Sunday, 21 June 2009
Collectors Edition - collectors edition, mickey mouse
First off, let me get out of the way that the game itself is fantastic. 5 out of 5 stars. Props to Warren Spector and Junction Point Studios (the game's developer). This review, however, regards the bonus material for buying the Collector's Edition and its value over buying the standard edition.
* The Mickey Statue: Cool concept, but one small problem: It was completely broken. Apparently, I'm NOT the only one with this problem! This seems to be a wide-scale defect. In my case, the left-arm fell off (a clean break right out of the arm socket, easily fixed) and his nose was also broken off (also fixed, but not as clean). Luckily I am one of those geeky adult collectors who is handy with small models and fixed it, but if you were buying this for your child for Christmas and their Mickey statue was shattered, they would be heartbroken. Also, this would be more understandable if the statue were actually a statue, but it's more of a plastic/vinyl action figure, a material that tends to be durable. How many plastic action figures have you seen ever shatter during shipping? They can take a beating! This is clearly shoddy craftsmanship.
* Wiimote Skin: This is the only included product that's of high quality and matches what you expect. It is not the same material as what DecalGirl-type skins usually use, it's more like a sticker, but still it fits the Wiimote exactly. I put it on a Wii Motion Plus remote and it fit perfectly.
* Console Skins: These skins were pretty much the reason I bought the Collector's Edition over the regular game. The "skins" turn out to be dinky little 3"x3" square stickers. They are not fit to the sides of a Wii console, the way other console skins fit. All in all, VERY disappointed. By the way, if you want an idea of how big the skins are, look at the thumbnail for this item on Amazon up above. See the skins next to the statue? That's the exact size comparison. I thought they were just shrunk to fit the image, but no, that's actually how big they are.
* Bonus DVD: Not much material. This is stuff that should have just been embedded with Flash video on the official site. If this were the only extra, it would not be worth it. Odd that you can't actually play this on your Wii (no DVD-Video support). Hope you have a real DVD player or another game console that can play it.
If I had to make this purchase again, I would not. However, I would instead buy the regular edition of the game. The game itself is probably the best non-Nintendo game on the system. The Collector's Edition extras however, are a rip-off!
Disney Interactive really should recall the statue and skins and ship off non-broken statues and skins that actually fit! They should outsource the skin to DecalGirl, and as for the statue, the company that made it was called MindStyle and should be avoided. Buyer Beware! Disney Epic Mickey Collector's Edition
Good game. Collectors Edition sucks though. Figure (arm falls off when twisting, ears are easily marred) and stickers are cheap (not completely size appropriate for where they are expected to be placed). I expected better for a Collectors Edition especially a Disney one.
The mickey figurine came broken! The "wii skin" was a cheap sticker that looked like it came from a quarter machine and is not the size of a standard wii skin. Great game. BAD product. Save the extra $20 and just get the game.
With how many complaints this Collector's Edition got, I knew it was only a matter of time before it dropped in price. I didn't expect it to go as low as it is right now, so I went and got one for myself, seeing as how it's cheaper than the game on its own at the moment. I was well-aware that a lot of people got broken Mickey figures in their boxes, which is something that's just plain inexcusable. But I lucked out and my Mickey was complete, so this will be one of the few reviews not fueled by rage.
First, yes, there are some disappointing things about this set, starting with the 'Wii skin'. It's a small square sticker that'd be better off on a laptop, skateboard or mirror (do people still do that?). You can see how small it is in the pictures above, and they really shouldn't have advertised it as a skin, which is supposed to cover the Wii console. I actually laughed out loud when I saw this for myself. The Oswald Wii controller skin is cool though, and fits perfectly, though it's just applied to the front of the controller. Now my controller doesn't look so boring any more, and Oswald is finally getting some representation.
The bonus disc (kept in a thin cardboard slipcase) has some features that you probably won't watch more than once, but some are worth repeated viewings. The behind the scenes featurettes cover a lot of ground regarding the different aspects of making the game. This runs at over a half an hour, and is full of interviews with the designers and how the game was made. You can see that the developers really cared for this project and put their all into the design of the game, and that's cool. There are bonus videos, two being glorified trailers, and the other being a cool segment with artist Garibaldi painting a large Mickey mural in a stylish way. I thought this was one of the best things on this disc, as the art he does is really cool, especially when you see how he does it. The Concept Art gallery is my favorite thing, as it shows a handful of amazing pieces from two categories: characters and levels. I spent 20 minutes looking at these, not because there were a lot, but because of how incredible most of them were. I REALLY wish we could get an official 'Art of' book for Epic Mickey, and wish that some of the concept art that surfaced online years ago were here too, but what we get is still good. Finally are the 4 Remastered Mickey Mouse Shorts: Thru the Mirror, Lonesome Ghosts, Clock Cleaners and The Whalers. The picture and audio on these is better than what was on the Walt Disney Treasures discs, and any fan of the old cartoons will treasure these shorts.
Like I mentioned above, my Mickey figure thankfully arrived in perfect shape, with no broken arms, legs or nose. When I took him out, I was actually surprised about how thin the tail was, and that more people didn't get theirs with that broken instead. The figure is perfectly sculpted, and I love the cautious pose Mickey's in. He has an articulated head, feet and arms, and you can remove the paintbrush. But, keep in mind that this figure is just wrapped in bubble wrap, and the paintbrush will float around in the packaging. My Mickey has two very light yellowish green rub marks near his mouth because of it, but you can only see them if the lighting's right. Still, this is a very great figure and the main reason I had any interest at all in this set from the get go.
Finally, there's the game, which is hit or miss with most people. Some say it's too hard for younger kids, but too 'kiddy' for older gamers. Most complain about the camera (and for good reason) ruining an otherwise great experience. It's up to you, but if you haven't played the game yet and were wondering about going for just the game or this Collector's Edition, NOW is the time to get this set, as it's nearly half the original price.
I'm glad I purchased this, if only for the bonus disc and figure. Granted, getting a perfect Mickey figure is like playing Russian Roulette, but if you luck out, this set is well worth it. Especially when it's less than the game itself. While there are much, much better Collector's Editions out there, the price justifies everything for me. - Collectors Edition - Video Games - Disney - Mickey Mouse'
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