NFS Hot Pursuit: EA Crew Edition

[Dumsday]

Found out today that all EA employees will get a special version of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (for PC) - the "EA Crew Edition".

It comes in a regular PC game sleeve but the art on the sleeve is made to look like red Christmas wrapping paper with silver text. A friend opened his and it’s actually a fully-unique package with a custom flap with a message from the CEO, the dvd-case has custom box-art and even the disc is a special Christmas theme. I'll link to pictures after work (of the outside...I'm not opening it).

The game is also a special edition - it comes with 7 exclusive cars:

Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition
Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S
Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Lamborghini Reventon
Bugati Veyron 16.4
Aston Martin DBS
Audi R8 5.2 FSI

It would be cooler for me if this were a console game but it's still neat.

I guess the question for this group is, from a collectors standpoint (and I don't know many collectors of PC games) is this interesting? Have other publishers done limited-edition versions for employees? I think EA has somewhere around 9000 employees so that's a fairly limited run...and they probably didn't make all 9000.

[Bojay1997]

Sounds neat. You rarely see this for games. I know movie studios typically do a big holiday DVD or Blu Ray release for employees with a special sleeve, but rarely special features. I think Disney did Toy Story 3 this year and I'm sure Warners did Harry Potter. There would definitely be a collector's premium on this game, especially if there really was anything exclusive that doesn't show up as purchaseable DLC down the road.

[NFSEACrew]

Hello All.

I just wanted to let you know that a copy of "Need Fot Speed: Hot Pursuit - EA Crew Edition" is listed on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Need-Speed-Hot-Pursuit-EA-Crew-Edition-Unopened-/300530536600?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item45f9041098#ht_500wt_1156

Just wanted to let you guys know in case you were interested.

[portnoyd]

Just a little spammy.

[Zap!]

A dozen years later, why is this game worth so little? If the story is true and it was only given to EA employees, then there should only be about 50 or so copies in existence. So why are opened copies selling for under $40, and sealed ones going for under $100? In theory, they should be going for Pepsi Invaders prices (thousands). Is it because very few have even heard about this special edition?