Well, caricatures of famous people, but you can easily recognise them as Napoleon, Cleopatra and my dad.

I received this pleasant treat at a hands-on multiplayer preview of Civilization Revolution held today. Unfortunately I can't say much more about the preview as there's an embargo until the 10th, but be sure to tune in then for all the details.

I'm trying to organise a giveaway - just waiting for confirmation from 2K Games. There's also one more nice Civilization Revolution surprise to be revealed, and I'm hoping I can swing that today. A hint: It has to do with puppets.

Often, the best gaming swag you get is the stuff you get for free. Such is the case with the BioShock faceplate. There were only 5,100 of them made and they were given almost exclusively to GameStop managers for an inter store sales promotion. I was fortunate enough to be gifted with not only one, but two of these little beauties by my local GameStop manager, one of which adorns my 360 at home and the other I gave to my best friend.

With BioShock mania at a peak just four days before it's release, these rare faceplates have begun surfacing on eBay and are fetching anywhere upwards of $100 or more in some cases. Personally, I wouldn't dream of getting rid of mine because it's gorgeous and I love it and you'd have to pry it out of my cold dead fingers. But, given the choice between owning a rare, cool piece of (free) merchandise for your console or turning around and selling it for some cash, which would you choose?

Rare Bioshock faceplates bring in high price on eBay [Opposable Thumbs]

I think it's safe to call the Xbox 360 faceplates a complete and utter failure. But every once in a while we're reminded that the idea is fantastic, it's just the lackluster execution that's let gamers down. Case in point: this Bioshock faceplate is a really great design, but limited to only 5,100 units distributed to a closed retail and fanboy populace. And the first great faceplate we get in a long while is not for sale.

The result? These faceplates have been moving for $50-$100+ dollars on ebay. Microsoft should commission faceplates like Target commissions big name designers, make everything limited edition, plan better co-marketing and send me this Bioshock faceplate for free. Because it's not too late for faceplates to take off and I'm bored with my 360. It's as if we've been having the same sex for years. Wait...

Rare Bioshock faceplates bring in high price on eBay [opposablethumbs]
And ebay.