Click to Marvelous-sizeWe didn't dare think it could happen, but when we saw the pre-order bonus for Japanese copies of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, we secretly wished for Ignition (well, XSEED at the time) to bring something half as awesome to us here. The bonus is a five-foot-long scroll featuring a series of amazing pieces of character art from the game.

GameStop has just revealed the North American pre-order bonus, and it's exactly that! We couldn't be more thrilled. Well, we could be more thrilled if two things happened:

1. We confirmed that the back of the scroll had the same enemy and stage artwork as the Japanese version
2. We found out that GameStop's September 1 release date (a Tuesday!) was the real release date for the game.

We've contacted Ignition about those two points. In the meantime, we can all enjoy the prospect of getting a really nice-looking free thing by buying another thing.

The Wii release of Metroid Prime Trilogy just keeps getting better. Yesterday, we learned that it would include a lovely tin and an artbook, and now GameStop has just revealed that copies pre-ordered from the retailer will also come with a free t-shirt! It also comes with video games!

In our opinion, the shirt looks pretty great (we're assuming it's not all dithered in real life like it is in the picture), even with the logo on the side, and even with the added baggage of identifying you as a GameStop shopper. The offer is valid for both in-store and online pre-orders.

GameStop has detailed the bonus items bundled with the Gamestop-exclusive Limited Edition of Forza Motorsport 3, letting buyers know what their extra twenty bucks will get them. These bonuses shouldn't require the box to be any bigger than the normal version, because with two exceptions, nothing in the pack is physical.

The Limited Edition comes with an exclusive car pack, featuring "5 cars that have been hand tuned and hand painted by the developers at Turn 10 to fly the Forza Motorsport colors," a Dashboard theme, and a "VIP Membership" that entitles the user to "special treatment within the online Auction House, Community Storefront and on the Forzamotorsport.net forums." The tangible items in the pack: a 2GB USB drive and a keychain, both emblazoned with Forza 3 logos. In addition, reserving the game provides access to the "community designed and chosen, Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro."

Several big retailers are offering their own individual incentives to pre-order any console version of Activision's Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, which comes as no surprise to everyone on this big, blue spinning rock. The Guitar Hero franchise is big business, and when you cull the cream of the crop from each game and put that into a new game, well, then you have a recipe for success.

We've listed the pre-order incentives for GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, and GameCrazy past the break, so click through to check them out.

Target has been taking pre-orders on games for a while, but the retailer's updated program may just lure customers in with the promise of free money. In Target, the store pays you! Stores will offer these $1 "Reservation Cards" for popular titles. When you return with the card to buy the game (as long as it's within seven days of the game's release) you'll get not only the reserved item, but a $5 Target gift card.

The list of reservable games includes Punch-Out!!, EA Sports Active, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, and UFC 2009 Undisputed. Is the prospect of one of these games buying you free salsa (or duct tape, or Diet Coke Plus, or whatever) enough to get you into Target's electronics section?

Anxious to secure a Nintendo DSi without having to wait in some crazy line? Online retailers have begun taking pre-orders of the North American version of the system, so you can buy now and not have to worry about stalking Wal-Mart late April 4 to be first in line on April 5 (You are free, as usual, to stalk Wal-Mart for other purposes). You can order your DSi for $169.99 at Amazon or GameStop (in black or blue). If you want extra stuff, you can order a bundle from GameStop (again in black or blue) that contains the system and a "Folio Starter Kit" consisting of a case, screen protectors, a game case, earbuds, and a car adapter.

For a better look at the system that you might be buying, check MTV Multiplayer's first-ever images of the English-language DSi menu. As expected, it looks exactly like the menu from the Japanese version with the crucial addition of comprehensible text. It features the same photo manipulation, photo arranging, and sound altering functions from the original suite of DSi software, along with upgradeable firmware and, of course, the DSi Shop.

Trainers anxious to beef up their Pokedex will get a chance when North America finally gets its hands on Pokemon Platinum on March 22. For those that drop some money on the game early, Nintendo is set to gift them with a limited edition Giratina Origin Form figure.

The figure is crafted by Kaiyodo, an international figure-making company, and is about 2.75 inches tall. The press release mentions no exact retailers participating in this event, so it's advised you call ahead before pre-ordering the game somewhere. Still, safe bet is on Gamestop, at least, and maybe the bigger retailers like Best Buy.

Preorder perk ahoy! For the February 10 launch of Legacy of Ys Books I & II, Atlus will be offering jammy U.S. and Canada-based gamers a sweet preorder bonus: a limited edition soundtrack CD, featuring tracks from both Ys I and Ys II. As far as we know, this will be available at Amazon and GameStop.

The revised translation for this DS remake had already roped us in, but now we're counting down the days hours minutes. As the press release we received notes, the Ys series is renowned for having wonderful music. If you're new to the series, you can head to this part of Atlus' website to listen to a few samples for yourself.

[Via press release]

For those of you that decide to go the way of Gamestop for your copy of GTA: Chinatown Wars, know that a pre-order will net you some perks starting out in the game. For one, you're gifted with $10,000 in cash. That'll come in handy, too, because you'll also be starting the game with every weapon unlocked. No better way to spend that 10K than towards an AK, right?

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars releases to North America on March 17th, 2009.

Remember that awesome European collector's edition for House of the Dead: Overkill? Well, those of us in the US are getting a similarly sweet bonus package should we wish to part with the extra dough, however our comic doesn't come in the traditional form. Instead, it's a digital download, according to Amazon. In poking around the net, though, we found that Gamestop is offering the comic, but in actual paper form. We're all kinds of confused now!

We all know North America will be getting the collector's edition. However, we're not certain on whether it'll be a paper comic or a download. If it's different for each retailer, we're sad to say that Gamestop is in the lead for our pre-order dollar right now. We'd rather have an actual comic we can hold in our hands than one we're forced to read on a computer screen. We're just old school like that.


[Thanks, Buffalo_AAA!]

Square Enix can barely release a game nowadays without also producing a matching limited edition console, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time will continue this trend when it ships with customized hardware in Japan on January 29th.

For ¥23,940 (just under $250), buyers will be able bag a copy of Echoes of Time and a "Crystal Chronicles Edition" Nintendo DSi system. Square Enix has yet to release images of the console, but states that it will be a white DSi with the game's logo and the cat-in-a-bowtie motif that features in the boxart. There will also be a pre-order bonus for the game, a CD featuring four tracks from the Crystal Chronicles series.

The race to become the first special edition DSi just heated up, and is now between Square Enix and ... Square Enix!

The House of the Dead: Overkill collector's edition bundle is one of the best preorder items we've seen in a while, so it was understandably upsetting when Sega initially revealed the package as a Europe-only bonus. You can pack that pitchfork away for another day, however, because Sega has confirmed it will be spreading the love to North America. Preorder Overkill at GameStop, GameCrazy, or Amazon, and you'll have the option to bag all of this. Yum.

Sega will release The House of the Dead: Overkill in Europe next February, and there'll be an optional bonus at "selected retailers" for fans who preorder: this rad Collector's Edition. Arriving in a fetching minimalist slipcase (loving the authentic scuff marks), this will come bundled with a graphic novel that tells the stories of Agent Washington and Varla Gunns, and the events that lead up to the game.

Here's the downside: this sweet package has so far only been announced for PAL regions -- apart from Germany, obviously. Sucks to be Germany, eh? Hit up our gallery for a closer look at the comic's cover and a sample page.


[Via press release]

Like other Sega games we could mention, Phantasy Star Online titles have a proud history of including cute and funny references to other Sega properties. Phantasy Star Zero will be no exception. Ahead of the game's Japanese release on December 25th, those who preorder will receive cards that unlock in-game items from other Sega games.

We were slightly disappointed (though not surprised) to hear the cards only grant weapons from more current Sega releases. These will include Valkyria Chronicles (PS3), Shining Wind (2007 ARPG for the PS2), Hatsune Miku Project Diva (PSP), and Blazer Drive, Sega's manga/RPG crossover that is also out in Japan in December. Sure, none of that stuff is going to be as funny as wielding Ulala's zapper or Samba's maracas or Chu Chu armor, but it's still fairly neat, right?