EB has had the God of War III Ultimate Trilogy Edition as an exclusive pre-order offer. They’ve sold out a couple of times already. But now it seems they have procured some extra stock.

42 copies, to be precise.

From 10am EDT AEST today, they’ll be taking orders once more. So get out your credit card and hit up EB in an hour’s time if you want to score yourself all three Gods of War plus a bunch of exclusive extras. All for just $248.

UPDATE: Being based in Brisbane, EB means 10am in Queensland. So that’s 11am for those of us in NSW and VIC. Other states can do their own math!

Thanks to Sony, we have TEN Heavy Rain “Origami” Editions up for grabs. This edition contains the full game and comes in a special origami style disc case. I repeat: you cannot buy it anywhere!

So how do you win this beautifully crafted PS3 game?

Heavy Rain is full of moody moments where people look reflective and melancholy, lost in their pangs of regret and remorse, just like the one above. We want you to create your own moody moment from Heavy Rain by way of the medium of photography.

Snap a pic of yourself or a friend that resembles a fictional screenshot from Heavy Rain and send it to us at the usual address. You must include the Kotaku “K” somewhere in the shot. Minimal photoshopping is OK, but we’re really judging the idea here more than the execution. Multiple entries are not allowed.

You’ve got until next Sunday, March 7, to get your entries in. We’ll be posting your entries as they arrive between now and then, and then choosing the ten best at the conclusion of the comp.

Good luck!

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It’s a good retro game pack for DS. Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Sonic & Knuckles, all tweaked to suit the DS. You can get the vanilla version for $49.95 RRP.

For an extra $20 you can get the pack in a special tin. Along with the tin, you get five Sonic art cards. Yep, that’s pretty well standard ’special edition’ fare. But the cute little 5cm Sonic figurine could send a few people over the top.

If they’d have made that tin a proper little lunchbox, I would so be buying it to send off with my kids to school.

Zhu Zhu Pets, announced back in December, is a game based on the mechanical hamster toys that frustrated the living hell out of so many parents during the holiday season. The demand for these fuzzy little bastards went through the roof, and why not? They are, essentially, robot hamsters, two of the greatest words in the English language, brought together in one toy.

I actually picked one up at a Wal-Mart a couple of days after Christmas. It’s been terrorising my cats ever since.

The game is a maze-racing affair, in which the player steers his or her hamster through a twisting course, collecting coins and new hamster friends along the way. Friends like the collector’s edition baby hamster, packed in the initial shipment of the games at no additional cost.

His name is Baxter. It’s times like this I wish I could write in big-eyed emoticons.

I believe I can still resist, as long as the first screens from the game aren’t similarly adorable.

Dammit.

As we reported last week, the PAL Final Fantasy XIII Collectors Edition contains a copy of the game as well as:

* Final Fantasy XIII Original Sound Selection: Soundtrack CD including a selection of music tracks from the game that are especially chosen for this Limited Collector’s Edition by composer Masashi Hamauzu. The CD is presented inside a slipcase featuring artwork from FINAL FANTASY XIII, and also liner notes that are written by the composer.

* The World of Final Fantasy XIII: Hardback book featuring character artwork, CG rendered artwork and environments from across the game production.

* Exclusive Art Prints: Three highly collectable art prints showing artwork of the Eidolons, powerful summoned allies of the lead playable characters in Final Fantasy XIII

* Unique ‘Brand of the l’Cie’ decal: Collectible decal featuring this most iconic symbol from the game storyline

It’s not a retailer exclusive either, so you’ll be able to grab the Collectors Edition from most games stores. RRP is $139.95.

UPDATE: This draw is now closed. If you left your entry on January 26, you’ll be eligible for today’s draw for one of three Xbox 360 copies.

We’ve still got four copies of Mass Effect 2 to give away. Specifically:

* 1 x Mass Effect 2 Collectors Edition (Xbox 360)
* 3 x Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)

Today we’ve got one Xbox 360 Collectors Edition which comes with a “Making of…” DVD, a comic book, art book, Dragon’s Age Blood Armour unlock code, Cerberus Network card to access bonus in-game content and a tin case.

In Mass Effect 2, Shepard recruits a squad of the galaxy’s most elite soldiers and assassins to undertake the most dangerous mission of all. To win a copy of Mass Effect 2, we want to know which six people (real, fictional or possibly not even people – we’ll be flexible here) you would recruit to join you on the most dangerous mission of all. Tell us which six people you’d pick and why they’re right for the job.

Leave your entry in the comments below. Multiple entries will be discarded and only your first entry will count. You have until midnight tonight to enter. The winner will be announced tomorrow at 10am when we open the final draw to win the three remaining Xbox 360 copies.

Good luck!

And the winner of the weekend’s PC Collectors Edition is WaveOfMutilation, whose army of red shirts supplied irrefutable logic.

Before I choose my team I need to explain the theory behind it. The average lifespan of a party member is, being a sub-main character, up to 25 hours of culmative gameplay this being the maximum. Where as the lifespan of your average redshirt has a maximum lifespan of perhaps 20 seconds if he was extremely lucky. Thus one party member is equal to ((25×60x60)/20) 4,500 Redshirts.

With 27,000 Redshirts at my disposal I can ensure my survival throughout my adventure as although a main character will always outlive Redshirt he is not always guaranteed to outlive his party of sub-main characters.

[Terms and Conditions]

UPDATE: This draw is now closed.

We’ve got ten copies of Mass Effect 2 to give away. Specifically:

* 2 x Mass Effect 2 Collectors Edition (Xbox 360)
* 5 x Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)
* 1 x Mass Effect 2 Collectors Edition (PC)
* 2 x Mass Effect 2 (PC)

Between now and Tuesday I’ll be offering up one or more of these to win each day. Today and tomorrow we have one PC Collectors Edition up for grabs, the last of the three PC copies we’re giving away.

In Mass Effect 2, Shepard recruits a squad of the galaxy’s most elite soldiers and assassins to undertake the most dangerous mission of all. To win a copy of Mass Effect 2, we want to know which six people (real, fictional or possibly not even people – we’ll be flexible here) you would recruit to join you on the most dangerous mission of all. Tell us which six people you’d pick and why they’re right for the job.

Leave your entry in the comments below. Multiple entries will be discarded and only your first entry will count. You have until midnight Sunday to enter. The winner will be announced on Monday morning.

Good luck!

And congratulations to the brilliantly insane Andrew Hobbs and the lust-filled Kelly for taking out Friday’s Xbox 360 copies.

Andrew Hobbs
1. A turtle.
2. Another turtle.
3. A cat.
4. A piece of toast.
5. Butter
6. Duct tape.

With these six items combined, I would then duct tape the whole thing together. With the newly-created Caturtletoast, it would be almost too easy to rule the galaxy.

Kelly
My team would consist entirely of buff men. (Or buff men in training.) This will help me get over the emotional scarring I recieved from Mass Effect 1, where my (I thought) heterosexual, female Shepherd had lesbian sex without my permission, when talking to the Consort. I mean, one minute we’re talking, and the next, wham, we’re doing it in cut scene. And when I played with a male Shepherd, there was unfortunately no reciprocal hot male/male scenes available. I was miffed that Bioware catered to the fantasies of its male/lesbian player demographic, but didn’t do anything for women (or gay dudes). Choosing between Kaidan, and a stupid Asari is not a choice. Even if Kaidan was awesome.

1) An alien of the, uh, Farari, species. These look like green, totally buff men. They’re like the Asari, but they’re men. Or like men. And hotter. Y’know.
2) Kaidan. He had a lovely, gravelly voice.
3) Carth. From Knights of the Old Republic 1. He had a lovely, gravelly voice.
4) Raphael Sbarge. He has a lovely, gravelly voice.
5) Sephiroth. The first of all my video game crushes. So beautiful and yet so tormented. Hug.
6) My ex-boyfriend. The World of Warcraft addict, who couldn’t make dinner dates because of his emotional over -committment to his guild. He needs to get into shape and there’s nothing like saving the universe to help him with that. He can carry all the luggage.

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As is becoming the norm with major releases, different retailers are offering different incentives. So let’s look at what you can get at EB Games, JB Hi-Fi and GAME.

EB Games
EB has an exclusive BioShock 2 Special Edition. It retails for $148 on 360 and PS3 and $128 on PC. Inside you’ll find:
* 12″ Vinyl LP with BioShock 2 orchestral score
* Audio CD with BioShock 2 orchestral score
* Three vintage Rapture advertisement posters
* BioShock 2 art book, 164 pages and hardcover
* BioShock 2 game

Also, if you preorder at EB you’ll score yourself two unlockable multiplayer characters – Arte Blanche the Actress and Ziggo the Fisherman. This applies to either the Special or the standard edition.

GAME
2K has arranged for a second limited edition, the BioShock 2 Rapture Edition, to be sold at GAME. Its RRP is $119.95 on 360 and PS3 and $109.95 on PC, although GAME’s online store currently has all three for $15 off their respective RRPs. It includes:
* BioShock 2 game
* BioShock 2 art book, 164 pages and hardcover
* BioShock 2 slip case

And, exclusive to those preordering the Rapture edition, you’ll get a Little Sister figurine.

JB Hi-Fi
The Rapture Edition is also available at JB, containing the same content as found at GAME, listed above. The 360 and PS3 versions are $114.98 and the PC version is $99. JB gets a different preorder bonus though, with a BioShock 2 t-shirt thrown in for free with your Rapture Edition.

So, there you have it. Where will you be getting your BioShock 2?

Available now for pre-order at the price of €80 ($US110), the retailer says the pack includes a soundtrack, art book, prequel novel, comic book and collection of art cards.

While the game is advertised on a European retail site, you’d expect the US edition to be similar, if not identical. If you’re looking for pictures, sorry, there are no pics available.

Final Fantasy XIII – Collector’s Edition [GameStop, thanks Phil!]

UPDATE: Wednesday’s draw is now closed.

We’ve got ten copies of Mass Effect 2 to give away. Specifically:

* 2 x Mass Effect 2 Collectors Edition (Xbox 360)
* 5 x Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)
* 1 x Mass Effect 2 Collectors Edition (PC)
* 2 x Mass Effect 2 (PC)

Between now and Tuesday I’ll be offering up one or more of these to win each day. Today we begin with one Xbox 360 Collectors Edition, pictured, which comes with a “Making of…” DVD, a comic book, art book, Dragon’s Age Blood Armour unlock code, Cerberus Network card to access bonus in-game content and a tin case.

In Mass Effect 2, Shepard recruits a squad of the galaxy’s most elite soldiers and assassins to undertake the most dangerous mission of all. To win a copy of Mass Effect 2, we want to know which six people (real, fictional or possibly not even people – we’ll be flexible here) you would recruit to join you on the most dangerous mission of all. Tell us which six people you’d pick and why they’re right for the job.

Leave your entry in the comments below. Multiple entries will be discarded and only your first entry will count. You have until midnight tonight to enter. The winner will be announced tomorrow at 10am when we open a new draw to win the PC version.

Good luck!

[Terms and Conditions]