ATTN: European Blazblue Fans regarding the "Fan Edition"!!!
This is a post for any fan of the "Fan Edition" of Blazblue Continuum shift from the publisher Zen United.
As you may be aware, several months ago, Zen United put up a special "fan edition" of the game up on sale on their website. It was to contain the Limited edition version of the game, which included art cards and an artbook for the game but also included a nendoroid petit Noel Vermillion, an additional artprint by Alvin Lee and a code to download Makoto. Furthermore, the edition was to be limited to only 500 copies and, as they put the retail price of the regular limited edition as £50, the "fan edition" looked like a steal at only £5 more! Because of this, I jumped at the chance and it seems 499 other people did as well as the bundle was no longer for sale less than 24 hours later!
Sadly, the game was delayed by about a month so we won't see it until November but that is not the issue here.
If you check out various online stores, you will find that the shops like HMV, Game and Play.com are selling the limited edition for only £40. In addition to this, if you preorder the PS3 version of the game through HMV, they will also give you a Nendoroid petit Noel (360 buyers will have to make do with a bag).
What this means is that buyers of the "fan edition" are paying up to £20 more (due to p&p) for basically a nendo petit, a DLC code and an artprint. PS3 owners get an even worse deal as they can get the nendo for free from HMV and Makoto should be available to download from the online stores on release day. Even then, I fail to see how an artprint and readily available DLC, possibly with a nendo could come up to a value of £20
I have spoken with the guys at Zen United and they have said flat out that 1) they are not adding any further items to the edition (not even a valkenhyn code) and 2) they are not adjusting their price to go more in line with the retailers. So something which was only a little more expensive before is now much more expensive and I don't believe that it's worth the price now that the alternatives have been shown. I have now cancelled my order with Zen United but I know that they aren't going to be telling their buyers about the price difference from the retailers.
If you're one of the 499 other buyers and also think that it's no longer worth getting, then you can send an email to shop@zen-united.biz and ask them to cancel your order.
Even if you haven't bought the game, I ask you to send this info out to any gaming communities you are a part of. I don't really mind if people choose to keep their "fan edition" after reading this but I want them to at least know what is happening so they can make a choice.
Zen United are basically playing their fans for chumps and I for one, will not be giving them any more money through this overpriced bundle.
This wouldnt have anything to do with the problem with the DLC content? I got an email from Zen united telling me that the release date has been delayed 'due to technical issues with the DLC' and that the delivery date will effect the Fans edition of this game because it comes as part of the package.
Blah, over half the post got swallowed up somehow. I got that email as well, and that's when I started snooping a little bit.
The delay is most likely due to the "technical issues"
But that doesn't change the fact that we are expected to pay much more than we initially thought when we placed our orders. I've cancelled my order with zen united and made another one with HMV. I'm not paying £20 extra for just a code for makoto and an artprint
Hmmm... sounds like a good alternative but I still want keep my fan edition because its limited, maybe I could sell it to someone whos desperate for one :) thanks for the heads up anyway.
I thought about that too but since I want the PS3 version, the only "exclusive" item which makes this bundle even remotely limited is the artprint. And I'm, not spending an extra £20 just for that and the ability to say "I bought the fan edition" I'd feel really stupid...
That kind of sucks. It's cool you talked to the publisher about it.
For a game thats been out in Japan and North America since July, I would think they wouldn't have any technical difficulties by now. And yes I'm one of the 499 people who preordered the fan edition. Importing is such a hassle.
You would think that but my brother works in video game retail and he says that Zen United are one of the worst publishers he has to deal with. They must have gotten that rep somehow!
I remember Zavvion one of their mega mondays had the Limited Editon of CS on sale for only £18.
Zavvi on*
I also ordered one. While it kinda sucks that the retail copies are cheaper, it's to be expected. At the end of the day that is out of there hands, and I want a 360 copy with my petit Noel ;) Amongst the other things of course.
That's fine so long as it's your decision. I personally don't think that a DLC code, artprint and nendo are worth the extra £20 but that's me. And since I want a PS3 version, the only "exclusive" item for me is the artprint.
And while the retailer pricing is out of their hands, the price of their own offering is not. The "Fan edition" was always more expensive but not by this much. There's just too big a difference in price now. Back when the difference was £5, it was a steal!