Xbox 360 Limited Edition Red Wireless Controller and Play & Charge Kit - New

• Price: $48.50
• Location: Buy.com
• Reason for Purchase: I needed a fourth controller for... Halo: CE.  Yes, my friends still come over to play some classic Halo from time to time.  It is awesome.  Also, this controller was a decent value since it included play and charge kit.  Supposedly it's LE.  I doubt it.

The Warriors (XBOX) - New

• Price: $4.98
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: Crazy good price for a great game.

My Japanese Coach (DS) - New

• Price: MSRP = :(
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: I studied Japanese for two years as an undergrad at the University of Michigan.  I still have big dreams of becoming fluent, and figured this would be an enjoyable way to stay on top of what I've already learned.  It has about 1,000 lessons and is pretty enjoyable so far.  It seems like it would be okay for beginners, but knowing your hiragana, katakana, and a bit of grammar before starting with it is helpful.

• Price: $42.54
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: I'm not particularly interested in this game, but the new Playstation Eye is pretty high quality.  With a few tweaks, you can get it to run on your PC.  It will become my new webcam for video blogs, so stay tuned.

• Price: MSRP = :(
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: Everything I've heard about this game so far impresses me.  Listening to Vinny talk about it on last week's BombCast made me drool.  I can't wait to get into it and I couldn't pass up on the LE.  This special edition comes with a cardboard sleeve, unique art work, downloadable extras, and a "making of" DVD.  I really like that the artwork is turned sideways, as I've never seen that before on a video game.

• Price: MSRP = :(
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: I thought Amazon was having a sale on this game, but it turned out to be a universal price drop for the Platinum Family Hits version of the game.  I hate greatest hits packaging, but I really enjoy these games and figured my girlfriend might be willing to play with me.

• Price: MSRP = :(
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: I've loved every Castlevania since I first played Symphony of the Night (PS) and I heard this one is a good challenge.  Preorder came with a download of the soundtrack.

• Price: $40.00
• Location: eBay
• Reason for Purchase: I've been wanting to get this game, but I was waiting for the price of the special edition to come down. As it stands right now, GTA: ViceCity is one of my all time favorite games, and I'm excited to see how this one lives up.  And after all, who doesn't enjoya little mayhem? SE comes with collectible lock box, GTA IV gym bag, soundtrack CD, artbook, and key chain.

So remember when Capcom totally screwed up and used an IGN-watermarked piece of art for the cover of Okami (Wii)?  No?  Okay.  Well, remember how Capcom is awesome?  No?  Well then check out these sweet pics. 

If you were offended by the watermark on your purchased copy of the game, Capcom allowed you to fill out a form to receive an alternate cover to slip inside of your case.  Well, they kept delaying the covers, so they caved and sent everyone both alternate covers.  Again, Capcom is awesome.

`Nick

Welcome to The Haul.

Saints Row 2: Collector's Edition (360) - New

• Price: $79.99
• Location: Amazon.com
• Reason for Purchase: For whatever reason, I've recently become enamored with special editions and this seemed like the perfect place to start.  The first game was a notable experience with lots of fun and a few annoyances.  From everything I've heard, the developers have improved on pretty much every aspect of the first game.  The CE includes a "gold" money clip, the embossed tin case, a double-sided poster/map, a bullet-shaped USB storage device, and an exclusive art book.

Scene-it? Lights, Camera, Action (360) - New

• Price: $14.98
• Location: Target - Clearance
• Reason for Purchase: Scene-it? is one of my all-time favorite board games, so this one was a no brainer at this amazing price. Comes with four buzzers to make it even more authentic.

Lost: Via Domus (360) - New

• Price: $16.96
• Location: Circuit City - Clearance
• Reason for Purchase: I'm a pretty big fan of the TV show despite the lackluster second season and barely-tolerable third season.  The game is supposed to have a pretty good story, so I'm willing to put up with the average gameplay.  Also, it seemed like a pretty good price.

• Price: $149.95
• Location: EA.com
• Reason for Purchase: This is one of the most limited runs of a special edition I've ever seen (only 1,000 produced), so I thought it would be wise to jump on it.  The packaging is awesome and, as you can see, almost three times the size of a normal game case.  I'm definitely a collector and I didn't want to have to pay three or four hundred for a used copy of this a few years down the road (especially considering the value has already jumped to $300).  And after getting quite a few interesting responses, I'm sticking with my initial plan and opening this bad boy up and playing the game.  It's true that the package is much more valuable to buyers in sealed condition, but it's much more valuable to me when it is open, so I can enjoy it.  Anyways, thanks for all of your awesome input. When I get time to do it justice, I'll give you all a photo layout next weekend.  The package contains: Special Ultra Limited Edition packaging, Dead Space Downfall Animated Movie (DVD), Bonus content DVD, Exclusive individually numbered (xxx/1000) lithograph art, illustrated and signed by Ben Templesmith, 97-pg Dead Space art book written and illustrated by the development team, 160-pg Graphic novel, and an Ishimura crew patch.  

Welcome to The Haul.

Final Fantasy IV (DS) - New

• Price: $25.98
• Location: Amazon.com - Gold Box
• Reason for Purchase: This is supposed to be a great remake of a great game so I wanted it on a personal level. Also, prices of FF games tend to stay high, so I figured this may be the best deal I'm gonna get.

Warhawk - Headset Bundle (PS3) - New

• Price: $29.99
• Location: Target
• Reason for Purchase: I've been interested in grabbing a Bluetooth headset for my PS3 for a bit and this is a great deal. The Jabra headset alone goes for at least $20 bucks new.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (PS2) - New

• Price: $4.98
• Location: Target - Clearance Item
• Reason for Purchase: Dirt cheap!

Hello fellow gamers and especially fellow collectors. I've done my fair share of browsing on this site and I have to say I really enjoy blogs detailing monthly/weekly/daily/random purchases. As such I've decided to start my own weekly overview. I've certainly shown plenty of items in the past, but this is the official kickoff of the (hopefully) weekly series. Feel free to mock/compliment/ignore the quality of my purchases, spending habits, etc. Or if you're feeling really helpful, give me recommendations on what related products I should consider purchasing. Basically, say whatever you want. Also, since this is the first of many, the format will likely change. Please give me suggestions regarding layout, especially if you feel like it's hard to read, or there is some more information you'd like to know (prices, quality of product, etc.).

Welcome to The Haul.

In this weeks episode, you get bonus games! I don't know the exact time frame for all of these purchases, but I do believe they all arrived after Tales of Vesperia and definitely before the time of this writing. (No time machine... yet.)

Weekly Haul #1

• Games:
  • Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (DS) - New
  • Magical Starsign (DS) - New
  • Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS) - New
    
• Location:
  • ToysRUs
• Picture:

• Game:
  • Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s (PS2) - New
• Location:
  • Amazon.com
• Picture:

• Games
  • Contra 4 (DS) - New
  • Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS) - New
• Location:
  • Circuit City
• Picture:

• Games:
  • Eternal Sonata (360) - New
  • Alone in the Dark (360) - New
  • The Club (360) - New
• Locations:
  • Circuit City
  • GoGamer.com
  • Target
• Picture:

• DVDs:
  • Dexter Season 1 - New
  • Dexter Season 2 - New
• Location:
  • Target
• Picture:

`Nick