Well, it is now official. The apocalypse is here. The end is at hand. Halo 3 has gone golden. More significant to someone like me, Halo 3 Legendary Edition, value priced at $129.99, will soon to be shipping to stores where it will certainly sell out on opening day. According to this link, the Legendary Edition will have the following: "For the ultimate Halo fan, Bungie Studios and Microsoft are offering up the $129.99 Legendary Edition--named after the game's highest difficulty level--in limited quantities. As previously reported, the Legendary Edition will include a miniature replica of a Halo Spartan Mjolnir Mark VI Helmet (pictured), the same type of headgear Master Chief dons. For $130, Halo fans will also get a collection of storyboard art from artist Lee Wilson. The pieces depict crucial moments from the Halo story. A pair of supplementary DVDs (in addition to the Halo 3 game) rounds out the Legendary Edition. The first disc adds background to the development process in the form of behind-the-scenes looks at the making of the game and Bungie Studios, and also includes an audio-and-video-calibration utility to maximize home theater performance. The second bonus disc, which is exclusive to the Legendary Edition, features remastered cinematics from the first two Halo games, along with commentary from the Bungie team. Also included is a featurette on "a day in the life at Bungie" and content from Halo machinima series Red vs. Blue and This Spartan Life." I truly debated making what I am about to say appear on the Soap Box, but decided that I just don't have the patience to deal with the flaming that would be the inevitable result. Instead, I'll limit my comment to my regular readership, which I have a much greater respect for than the world at large. Allow me to make a new paragraph so that I can be sure my comment stands out. Anyone who is willing to pay $130 for Halo Legendary Edition is a complete idiot. There. I said it. Anyone who is willing to pony up that amount of cash for the extras that are included in Halo 3 Legendary, like a mini little Master Chief helmet, should be required to surrender the genitals required to propagate their genes onto the next generation right now. As a bonus, they should also all be declared convicted felons so they can't vote in the next U.S. elections. Now, I know that among my readers may exist one or two people who were either dead set on getting the Legendary Edition, or are at least considering doing so, and may have been offended by my blunt statement. I beg your patience a moment to present my argument. Let us say, just for the sake of argument, that a person was willing to settle for the Limited Edition Halo 3 at $70 rather than the $130 Legendary Edition. Here is a partial list of options that are either available right now, or will be in the next couple of months, that you could spend the $60 you saved on. Mass Effect Assassin's Creed Bioshock Blue Dragon Eternal Sonata Grand Theft Auto IV Heavenly Sword Lair Warhawk Lost Odyssey I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Those people who are about to pony up $130 for Halo 3 Legendary are saying, in essence, that they would rather spend $60 on a little miniature helmet than on another AAA title game. That's the most amazing thing to me. People who purchase the $130 version over the $70 version are saying that the extras that come with the $130 are at least as valuable as a second AAA title like Grand Theft Auto IV. Are you really going to spend 20 hours of your life sitting and staring at your little helmet? Wouldn't you rather be playing Mass Effect for that $60? I shudder for the message that this sends to the gaming industry. I have a full time job and so does my wife. Paying $60 for a new game doesn't exactly make us suffer. However, I can remember quite vividly how much money $50 was to me when I was a kid saving for a new NES or SNES game. For everyone out there who complained when it became apparent that $60 games for the new Next Gen consoles was going to be a fact of life, here's a perfect example of why the industry thinks that won't be an issue. Anyone who ponies up a $70 premium for a game that they could have for only $60 hereby loses all rights to complain about the cost of new games from now until the end of time, because any business that is smart charges what the market is willing to pay. You are sending the message that we're willing to pay $130 for a big new game. What's next? What is sad about this is that it will hit kids the hardest. As I said before, paying for my gaming habit is no problem for me. Kids or teenagers on the other hand, well, if the average price of a game jumps again a couple of years from now from $60 to $70, it is those who are least able to pay who are going to take it up the exhaust pipe. (Or, as a reader of mine once called it, "the VIP entrance".) Now, I understand that some people will say that it is only this game and this game alone, that they are willing to pay such a premium on in order to get all the extra bells and whistles. I can understand that. Some games you look forward to so much that you're willing to pay more for extra bells and whistles. I also understand that value varies by user. One man's garbage is another man's gold. But what I don't understand is why these particular bells and whistles are worth more. It would be different if you were getting something of true value for an extra $70. If the Legendary Edition came with some extra levels or deleted scenes or something, I could begin to justify the extra cost. I can't justify the extra cost for the things that come with Halo 3 Legendary Edition, which to me seem to be worth another $25 at the very most. It just strikes me as ego and vanity run amok. I hereby rename Halo 3: Legendary Edition the Halo 3: Extra Stupid Edition after how completely retarded you have to be to buy it.