MGS4 Limited Edition Unboxing Porn

Posted by Gary Hodges at 9:57 PM Jun 12, 2008

And I found another use for my Wii Fit Board, too!

Welcome to episode two of Unboxing Porn, where I dig into some more-expensive SKU of a new game. It's June 12th, so that makes Metal Gear Solid 4 Limited Edition the lucky title. I'm also very excited to unveil my new Unboxing Porn Minitable, the Wii Fit Balance Board. It works smashingly, you can expect to see it in every future Unboxing Porn post.

Okay, let's get right to it:

Seen above is what showed up from Gamestop today: the box itself and the thin (32-page) softcover booklet that accompanies it. The booklet is mostly art, renders and photos, with a little space here and there allocated for interviews and fan service like a timeline.

There's a recap of the games; alas, it doesn't include the MSX/NES titles

The full-page renders of MGS4's bosses are definitely nice.

Another thing of note in the booklet is a coupon for $5 off the MGS4 Limited Edition Collector's Strategy Guide (only good at Gamestop). Hopefully you didn't already buy it at the same time you got the game.

Alright, on to the box.

The box is more or less the size of a normal Blu-ray case, but thicker, and shaped a little like a Zippo lighter without a hinge. Plastic wrap comes off, but don't forget the clear, protective plastic over the "cover":

The box, totally nude.

It looks really, really slick. The art is great, and the box is covered with some sort of matte rubber that makes it feel sturdy and unique - certainly better than most of the limited edition packages I'm used to seeing (though to be fair, those are usually only $10 more, this one's $25 more).

The spine, i.e. how it looks shelved.

Okay, time to open this sucker up. As I mentioned, the top slips off completely, no hinge or attachment.

Inside are two disc cases, the game and the bonus disc.

The game box, as far as I can tell, is identical to the normal edition. I'm a little bummed the instructions are black-and-white...

...on the other hand, the comic-style art inside the manual kinda makes up for it.

...kinda. I like color manuals, and expect them with huge releases. It's nice Konami went with a manual design that capitalized on the lack of color (a stark, Frank Miller-type style), but I'd still like to see a big boy manual with my big boy game.

The second case holds all the bonus stuff: a CD of the game's soundtrack, and a Blu-ray with a documentary on it. I had planned to review the documentary, but found this little slip covering the disc:

Spoilers? Err... well, I haven't finished the game yet, so no documentary review for you guys, sorry. The package claims it's 2 hours, though, and presumably it's in HD... I mean, it is on a Blu-ray disc. That seems like a pretty good value, at least in theory (without knowing the content).

So the big question: is it worth $84.99? Well even though it doesn't come with a grab bag full on goodies like the GTA4 Special Edition did, what's here is of a much higher quality (the GTA4 bonuses were - let's be honest - trinkets you wouldn't pay more than a couple bucks for in Tijuana). The box is really nicely put together and attractive, and a soundtrack plus a hi-def documentary makes paying $25 extra bucks at least semi-justifiable. $5 less would make it a must-buy.

Gary's Next Unboxing Porn: Soul Calibur IV Special Edition, July 29th