Ni No Kuni's special edition is called the Wizard's Edition and includes the usual special order type items - music CD, guide book, custom character figure, and the game itself. Namco originally started selling the Wizard's Edition in August 2012 on their e-commerce website.
On January 22nd the game released and the regular edition and Wizard's Edition were supposed to ship to customers. Besides small isolated stock issues, the standard edition has been readily available. The game resells for about $8-10 less than original MSRP, which is normal for a game four weeks after releasing. Wizard's Edition is a completely different matter.
On January 25th Bandai-Namco announced they had oversold the Wizard's Edition. Their website partner had continued accepting orders for the limited edition after the release date even though every copy had already been sold.
Namco said they would cancel all orders beyond what they could fulfill and they would offer $20 credits and free player's guides to all those customers.
At this time prices for the Wizard's Edition were $300-350. The $20 credit didn't sound like a very good deal compared to an item worth 15x that amount.
This same problem occurred with Kingdom of Amalur Signature Edition. They inadvertently sold 12 extra copies of this edition. Instead of canceling orders and sending token refunds, they created 12 "Exclusive Signature" editions that were even more rare than the originals.
Many people have asked Namco to do something similar, but at this point they have refused. If Namco ever does make new copies of the Wizard's Edition resale prices will plunge. In the mean time, Ni No Kuni Wizard's Edition is one of the most valuable PS3 games ever made.
Ni No Kuni Trailer and Images
