Duke Nukem Forever Balls of Steel Edition

They made us wait nearly fifteen years, and then they had the audacity to pack dice in the box. The Duke Nukem Forever Balls of Steel Edition on PlayStation 3 might be the most self-aware collector's edition ever produced, a monument to a game that became more famous for not releasing than for anything it actually did. And somehow, that makes the package even better.

The 12.7 cm Duke bust anchors the collection with the confidence of a man who's never once questioned himself. Paired with its Certificate of Authenticity, it's a miniature shrine to gaming's most unapologetically dated action hero. The 100-page hardcover art book chronicles the legendary development saga from 3D Realms to Gearbox, making it required reading for anyone interested in how games actually get made, or spectacularly don't.

Five postcards, a logo sticker, a limited comic, foldable papercraft of Duke brandishing a pig's head, poker chips, mini playing cards, and dice. This is a collector's edition that understood its audience wasn't buying it for the game. They were buying it for the story, the spectacle, the sheer absurdity of Duke Nukem finally existing in physical form after over a decade of vaporware jokes.

Sealed Balls of Steel Editions have become legitimate collector's pieces. The irony is thick: a game widely considered disappointing produced one of the PS3's most generous and entertaining premium packages. Sometimes the box is better than what's inside it, and that's perfectly fine with us.