So I’m somewhat interested in the upcoming videogame Dante’s Inferno, and NECA’s figure looks pretty cool too. However, I posted on Twitter recently that if the game wasn’t good, I probably wouldn’t want the figure–I rarely, if ever, buy toys just because they look good. I need to have some attachment to the property.

That said, I also rarely, if ever, pre-order videogames. Videogames are just too expensive an investment to risk them being crappy. There are obvious exceptions (e.g., it’s unlikely a sequel to a proven franchise like Halo is going to be terrible), but for the most part you won’t see me pre-ordering a videogame. Heck, most of the time I can wait until a few months have gone by and I can buy it used and save a few more bucks. So I can imagine a scenario whereby Dante’s Inferno gets good reviews, so I go out and buy the figure before I even get the game.

However, that’s not going to be an option this time.

The Dante action figure will be available in North America exclusively when you pre-order the game from select video game retailers, including GameStop, GameCrazy, TRU, Blockbuster, and Hastings. This is an added incentive to purchase Dante’s Inferno; a free $14 action figure for buying the game, which is great deal. Check with your local retailers and/or the Dante’s Inferno website for further details. The Dante figure will be available by itself in full clamshell packaging outside the U.S.

Dante’s Inferno has already had some iffy buzz; there’s just no way I’m going to pre-order it. Even if I do buy it–even if I were to buy it new–it would be after the reviews came out. So apparently, unless I’m willing to risk $60 on what could be a disappointing game, I can’t get a Dante figure. And what the hell is up with it being sold overseas in a regular package?

I see two possible reasons for this. One, Electronic Arts is worried about the game’s sales and made a deal with NECA for what is admittedly a pretty awesome exclusive incentive. Or two, NECA came up with the idea as a creative solution to a distribution problem–i.e., U.S. retailers wouldn’t bite after all the Gears of War, Castlevania, Bionic Commando and Prototype product cluttering their shelves and NECA had to look for another way to get the figures to fans.

Either way, I’m annoyed. I suspect the figure won’t be too hard to get on eBay–there will probably be a good number of gamers who pre-order and couldn’t care less about the figure–but it’s still annoying. If it had been an Ezio figure from Assassin’s Creed II with this set-up, I’d be ripshit.