Fewer reasons to head to the stores in 2014
Deal post from the crew at Dealzon. FYI: sales from certain retailers go toward supporting Destructoid. All Sunset Overdrive deals listed below are US-only (sorry everyone else!)
We’re less than a week away from Insomniac Games’ big release of Sunset Overdrive. If you’re looking to pick up the Xbox One exclusive on its October 28 release date next Tuesday, this pre-order comparison post will break down the deals.
Sunset Overdrive is annoyingly (in our personal opinion, anyway) one of those titles with in-game items that are exclusive (unique to) different retailers when you pre-order. Thus far, we count five different pre-order bonuses from five different retailers. Which retailer is offering the best incentives? Let’s take a look.
Sunset Overdrive Pre-Order Comparison
(Listed from best to worst, in our opinion)
- Microsoft Store:
- Monetary Bonus: $10 Xbox Gift Card or $15 Xbox Rewards
- Bonus Exclusive: Two melee, Acordes de la Muerte, and The Hangover
- Shipping: Guaranteed Free Release Day Delivery if ordered by 10/24, 2 pm PDT
- Best Buy:
- Monetary Bonus: $10 Best Buy Rewards
- Bonus Exclusive: Fizzco Bot outfit, AK-FOFF (modified AK-47)
- Shipping: Free Ship or Store Pickup
- Amazon:
- Monetary Bonus: None.
- Bonus Exclusive: Wasteland Outfit, Hotty Shotty (modified shotgun)
- Shipping: Free 5-8 day, or 2 with Prime
- GameStop:
- Monetary Bonus: Zilch
- Bonus Exclusive: OD Wannabe Outfit, Head-Banger Gun
- Shipping: $3.50 for 5-10 day
- Walmart:
- Monetary Bonus: Noper.
- Bonus Exclusive: S’more Action Melee Weapon
- Shipping: Free 5-6 day or store pickup
Two Retailers with Monetary Incentives
Just looking at the list above, you’ll see that pre-ordering from the Microsoft Store gets you strong monetary incentives (whereas most retailers are lacking in that department). You’ll receive a $10 Xbox Gift Card if you pre-order at the Microsoft Store, and for those who have signed up for a free Xbox Live Rewards membership, you’ll gain an additional $5 worth of Xbox Live credit in points. (If you don’t have an Xbox Rewards account, signup and reward details can be found here.)
Tip: Make sure you use the same email address that you have at Xbox Live Rewards when you pre-order Sunset Overdrive at Microsoft Store, and the extra 5,000 points should be credited automatically.
An even better bonus (for those of us who are impatient) from the Microsoft Store is the free guaranteed release day delivery offer — but if you want that, you’ll have to act fast. Pre-ordering at any time will get you the aforementioned rewards, but for free release day delivery, you’ll need to pre-order by Friday, October 24 at 2 p.m. Pacific.
The guaranteed release day delivery offer extends to only 48 US states, and if you live in an area without overnight service, you’re pretty much also out of luck.
The other dollar sign incentive is from Best Buy, granting you $10 in My Best Buy Rewards. Of course, “My Best Buy” is the renamed “Reward Zone” account and is free to sign up online or at any local Best Buy. While BB shipping will not guarantee release day arrival, at least Best Buy gives you the option for free store pickup (which makes sense if you have one near you). Pre-ordering from Best Buy also gets you a physical “Koozie” drink cooler item. Neat.
Pre-Ordering = Day One Edition
Pre-ordering from any of the above retailers gets you the “Day One Edition” of Sunset Overdrive. The Day One marketing moniker basically means you get 3 free bonus digital goodies to enjoy at launch. They break down as follows:
- “Nothin’ but the Hits” gun: An overcharged version of the High Fidelity gun that launches limited edition, priceless, multi-colored vinyls that do increased damage
- “It’s Me! Fizzie!” outfit: Fizzie is more popular than you because he has a great marketing budget. So why not dress up as him and get in on some of that fame?
- “Hardcore! Hammer”: You ponder buying the Day One Edition of Sunset Overdrive. A spot check reveals if you do, you can equip a mighty hammer made from a bat and spiked dumbbells. You buy the Day One Edition of Sunset Overdrive.
Retailer Exclusive Pre-Order Bonus Breakdown
Be it weapons or skins, each major retailer listed above offers its own unique perks. If you’re a big fan of extra digital content, you’ll want to look into these before choosing who to pre-order from.
Microsoft Store:
- Acordes de la Muerte Melee Weapon: Give me a “K!” Give me an “I!” Give me a “Guitar-with-melting-candles-on-it melee weapon that can bash in the skulls of my vilified enemies!” What’s that spell? Errr…
- The Hangover Melee Weapon: Show how much you like to party with this melee weapon made out of beer cans and an electrified pitchfork. One thing led to the other, right?
Best Buy:
- Fizzco Bot Outfit: Your 9-to-5 not making you feel enough like a corporate robot? Well, slap on this Fizzco Bot outfit and feel the joy of automated monotony!
- AK-FOFF: An enhanced version of the AK-FU that features a graffiti’d exterior and inflicts more damage on enemies unfortunate enough to stroll by.
GameStop:
- OD Wannabe Outfit – Be the talk of the town in this gorgeous and bold homage to your mutant enemies. Then kill them in it.
- Head-Banger Gun – Get ahead of the game with this enhanced version of “The Dude”. It does more damage and substitutes bowling balls with mutant heads.
Walmart:
- S’more Action Melee Weapon: A campfire massacre isn’t complete without your trusty marshmallow on a stick melee weapon to impale hordes of mutants with. 5-second rule!
Amazon:
- Wasteland Outfit: Deck yourself out in post-apocalyptic survival garb. You know, what you’d wear if the apocalypse wasn’t freakin’ awesome.
- Hotty Shotty: An enchanced version of the Shorty Shotty that features a graffiti’d exterior and inflicts more damage on enemies foolish enough to make fun of your small weapon.
Which retailer has the best pre-order incentive? Truthfully, each has their own unique DLC content, so the answer is ultimately subjective… but most would agree that Microsoft Store or Best Buy are on top with both exclusive DLC content and monetary incentives. Add in release day delivery from the MS Store and it’s hard to argue for the rest.
At the end of it, while different exclusives are kind of annoying, we suspect most of these items will quickly wear out their usage after hours of initial gameplay and if anything are just nice bonus additions that are more cosmetic than not.
