Ah, how quickly we have moved on from the lackluster (to quote my earlier twitter comment) 2010 game releases, to the (what so far appear to be) amazing 2011 line up. March is shaping up to be a simply amazing round of games and I hope the rest of the year will follow. I may have an empty wallet now, but the enthusiasm I’m seeing on other blogs and especially on twitter (follow me, I’m @_stargrace) is incredible and refreshing. I honestly can’t remember the last time a large number of my online friends decided to play something all at once. We may not be on the same faction or the same server, but it’s a start.
There are three games that I’ve picked up for March alone, and each one comes with its own collectors edition and pre-order bonuses.
March 1st (February 24th early access if you pre-order): Rift. There is a pre-order bonus for the digital edition which includes: Founders pricing (sign up for multiple months at a cheaper price), shrouded sourcestone rune, a companion pet, beta access, head start access, and 30 days of game time (that is the total package, including things that are available with the regular non-pre-order box like 30 days of game time). There is also a digital collector’s edition, which includes everything I just mentioned plus a collector’s satchel, a mount, and a bogling wastrel which I assume is some sort of companion pet. Then there is the retail collector’s edition, which includes an 8GB USB drive, the rift soundtrack, a SteelSeries gaming mouse pad, and a hard cover comic. I ended up pre-ordering the basic digital edition because (aside from my wallet exploding) I just prefer digital for this sort of thing. I am excited about early access, and I didn’t want to lose out on days because of slow delivery. It seems to always happen here in Canada. The comic was enticing, but an extra $20 for that one item was just not enough to pull me in.
March 11th: Dragon Age II. There are also pre-order bonuses if you order before the 11th of January, which is an upgrade to the signature edition. That has a code for a bonus playable character and missions, downloadable game soundtrack, exclusive in-game digital armory, and additional downloadable items whatever those are (I haven’t been able to figure it out). I haven’t gotten this one yet but with a little luck and patience I’ll be picking it up before the 11th of January.
March 22nd: The Sims Medieval. I could not be more excited for this game. Their pre-order (ends on March 21st) includes 3 bonus throne rooms in Barbarian, Dark Magic, and Princess themes, as well as two exclusive outfits in Monarch and Executioner themes. I’ve already pre-ordered this from EA (thank you for letting me use PayPal!) and can’t wait to start playing. I openly admit I’ve been a fan of the Sims franchise for a very long time and even if it’s completely horrid I’ll still purchase it.
Anyone else looking forward to a game or two this year? Share below in comments!
@Olphas maybe try clearing out your cookies? I do know my domain was up about a week ago and I had to renew it, it may not have set up properly or something. Aside from that I really don’t have the faintest idea what may be wrong, I’m not very much of a tech person :(
I have no idea how I’m going to pay for all the games I want to play this year but some of them, Witcher 2, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, Deus X 3, Shogun 2, Heroes 6 – Might & Magic and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood among them, seem to make it worthwhile to live off bread and water for a while … hmm.
But I really don’t like all these pre-order bonus-systems. It’s okay to offer the same bonus everywhere. But so many games these days offer different things for different retailers. What’s up with that?
PS: I really need to find out, why I can’t access MMOquests at home. Works fine on my computer at work, but when I’m at home I get the “The server does not answer”-Message. This has been going on for over a week now and I’m running out of ideas how to fix it. Any suggestions?
Pre-ordered the Rift digital CE and six months of game time. Folly? Perhaps. We shall see; if not, my MMO choices are virtually none.
If you’re interested, you can get the Rift comics in digital format through http://www.comixology.com/ I have been reading them, and they give a good backstory to some of the main characters in the lore.