Final Fantasy XIII-2 and the attack of the pre-order bonuses

No major game release is complete without gamers being given a chance to get ‘limited edition’ versions or DLC by pre-ordering. Take Final Fantasy XIII-2. This week Square-Enix announced ‘Crystal Edition’ and ‘Limited Collector’s Edition’ versions of the game will be available at £79.99 and £59.99 and DLC goodness for the ‘normal’ edition (you can see the full rundown below if that’s what you’re here for).

There isn’t anything new about this but they are certainly more prevalent now and come in a dizzying array of types – see below for Final Fantasy pre-order bonanza.

There’s an obvious advantage for Square-Enix or Warner Bros or whoever to get you to buy a game before it’s been released. Money in the bank at a nice high price and buyers who are unlikely to trade their ‘special edition’ game in.

Where many a games company has been stung is in offering immediate rewards for pre-ordering, usually for an existing game to get people to pre-order the sequel. It’s a simple job then to pre-order and then cancel your order.

So now we have a plethora of ‘Special Editions’ with usually a different one for each retailer and all at a different price (incidentally if you’re going to pre-order a game you should make sure you visit Game Preorders – where you can compare the different games pre-orders available).

Now this can’t be a bad thing (unless you’re a completest on a low wage) but as the kerfuffle over Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Catwoman DLC shows it isn’t going to end here.

Games companies are going to be more and more creative - and probably quite sneaky – in how they persuade us not only to pre-order but to spend more and not trade that game in.

But it’s hard to see how getting us to pay more for our games (albeit with lots of extras) is going to be the answer. Whisper it quietly but what if the actual answer was to charge us less.

What would happen to the trade in market if games were all £10-£20?

Clearly there’s a whole lot of hoopla about budgets and quality and the like to be had here. But if the status quo isn’t working then something has to give. Is that really day one DLC and £79.99 ‘Special Editions’?

Anyway if you’re still interested in the Final Fantasy XIII-2 pre-order stuff it’s all here:

Pre-order bonus pack

• An exclusive steelbook case with the following contents:
• “Fight In Style” Downloadable Content Pack:
• Recruitable monster battle: Defeat Omega, the famous FINAL FANTASY boss monster, and then have it join your party for further use in the adventure!
• Alternate costume for Serah
• Alternate costume for Noel
• FINAL FANTASY XIII -Episode i-. This novella explores the events taking place between FINAL FANTASY XIII and FINAL FANTASY XIII-2. Witness the untold story!
• Three lithograph artcards, showing key images for the game
• This is for pre-ordering the ‘normal’ version at the ‘normal’ price (which will depend on where you get it from).

 

 

Also revealed are two special editions for you to choose from called the ‘Crystal Edition’ and ‘Limited Collector’s edition.’

 

Crystal Edition:

• Presentation box4-Disc FINAL FANTASY XIII-2
• Original Soundtrack with premium digipak packaging*
• Exclusive FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 T-Shirt from the SQUARE ENIX PRODUCTS range. Never to be available elsewhere!
• Artwork book “The Art of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2”, featuring artwork across the production.
• 6 collectable postcards, featuring high quality CG artwork of main characters in the gameHigh Definition Lenticular Artprint, showing an iconic image of Lightnin
• All for the rather hefty price of £79.99.

 

 

Limited Collector’s Edition:

• Unique packaging
• Composer Selected Soundtrack: CD with selection of music tracks from the game, specially chosen by the composers
• Artwork book “The Art of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2”
• 6 collectible postcards, featuring high quality CG artwork of main characters in the game
• High Definition Lenticular Artprint, showing an iconic image of Lightning
• Limited Collector’s Edition is a little cheaper, coming in at £59.99.

So, what do you think? Is this enough to make you pre-order? 

Words: Rosalyn Byrne (@jrpgtribe) and Rich Keith (@rjkeith)

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