Jordan: Welcome to another of RPGamer's Roundtable Discussions. I am your moderator for the discussion, and I thank you all for joining me

Jordan: Today we are discussing pre-order bonuses and other goodies that some games get.

Jordan: Specifically, I want to discuss what we want these extras to be, and would we be willing to pay more for them? Also, would any extra be enough to push you into buying a game/system that you would not normally have gotten?

Jordan: So, with that in mind, let's look at the first part. What kind of things do we want?

Shawn: Included soundtracks. That would be a major bonus with many games.

Rob: Even demo discs would be nice also.

Jordan: Demos of what?

Rebecca: Hint books are really great. Some of them have some really nice artwork and layout.

Rob: I honestly think they should be doing demo discs as it is. It gives you a chance to try out other titles by the same publisher, for a low cost on their part.

Rob: Even if it was a disc of demos of titles they've already released, along with demos of stuff coming out soon. I know I'd be way more inclined to purchase a system faster if I got a chance to try out more titles.

Shawn: Yeah. While I doubt it's enough to buy a game over, it's a nice extra that would introduce you to games you might never try otherwise.

Jordan: why not include those on the disc itself?

Rob: that's also an option

Rebecca: Demos are great, but then there's the question about cartridge based games like on the DS and Game Boy Advance.

Rob: but I definitely like bonus stuff that is tangible

Rebecca: It's not like you can include a demo on the cartridge itself.

Jordan: Is any of it kinda useless?

Jordan: I loved the Xenogears art book, but it got old after about a week, and it just takes up space. I may have even tossed it out.

Rebecca: Did that come with the game?

Shawn: Well, yeah...I remember this cheap plastic clock I got with...Chrono Cross, I think it was.

Jordan: And I remember a 'limited edition' lithograph of Link that I got with Soul Calibur 2

Jordan: that also was lame

Rob: Nwash: I was just going to say that

Shawn: Or was it Chrono Trigger? I don't remember.

Shawn: Yeah, it was lame, though.

Jordan: Really?

Rebecca: When I pre-ordered Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town, they gave me the plush dog. It seems fairly well made.

Shawn: I did actually use it for a bit, but really, I never looked at it, so it was pretty useless.

Jordan: I know someone that had it. I wanted one.

Jordan: It seems the most common freebies are art books and T-Shirts

Jordan: Do we really want these things?

Rob: I'd really prefer something I can use over a period of time

Rebecca: T-shirts are useful.

Rob: something like a strategy guide, or clothing

Shawn: I find art books mildly cool, but I'm only likely to look at it once.

Jordan: yeah, but most of the free shirts I've gotten have also been lame

Jordan: the only one I actually wear is my Metroid Prime 2 shirt

Rob: Metroid Prime 2!

Shawn: Yeah, that would be cool. I loved that game.

Shawn: I would be proud to give them free advertising. :)

Rebecca: And how many occasions do you think you'd wear the shirt, anyways? If I had a game related T-shirt, I'd most likely want to wear it to an anime/gaming convention so I can meet like minded people.

Rob: I wear my gaming shirts to any parties I go to

Rob: and I wear them on off-dress days at work

Rebecca: One of the best things you can say to a person that's wearing a T-shirt like that is "I like your shirt." Breaks the ice.

Jordan: Yeah. Except for the Samus shirt, I feel pretty dorky wearing gaming shirts.

Jordan: But what about the Japanese. They get loads of neat stuff.

Rebecca: When I was at Anime Boston, there was this adorable cell phone charm of Vaati from Minish Cap that I really should have bought. It was a work of art--completely dead-on.

Jordan: From recent memory, they get posable figures, making of CDs, OSTs, art books, special cases, and the FFIV faceplate.

Rebecca: Ever since I've been in the anime/gaming scene, the quality of stuff that companies put out has been getting better and better.

Jordan: oh, and they get cell phone charms too

Shawn: A lot of those sound pretty cool.

Rebecca: And don't forget the gashapon stuff.

Jordan: I really liked my cell phone charm of the Prince from We <3 Katamari

Jordan: yeah, but that's not a free gift

Jordan: you have to pay 200 yen for those.

Rebecca: Yeah, but they sure are cheap.

Jordan: yeah, but you can get a gashapon without the game

Rob: I honestly think it's partly that the publishers here don't really think we care. Or, the gamers here just don't hear much about it

Jordan: Why do you think so?

Rebecca: I think the most unusual pack-in bonus I've heard of was when Working Designs put a pendant into the Lunar 2 game, and I've seen so many people using it for cosplay and other stuff.

Jordan: No, the punching puppets beats that hands down

Rob: Think about most of the stuff that comes out here. It's usually behind the japanese game release date, and hype just builds here. The games sell themselves.

Rebecca: ...I get nightmares thinking about that thing, Sensei.

Jordan: I have NO idea what that was about, but I'd like some for sheer novelty factor

Rob: Why give more stuff away for free when your product already sells?

Shawn: Yeah, Rob, that's very true.

Rebecca: I'm sure publishers get the idea that gamers want useful stuff like t-shirts and hint books.

Jordan: And you also have the idea of cost

Jordan: games cost more in Japan

Rob: Unlike in Japan, they don't always know how it will sell, so they give incentives

Rebecca: Hint books can get very hard to find after a game's been out for a few months.

Rebecca: And some games don't even get hint books at all.

Jordan: That's why gamefaqs exists

Rebecca: I'd rather have a book open and next to me with clearly labeled diagrams than scroll through a monochromatic text document.

Shawn: That's very true. You can get a crappy hintbook just as easily as you can get a crappy FAQ.

Shawn: Same applies for the good ones.

Rob: Yeah, definitely. Especially if the book also has other stuff you can look at.

Jordan: yes, but what games came with free hint books?

Rebecca: I remember when Final Fantasy 3 had come out here and I loved looking at the pictures in the hint book--they used a lot of Amano's artwork.

Shawn: I don't know of any, myself.

Rebecca: Sensei: I remember that Earthbound did, but that was ancient history.

Jordan: Oh yeah

Jordan: Earthbound

Jordan: That's the only one I can think of too

Rob: Working Designs did have some nice books, though you had to buy them.

Rob: but you sure got your money's worth

Jordan: how much were they?

Rob: $20ish Canadian

Rob: But even most strategy guides here are in the mid $20s

Jordan: did they come packaged with the game, or was it something separately?

Rebecca: Another thing: Some STORES give incentive bonuses, not just the companies. Like, for example, they tell you "Preorder this awesome game and we'll give you a hint book for some percentage off."

Jordan: yeah

Jordan: that's common

Rob: I'm pretty sure they were separate

Rob: I can't remember if Vanguard Bandits came with it or not

Jordan: And often the bonus differs at different stores. Xenosaga had an artbook at EB Games and a t-shirt at Gamestop

Rebecca: There was a deal that one store (Toys R Us I think) had where you'd get a free Nintendogs case with a copy of the game.

Jordan: that'd be cool

Rebecca: And they're rather cute cases too.

Rob: Yeah, we sell movies at our store. If you bought a new Sahara DVD, you got a wallet, but at the CD store uptown, you'd get a hat

Rob: ...the hat was cooler

Jordan: Would you actually wear the hat?

Rob: I wore it at work.

Shawn: By choice?

Rob: sure

Rebecca: Heh, that reminds me of the time a friend of mine had gotten a Super Mario All-Stars hat. Now that was a LONG time ago.

Jordan: That's the other side to this question. Some of the stuff is neat, but some of it is really lame.

Rob: If anything, it was some advertising. I got a handful of people to purchase it

Jordan: It takes up space and I throw it out

Jordan: Which defeats the purpose of making it a bonus.

Jordan: Or does it?

Shawn: That's why I wondered if it by choice.

Rob: I don't think I've ever thrown out a bonus item I got from something

Rob: I know we had Meet the Fockers, it came with a freaking sticker, that made no sense

Shawn: Yeah, though I couldn't say I could easily find the crappy bonus items anymore.

Jordan: Not an RPG, but I liked when I bought the Zeta Gundam DVD boxed set, I got little figures of 9 suits and an episode guidebook.

Shawn: I'm sure I still have them.

Rob: J_Sensei, that is cool.

Jordan: I wish games gave out more figures

Rebecca: I've been buying Fullmetal Alchemist, and the boxes are these nice metal embossed hinged cases that are worth every penny.

Jordan: Even if they are tiny, they're still neat.

Rob: Yeah, I have a shelf near my bed with figures

Rob: It's the one thing I collect, outside of soundtracks

Gabriel: Anyone remember the bonuses that came with the Lunar:SSC game?

Gabriel: All those bonus CDs and that cloth map?

Jordan: yeah, it had a cloth map

Jordan: and the bonus CDs

Rebecca: Stickers, right? Stickers are fairly useless.

Jordan: and a pendant, I think

Gabriel: Too bad I lost it somewhere

Jordan: think

Shawn: Cloth map? That sounds cool.

Gabriel: That map was pretty cool, since the game itself didn't have a map function

Rebecca: If there's one thing I don't like packed in, it's stickers. What are you going to use them for? You're not eight years old anymore.

Gabriel: map function I mean

Jordan: I got my copy used, so I didn't get the map, but I did get the leatherbound book

Shawn: Bucket: how true.

Gabriel: I lost the book somewhere...

Jordan: I like the Apple stickers that came with my iPod.....

Gabriel: However, to me, the bonus cd's weren't really very useful

Rebecca: At least if you're going to include stickers, make them useful--labels for your memory cards, bookplates, a "This Game Belongs To" label you can put around the hole in the CD...

Rob: Bucket: definitely

Gabriel: Pretty much a bunch of interviews and some bloopers

Rob: I actually watched the interviews!

Jordan: were they good?

Gabriel: heh

Shawn: Bucket: Yeah, but even that would fail to impress me.

Rob: They weren't bad, but I wouldn't watch them twice.

Rebecca: Nwash: Yes, but at least you'll know they're making an effort.

Gabriel: Who was that guy who was the top dog at Working designs again?

Rob: unlike the soundtrack, which I still listen to

Rebecca: Bernie Stoler?

Jordan: What about a manga book?

Rebecca: HECK YES!

Jordan: CodeAge Commanders is coming with a special edition manga book.

Gabriel: That other guy who had some degree in linguistics or something... forgot his name

Rob: Books are cool, but at the same time I wouldn't read it more than once.

Gabriel: He was preaching how the PSone incarnation of Lunar would be a blast

Jordan: Yeah, but a manga is something you're likely to collect

Rebecca: I'm sure a lot of people who'd go for manga bonuses are the same types of people who collect manga.

Gabriel: in the cd's that came with the game

Rob: More likely, perhaps, I'm not a manga fan

Rebecca: It's also an advertising bonus, because, say if it's a successful author, they might want to seek out other works by him/her.

Shawn: Yeah, collectibles are okay. Of course, anything packaged with a game might not be all that valuable later.