Nothing annoys me more than someone buying an incredibly limited-run item and immediately selling it on eBay. This week, Catherine hit the shelves along with its pre-order-only special edition. This bonus "Love is Over" package includes a mini pizza box with a pair of Vincent's boxers, a T-shirt, and a pillow case featuring a picture of Catherine.

Of course, a mere 48 hours after the game's launch, a rather ambitious eBay seller decided that moving the "Love is Over" version was way more profitable if done in pieces.

While I could probably overlook just one pieced-out game, this particular eBay cutthroat exemplifies everything that's wrong with scalpers (people who buy products and resell them at extremely elevated prices.) Selling each item in the "Love is Over" edition separately is already more than making up for the initial investment of $80, and they are selling multiple copies!

Please, do not encourage this behavior. Games -- or really anything collectible --  should not be held hostage and slowly ripped apart. Many times, the people selling these items have no appreciation of what they're shamelessly trying to turn a profit on. These people don't buy collector's editions for the joy and experience of owning them. Their motivations are purely financial. Just thinking about that makes me depressed.

While having strong emotional attachments to items is a bad idea, I don't look at game collecting in that way. I am preserving elements of our collective experiences so other people can enjoy them someday. People who are more than willing to split up a wonderful and extremely limited special edition have absolutely no idea why I care so much, and they never will. Please don't reward scalpers by participating in these piecemeal auctions.