Why it matters: Would you shell out $200 for a single Nintendo Switch game cartridge? Video game publisher and develoer Annapurna Interactive and merchandising company iam8bit hope you'll answer in the affirmative after checking out their latest collaboration.
The Annapurna Interactive Deluxe Limited Edition Collection for Nintendo Switch is an upcoming iam8bit exclusive that includes the following 12 Annapurna titles on a single cartridge:
- Donut County
- Gorogoa
- Hindsight
- I Am Dead
- If Found...
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Neon White
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Solar Ash
- The Artful Escape
- The Pathless
- What Remains of Edith Finch
All of these games are already available individually for the Switch and other platforms, but this is the first time that some of them (Hindsight, I Am Dead, If Found... and Solar Ash) have received a physical release.
Annapurna Interactive has been working on games since 2016 and is perhaps best known for publishing Stray, the adventure game in which you play as a stray cat. Unfortunately that title and another – the excellent Twelve Minutes from developer Luis Antonio – are not included in the bundle (Stray hasn't found its way to the Switch yet, so we will let that one slide for now).
The collection does include a forward from Annapurna founder Nathan Gray, an art book with statements from each game's creative visionaries, custom-designed folio packaging, and a limited edition console carrying case. The production run will be limited to 2,500 pieces, although it is unclear if they will be numbered.
Pre-orders go live starting October 26 at 9 a.m. Pacific priced at $199.99. iam8bit expects to ship the region free collection sometime before the end of 2023 (hopefully in time for the holidays). Collectively, it is not a bad deal considering you would pay nearly $260 to purchase all of these titles individually for the Switch. Getting them all on a single cart for under $200 (or about $16.66 per game) could be a solid deal if you don't already own most of them.
