Well, your time plus $59.99. In a wise business decision on Bandai Namco’s part, it has been announced that consumers who pre-order Dark Souls will receive the Collector’s edition at no additional charge.  This is wise for two reasons:

• You get the following cool bonuses for free:
  • Metal case
  • Mini art book
  • Mini strategy guide
  • Downloadable soundtrack
  • Behind the scenes development videos
• Based on pre-order quantities, Bandai Namco can more successfully project how many copies to produce for launch

The small cost that these pre-order bonuses may cost Bandai Namco surely pale in comparison to profits from a strong launch.  This is a good example of a reciprocal relationship between consumer and publisher — we both come out ahead!

If you still aren’t convinced that you should pre-order Dark Souls I encourage you to watch the game’s newest trailer featuring a slew of unfortunate deaths waiting to greet you in the game’s 60+ hours:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You may also want to read an interview with the game’s producer, Hidetaka Miyazaki, about changes since the world of Demon’s Souls.

So far any fears I had about Bandai Namco botching Dark Souls publishing in the West have been pleasantly muted. Dark Souls is set for an October release in the West, placing it dangerously close to both Disgaea 4 (September 17), and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (November 11).  Still, my memories of Demon’s Souls are easily some of the fondest I have for this generation, so I will be pre-ordering this ASAP, and if you like free stuff, you will too.

Today Bethesda officially announced the different DLC pre-orders that vault-wanderers can look forward to when Fallout: New Vegas is released.  There are four in total which differ based on where you order the game.  Below is each pack, where to find it, and its contents:

The Classic Pack available at Gamestop

• Armored Vault 13 Suit: a homage to the ending of the first Fallout.
• Canteen: helps stave off dehydration when wandering the deserts of FNV.
• Weathered 10 MM Pistol: a well-worn 10mm pistol that packs an extra punch despite its modest size.
• 5 Stimpacks: a small supply of stimpacks to get you started.

The Tribal Pack available at Amazon

• Tribal Raiding Armor: protects but doesn’t inhibit.
• Broad Machete: deals massive damage to limbs and dishes out quick blows.
• 5 Bleak Venom Doses: when applied to melee weapons, increases damage dramatically.
• 10 Throwing Spears: can pin limbs to walls and more stealthy than guns.

The Caravan Pack available at Wal-Mart and when pre-ordering from Steam

• Lightweight Leather Armor: protects but doesn’t inhibit.
• Sturdy Caravan Shotgun: a reliable shotgun can never be had soon enough.
• 4 Repair Kits: assists in repairing weapons and armor.
• Binoculars: allow you to spot trouble before it spots you.

The Mercenary Pack available at Best Buy

• Lightweight Metal Armor: protects but doesn’t inhibit.
• Mercenary’s Grenade Rifle: reloads faster than the standard version in the game.
• 3 Super Stimpacks: when you absolutely, positively, need to keep your blood inside your body…
• 3 Doctors Bags: knock those broken limbs back into place.

They all seem to have at least one awesome item, but I am really on the fence as to a best choice.  I guess it also depends on your style of play.  There is only one pack that seems to accent a melee type character, so if that’s your style the choice should be obvious.  Personally, although I hate to admit it (I hate Wal-Mart), the Caravan pack looks the best to me.  I am guessing the shotgun degrades slower than normal ones, and the binoculars would be great for my play-style which focuses on stealth.  November can’t come soon enough!

I am really excited for Red Dead Redemption, but I am still trying to decide where to purchase it.  Right now I am leaning towards Game Stop since their pre-order bonus is the most appealing to me.  For a complete list of the other bonuses, check out this page on Rockstar’s main site.

Rather than settle on a single option for players, Game Stop is allowing consumers to vote for one of the above three bonus DLC outfits.  They are as follows:

• Savvy Merchant Outfit: Price for guns and ammo reduced by half
• Deadly Assassin Outfit: “Dead Eye” regenerates twice as quickly
• Expert Hunter Outfit: Receive double the reward from skinning an animal

This is a tough decision for me — it seems like the deadly assassin outfit would be helpful regardless of how far the player is in the game, which is great.  However, I think the value also depends on the player’s technique, I am sure some people will use Dead Eye more than others.  The other two outfits seem like they would be most helpful at the beginning of the game, but their value would taper off as time goes on.  Still, I imagine I will always need to buy ammo, even if all guns are unlocked so maybe the Savvy Merchant is the best choice.

I just can’t decide on my own guys!  If the decision is obvious to you, let me know and be sure to vote as well.

Even if you haven’t played Valkyria Chronicles, odds are you still recognize the game’s iconic platinum-haired valkyrie, Selveria Bless.  She is arguable one of the most popular characters to bless (no pun intended) the current generation of games.  In Japan, a pre-order bonus has been announced for the second game in the series, Valkyria Chronicles 2, due out January 21st.  Among the contents included in the bonus, dubbed Document of Gallia 1936, is secret information on how to get Selveria to join the ranks of your troops.

I am not sure if this is a password, or just a series of steps required to recruit her.  Either way, this is surely a valuable bonus for fans of the series.  Other contents included in the pre-order bonus are:

• Valkyria Chronices 1936:  Memories from the Front: A journal containing Princess Cordilia’s insight into the events of the previous game.  This is mainly included for those who did not play the first game.  You may note that the year of 1936 is right between the events of the first and second games.
• Guest Character Recruiting Document: A detailed explanation of how to acquire Selveria Bless as an ally.  She appears in her standard infantry form rather than valkyria form, since that would just be ridiculous.
• Gallian Journal 1936: A collection of excerpts from the Gallian Journal written by Irene.
• Limited Soundtrack: A soundtrack from the game featuring scores by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Here is a picture of the Document of Gallia 1936 pre-order bonus revealed a recent press conference by the game’s creators:

It is a little strange seeing Selveria in Gallarian soldier attire isn’t it?  I kind of wish that she just had her black sniper outfit on, but I guess this is better than nothing!

While I am not sure how, I am positive this same content will be available to us in the West, it just may not be dressed up in such a pretty package.

It looks like I am not the only one who loves Demon’s Souls: many retailers sold out of the game entirely.  Fear not fellow RPG fanatics, Atlus has ordered up a second glorious shipment which should be available in the near future.  Atlus has also stated that production of the deluxe edition has stopped entirely, meaning once they’re gone, they’re gone!

At the moment the best place to find the few remnants of the deluxe edition is Play-Asia.  They have the bundle available for $79.90 if any procrastinators wanna hop on the bandwagon.  I think the only bonus you would miss out on by purchasing from Play-Asia is the soundtrack, which is pretty awesome.  Still, the guide definitely trumps the OST in terms of value and necessity.

**UPDATE** The deluxe edition from Play-Asia does include the bonus OST

Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman on UMD?

NIS America’s Badman was released as a PSN exclusive to surprisingly decent success.  Still, NIS is always sensitive to what their fans want, which is part of why we love them so much, right?  They have announced that if over 1,000 UMD copies are pre-ordered from their Rosenqueen online shop, they will begin production of the UMD version of the game.

If you’re a fan of UMDs and/or Badman, you better shell out the $19.99 to help them reach their 1,000 pre-order goal.

I really think it’s cool that NIS is willing to soften the transition to a world without UMDs.  I know a lot of people are still freaking out over this, buying duct tape, surgical masks, fallout shelters, etc.

The Pokémon Company in Japan released this image of the exclusive pre-order figures for their upcoming Nintendo DS titles Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver.  If you pre-order a copy of Pokémon Heart Gold, you’ll receive a Ho-oh figure, if you pre-order a copy of Pokémon Soul Silver, you’ll receive a Lugia figure.  What about that little guy in the middle you ask?  Only those customers who pre-order both versions of the game will receive the Arceus figure…

Is this terribly ingenious or just plain terrible on Pokémon’s part?  Sadly this minor incentive will probably force many people to pre-order both games.  If you get one for you and one for you friend who gets which figures?  There is just no way to win without shelling out the big bucks.

These figures will be available tomorrow in Japan.  It’s pretty likely that they’ll be popping up on sites like e-bay for especially gouging prices.  The wise consumer may just wait until a Western release is announced.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we are treated to the same luxury.

Related Entries:
Pokéwalker Unveiled – Causes Pokénostalgia
Pokémon Soul Silver and Heart Gold Gets Japanese Release Date and Packaging

Still some issues with the pre-order for Devil Survivor on Amazon. UPDATE: Issue resolved

I thought it was a bit amusing that according to the site, the game was released over a week ago.  Even more humorous perhaps is that it ships in “2 to 4 weeks.” If you click on the game however, you will only receive an Amazon 404 error asking if you actually meant to type in Erotic Survivor 2.

Does Amazon really know me that well?  The first Erotic Survivor just left me wanting more…  I will try and update if this situation remedies itself.  Man I have too much time on my hands…

Related Entries:
Atlus: DS Domination

Prinny’s release date is about a month away, so NIS has put the game’s pre-order’s for sale at their Rosenqueen shop.  As would be expected, NIS has several packages to choose from depending on your level of obsession:

They also have some of the individual elements of the packages for sale so if you would like you can make your own bundle.  The Prinny plush can be found here, and the PSP case here.

I think the “Hero to the Rescue” package may be the best deal, considering it doesn’t contain anything I don’t really care about – comics and manga interest me little.  Although you may notice Asagi on the front of the comic page in the premium bundle which piques my interest a bit.

By the way, I totally called the pre-order bonuses!  Go me!  I am surprised to see that a guide is not being made by doublejump books or any other published.  I may need to write up a short boss FAQ or something…

My sincerest apologies on not having a review for Prinny up yet, the game is proving to be a more formidable monster that I had initially thought.  I really want to beat it before reviewing it, so hopefully it will be soon!

Related Entries:
NIS America Announces Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?
Prinny: Is it OK if I am the Main Character Dood!? Update
Prinny: Is it OK if I am the Main Character Dood?! for PSP
Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? Merch

I don’t know how I missed this one! Doublejump Books now has their guide for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 available for pre-order on their website for $19.99.  The guide will ship on 12/02/08, although I got my Disgaea 3 guide before its scheduled ship date, so who knows.  I really loved their Persona 3 guide; it was characteristically in-depth and helped me maximize my year very well.  This guide is said to include:

Complete walkthrough with Monthly Planners to help budget your time

See all the endings

Find out what’s of worth on the home shopping network

Uncover all secrets

Complete every quest

Complete data on Social Links

Uncover every character’s secret Persona

Full list of all items, skills, personas and enemies

plus much more! 

As an added bonus, those who pre-order will receive a free priority shipping coupon code.  The code, p4pre, is good for $6.30 off of shipping. 

I have already spoken at length about the superiority of Doublejump Books’ guides.  But what I like best about them, is I can purchase them BEFORE the respective game is released, granting some nice study time.  With this code, there is no difference between buying the guide online, or in-store, so buy it! 

Also I noticed that now ALL Disgaea 3 guides purchased from Doublejump Books.com get a signature from djpubba.  Here I thought I was special.

Related Entries:
Doublejump Books–Makers of Fine Strategy Guides
Doublejump Books’ Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice Guide Review
All other Kotowari entries on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 can be found here

The participating locations are Gamestop, Amazon and EB Games. EB Games will only be offering the bonus in-store. If you don’t want to take a chance (I wouldn’t), then you can get the pre-orders online at the following links:

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Amazon	Price = $36.99	Buy Here
Gamestop	Price = $39.99	Buy Here
On Sale 12/09/08

Eternal Poison
Amazon	Price = $36.99	Buy Here
Gamestop	Price = $39.99	Buy Here
On Sale 11/11/08

I wish Atlus wasn’t releasing two games I want to play within a month of each other!  I don’t even think I will be done with Disgaea 3 by the November release of Eternal Poison…  So many games to play, so little time.

Still, it’s nice to see some decent (and free) pre-order incentives.

Related Entries:
All other Kotowari entries on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 can be found here
Eternal Poison Preview