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Unboxing Modern Warfare 2's 'Prestige Edition,' complete with night vision goggles

If simply playing the hotly anticipated shooter Modern Warfare 2 isn't enough, you might be tempted to shell out extra for the $149 Prestige Edition of the game (over the typical $59 standalone game disc).

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
Sarah Tew/CNET

If simply playing the hotly anticipated shooter Modern Warfare 2 isn't enough, you might be tempted to shell out extra for the $149 Prestige Edition of the game (over the typical $59 standalone game disc).

Inside the oversize box, we found a copy of the game in a metal case, a small hardcover book of production art, and most importantly, a pair of plastic--but functioning--night vision goggles. Said goggles, which required five AA batteries, also came with a small plastic bust of a game character's head--perfect for storing and displaying your goggles when not using them to sneak around dark alleys or navigate poorly illuminated bars.

The goggles, while not exactly military grade construction, actually worked surprisingly well, offering two levels of light amplification, an optional green filter for the just-like-the-movies look, and an adjustable head strap. It took a few minutes to get used to the effect, which requires us to shift our focus onto the tiny screen inside the goggles, rather than trying to look off into the distance. Obviously, one's depth perception is going to be hampered by this as well, so we suggest staying off the stairs.

We snapped a few pics of the Prestige Edition box and its contents; check them out below.

Unboxing Modern Warfare 2's 'Prestige Edition'--photos

See all photos

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>Read our analysis of Modern Warfare 2 here.