Now that I’ve indulged in Amazon Prime’s everything-ships-free plan instead of having to find filler to reach the $25 mark for free shipping, I get a lot of individual movies or games in the mail–small, light boxes instead of larger, denser boxes with three or more things packed inside. On Friday, I received one such large, heavy box and couldn’t remember what I could have possibly ordered that would result in a package of this heft. Once I opened it, I realized it was my copy of The Witcher 2.

At the time of pre-order for the game, there was no “standard” edition; there was the choice of “premium” at the normal PC game price of $50 or the “collector’s edition” at a much pricier $130. Even this “base-level” package was packed with the sort of things we’d normally pay a price-premium for to upgrade to a collector’s edition: behind-the-scenes DVD, soundtrack CD, strategy guide, map, coin. Atari and CDProjekt spoiled their fans for $10 less than the price that even the PC versions of popular console games charge. Heck, even the PC-only Starcraft II retailed for $60. (more…)