Now you see it, now you see it only in Europe.

It's pretty isn't it?  That's the collector's edition of Heavy Rain that so far, has only been confirmed for a European release.  Bummer.  I'm a big soundtrack fan, and with this game concentrating so deeply on emotions and choices, the music is going to have a much deeper impact than most other mediums.

What's include is,

• The Taxidermist - a bit of stand alone DLC
• Official Game Soundtrack 
• Dynamic XMB Theme

The DLC is priced at $4.99 according to the PS Blog (America), Dynamic Themes go for $3 and with a soundtrack averaging around $15 we have a total of about $23 in goodies.  This is all stuff I would like to eventually purchase so I'm hopeful a good price is announced.


What is interesting is the DLC that is included with the deluxe edition in Europe, and all pre-orders in America.  A similar offering to what EA did with Dragon Age by including something that needs to be separately purchased if you don't buy a new copy.  This is a pretty good idea that it helps drive new sales and plays down on used copies.

Here we can take two stances.  One, we can say that this content is already ready to go so it should be included in the purchase of the game.  Two, we can see it as an added bonus that compliments the main experience.  If the DLC included is something visual, or a small sub quest that does not alter the main storyline, I am inclined to go with the second choice and see it as a bonus.

What I really don't like is how gamestop sells used games for almost new prices and insults you by offering a pathetically small buy back price.  I think bonuses for new copies will become more popular in the future and help support the exploding budgets companies are putting into games. 

PS Blog Europe Release Info
PS Blog America Pre Order Info

UPDATE:
The dynamic theme was released on the American PSN recently for $3.00.  This helps to solidify the European deluxe version will not be heading to America.  I can only hope a different version will be made available locally.

Lastly, don't waste your money on the Heavy Rain Dynamic Theme.  It's pretty horrid in that it is only a single scene of an alley with rain coming down and some origami on the floor.  No lightning, no change of backdrops, no characters from the game making appearances, nothing.  For all the love I have for Quantic Dream, I really hope they didn't have anything to do with this.  And if they didn't, get in there and put something out better than this dreary thing!  You want to see a theme done right, look at the Bioshock challenge rooms DLC on the PS3.  It included a non dynamic theme, but you could tell a lot of effort and love went into it.