After a “glitch” resulted in more orders than there were copies of Namco Bandai’s Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition going through, gamers in the US were told that they would be receiving refunds rather than a box set.
One retailer on eBay US, PlayCanada, had managed to purchase hundreds of copies of the Wizard’s Edition and decided to take advantage of what happened, selling it for as much as $400, four times its retail price! They have so far managed to shift over 200 copies of the Wizard’s Edition.
According to the Namco Bandai Games America, the distributor of the game, Digital River, suffered a glitch within their ordering system. This meant that anyone who pre-ordered the game from Club Namco after January 17th would not be receiving the Wizard’s Edition. They also wanted to acknowledge that they had never worked with the eBay retailer PlayCanada to sell the Wizard’s Edition at a premium price on eBay.
Namco Bandai Games America said of PlayCanada:
“This individual or group of individuals purchased Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition during the NinoStarter promotion period (August 2012); at which time, no limits were placed on how many units an individual could order.
PlayCanada’s claims that they officially worked with NAMCO BANDAI Games America to obtain their stock is entirely false.”
To remedy the situation, Namco Bandai will be offering those affected a copy of the Ni No Kuni 400 page hardbound strategy guide, which also includes a download code to unlock a Gold Hurly Familiar.
An unofficial Facebook group has also been set up to help those that had their pre-orders cancelled.
The Wizard’s Edition of Ni No Kuni is highly prized amongst collectors. As well as the game itself it includes a hardcover Wizard’s Companion book, a Drippy Plush doll and exclusive DLC content. However, the US version appears to be bundled with a few additional extras, notably exclusive art cards and a music CD with two tracks from the game.
The news appears to have had an effect on collectors here in the UK. With online retailers having sold out, those eager to obtain the limited edition set have had to resort to eBay UK, where completed listings show that the Wizard’s Edition is selling for between £100 – £200!
From contacting Namco Bandai UK about the status of the Wizard’s Edition here, they stated that, “Those who have pre-ordered Ni No Kuni through our UK retailers should have no issues with receiving their Wizard’s Editions when the game launches on February 1st.”
You can read our review of Ni No Kuni by clicking here.
Source: Polygon
Originally published on MCM Buzz on 28 January 2013.
