Bionic Arms & Plastic Statues


Do I really need a half-scale, bionic arm? As I write this, I have a tab open on GAME's website showing the £100 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Collector's Edition. Double the price of the regular edition for an extra box (looks cheap), a steelbook case (couldn't care less), a map (will I get lost?), some bollocks in-game content that I'll never use (bollocks) and a half-scale replica of Snake's bionic arm (useful). Do I really need a half-scale, bionic arm?

The answer is no, but at the same time yes. Hideo Kojima wants me to buy a replica of Snake's bionic arm, half-scale, and since Phantom Pain is 100% absolutely his last Metal Gear Solid, who am I to say no. My MGS3 Snake Eater Premium Package is one of my favourite video game possessions, and I also have the HD Collection Limited Edition set, so I do have prior history when it comes to Kojima and oversized boxes. However, the big difference is that I bought both of those when they were heavily discounted. I purchased the HD Collection a few months after release at 50% off, and Snake Eater was a second hand pick up for less than £30 - that just shows you how quickly some of these supposedly "limited" editions depreciate in value. As any financial adviser will tell you, invest in land, not collector's editions.

Plastic statues and extra boxes are a great way to celebrate your fondness for a game or series, and I suppose that's why I'm considering what I know is a foolish purchase. I love MGS, and any new entry in the series is a major event. That being said, if the regular edition of the game was £35 instead of £50, I'm sure I'd balk at upgrading to the bionic arm. I could never justify going from £35, which I feel is a reasonable price for a new game, to £100, but the jump from £50 to £100 doesn't seem quite as heinous. I realise that makes little sense, but my reasoning is that if I'm going to overpay for a game at £50, I might as well overpay at £100 and get some extra rubbish. And this isn't just any game; Phantom Pain is my most anticipated of 2015, and probably of the last five years. So get off my case, yeah?

I'm usually content buying vanilla versions of new games. However, I have bought a handful of special editions over the years, most at a steep discount. I have a chainsaw memory stick (Resident Evil 5), mini face-hugger (awful Alien game), trance vibrator (Rez), a duster (Final Fantasy IV), a fucking fabric pouch (The Last of Us) and a nice supply of art books that I never look at (Dark Souls, MGS HD Collection, Policenauts etc.). I can’t imagine life without them.

So, in conclusion, I'm undecided about Snake's bionic arm. I've always wanted an extra arm for my game shelves, and my MGS excitement level is currently through the roof, but I know that £100 is too expensive for what's on offer. Regardless of how much I decide to spend, I'll be playing new Metal Gear Solid in September and that's definitely worth getting excited about.

Comments

  1. I plan to get the arm. I'll probably never use it, but there's a small chance in life that my arm may get cut off down the road. And then who will be laughing while I have my half sized robotic arm, potentially with the digitized mind of Kojima inside controlling my every move.

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    Replies
    1. I hadn't thought about it like that. Always useful having extra limbs lying around - you never know when a cyborg ninja might lop one of your arms off. Sold!
      Cheers

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