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Many people who were looking forward to owning Namco Bandai’s limited Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Wizard’s Edition — available exclusively through pre-ordering with Namco Bandai — are up in arms after receiving order cancellation emails from Digital River.
On Tuesday, January 22, many who believed the pre-order to be as good as theirs received emails similar to these:
Dear Customer,
Digital River would like to express our sincere apologies for the problems that you had ordering NAMCO BANDAI’s Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch™ – Wizard’s Edition. Because of an error in our ordering system, the available inventory of Wizard’s Edition was oversold by mistake.
We’re sorry but your order for Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard’s Edition could not be processed. The credit card on file could not be authorized for payment. As a result, your order has been cancelled.
Unfortunately due to the limited nature of this product, it is no longer available for purchase.
In addition to the Wizard’s Edition being oversold, many orders were cancelled due to Digital River being unable to process certain credit card payments. Namco Bandai posted a response from Digital River on their community website, but the response did little to ease the minds of their customers. Responses from those who had their orders cancelled ranged from “why do you guys suck so much” to “I hope your business burns to the ground.” Customers also shared stories about Digital River’s less than stellar customer service, claiming their emails were never responded to.
The Wizard’s Edition originally went for $99 plus tax and shipping which came out to approximately $126. It is now going from anywhere from $250-$500 on ebay.
The PS3 exclusive’s Wizard’s Edition included a copy of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, a 340 page hardcover physical copy of the Wizard’s Companion, the spellbook featured in the game, a plush doll of Drippy, as well as exclusive “golden mite” and “golden drongo” DLC familiars. An exclusive Wizard’s Edition coin, Music Selection CD, and a set of 5 Ni no Kuni artwork cards were also added to the bundle. It’s no wonder those looking forward to receiving their copies took to the internet in droves to complain. Youtube channel Happy Console Gamer even dedicated an episode to express disappointment in the handling of the sought after limited edition:
With so many fans looking forward to this release and having their hopes dashed, Digital River may have just buried their reputation in the gaming world and Namco Bandai will hopefully find an alternate, more reliable means to provide their fans with better service.