Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (Stickerbook Edition)

Another stickerbook, another Media Markt exclusive, and another reason to appreciate the weird and wonderful world of Dutch retail variants. The Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Stickerbook Edition for Playstation 3 houses Criterion's phenomenal reboot in a metal sticker-book case that is not a SteelBook brand product, giving it a distinct tactile quality that stands out from the usual metal case offerings. Game contents are identical to the standard version.

Like its Gran Turismo 5 counterpart, this was exclusively available as a pre-order bonus from Media Markt in the Netherlands, earning it the "NL MediaMarkt Exclusive" designation among collectors who track regional variants. That alone puts it in rare territory, but the pairing with Need for Speed Hot Pursuit makes it especially appealing. Criterion's Hot Pursuit was the game that reminded everyone what Need for Speed was supposed to feel like, cops versus racers at absurd speeds through gorgeous environments.

The stickerbook case format is a collector's niche within a niche. These Dutch exclusives represent a tiny window of retail history where one chain in one country produced variant packaging that most of the world never saw. They're not flashy. They don't come with figurines or artbooks. But they represent the kind of deep regional collecting that separates completionists from casual buyers. If you've already got the GT5 stickerbook, this is its natural companion on the shelf. If you haven't started collecting these Dutch oddities yet, Hot Pursuit is a strong place to begin.