I love a good art book, so when I heard that game developer Naughty Dog and publisher Ballistic Publishing were teaming up to create The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in which concept art, to character studies, environment art, character modeling, game art, cinematics, motion-capture, animation, and effects from the popular Sony PlayStation 3 title are all explored, displayed, and discussed across 272 pages.  Sounds good to me!  The book is due to be released this month and pre-orders are currently available at Ballistic's website.  Now, how much would you expect this book to set you back?  What do you think the price tag is for this publication?  Surely it can't be too unreasonab-

Well, that's... that's on the steep side. I'm reminded of that overpriced Tomb Raider art book that was announced a few months ago.  What on Earth could that $300 edition possibly include that makes it worth so much money?

The Limited Folio edition, of only 200 will be printed, throws in some sweet extras beyond the standard paperback and the leather-bound Special Edition. The Limited Folio Edition of the art book is bound in black suede leather with gold-embossed cover art, and a matching hand-crafted, black suede leather-bound presentation case with a ribbon. Also included is a certificate of authenticity that have been individually numbered and hand signed by Evan, Amy, Robh and Erick.

Look, I know that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Tomb Raider are about acquiring expensive artifacts, but that doesn't mean that the tie-in media needs to be priced similarly.  Maybe I'm in the minority here, but for me the sweet spot for art book pricing is around $30.  Unless these super maximum special limited editions are signed by Nathan Drake himself (not voice actor Nolan North, but the actual fictional character), then I just can't justify the purchase.