The companies do this for several reasons. It gets people to pre-order their game, giving them an idea of how many they will sell, it allows them to generate extra revenue by signing exclusive deals with chain stores, and even generates some buzz about their game. Who would wait to pick up something from their local store if they can get it right here and now and they'll toss in five new quests that you can only get through them? It's these types of bonuses in which the problem lies.
When game companies add things that enhance the play experience for some people, but leave others out in the dark, they're shifting how the game is experienced by everybody. Some players may have a chainsaw weapon right from the start while others will never be able to use it because it will never be offered to them since they shop at Best Buy instead of GameStop. Some players will get to play as Darth Vader in Soul Caliber 4, some players will get to play with Yoda, two different fighting styles to learn to play and play against. What determines which one you get? If you own a PS3 or if you own an Xbox 360.
Here's a particularly harsh case of choosing sides: Batman: Arkham Asylum.
As you can see by the tiny little sticker on it there, you can "Play as the Joker" in PS3 exclusive content. That's a jerk move by Eidos right there. Those who have both consoles would have to choose between achievements on their gamertag, or play an extra little bit of an already fantastic game as the primary villain. If you didn't own both consoles and just own a far cheaper and more accessible (at the time) Xbox 360, you were screwed without any kind of special offer of your own. But why should there even be a special offer? Isn't there a problem that some people are allowed to play something extra because they picked a different side?
Video games are not the only case where promotional offers are made. Card and board games also have game companies that will release certain items that you only have one shot to get, and if you can't get it, then you either can't play with it, or have to shell out a lot of cash to be able to get them.
One of the easiest games for me to demonstrate this is a non-collectible card game called "Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot". The Blue base set which includes the first expansion, consists of 165 cards and all the dice and bits that you need to play the game with can be found online for about $20 with shipping, and each expansion can be found for $10 - $15 dollars, each consisting of about 55 cards. The whole set can be had at retail price for about $180, which isn't bad for a ten set expansion. The problem comes in with the promos. A current search on ebay shows these prices:
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| Omega 03 - Go With the Flo - Current Bid - $98.00 |
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| Omega 04 - The Conch - $78.00 |
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| PSI 05 - Pucker Up - $51.00 |
That's just three cards, and the auctions all have more than two days left on them, and they all have bids. So for the price of an entire ~600 card set, you can get three convention exclusives. They don't change the game, they merely enhance it. They were given away for free at various conventions, but because of the secondary market, if somebody wants one of these, they have to pay extremely high prices.
Why would a company create cards and not release them to all of their fans? They could even make a collection of these promos and sell it in another set, but instead they have created a secondary market that has become so ludicrous that I know of people who visit the Playroom booth over and over to get more of these promotional cards and sell them at nothing but profit.
There's several other companies that will do this, Heroscape has had several promotional pieces that have been handed out at conventions that were available nowhere else. When Last Night on Earth first debuted at GenCon, they offered additional missions for anybody who could refer 5 people to buy a copy of the game. I personally just paid for a full set of Dominion promotional cards that have spiced up play a bit. All of these items that were free for the people who happen to be where they're given away now sell for big bucks on eBay and that's a problem.
I know I have the ears of some game companies now, and I plead with you, do not continue to do this to your fans. Create special packs of these items that you can sell in stores, make sure that all sides of the console wars are treated fairly, find some way to make sure that ALL of your customers and fans are getting to enjoy your game the same way everyone else gets to. The loyalty you can gain from us gamers can hit fanatic levels, and this is great way to help us reach that kind of devotion.
