Rockstar Splits L.A. Noire Pre-Order Bonuses Six Ways

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Rockstar Splits L.A. Noire Pre-Order Bonuses Six Ways



No matter where you pre-order L.A. Noire from, you might miss out on some content.

Rockstar Games has announced a plethora of pre-order bonuses for the upcoming L.A. Noire [http://www.amazon.com/Noire-Playstation-3/dp/B002I0J5UQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298643523&sr=8-1], which include new outfits, cases to solve, weapons, and more. There's just one catch: They've been divided up between multiple retail outlets.

Pre-ordering from Best Buy or Amazon awards purchasers with an exclusive suit and pistol, though only the suits are described. Best Buy is offering the "Sharpshooter Suit," which enhances your aim with pistols and rifles. Amazon offers the "Broderick Suit," which strengthens hand-to-hand combat abilities and resistance to damage.

Rockstar gave Walmart a bonus case for pre-orderers to solve called "A Slip of the Tongue." This traffic desk case looks like a standard car theft on the surface, but ends up leading to an investigation on the biggest auto fraud ring Los Angeles has ever known.

Meanwhile, GameStop appears to have gotten the best of the bunch, with an exclusive case and a side-mission. "The Naked City" is a vice desk case that has players look into the apparent suicide of a beautiful fashion model. Hint: It probably wasn't a suicide. GameStop pre-orders also receive a mission called "Badge Pursuit" which deposits 20 badges around the city for players to find. Collecting them awards extra experience points to build your investigative skills, and unlocks a suit that gives extra ammunition.

Pre-ordering from the Rockstar Games Store will provide buyers with a t-shirt. No offense Rockstar, but I don't think anyone is choosing that one. Target buyers also get a t-shirt, and a $5 gift card.

There's nothing wrong with pre-order incentives, but I can't help but think that this is the improper way to offer them. "Badge Pursuit" alone seems like a pretty typical Rockstar mission that should be included in every L.A. Noire player's game. If all of the content can eventually be unlocked by everyone, great. If not, I question how exclusive pre-order bonuses are beneficial, especially when one retailer's is so much better than the others.

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manythings

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Nov 7, 2009
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I does seem pretty weighted in Gamestop's favour. Then again how long IS a case? If it's only 30 mins long then it's a pretty big meh.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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Just don't buy it.

I question how small these additional missions must really be if they're willing to cut them from the game for most people. I wouldn't be surprised if they were created for the sole purpose of cutting them out.

Of course, they carry on with it because people do like to pre-order, so they obviously see it as a viable tactic, even if it's not really working.
 

HellspawnCandy

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It's annoying that they split them up. Like Deus ex and Fallout New Vegas. NV eventually released all of them after Deadmoney which I thought was so freaking dumb. Some people like me aren't really close to some of the stores that have the best items. But eh whatever.
 

GonzoGamer

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Woodsey said:
Just don't buy it.

I question how small these additional missions must really be if they're willing to cut them from the game for most people. I wouldn't be surprised if they were created for the sole purpose of cutting them out.

Of course, they carry on with it because people do like to pre-order, so they obviously see it as a viable tactic, even if it's not really working.
IDK.
Like Tom said, that badge collection thing seems like something that you would expect in every copy of the game; especially for R*.

It's too bad, I was thinking about getting this. But if they're going to pull that crap, I'm just going to rent it and maybe buy goty eventually if it's really good.
At least it doesn't seem like they're doing their usual console specific exclusive dlc BS like they usually do.
 

josemlopes

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Jun 9, 2008
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This is why I created this topic
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.266964-Poll-Pre-Order-Incentives#10191455

Its a poll about this kind of incentives
 

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Onyx Oblivion said:
Target it is.

What? $5 gift card and a t-shirt is better than some little DLC.
But I want to collect badges. I need the stinking badges.
 

TikiShades

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May 6, 2009
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I kind of dislike the idea, but it might help spread the wealth a little bit. It's not just going to be ONE store that gets to rake in most of the dough (even if GameStop still will anyway) from the game. Maybe people would prefer one of the other bonuses, and buy it from them.

I'll probably go with Target, but ONLY if I can later download the bonuses that Gamestop gets.
 

i am not god

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Dec 6, 2007
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Anythiing about UK pre orders or is the amazon one the only one we can get? This is a good way of doing this kind of thing, but does mean people will agonize over the decision.
Or maybe that's just me.
 

DustyDrB

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Jan 19, 2010
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Yeah, I made a thread (that died instantly) about this yesterday. They have exclusive extra missions with pre-orders for this and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It's a bullshit practice, plain and simple.
 

thethingthatlurks

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Feb 16, 2010
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I hate those preorder boni. I'm not going to buy 6 copies of the bloody game, so what's the point of releasing 6 different versions? I'd even justify piracy of the preorder bonus of the different versions in this case, provided you bought at least one copy.

Also, captcha:
its defoade! OMFG ITS DEFOADE!!!!