Protocol Snow

The long-awaited DJ Max Portable 2 for the PSP released in Korea last week, and I got my deluxe copy in the mail today. The full name: DJ Max Portable 2 Orpheus Package ~Night Black~ [Limited Edition]. Only 1,000 of these were made! This was a tough item to snag, but it’s a nice collector’s item for sure. There’s also a ~Metallic Silver~ of this set that’s essentially the same thing, but with a silver box and a different jigsaw puzzle design. Only 1,000 of those were made as well.

For those unfamiliar with DJ Max Portable 2, this is the sequel to last year’s sizzingly hot Korean music game. It’s very similar to the music game Beatmania, where you need to push buttons in time to the music. Or as a friend called it: “DDR for your fingers”. Check out last year’s version in action to get a feel for the game.

I haven’t tried playing the sequel yet, but in the meantime, here’s a look at the Limited Edition box. I also own the LE of the first game, and the production values of this set are MUCH better than last year’s. The box closes very smartly with a magnetic strip on the flap, as does a smaller box included inside that contains the jigsaw puzzles, art cards, and calendar. Other items in the set are a 3 CD soundtrack, the game, and an art book. The set overall has a very satisfying weight to it. Quality item all around.

Although it has been common knowledge that Microsoft and Bungie are planning on releasing three separate versions of their upcoming Xbox 360 blockbuster Halo 3, today Microsoft finally announced the details.

Legendary Edition

• $129.99, individually serialized
• Boxset containing Spartan MJOLNIR Mark VI helmet
• 1st bonus disc (“Making of Halo 3” documentary, featurettes, concept art, audio/visual calibration tool)
• 2nd bonus disc (remastered cutscenes from Halo & Halo 2 with developer commentary, “day in the life of Bungie” featurette, Red vs. Blue content)
• Halo 3 storyboard art
• Halo 3 game

Limited Edition

• $69.99, metal collector’s case
• 1st bonus disc (“Making of Halo 3” documentary, featurettes, concept art, audio/visual calibration tool)
• Art/Fiction book, guide to Halo species and factions
• Halo 3 game

Standard Edition

• $59.99
• Halo 3 game

Traditionally, the “limited edition” metal cases for these ultra popular games aren’t hard to find at all (look at Halo 2, Final Fantasy XII, etc.), and the trend will continue with the Halo 3 Limited Edition. But since the Legendary Edition will have unique serial numbers, I expect that one to be a true collector’s edition which will be sold out on Day 1 and subsequently only found on eBay for $200+. If you want the helmet, definitely get a preorder as soon as you can.

I have some concerns about this marketing strategy though. First, the Legendary Edition had formerly been believed to be $99.99, but now it’s almost double the price of the Limited Edition. Also, the mid-tier version has extras that can’t be found in the ultimate version, namely the art/fiction book and the metal collector’s case. That means for the Halo fan who wants all the bonuses, he would have to buy BOTH the Legendary and Limited Editions. Yikes, I’m hoping Microsoft gives some clarification on this soon because that would be a really bad decision on their part to distribute the content this way.

As for me, I was set on buying the Legendary Edition, but now with the $30 price hike and missing content, I’m reconsidering. For complete details on the different editions, GameDaily has the write-up. Halo 3 hasn’t been given a firm release date yet, but rumor has it that it will be launching in September 2007.

For my birthday present this year, I treated myself to a particularly alluring gift. Look what came in the mail today:

What else but Panzer Dragoon Saga, possibly the most coveted treasure in the Sega Saturn library? PDS’s status as a rare game is legendary, though it’s worth taking the time to define exactly what is meant by “rare”. Panzer Dragoon Saga isn’t exactly difficult to find; browse around eBay and there will regularly be half a dozen copies on auction (the catch being that each one commands around $150 on average). Owning your own copy of PDS isn’t difficult if you’ve got the desire to pay that much for one used game.

Furthermore, its total print run of 30,000 copies, while definitely limited, is by no means extraordinarily scarce. I own several Sega Dreamcast games with print runs in the low thousands, such as Border Down Limited Edition which had just 3,000 copies produced. In the next month, I hope to score the DJ Max Portable 2 Orpheus Package for Sony PSP, limited to just 500 pieces.

So why is Panzer Dragoon Saga commonly the first title that people think of when they hear the phrase “rare game”? For one, it was released on a game console that not too many people owned. Sega Saturn was 2 seconds away from drowning underwater when PDS came out, so few people knew about the game, let alone had the chance to buy it when it released. PDS was critically acclaimed by the gaming media, but its fame was mostly achieved posthumously through word of mouth from dedicated fans. By the time everybody knew about the game, Sega Saturn had been wiped out and you couldn’t hope to find any related products in stores.

Also contributing to the eventual mania for the game is nearly universal praise for its quality. A lot of rare games have little redeeming features aside from simply a very low print run. Panzer Dragoon Saga, on the other hand, is considered by many among one of the best games ever produced, a jewel coaxed from the dying breaths of the Saturn. That assured a constant demand for the game and maintained its high price tag for the past decade. It wouldn’t be too presumptuous to say an aura of mysticism surrounds PDS, a fabled masterpiece that few have been fortunate enough to play. Is it any wonder Panzer Dragoon Saga has often been called the Holy Grail of gaming?

I personally have been desiring PDS for the past 6 or so years, tracking it on eBay to see if prices would ever drop. They didn’t. Cynics may reason that the time spent following this game could have been saved by just purchasing it on eBay at the onset, $150 and all. But where’s the fun in that? A little delayed gratification never hurt anyone, and if it weren’t for the daydreams and the longing over the years, finally holding Panzer Dragoon Saga in my hands wouldn’t be nearly as sweet as it is now.

A lot of people have great stories about how they got their copies of PDS. Mine isn’t that interesting. A member from Something Awful forums had finished the game and wanted to pass it onto another Sega fan (some people just aren’t collectors, I suppose). I jumped at the opportunity and had it mailed to me for a fantastic price. I’m happy to say it’s in pristine condition and I can’t wait to try it out in the summer when I return home. Am I worried that after all the anticipation and excitement, actually playing it would be a letdown? Not at all, the time chasing after the game is just as vital a component to the overall Panzer Dragoon Saga experience. Does a guy pursuing a girl worry about whether she’ll live up to expectations? Half of the fun is in the hunt.

Every time a positive study about our favorite hobby is published, the gaming community rallies and news of it are spread throughout the Internet. Case in point: a study at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York was released yesterday showing that surgeons who play video games have greater operating skills. I couldn’t visit a website yesterday without seeing this posted. I could go into how the industry as a whole sometimes seems to have an inferiority complex, but that’s a topic for another day.

Of course, I’m contributing to the noise by posting it myself, but I found this quote in the CNN article noteworthy.

“Parents should not see this study as beneficial if their child is playing video games for over an hour a day,” Gentile said. “Spending that much time playing video games is not going to help their child’s chances of getting into medical school.”

Obviously being the stereotypical gamer dork and having your life dominated by gaming isn’t healthy nor recommended, but playing games for an hour a day isn’t too bad as long as you have some discipline and can set some limits. Wasn’t there a study that said the average American child watches three hours of TV daily? I would swap out those three hours of TV for an hour of gaming any day.

Oddly enough, I have found that gaming contributed in some way to helping me get into medical school. In a couple of my interviews, the topic was addressed directly as my interviewers found it interesting (I had mentioned my involvement with GamerFeed / GameDaily in the AMCAS application). But more importantly, gaming kept me sane during times of extreme stress with classes and tests so that I didn’t have a meltdown in college. Forget the apple; gaming an hour a day keeps the psychiatrist away.