in the analog stick). To make it clear how confusing it can be, sometimes you look at the map, you can see where you are and the room you want to go to and there's no easy way to tell exactly how to go from one room to another in the same area because the map makes it look easy to acess the rooms but then you find out they are in different floors.

- The weapons, skills and abilities you gain throughout the game as you clear the tasks will make you to go back to previously visited areas and allow you to explore further to get to secret chests and items. This is nothing new, even games like Land of Illusion on SMS were great at allowing to revisit areas to find more stuff. Some of the abilities and weapons are not that original, such as the grappling hook) that allow you to swing using the shiny thingys in the air, but then there's the teleport ability that allows you to travel between portals that must be activated manually in pairs (haven't really seen anything similar before), or the one that allows you to see paths and chests that can't normally be seen. Although this doesn't add much replay value to the game, at least it makes tempting to go back and find stuff you couldn't access before. And there are plenty of secret areas and chests to explore.

So there you go. The game at first seems just another one, the "seen before, done that" type. But in the end it is a game that has its own way to develop and becomes quite interesting to play and to explore. The gameplay factor also helps a lot too. The fact that you can play little bits of other games, all in one, became a good thing. And unlike many other games that last half a dozen hours or litle more before the end, this one actually took me over 18 hours to beat. Not many recent action adventure games can take that long to beat, really. And that's something I consider very positive about this game.

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It's 2000 now!

Yep. Nearly 15 years ago I only had like 30 games. And for me, I thought that was a lot. I hardly believe I came this far. When I started collecting I never expected to reach such an amount of games. I wasn't sure how long I'd have the patience to keep going forward. It takes a lot of patience and time (not to mention... money), far more than I actually expected. I'm constantly dealing with decisions of what I should buy now or later, as I never know when certain things will not show up for years like it happened before. But I'm quite glad with my current collection and will keep going. A massive update will follow in the next few days :)

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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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