Top 10 Worst Video Game Pre-Order Bonuses

This little video game that, ironically, no one remembers, is a sci-fi action game that follows a memory hunter as she fights to regain her lost memories. The game is focused mainly on hand-to-hand combat, with its distinguishing characteristic being the Combo Lab, a feature where players can customize their own combos. With pre-ordering the game from Amazon, Best Buy, or Steam, players were treated to three unique fighting moves: the Flash Kick, the Spinning Bird Kick, and the Dragon Punch. Yippee. Why didn't they just include those in the game to begin with?

These games with an intense cult following take place in a post-apocalyptic Moscow as underground soldiers fight for survival. Seeing as how survival is such a key concept for this game, the developers must have thought that an extra difficulty setting would shake things up for the die hard fans. Ranger mode was created, and it was placed in the limited edition of the game, which was guaranteed to those that pre-ordered the standard game. Even though it calls itself a limited edition, it was the reward for a pre-order, and therefore, eligible for the list, and quite frankly, a little insulting for fans.

No, we didn't put an entry title in the wrong list. In Italy, the pre-order of "inFamous: Second Son" actually came with glow in the dark condoms. Why? We don't know. What does that have to do with the game? Don't know that either. I guess the neon powers are kind of glow in the dark-y. Other than that, there is absolutely no connection between this game, about a man who is ostracized for his superhuman powers, and glow in the dark condoms. Oh, and it also comes with two Red Bulls! Cause those are so hard to come by…

If the "Resident Evil" series screams one thing, it's snow globes! Well, sand globes in this case, because the game is set in Africa. Isn't that clever? The game follows Chris and Sheva as they battle mutated monsters and humans, and of course, a sand globe is the perfect supplement to that. Your friends will gawk in amazement at how much the figures look like their respective characters and how well the sand refuses to "snow," but flops from one side to another! I don't know about you, but we think this is one thing that all horror game fans have to own.

In 2013, Sonic was on his last legs, so the franchise needed a major boost. So, for this entry, Sega decided to offer the questionable bonus of twenty five extra lives for those that pre-ordered the game. Sure, extra lives aren't bad, but as a pre-order bonus, it was a major letdown. When the reward is extra lives, the game is basically screaming that it is impossibly difficult, something that "Lost World" ended up being heavily criticized for. In the end, the pre-order was considered a joke, and the game received mixed reviews. Talk about a marketing misfire.

Quick, what do you think of when I say 18th century pirates battling on the open sea? Did you say football? No, of course you didn't. Regardless, some retailers, especially in the UK, packaged this game about clashing pirates with a black football with the game name etched on the side. Yeah, because American football is so popular in Europe! The bonus became somewhat of a joke on the internet, with many people questioning just what it was that Ubisoft was thinking when they created this brilliant idea. Oh no, wait! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers! Pirates. Because the British would totally get that joke.

Hype was through the roof for this Mario installment, as he was now on the Wii, and, like most franchises that run out of ideas, in space! Needless to say, this historic game needed some form of remembrance, so those that pre-ordered were treated to...a commemorative coin. It's literally just a silver coin with Mario flying through the air with a star that came in a booklet. Sure, it might make a cute keepsake for die hard fans or coin collectors, but is absolutely useless for most gamers. You can now see them on eBay for $5 as gamers desperately try to rid themselves of the meaningless item. Worst of all, it looks pretty darn crappy doesn’t look anything like a Mario Brothers coin.

Warner Bros Games is pretty much notorious for abusing Pre-Order Culture with a lot of their games, at times often flaunting pre-order bonuses immediately once the game is announced. And yet Batman: Arkham City may be its worst offender. DLC for Robin was a pre-order offer for Best Buy, while Gamestop gave a DLC map. Any other retailer got one of 5 different skins for Batman. EA did something similar with Mass Effect 3, by keeping weapons as retail exclusive pre-orders, and while WB Games did tone it down a bit for Arkham Knight, they still locked content to retail pre-orders.

Anyone who follows gaming knows that the "Call of Duty" franchise is king of the multiplayer world, and that millions partake every year in the fun. So, for those that pre-ordered the latest installment, they were treated to 24 extra hours of multiplayer, as it was released to them a full day earlier than other gamers. Are players really so desperate that they need an extra 24 hours of playtime? If that wasn't bad enough, the Digital Preloaded Version of the game didn’t work properly for PS4 and Xbox1 users, forcing them to re-download the entire 40GB game on Day Zero. Plus Xbox One users using the 14-day Trial had issues getting online. Talk about a fail.

Before we look at our worst offender, here are a few honorable mentions.

Golden Optimus Prime/Megatron
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (2009)

An Apollo Justice Keychain
"Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney" (2007)

A Banana Wii Remote/Pencil Case
"Donkey Kong Country Returns" (2010)

Early Access to Jakku
"Star Wars Battlefront" (2015)

"Watch Dogs," a game about a hacker who can manipulate the city, was aimed to be the be-all-end-all of open world games. Needless to say, it disappointed many, but that disappointment is nothing compared to the mess that was the pre-orders. No less than five retailers had exclusive content, including GameStop, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target. Most of these came with awful bonuses, like different outfits, exclusive guns, or an extra mission. It was such a mess that many people needed a spreadsheet just to keep up with who offered what. When bonus content is that complicated, it's definitely not worth it.

Do you agree with our list? What pre-order bonus were you disappointed in? For more fulfilling top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to Watchmojo.com.