Unboxing: Steins;Gate – GAME Exclusive Limited Edition (PS Vita)

Over the past few months you may have noticed that this site is ‘branching-out’ to cover Anime-related games being released in the UK; and because of this i have opted to produce an unboxing article for the recently released, and highly anticipated, Steins;Gate visual novel.

Developed by 5pb/Nitroplus, and published into the UK via PQube Games, the Steins;Gate visual novel is what spawned the highly successful, and highly satisying, anime of the same name; and because of its success the publisher opted to do something special surrounding this games release; which is of course Limited Edition bundles. Those who pre-ordered and purchased the Steins;Gate from GAME would have received the Limited Edition bundle, which is what i am unboxing today, while those who opted for something extra special would receive the El Psy Kongroo Edition from RICE Digital. The difference is that the El Psy Kongroo came with two Gadget Club pin badges and the iconic metal uppa; but as you’d imagine it also come with a relatively high price tag – double that of the usual game.

Either way; i’m not here to talk about price differences as i am here to show off the GAME Exclusive Limited Edition Bundle of the game which – ironically – contains similar items to that of the El Psy Kongroo Edition of the game. So; whats included with this GAME Exclusive Limited Edition Bundle of Steins;Gate? well to be frank its the standard version of the game packaged together with an artbook. The artbook itself is one ‘massive’ spoiler so if you’ve yet to experience the story of Steins;Gate then you’ll want to avoid it – although when you do look at it you will be treated to a selection of scenary artwork, character artwork and, spoiler-wise, iconic moments from the story.

Considering it comes bundled for FREE its a pretty impressive artbook (and a Limited Edition Bundle as a whole) as not only is the book sturdy but it also has a glossy shiny effect to it – it shows that some care and attention to detail has been made. The same can be said for the packaging; as its not as flimsy as you might think and it feels like it can stand the test of time – especially when compared to Collectors Edition Bundles released by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Packaging aside the game case (and artwork) is exactly the same as if you bought it from another retailer so, with its own artwork and screenshots on the back-cover; disappointingly however there is no booklet on the inside; but considering this is a ‘visual-novel’ there isn’t really anything worth explaining in a manual.

Steins;Gate has only been available in the UK since Friday 5th June 2015 but it has already managed to reach the top 20 in a UK’s Games chart – which for a niche title such as this is very impressive; but if you want to sample the game for yourself then you can do as Steins;Gate is currently available for both the PS3 and PS Vita within the UK; however if you are hoping for this GAME Exclusive Limited Edition bundle, or the more rarer El Psy Kongroo Edition, then you will no doubt be disappointed as stock is hard to find.