The many Ratchet and Clank games have a history of rewarding players who have played previous games in the series, and the new A Crack in Time for the Sony PlayStation 3 follows on in this tradition. Just point the new game at your save data from Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty to earn some nice bonuses and character customization options. Stephen Totilo over at Kotaku has the details.
My Tools of Destruction save file classified me as a returning customer when I visited A Crack In Time's weapons-vending kiosks. I was given a discount. Thanks to the lower prices and my collection of new bolt money throughout the new game, I found myself lacking money to buy the next available item in the game only once.
My Quest For Booty save unlocked the pirate hat you see my Ratchet avatar wearing atop this post. The avatar appear in the game's community section, which displays a variety of player accomplishments and stats, shows leaderboards for many of those accomplishments. Players can customize their Ratchet avatar or look up the records and avatars of their friends. The avatar is essentially a visual shorthand for some of the things you've accomplished. For example, the pistol that Ratchet is holding in that shot looks as it does in the game, where I attached mods and selected its paint job.
I love when games offer these sorts of perks. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the most recent game to cross my path as of this writing to offer extras to those who played the previous game in the series, and of course the PlayStation 2 Ratchet and Clank games offered them too, but they aren't the only ones. Not by a long shot. Check out this list at TV Tropes of the many games that offer rewards to loyal players in the form of the Old Save Bonus. I was pleasantly surprised at just how many games feature this brand of special reward.
