Honorable Mention: Pre-Order Bonuses with Dishonored

As much as I was looking forward the latest first person stealth magic slaughterfest from Arkane Studios and Bethesda Softworks, the pre-order bonuses for Dishonored were too nifty to ignore. Check out the best in whale oil-punk reproduction goods money can buy.

Halo 4 Lithograph: Quoth the Raven, what a shine!

Jumping on the 'way-too-early-pre-order' bandwagon, Best Buy is currently offering a free lithograph with five bucks deposit towards Halo 4. Truth be told I don't know when the next chapter in the Master Chief saga is coming out, and frankly I couldn't care less. Remind me later when it's a month from release. Then I can stop playing Halo: Reach and drop $60 to play some more Halo. Because nothing is wrong with that picture. This picture, however, is what's right with Halo.

Preview - Game of Thrones: Visuals from the RPG

This weekend after a failed attempt to score some bonus AR cards from the recent Kid Icarus: Uprising events at Gamestop, I was able to secure a copy of the pre-order artbook for Game of Thrones. The upcoming RPG from Atlus is due next week and looks intriguing. Granted we're talking about a licensed game based on a cable show, based on a book series. Atlus has a respectable track record and usually does not disappoint. I haven't heard much about how this sidestory which blend with a compelling collection of literature, or the details of combat mechanics. Thankfully, from the look of this book, fans of the series expect a faithful visual interpretation of George R. R. Martin's fantasy epic.

Assassin's Creed: Tomahawk Edition

If the idea of a tomahawk throwing Italian-Native American (or something) isn't enticing enough, Ubisoft and select retailers are giving away sweet steelbook cases for Assassin's Creed III with preorder. Faster than you can say "How" I dropped a finsky at my local Gamestop. Behold the glory of said axe wielding assassin rendered by master bad-ass artist Alex Ross.

Why buy the game when you can get the swag for free?

As a side hobby to collecting video games, I often spend as much time hunting down video game promos or pre-order bonus items. Not that fancy downloadable content business, just good ol' fashioned physical items. 

I know that these are rarely ever produced in low enough quantities to be considered "collectible". I'm even aware some of these are just clever marketing promotions. Y'know what? I'm okay with that. I'm just a sucker for clever stuff.