Press stuff that doesn't look so good

Not all press kits are great. Not even close. The most sought after are amazing but over the years I also collected some stuff that I never showed because I thought it wasn't worth it. But now I'm trying to put all my stuff together and take pictures of everything so I might as well take the chance to show the other stuff I have but never even mentioned.

These are the weakest press kits I have, which are basically nothing but books, dossiers or press papers with a promo disc or a press disc... Most were provided with a press disc I didn't target these things in particular. I have plenty of pics of those that I decided to post here.

08/02/2015 update: I obviously never ended up posting pics of these, unfortunately... hopefully some other time in the futre...

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Assassin's Creed Revelations, just one of 100 different editions made

Yeah... they did it again. How many different versions of Assassin's Creed Revelations exist around the world? Too many. I got what seemed to me the best version of this game. The package is great, despite not being your regular rectangular box. This one's a little b*tchy to store... The 3D effect isn't the greatest but heck it's just the package and looks good overall. The Encyclopaedia is amazing. The rest of the contents are the same as the regular Collector's Edition. Haven't tried the game yet as I just finished Dead Space 2 and will move on to other games now, so this one will stay for later. How would I rate this edition? The package is good, or should I say instead, looks good. It's a big box. The encyclopaedia is awesome but unfortunately it seems it's available for sale separately but I still have to confirm if it really is the same book or not. Considering its price I'd rate this as 8.0, mainly because of the book, since the contents are basically the same from the CE which is cheaper.

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It's all about MONEY. That's all there is to it.

Okay, so for the first time in my life I came to the point where collecting is becoming more and more a matter of business that's ruining the love that I and many other gamers have for this hobby.

When I first started to buy games from ebay and forums, I'd usually go there to avoid paying so much for the games that were sold for higher prices in shops. I also resorted to ebay to find games that either weren't released over here or were in fact rare. After all, you could find some second hand copies around, some of them still mint, for lower prices than the RRP. Recently, when the huge amount of limited edition started being released for almost every important game, this behaviour of buying multiple copies for making a profit is going sick. A bunch of no-lifers decide to preorder several of these limited editions, making shops run out of stock faster. And even if they are not sold out, they immediately pop up on ebay for higher prices. When certain editions really become limited, they are sold out on preorders but once you go to ebay, guess what... you find several copies for sale at ridiculously high prices ON PREORDER.

The greatest example of this greedy behaviour is what's been happening with the Collector's Edition of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, limited to 4000 units worldwide and only available for sale at one of the dorkiest retailers I've ever dealt with: www.zavvi.com. Considering their terrible costumer service, how they do even get the rights to sell something exclusive like this??

In only two days this edition was sold out. The next few days however, several appeared on ebay. The first ones started selling for nearly £100, but when the sellers realized they could make even more money because desperate fans who missed their opportunity to get that edition at the fair price are desperate to get it, prices went up to 200, 300, even 500... Several weeks or even months after this edition was sold out, even to this day the game still keeps popping up on ebay.

Even collectors ordered more than a copy claiming they want one to play and another one to keep sealed, using all kinds of excuses to prove that their attitude is perfectly justifiable. In the end, most people who do that are only thinking about how much this will be worth in the future and the profit they may do. They don't give a damn if they're stealing someone else's opportunity to get this game for the retail price. Whenever I just want another copy to play, I don't go wasting money on two expensive special editions. There are 4000 units of this one only, yet how many people will actually have one for the RRP? Not 4000 for sure. Not even remotely close to that. Who cares anyway? Those who missed the preorder and can't afford to pay 200 or 300 for it just go find something else to buy. People usually say "the value of certain games and editions depend on how much people are willing to pay for them". In the end, it's something more like "the value of certain games and editions depends on how much money you have to spend on it, because whether you like it a lot or just a little bit it's irrelevant cause you may/will not be able to buy it anyway".

This is a common fact not just for videogames, but nearly everything in life, including basic needs. But who cares? The only important thing is MONEY. You don't have it? Nobody cares. People die because they can't buy food and we just pretend we care about that. Then why the hell would we care about something as irrelevant as VIDEOGAMES? That would be ridiculous, right?

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How many Dragon Ball games are there already?

A lot... When I started to see the series at age 13, I never expected to see so many games still being made even 16 years later. That's quite impressive I must say.

I loved the PS2 titles, especially the Budokai series, but I wasn't so impressed with Tenkaichi games. I recognize they are good, but I liked Budokai's battle system most. I didn't play the recent titles for PS3 and Xbox besides the demo of the first Raging Blast but I really did not like the gameplay at all. I'm still missing Raging Blast 2 LE but I hope to find a cheaper copy when the price finally drops (stil waiting for it to happen...)

Now finally a new Dragon Ball game came out and this one has a bigger Collector's Edition boxset. It includes a regular copy of the game and a Limited Edition Gohan statue. The statue looks pretty good and is quite stylish, with enough detail for what you would expect from a Dragon Ball figure. I certainly am not sure why they added Gohan with that suit instead of a different figure, like Goku's. Anyway, I'd rate this edition 6.5/10. It's limited to 10000 copies but it isn't numbered and it's hard to tell if there are really 10000. The price of 80 euros wasn't that bad at all, considering the game's RRP and the price these statues usually cost. But, honestly, it lacks contents. The only thing this has is a statue and nothing else. Thankfully, the statue is good and overal this edition is still far better than Raging Blast 2 LE, that had almost nothing but a cell and a cardbox scenario.

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Sonic is back, and better than ever!

Oh boy... Sonic is one of the most famous videogame characters from the 2D era that couldn't deal very well with time. Ever since Sonic became 3D, the games were never the same. Most games were considered average or good at best but hardly any of them was a hit like the original Mega Drive and Mega CD titles. This time, however, I believe SEGA did a great great job! Sonic Generations is by far the best and most impressive Sonic game I have played in a long time and I simply love it.

To celebrate Sonic's 20th anniversary, this game also received a Collector's Edition. And I must say that this is another one of my favourites. It comes inside a very simplistic, yet great looking box with both Sonics facing each other. The game included is nothing more than the retail version with a slipcase. Inside the box there are two figurines, not very big but Sonic figures don't really need to look big because there really isn't the need to add too much detail on them and the bigger they are the plainer they look. These figurines are quite better that the one included with Sonic Colors, although the later is an articulated action figure but looks too cheap. They have a stand with the 20th anniversary logo and there's also a small ring from the game, really shiny, with its own stand. The fact that they made a figure for each Sonic is really sweet! Classic Sonic figure brings so much nostalgia and looks amazing. It also comes with two bonus discs: a soundtrack disc that includes a selection of music and a dvd with Sonic's history. Finally, there's the artbook, which isn't half bad either. Overall, this edition really fits Sonic's 20th anniversary. The contents are pretty nice too! I love it and I give it a 9/10. I's limited to 12000 units worldwide.

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Manbat

When Arkham Asylum came out, I was quite surprised to see that it was so good. It really is a great game. It's been a while since I played a Batman game and I must say that I never imagined a game like this would ever be done. Its sequel is quite impresive as well. And it deserved another Collector's Edition and several steelbooks etc. So far I only bought Batman: Arkham City Collector's Edition and I'll probably not get the steelbooks any time soon.

Anyway, This edition gets a 7/10 from me. The edition itself is not very big, which is a good thing because lately most major games receive very big boxes that take away a lot of space. The figure is small, yet heavy and quite detailed. Again, it's not impressive but does the job. The artbook is pretty small, not the sort of artbooks I love, and I really can't stand the fact that the game disc doesn't have its own box but comes inside the artbook. I really don't like that too much... Finally, the top piece of card inside the box that identifies the console cannot hold its place inside the box and as a result you can usually find that edition with the top card piece slightly off its place. However, a good thing about this edition is its release price, which is frankly quite good.

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It may be Drake's Deception, but it's not my deception for sure

Finally, Uncharted 3 came out! And with it, another incredible edition. The explorer edition, exclusive to Europe. I really had to get that one, and it wasn't as easy as I expected.

Overall, I rate this edition as 8/10. The figure is quite detailed but not as good or impressive as others like we've seen in Assassin's Creed or Gears of War 3 and Halo Reach. They surely could put some more effort on that figure in my opinion. The figure should also have a better box instead of just the plastic inserts, but that's a personal opinion. The necklace with the ring and the buckle are pretty cool items, especially the ring, and their quality is quite good. The 3d lenticular card is a little useless, not quite sure why they added that. It would be more interesting if they added a postcard set with or without these lenticular effects. The outer box is quite amazing, FAR superior to AC:B Codex Edition or GowIII Pandora's box. It's so much better it's hardly comparable. It does NOT look cheap, it's quite detailed and combines several materials, including wood. I liked it a lot, the only thing I don't like too much about these editions is when they come with a box and all items are loose inside it. The special edition included (also available for sale separately) is quite original as well because it really resembles Nathan's notebook and it's a small art book. The only let down is the way the disc is placed inside the notebook, which is quite stupid in my opinion. Still, it's one of my favourite editions, I like it a lot.

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