Before I get into the meat of this news story, I need to let you guys know something: I am a cheap bastard. I tend to think that most new games (if not all) are overpriced, I don't buy a lot of extra peripherals, and I tend to stay away from paid DLC. So it almost goes without saying that I am not known as a "collector", at least as that word is defined by the gaming world and its collectors' editions. Although art books and action figures are all well and good, the price tags are usually just too steep for my blood.

Now that that is out of the way, on to the news. Activision and Treyarch today announced the Prestige Edition for the upcoming FPS sequel Call of Duty: Black Ops. After reading the details of the pack, the Scrooge inside of me may have to re-think his ways. For the most part, it comes with your standard collector's edition fare; namely a copy of the game (natch), an Avatar outfit, a limited edition medal, a steel carrying case, and the pièce de résistance, an RC-XD remote control vehicle, similar to one used in an in-game mission.

It's the RC car that piqued my interest, and I'll tell you why. The RC-XD has a front-mounted, full-color video camera, as well as a microphone, that will transmit live images to a monitor mounted on the remote control itself. While the controller lacks any ports that would allow you to capture the footage from the vehicle, let me remind, you, the car has a video camera and microphone mounted to the front. With a potential range of up to 200 feet, I'm sure even the most pedestrian wanna-be spy could find a use for a device like that. Other than the lack of video capturing (and the $150 price tag), the only downside is that the monitor on the remote control, while full color, will only display in 220x176 pixel resolution.

While I'm not sure if a hundred and fifty is a reasonable price for this package of goodies, I do know that I'm definitely more interested in this particular CE than most of the run-of-the-mill ones. It's also pretty clear to me that Activision's Call of Duty franchise can be crowned the king of collectors' editions, with no real competition for that top spot. Who can forget the joy that having a pair of Modern Warfare 2 night vision goggles brought? With a pair of those suckers, you could catch a werewolf. Just imagine what you can do with a spy camera with a 200 range. Look out, chupacabras!