The House of the Dead: Overkillcollector's edition bundle is one of the best preorder items we've seen in a while, so it was understandably upsetting when Sega initially revealed the package as a Europe-only bonus. You can pack that pitchfork away for another day, however, because Sega has confirmed it will be spreading the love to North America. Preorder Overkill at GameStop, GameCrazy, or Amazon, and you'll have the option to bag all of this. Yum.
Sega will release The House of the Dead: Overkill in Europe next February, and there'll be an optional bonus at "selected retailers" for fans who preorder: this rad Collector's Edition. Arriving in a fetching minimalist slipcase (loving the authentic scuff marks), this will come bundled with a graphic novel that tells the stories of Agent Washington and Varla Gunns, and the events that lead up to the game.
Here's the downside: this sweet package has so far only been announced for PAL regions -- apart from Germany, obviously. Sucks to be Germany, eh? Hit up our gallery for a closer look at the comic's cover and a sample page.
Konami appears to be really pleased with Simon Belmont's little shorts. They have -- well, he has, we suppose -- become an unofficial mascot for Castlevania Judgment, first as a rather expensive figurine sold through Konamistyle, and now as the focal point of this "laser cel" being given away as a preorder bonus by GameStop.
The background, featuring Aeon, certainly looks cool, as does the color scheme in general. You can see Alucard in his new finery standing back-to-back with Simon. But it's clear that the star of the show is Simon Belmont and his shorts. And his big apelike arms.
Even though we regard Activision as greedy for its approach to downloadable content and subscription models, we have to confess we're impressed by Guitar Hero World Tour's preorder gift of a totally free guitar.
The company just announced the scheme, but don't get too excited, because there are a couple of disclaimers to this. One: as far as we can tell, this is currently a UK-only offer (one that includes all online and high street retailers). Two: you do have to buy the full band set, which is currently going for around £150 at most online stores; still, this does allow you to have a bass player in your band from the get-go. Here, Activision, have some props from us.
WiiSpeak isn't the kind of thing we can imagine selling in Wii Fitquantities, but it's getting hard to tell nowadays. Maybe the microphone add-on and Animal Crossing: City Folk will be overshadowed by the otherbig first-party release of November, and supplies will be plentiful, but why take the risk? You can now preorder your own WiiSpeak at Amazon, and rest assured that you'll be able to bitch behind Nook's back with your Wii Friends from day one. Hang around now, and you may be confined to the keyboard.
Yesterday, NCSX opened preorders for Japanese copies of Wii Music, which is officially coming out October 16. We haven't gotten an official US date beyond 'Holiday 2008,' but two retailers seem to have agreed upon a potential date: November 3. Both Amazon and GameStop are taking preorders for the multiplayer musical toy thing, to ship (as of now, anyway) on that projected release date. Gamefly says October 29, which is very strange: Gamefly's release dates tend to be behind the real date, not ahead of it.
With the holiday season rapidly approaching, we're sure Nintendo will date or delay Wii Music soon, but for now, we can look forward to the shortages kicking off on November 3.
Whatever you may think about Wii Music -- and we've heard what pretty much everyone on the Internet thinks about Wii Music, thank you -- there's no denying that it's an important, high-profile release. It's Nintendo's next big Shigeru Miyamoto game, and it's one of the cornerstones of Nintendo's whole Wii strategy. So the opportunity to buy a copy is noteworthy.
Importer NCSX has opened preorders for the Japanese release of Wii Music. For people capable of playing Japanese games, the chance to make irritating puppy noises to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" could present itself just a couple of days after the October 16 release date.
Character design and concept art are two areas in which Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars excels, and the free gifts for those who preorder the game use both extensively.
Those who reserve a copy at Gamestop will be able to claim the "life-size" statuette above, as well as a pack of eleven Mushroom Mentrading cards (a twelfth comes with the game itself) featuring the title's diverse range of enemies. The "Jackalope" has ensured that we shall not sleep easily tonight.
It's probably worth mentioning that a further eleven cards will be offered to those who preorder Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi on the DS, as well as a superb Les Claypool/Mushroom Men poster. Red Fly's customized Mushroom Men VW Bus is not, alas, a preorder perk, but it is rad. Take a look.
Posted Jun 16th 2008 5:00PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
... and Capcom totally knows it. That's why they're tempting prospective golfers with a fun-sized golf bag, which is actually meant to hold the Wii Remote that substitutes for clubs in We Love Golf. Clever, right? The golf bag accessory comes in a jaunty red and looks just big enough to carry one Wiimote around. Since there's rarely any call for just a well-protected Wiimote clipped to something else (at least in our personal experience), this is bound to end up proudly displayed among other preorder items.
GameStop is offering the accessory with copies of the game (shipping next month), as is Capcom's own perilous online store.
There's been a disturbing lack ofpress about Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. In fact, we've probably seen and heard more about Rune Factory: Frontier than we have about Tree, which came out in Japan last year.
What we do know is that preordering the title through Amazon will get you an adorable cow plushie. Of course, it's difficult to tell when you'll actually receive the game and plush doll; Natsume lists "Summer 2008," Gamestop lists late July, Gamefly lists early August, and Amazon lists late August, to name a few of the scattered release dates.
Still, for Harvest Moon fans who were planning to buy the game anyway, a cute cow plush is a nice bonus that might make preordering through Amazon the best way to go. It's certainly not the greatest gift ever, but we think it will definitely appeal to the Harvest Moon crowd ... mostly because we're in that crowd, and we want one for ourselves.
Gamestop is notorious for its preorder policies, but other retailers offer shoppers the opportunity to preorder as well. Do you take part in the practice? If so, do you only preorder big releases (like Wii Fit or Mario Kart) to make sure you get a copy, or do you preorder any game you're looking forward to? If not, have you ever had trouble finding a game on its release day?
Wii Fit is now out in the three major regions, which means it's time for us to ask: are you (literally) on board? Some folks we know are waiting for shipped preorders to arrive, so they're not yet Balance Board owners. Others are happily hoopin' it up ... and others have shunned the release, claiming disinterest in a fitness nongame. How about you?
There seems to be quite a bit of ill will and even more apathy toward the release of Wii Fit among Nintendo fans. Whenever it's mentioned, there are always a few people aggressively against the exergaming title ... and yet, preorders have been huge. So who's buying all these copies? People who want the balance board for later titles, or people genuininely interested in Wii Fit? More importantly: did you preorder? Did your friends?
... if you're in France. Despite much frantic hunting on the internets, we've only been able to locate this neat little piece of Boom Bloxmerchandise at a French outlet, where it's being given away to those who purchase the game early (Boom Blox launches across Europe tomorrow).
Although it lacks a ball to knock your blocks down with once you've finished building, assembling this puzzle is probably the perfect way to pass the time while your family plays on Boom Blox and you stubbornly refuse to admit that you might have been wrong. Bah. Oh, one word of advice, though: handle with care.
If you plan on getting Wii Fit without being trampled by Oprah-watching woman types, you better have secured your preorder already, as pickings are getting slim.
Not only has Amazon stopped taking them for Nintendo's popular fitness game, but IGN reports that GameStop has also suspended preorders for the title and Game Crazy is nearly tapped out. GoNintendo notes that Toys R Us (dot com) has run out of preorder stock, too, leaving Walmart's online store as one of the few options left -- although we're sure it's only a matter of time before that ends, as well.
This sounds eerily similar to what happened in the UK a few weeks ago, and now retail copies of Wii Fit seem to be more scarce than holy grails there. The one lesson that we can take away from all this? Nintendo is really good at printing money.
Konami appears to be really pleased with Simon Belmont's little shorts. They have -- well, he has, we suppose -- become an unofficial mascot for Castlevania Judgment, first as a rather expensive figurine sold through Konamistyle, and now as the focal point of this "laser cel" being given away as a preorder bonus by GameStop.
