Namco plans Tekken 5 premium bundle for the States

Namco is planning to release a premium Tekken 5 bundle when the game is released there on the PS2 next month to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. The $99.99 bundle will include a copy of the game, a custom peripheral, and a six-disc collector's carry case to house all six instalments in the long-running beat-'em-up series.

Apparently the peripheral developed by Hori, who also contributed to the recent US release of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War with a flight-stick, "offers highly accurate controls replicating the arcade gameplay experience found on the coin-op version of Tekken 5," although other details are thin on the ground.

The bundle will be available in a 20,000-unit limited run starting on 15th March, the game's US release date, and pre-orders from certain US retailers will also ship with a collector's edition book featuring artwork from the whole series.

Sony, who will publish the game in Europe this summer, were unable to comment today as to whether a similar promotion was being considered for Europe, but highlighted the fact that bundling is predominantly a localised activity and that as a result it's hard to say at this point.

Retailers in Japan had previously suggested that a copy of Tekken, and possibly even Tekken 2 and 3 as well, could be included with the Japanese release of the game on 31st March, but Namco hasn't confirmed that either to our knowledge.