Like most fanboys do before the release of a much anticipated game, I went searching for the best pre-order deal for Gears of War 2. I decided that I wasn’t really interested in a gold hammerburst and went for Best Buy’s pre-order item of a remote control centaur tank. I was aware the tank would be fairly small in stature and probably be made of the cheapest parts available, but I was sure that it would at least function properly. Man, was I wrong.
Best Buy’s pre-order deal was, if you ordered the limited edition of Gears of War 2 you would receive a free centaur tank. The offer was only good for the limited edition copies of the game. The tank wasn’t exactly the deciding factor on going with the limited edition version but it did have a slight bearing on my final decision. So, I plopped down the extra $10.00 plus sales tax. I arrived early at Best Buy on Friday morning just to make sure I received my incentive gift because Best Buy only had a limited number of the tanks which was clearly stated in the ad. I picked up my copy of the game and the free tank, just another satisfied customer.
Upon arriving at home, my child-like excitement made me head straight for the remote control tank to give it a look over and a test drive. I was somewhat surprised at the detail and the weight of the toy, everything was looking good up to this point. I searched around for some AAA batteries and a 9 volt which I had to take out of the smoke detector, and fired that bad boy up. The motor seemed to be a little weak but I will blame that on the weight of the product, I just wouldn’t try to drive it on long carpet or in the lawn. Once the machine got up to speed I needed to turn before the wall so I wouldn’t destroy it, this is where everything went wrong. I pushed on the stick on my remote and the tank basically stopped moving on it’s attempt to turn. At first I decided this was because of somewhat weak batteries that I had stolen from another device. Upon further inspection, I noticed the wheels were rubbing against the body of the machine. The silly person who designed the toy either made the wheels too big or the body wasn’t cut out enough to allow ample space for the wheels to turn.
Now let me reiterate that I understand this is a free item as an incentive for pre-ordering an entirely different product. The problem is that this was advertised as a “remote control” vehicle. I can’t control the steering so I wouldn’t really consider this a remote control anything. As we speak, the toy is sitting on my shelf as a glorified collectible figure. It is disappointing that such a blatant mistake was made and no one remedied it before it was put into production. It’s this sort of quality control blunder that makes companies like the toy manufacturer, Best Buy and even Epic look bad even though they were trying to do a positive thing for their customers. Maybe being optimistic is asking too much when it comes to pre-order incentives for video games, but at least I have a model of the centaur tank, right?
Damn that kind of sux. I was thinking about grabbing one also, glad I didnt.
Probably a Microsoft decision. Another cheapout choice that disappoints many.
Made in China
Well, I got one as well as a free hat, shirt and the golden hammerburst since I went to Best Buy midnight opening. Sweet!
However, what this article fails to mention (is it intentional to make the story sound worse?) is that the remote control car is larger than the game case. I for one thought I would get one of them mini RC cars. Yes, there is no power to the motor and there it is very poorly designed (if at all), but it was free. Wadd ya expect? At least it wasn’t crappy AND TINY. It looks pretty damn awesome on my shelf right now!
sucker! that’s why I pir8 ‘em
@ano – Nothing was left out intentionally. I guess I never actually said how large it was but that wasn’t really the point of the article. It does look good, it is fairly large, it was free but it DOESN’T steer properly. That’s the point, nothing more or less. I was under the impression when I pre-ordered Gears 2 that I was getting a working remote control vehicle, I was wrong.
that does suck man.
@CHAD – Thank you, all I wanted was a little sympathy. lol
i got the same thing man. steering doesnt work on mine either but its still a solid collectible i guess
you shoulda gotten some MS points at circuit city, im sure those woulda worked..
It’s made in China, so on the bright side, it probably has lead paint…
I got the Tank also and same thing. The engine is not powerfull enough to move the vehicle and it can’t turn.
It’s so and so as a model and not big enough to say it’s a “solid” collectible.
It’s a REAL shame that not only Microsoft but Epic approves this uber crap merchandise.
But again, coming from China, what else do one expect. China SUCKS…
Have to agree with earlier comments on both the origin and spec of remote models of this weight. Most are built for appearance but are nowhere near
the quality required in terms of structural design to enable any sort of reliable performance. But at least it didn’t cost you anything.
RTR radio controlled cars