LOTR: War in the North gets obligatory CE, retailer-specific pre-order bonuses

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 5th 2011 11:15AM

As Lord of the Rings: War in the North preps for an autumn assault, Warner Bros. is deploying an extravagant Collector's Edition and pre-order incentive to help gather recruits.

The Collector's Edition, which costs a whopping $130, includes a Ranger of the North Quiver Case, art book, a behind-the-scenes DVD on the game's music, three songs from the soundtrack ... and the game. Those who pick up the CE for Xbox 360 receive a Ranger of the North Avatar outfit for Xbox Live, while PS3 purchasers get a War in the North Theme Pack.

You'll also have to contend with pesky retail-specific pre-order bonuses for the standard edition, which we've listed after the break.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (Collector's Edition)

Amazon.com: Part two of the War in the North Digital Comic written by Brian Wood, illustrated by Simon Coleby and produced by DC Entertainment. There's also an in-game Orc Champion sword.
Best Buy: Elf Theme Pack - Elven sword, armor and helmet. Access to the Lothlórien Challenge map.
GameStop: Human Theme Pack - Human sword, armor and battle attire of the Human Ranger. Access to the Osgiliath Challenge map.
Target: Three "exclusive" tracks from the War in the North soundtrack.
Toys 'R' Us: Receive a limited edition, signed War in the North poster by Jim Lee, and access to parts one and two of the War in the North Digital Comic at launch.
Walmart: A Dwarven quest. The Dwarf Theme Pack- dwarf sword, armor and helmet.

Show full PR text

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Snowblind Studios today announced the details of the North American Collector's Edition and pre-order incentive programs for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North along with a Fall 2011 ship date. The game will be released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

The Collector's Edition includes:
Ranger of the North Quiver Case
War in the North art book featuring concept art of key characters in the game, various enemies and beautiful environments in Middle-earth
Inside Look: The Music of War in the North-content includes: interviews and footage of legendary composer Inon Zur at Abbey Road Studios and the E3 2011 Concert event, along with three tracks from the game soundtrack
Digital content:
Ranger of the North Avatar for Xbox Live (Xbox 360 sku) - includes the Ranger armor set, helmet, quiver and bow
War in the North Theme Pack (PS3 sku) - includes War in the North wallpaper, fonts, icons and much more!
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North video game
SRP: $129.99

If you choose the standard edition, battle against Sauron's evil forces and help turn the tide of the War of the Ring with these special pre-order incentives from the following retailers:

Amazon.com
Exclusive to Amazon.com, pre-order the game and get early access to part two of the War in the North Digital Comic written by Brian Wood, illustrated by Simon Coleby and produced by DC Entertainment. The comic book reveals the back story leading up to The Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Players will also receive the Orc Champion sword for in-game use.

Best Buy
Embark on an Elven adventure with the Elf Theme Pack, equipped with a mystical Elven sword, armor and helmet, and get access to the Lothlórien Challenge map.

GameStop
Visit the Citadel of the Stars and the Tower of Stone with the Human Theme Pack equipped with an exclusive human sword, armor and battle attire of the Human Ranger, and get access to the Osgiliath Challenge map.

Target
Immerse yourself in the sounds of Middle-earth with three exclusive tracks from the War in the North soundtrack.

Toys 'R' Us
Receive a limited edition, signed War in the North poster by Jim Lee, and access to download parts one and two of the War in the North Digital Comic at launch.

Wal-Mart
A Dwarven quest lies ahead for everyone who chooses to pre-order at Wal-Mart; the Dwarf Theme Pack includes an exclusive dwarf sword, armor and helmet.

To download images of the Collector's Edition, visit:
http://www.box.net/shared/x64cadr20yozmy84kxou

For more information register at www.WarInTheNorth.com, and don't forget to "like" us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lotrwitn and follow us on Twitter @WarInTheNorth.

Tags: collectors-edition, Lord-of-the-Rings-War-in-the-North, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, snowblind, snowblind-studios, Warner-Bros, Warner-Bros-Interactive-Entertainment, WBIE, xbox

Reader Comments (36)

and my axe?

130? No. come on guys its a video game. 60 is great for that, but no matter how many extras you pile on, you shouldnt more than double the cost.

@Cavall At that price you'd think they'd include some or all the movies.

HOLY Shhh..COW!! That's a lot of cash!

I'm getting confused who the hell has all this space for these towering CE's and the expendable cash to keep reaping them at day-one release.

And wow...SIX different incentives. Wait 2 months for all of it to be standard DLC (minute the tandable items unless the signed poster is just a stamp by an intern). Wait another month for the CE to go 75% off.

Where's our EDF review !

@whylekat I second that!

Heh, that's a gutsy decision on their part. I was under the impression the market for LotR games was fairly tepid at this point in time, much less for overpriced collector's edition crap.

@freaparn

Well with the Hobbit filming and all, LotR buzz is spinning around again. Plus the Blu-Ray extended editions just came out this year.

Also if you haven't noticed, its like 70 years old at this point. It's not like it's getting any less known as time goes on.

@Punkrawk Bbob

The longevity of the books has very little to do with a licensed game's ability to perform on the market. Moreover, the 2009-2010 releases of LotR games averaged around a 50-60% metascore and performed poorly at retail, aside from the expansion pack for the MMO (which went F2P some time ago so you can't really say it's a huge commercial success story either).

The IP isn't getting any less known, but the brand has certainly been diluted by the last decade of shoddy game cash-ins on the franchise.

Another game with exclusive pre-order content; another game I won't be getting until there's a compilation edition, if ever.

I cancelled my Catherine special edition and switched to the normal because I didn't want a useless pizza box hanging around the office/game room. I can't imagine someone would get excited about this when the realize its not a real quiver.

@sammo21 Just throw out the box?

Man, the things in the CE just don't quite seem to justify that price.

For $130 Elijah Wood and Ian McKellan should knock at my door and dance a jig as well.

@Negatron

For 130 bucks, you might be able to get Sean Astin... maybe.

Ahh @Uncle Jesse i don't know, I mean he did play Rudy so i'd guess $250 minimum.

@Negatron

Okay, fine. But I bet Orlando Bloom would be in.

@Uncle Jesse

As a pirate or an elf?

Of all the CEs I've seen, that quiver is the dumbest thing ever.

What can you use it for? As a target for ridicule when wearing it?

I always feel a mix of amusement and sadness when a 6.0 game gets an expensive collector's edition.

From what I've seen of this game, it looks like an utterly forgettable waste of the Lord of the Rings license. There's more to Middle-Earth than decapitating orcs. I wish Bethesda or Bioware could get their hands on the license and add some actual plot and exploration. At least there's Lord of the Rings Online.

@slickie

Well said. Personally i don't feel LotR Online does the license any justice either but what you mentioned sounds like the way for it to go, by way of Bethesda or Bioware. Hey, we can dream can't we?

I want to be wrong. But I really have no faith that a LOTR game will be worth $60, let alone $130. No thank you.
Make WotN really really good, then we'll talk about a CE sequel.

OMG for real now cmon people let the series rest. Its been released on DVD about 7 times now and 2 times on Blu-Ray, there are at least what now 8 games? sheesh the last one wasnt even out 6 months before they pulled support for it.

sorry no sale.

@ChaseHammerJ

It's been on DVD twice and Blu-Ray twice. Your math is horrible. Theatrical and extended editions for each format. Also movies =/= games (aside from Heavy Rain).

All the games play entirely different. You have the original Fellowship which was a snoozer, based on books. RPG'ish. Then you have Two Towers/Return of the King based on the films which were fun co-op action games. Then an RTS series, then a shooter series (the Battlefront clone). You have an MMO. If you've played hack and slash games (tons of people do), you'd know there hasn't been a single solid entry in this generation of games. There was Untold Legends, and Too Human. Daggerdale sucked on XBLA when that just came out, and Torchlight has no multiplayer. I haven't tried Hunted yet, but this War in the North is by the team that made the highly addictive Champions of Norrath series on PS2, arguably the best hack and slash games of last generation.

So LotR property or not, this game will be fun and can't wait. The $130 CE is ignorant at best, as is the retail specific bonuses - but whatever.

Or......you could wait 2 months until Best Buy has it for $49.99.

@MrSmiley1

Snagged Bioshock 2's $100 special edition for $18 at Target. Gotta love these oversized collector's editions. Also Halo 3's spartan helmet for $30 at Best Buy.

@Punkrawk Bbob

The Killzone 3 Helghast Edition is $49.99 right now at BB.

At $130 in better come with a sack of Po-Ta-toes!

I don't understand why CEs often include items of no use whatsoever. I mean WTH do I need that quiver for, or the night vision goggles from the MW CE, or that bust of master chief's head that came with the Halo CE? How about giving us something more mundane but actually something that people might use, and that won't require such ridiculous prices. For my money a nice bookmark, or a mouse pad is infinitely more useful than a freaking bust (I mean come on!). Put it all in a sturdy and well styled box and I won't mind paying an extra 15-20 bucks for it. You'll cell more of these kinds of CEs than ones more akin to that ridiculous one above.

@2late2die cell = sell (IDK wtf is going one with me today)

@2late2die I think you kinda answered your own questions. CE = Collector's Edition, emphasis on the COLLECTORS part. Most of what people collect is worthless to just about everyone except the person collecting it. And most of it is useless, because if you use it the perceived value decreases. This stuff is meant to sit on someone's shelf on display or tucked away in storage in the hopes that in 20 years or so it will be worth a whole lot more than what you paid for it.

Did anyone else quickly think this was a picture of Ezio in Revelations?

For $160 it better let me take the hobbits to Isengard

People will buy it because it is Lotr. I think the game will be good but no sale on the CE version from me.

It seems like they'd want to put the money into making sure it's a good game and marketing it well, and then use the profits to make a CE for a sequel.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North

LOTR: War in the North gets obligatory CE, retailer-specific pre-order bonuses

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (Collector's Edition)

Reader Comments (36)

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:18AM shabby329 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:19AM Cavall said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:49AM kyte420 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:19AM Slixshot said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:27AM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:28AM whylekat said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:56AM BigBadBob113 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:37AM freaparn said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:01PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:26PM freaparn said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:44AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:45AM sammo21 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:18PM Mastrius said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:46AM SMTDante said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:54AM Negatron said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:04PM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:07PM Negatron said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:54PM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 2:25PM CaptainProtonX said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:54AM arkweld said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:57AM slickie said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:05PM Negatron said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:58AM xxMayDay31xx said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:02PM ChaseHammerJ said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:12PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:12PM MrSmiley1 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:14PM Punkrawk Bbob said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 2:15PM MrSmiley1 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:24PM Jerkface Killah said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:30PM 2late2die said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 12:31PM 2late2die said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:22PM TheAngryIntern said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:36PM LinkRazr said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 1:55PM ZachFACEyay said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 4:57PM SaintV said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 8:04PM radioactivez0r said

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