Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition Costs $100, Doesn't Include Game

[IanDavis]

Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition Costs $100, Doesn't Include Game

The collectors edition includes many things, but no actual game.

Wolfenstein is returning, again! With the May 20th release date right around the corner, the hype machine is cranking out its siren song. Now is the time to get pumped about the murder of futuristic cyborg Nazis. This is when retailers start hawking massive collectors editions with night vision goggles and remote controlled cars. Bethesda is no exception here, as Wolfenstein: The New Order's Panzerhund Edition is a footlocker filled everything but [a href=http://store.bethsoft.com/brands/wolfenstein/wolfenstein-the-new-order-panzerhund-edition.html]the actual game itself[/a].

Upon cracking open your "vintage footlocker-style box", you'll find a host of alternate-future relics. There's a classified documents folder with an assortment of various maps, casefiles and an x-ray. Most of the box is taken up with a huge statue of the animal-like Panzerhund robot. You also get 14 "full-color weathered-looking" post cards you can send to your friends, informing them that you've been fully immersed in your new game. After that, you can sew the three embroidered patches onto your clothing and wear the replica dog tags around your neck, so you can LARP the character of BJ Blazkowicz between load screens. Yet, while you get a Steelbook case to house your precious game disc, that's something that you'll have to get separately.

It might sound weird, but Bethesda has a justification. "Keep your pre-order at your favorite retailer and we'll send you these goodies separately-this way we can ship these boxes worldwide and you're not stuck waiting for your game to come along with an oversized, expensively shipped box."

Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition costs $100 and ships out on May 20th. Since this edition doesn't include a game, it would be better to think of it as costing $160, unless you really just want that statue and don't care about the game. If that sounds too expensive to you, then you're likely not the right market for these editions anyways.

Source: [a href=http://store.bethsoft.com/brands/wolfenstein/wolfenstein-the-new-order-panzerhund-edition.html]Bethesda Store[/a]

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[CriticalMiss]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It's a fairly good idea though since it means more money to the developers rather than the retail stores (who will save some space that would otherwise be taken up with bulky collectors editions). Plus you can get all of the shelf fodder even if you buy a digital version.

 

[Veldel]

OK.... THIS IS FUCKING STUPID!


OT: I hope this doesn't do well as I'd rather this dumb thing not become a trend I mean buying a collecters without a game is stupid and that stuff looks far from being worth 100$

 

[mirage202]

Is this one of those have cake and eat it situations?

$100 for game + goodies is expensive yet I'll admit I have done that in the past.

$100 for goodies + $60 for game? That sounds suspiciously like attempting to work MMO double dipping into single player.

Back in my day you paid for a Collectors edition of a game and got the game. Something I may be telling the kids in the future.

 

[Gorrath]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. It's a fairly good idea though since it means more money to the developers rather than the retail stores (who will save some space that would otherwise be taken up with bulky collectors editions). Plus you can get all of the shelf fodder even if you buy a digital version.

I think you hit the nail on the head by calling it "shelf fodder". I've friends who have houses cluttered with this stuff, and while I'd never deride anyone for buying whatever it is that they like (save for perhaps black tar heroin) I've noticed most of it just ends up sitting around on end tables collecting dust. I can understand the appeal of having a bunch of neat stuff that goes with a game you really enjoy, but the amount of sheer junk that tends to come in these baffles me. Post cards? How pretentious would someone have to be to actually mail me a post card to tell me they are really liking the new Wolfenstein? And how does one know if they'll be that into the game before they even buy it? At least this way you can get all this nonsense without having to pay for the game.

 

[Mahorfeus]

I can understand collector's editions, to an extent. I bought the Dark Souls II one and currently have both the statue and artbook on my bookshelf - it's not like I don't have room for it. The map looks nice enough to hang on my wall, but that would take a bit more effort.

But this crap? I don't know what I would even do with half of it. It looks like the swag you would get at a convention or something. And it doesn't even come with the game? Is this a thing now? I mean, good for people who want the swag without the game or vice versa, but I don't really think that is a market. $160 to have both is ludicrous.

 

[Matt K]

The only swag like this I own is from Working Designs studio and back then they were free with pre-order. And really nice stuff too. I still have my punching Ghaleon at home. I don't even pre-order games anymore since god knows what kind of quality they'll be so I don't really get shelling out that much for just the swag. You could buy at least another full price game for that much.

 

[Carnagath]

So basically you're paying 100$ for the statuette, because the rest is garbage. I dunno about this. I've bought a couple of CE's myself, like the SC2 Wings Of Liberty one, which had SC and BW in it in a flash drive modeled after Jim Raynor's dogtags, which was pretty cool, as well as Bioshock 2 which had an enormous hard cover artbook, 4 posters, and the soundtrack for the first 2 games on CD and Vinyl, which was absolutely fucking amazing... and it only cost about 60 euros. WITH the game. This... yeah, it looks really cheap and shitty. Even if the statuette is great, this is not a good CE.

 

[Mezahmay]

I like how they assume you already pre-ordered the game. May all of the industry learn from this newest product soon-to-be failure.

 

[Arawn]

While I can understand their argument, I still think it's rather bad. I'll be the first to admit people are stupid. Someone will purchase this without reading what they're actually buying. Yes, it would be the buyer's fault, but the whole name is misleading. I think they should rename it. Just call it a Collection Pack not a Collector's Edition.

 

[FPLOON]

As someone who has bought more Limited/Collector's Edition of games that (for the most part) have enjoyed at this point in time, even I'm calling bullshit on something like this... I can only think of two reason why they're doing something like this:

1) Not every fan of Wolfenstein would want to play a game they probably would not enjoy as much as they think they will... (I should know, given how I spent $$$ on the Collector's Edition of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City...) So, instead, they can get the goodies that would have swayed them to buy the game in the first place...
2) They KNOW their game isn't going to be as great as people/fans would expect it to be, so by cutting out "the problem", they can still get people to buy it for the goodies...

Other than that, the goodies, themselves, look kinda awesome to have... even if it's just a standalone to the actual game itself...

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

...

I think I'll just wait for a Steam Sale then, there isn't much point to getting the Collectors Edition without the actual game included.

 

[Neta]

Why is it called an "edition" when it doesn't include an "edition"?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Hm...this is weird. I suppose there are a few people out there who would just be interested in the stuff and not the actual game. I did buy the Dark Souls II Collector's Edition more because of the map and statue than the actual game. But still, I have a hard time swallowing that any edition of a game doesn't come with the actual game.

 

[Bat Vader]

I think I may actually purchase this. I love the look of the physical items and I have a space on my shelf that needs filling and the robot wolf thing is perfect for it. I have always liked buying Collector's Editions of games.

 

[Snotnarok]

I'm not sure this is worth it, I'm not sure what shipping costs they're referring to as Amazon has free shipping options including prime, which is arguably free.
So, they don't seem to be saving anyone anything, it'd be nice to have something to compare this to, a similar sized statue and goodies. Best I can compare this to is Titanfall for 250...which came with a massive 18" statue of a mech with 3 soldiers fighting around it on a street, it was also light up.

Or Mass Effect 2 and 3 which came with small goodies for 60 then 80 bucks, the mark up on 3 was really lame for a similar amount of content.

Either way, no real interest in this despite it being based off the classic game.