Going Batshit Bonkers

Games.  They represent great value for money.  Sometimes!  Sadly I’ve been victim to more than a few games that have offered less longevity than a blockbuster movie and very poor value for money.  Surely then, the way to offer us gamers some truly great value is to pad out the game with heaps of extra content.  Maybe there could be a collectors edition with some bonus content and a model or DVD or poster, all offer a little more bang for the buck.  But wait!  Maybe there is something more sinister on the horizon, maybe, if you are a completist you’re about to be thrown into total turmoil.  If this is you, you may find that you are about to face the most expensive game, ever.

Come October, we will finally be able to get our hands on the hugely anticipated Batman Arkham City.  I am one of those people, eagerly agog to get my mitts on it, but wait just a  holy minute, Batfans.  Available from launch will be your bog standard normal edition with no frills, good for the budget conscious.  However, launching at the same time is a steelbook edition with no discernible extras, only the stunning Batman artwork on the box.  The difference in price looks to be £3-£5, not a huge deal. But it doesn’t stop there, oh no!  Also launching from various outlets, some exclusive, are a wealth of other steelbook editions.  Already confirmed are a Robin cover and a Two-Face cover. It seems that there will be specific Robin downloads to go with this, but once again, exclusive to a certain store.   Phew! That all certainly makes it a little difficult to choose which version you would prefer.  Of course, if you’re not bothered by it, the standard edition may suffice.  Good, we all sorted now?  Well, sadly you’re not.  Not by a long shot, because there’s more.

Tesco have nabbed the exclusive Joker’s Carnival Challenge Map for a limited time, I would imagine.  This is reported to add an extra four hours worth of gameplay to the main game, which is quite a bit, I’m sure you’d agree.  Of course, this also comes in a Joker themed steelbook, no surprise there!  You would think at this point that there could be no more, I would forgive you for thinking this way. Guess what?  You’d  be wrong.  There is also the stunningly gorgeous looking collector’s edition that comes with a statue, artbook, downloadable soundtrack, bonus character skins, animated film and of course the game.  This is the edition that I have plumped for and currently is available to pre-order between £60-£70.  It sounds like quite good value and to be honest, the statue looks stunning, which is what drew me to this specific edition.  So, at this moment in time there are at least six versions of the game going to be available.  Aside from the extras that I’ve detailed, the versions are the same with only the packaging being different.  Some versions from specific stores will also include different codes for various Batman skins to use in game.  All will be available to download for everyone at a later date.  I hope.

Let us imagine then, in some kind of foolish world that you wanted ALL the content spread across all the versions on offer.  With a little calculating, I estimate that the total cost, at its cheapest, would be somewhere in the region of £250!  Yes, I know that no one is actually going to buy all the separate editions, are they?  But it really makes you wonder why it can’t have all been in the box of every version rather than having so many different versions.  There is no doubt that this game is going to sell, but I really think that it has all gone too far now.  Is it possible that collectors will be snapping up the various versions and then giving the sales an artificially high number; is that the plan?  I’m really not sure, but I’m currently worried that my collector’s edition game disc is going to come in an envelope rather than one of the lovely boxes.

I was about to finish my blog there but in doing my research I’ve discovered that there may be, at least, another two steelbooks available.  The Penguin and Catwoman may also be entering the fray!  We’re now closing in on the £350 mark.  Holy Batshit Bonkers!