To be sold exclusively at Best Buy stores in North America and online beginning May 29th, Nintendo has revealed a special edition Wii U bundle for Splatoon.

A digital download code for Nintendo’s ink-blasting third-person shooter will be bundled up with a 32GB Deluxe Wii U console and a pre-installed copy of Nintendo Land for a retail price of $299.99.

Aside from the colorful, ink-splattered packaging, the Wii U console itself doesn’t appear to have a custom Splatoon paintjob or any other game-themed markings. That’s too bad, because a Wii U jazzed up with some squid and ink splats would have been pretty damn sweet. Not to mention even more enticing for someone like me who does not yet own a Wii U but is looking for a reason to finally buy in.

If you’re planning to pre-order LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham ahead of this fall’s launch, Warner Bros. just made the decision on which retailer to buy from more painful than it should be.

Six different bonuses are now vying for your pre-order dollar, each one exclusive to a specific retailer. Amazon is offering this Batgirl Minifig Keychain:

GameStop has the Plastic Man Minifig:

Order from Toys “R” Us to get The Joker Minifig Keychain:

Go to Target for a LEGO Batwing Miniset:

Choose Walmart for the LEGO Tumbler Miniset:

Or go to Best Buy to get the LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham digital comic book by Comixology.

I’m not pre-ordering this game, but if I did I’d probably go for the Batwing or Tumbler since I’d rather have a little something to build rather than a keychain or a non-Batman minifig. Which is your fav?

A new video for Lord of the Rings meets Assassin’s Creed action-adventure game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has arrived today from Warner Bros. and Monolith Productions. This installment introduces the rune system players will use to upgrade Talion’s sword, bow, and dagger.

Tying in with the upgrade system, retailers Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, and Steam are each offering unique, exclusive runes to their customers. These retail-specific bonus runes include:

· Amazon – Deadly Archer Rune: Talion will deal extra damage when executing ranged headshots against Sauron’s Captains.

· Best Buy – Flame of Arnor Rune: Talion can ignite his blade by achieving a high combo count and incinerate his enemies.

· GameStop – Captain of the Watch / Hidden Blade Rune: “Captain of the Watch” character skin and the Hidden Blade Rune – Talion can deal extra damage when executing stealth attacks against Sauron’s Captains.

· Steam – Orc Slayer Rune: Talion will decimate Sauron’s Captains with increased damage from special attacks.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor launches October 7th for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II reportedly smashed pre-order records on the first day of its announcement. Now those customers with itchy pre-ordering trigger fingers know what they’re getting for their early buy-in.

Retailer-specific pre-order bonuses have been announced today and, surprisingly, they have nothing to do with in-game DLC. Here’s the current list of reservation offers:

– Amazon: Free Call of Duty: Black Ops II digital wallpaper with pre-order.

– GameStop: Free 2-sided Call of Duty: Black Ops II posters with pre-order. Free Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 prestige token for PUR members (X360/PS3 only).

– Best Buy: Free Call of Duty: Black Ops II dog tag with pre-order.

GameStop’s pre-order program actually goes even further. The poster is but the first bonus of a four-wave incentive program, with additional bonuses to be unveiled in July, August and October. I’m betting those ones will deal with DLC.

The Nintendo 3DS launches in North America this weekend — Sunday, March 27 to be specific — and to celebrate Nintendo is hooking up with retailer Best Buy to throw a series of midnight launch parties at select stores across the U.S.

On Saturday, March 26 at 9PM EST through 2AM EST, the Union Square Best Buy in New York City will get the party started right with food, giveaways, music and, of course, hands-on Nintendo 3DS stations. The first 300 customers in line to purchase the 3DS will also receive a special carrying case to go with their shiny new handheld.

Beginning at noon, there will also be a 3DS sampler event held across the street in Union Square Park, with playable demo stations to be available for nintendogs + cats, Pilotwings Resort, Steel Diver, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Madden NFL Football, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars and Asphalt 3D.

Other midnight events will be held in California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. Check Best Buy’s 3DS page to see if one of these events is coming to a store near you.

If you can’t make one of the launch events and/or don’t plan to purchase a 3DS on day one, swing by the nearest Best Buy anyway to sample the system in person at one of the 6,000 kiosks that will be in place at locations across the country over the coming months.

These are the four packs to pick from. The first two contain bonus armor and weapons for the two main characters, Caddoc and E’lara, and the second two come with additional content to use in the game’s dungeon creation system, Crucible. Choose wisely!

The Darkset pack, available when you pre-order through GameStop and GameStop.com, contains:

· Caddoc’s Darkset Armor – exclusive shoulder armor for Caddoc
· Caddoc’s Darkset Axe & Shield – exclusive Darkset Axe and Shield used by Caddoc
· E’lara’s Darkset Armor – exclusive magical artifact which improves E’lara’s magical abilities
· E’lara’s Darkset Light Sword – exclusive Darkset Light Sword used by E’lara

The Griffin pack, available when you pre-order through Best Buy and BestBuy.com, contains:

· Caddoc’s Griffin Bracer – exclusive magical artifact which improves Caddoc’s magical abilities
· Caddoc’s Griffin Maw Crossbow – exclusive crossbow used by Caddoc
· E’lara Griffin Hide Armor – exclusive armor used by E’lara
· E’lara’s Griffin Claw Bow – exclusive repeating bow used by E’lara

The Demon Pack, available when you pre-order through Amazon.com and Direct2Drive, contains:

· Demon Boss – Demon boss unlocked in Crucible
· Demon Level – Demon boss level unlocked in Crucible
· Annuvin – Annunvin character skin unlocked after completing the campaign
· Notch Axe – Caddoc’s notch axe unlocked

The Assassin Pack, available when you pre-order through Walmart, Walmart.com and Steam, contains:

· Assassin Boss – Assassin boss unlocked in Crucible
· Assassin Level – Assassin boss level unlocked in Crucible
· Seriphine – Seriphine character skin unlocked after completing the campaign
· Assassin Bow – E’lara’s Assassin bow unlocked

And here are a few new screenshots from the game itself.

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