If you think spending $60 to kill zombies is steep, "special edition" versions of popular video games can be even pricier, luring in devotees with fancier packaging, collectible booklets and fun plastic tchotchkes. But video game publisher Deep Silver tops all with the most garish endeavor in video game history: a special version of its upcoming video game "Saint's Row IV" known as the "Super Dangerous Wad Wad" edition. The price? $1 million.
In case you're worried about not getting enough bang for your buck on the "Wad Wad" edition (also known as "the million dollar pack"), this exceedingly high-end version of "Saints Row IV" comes with a few unique perks such as a week-long stay at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C., a plastic surgery procedure of the customer's choice, and a trip into space. That's right, a seat on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space plane, once it's up and running. And talk about "limited edition," there's only one "Wad Wad" package available.
Here's what the full package includes:
- "Saints Row IV: Commander-in-Chief Edition"
- A full-size replica "Dubstep Gun," a comical in-game weapon that makes enemy targets start dancing to Skrillex-esque music
- A day of "spy training," whatever that means
- A spot on board the Virgin Galactic space plane
- A Lamborghini Gallardo and a year's membership in the E25 Supercar Club
- A brand new Toyota Prius with a year's worth of insurance, because one car just isn't enough
- A plastic surgery procedure of the purchaser’s choice
- A shopping spree complete with a personal shopper
- A week-long stay for two at The Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C.
- Another week-long stay for two in the Top Royal Suite at the Burj-al-arab hotel in Dubai, complete with air travel
- Something called a "hostage rescue experience"
It's worth noting that some 500 people have already signed up for a $250,000 seat on the Virgin Galactic. But they don't get a life-size replica of the Dubstep Gun — or a new Lamborghini — am I right?
There's been no word yet on whether anybody has actually plunked down a million bucks for this, ahem, premium edition of "Saint's Row IV," available, we should add, exclusively at the UK retailer Game.
In either case, the video game — which plays like an even more irreverent and cartoonish version of "Grand Theft Auto" (if you can believe that such a thing is possible) — will hit the shelves later this month. It's tempting to see "the million dollar pack" as little more than a Hail Mary marketing ploy from a publisher that first acquired the game property after its original publisher, THQ, went bankrupt late last year. But whatever the case, a full day of "spy training" sounds like fun, right?
Yannick LeJacq is a contributing writer for NBC News who has also covered technology and games for Kill Screen, The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. You can follow him on Twitter at @YannickLeJacq and reach him by email at: Yannick.LeJacq@nbcuni.com.