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Forums - Gaming - Collectors editions ? Yes or No ?

sly777 on 10 August 2009

Collectors editions collect gamers cash

Admit it.

You've shelled out extra dough to buy the collector's edition of some super hyped game. It's okay. I'll bet there were very good reasons to pay extra for the same game.

Sure, that Master Chief helmet looks good proudly displayed for the world to glory in all your nerdiness.

Hey you don't have to explain to me why your Lancer is the coolest thing you could get your hands on.

And my personal favorite. If you've got 17000$ to drop on a video game "collector's edition" then by all means don't let me discourage you.

But seriously, what's with the collector's editions? I bet that Call of Duty: World at War canteen has really coming in handy for some parched gamer. (okay I admit, I fell for this one) Here's my problem. Collector's Editions are just a snazzy way for publishers to make a little extra coin off of three types of people.

1. Those with too much disposable income.
2. Those without disposable income but some likely OCD need to own the "cool version"
3. Parents who either don't know or don't care that their kids are in fact spoiled.

No matter how you slice it in all comes off a little elitist (which I guess is the point).

Let's take a brief tryst down memory lane. This list is by no means complete but take a look at my collector's edition timeline.

1998 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2002 - Metroid Prime
2004 - Halo 2
2005 - Doom 3, Resident Evil 4, Call of Duty 2, Perfect Dark Zero
2006 - Bully, Final Fantasy XII, Hitman: Blood Money
2007 - Spider-man 3, Madden NFL 07, Halo 3, Mass Effect
2008 - Far-Cry 2, Fable 2, Call of Duty: World at War, Devil May Cry 4, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Grand Theft Auto 4, Resistance 2, Tales of Vesperia
2009 - Resident Evil 5, Halo Wars, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, more to come

Things started slow enough. The Ocarina of Time collector's edition was simply a gold cartridge that if memory serves did not cost extra. A couple of other established franchises started releasing some limited edition stuff but by 2008 it seems like every game now featured a more expensive version of itself. Personally, I blame Halo 3. That helmet proved to gaming companies that they could hype their game, add a hunk of plastic and charge ridiculous amounts of money and people would pay it.

I anticipate this fall/winter season will feature just as many if not more overpriced collector's editions.

Since they'll never go away, I'd like to see some value added to the collector's edition. The following, in no particular order, are my suggestions.

1. The games' soundtrack.
2. Free access to every forthcoming DLC
3. Sweet art books
4. Discounts on future games in the franchise

The one thing I absolutely don't want is for studios to put additional in-game content reserved exclusively for CE buyers. That's just lame. If we're paying between 50 and 60 bucks for your game don't you dare stiff us.



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Squilliam on 10 August 2009

I've only bought collectors editions for cool games...

Actually theres a tangible benefit for me.

For Killzone 2 I loved the tangible feel of the tin box and I loved mocking Xbots like MM476 and Kantor that I could buy such an awesome game and not them.

For Halo: ODST, I loved how the controller which came with it was unique and it was cheaper than buying a controller seperately. Though I would never own an Xbox 360 I was just denying Xbots their chance to buy overprices M$ merchandise.



Tease.

badgenome on 10 August 2009

No.



numonex on 10 August 2009

I have bought a few Collector's Editions and they were a total waste of money for crap I do not need. Collector's Editions are a waste of money and are a cash grab for retailers selling extra crap ie tin box, comic book, USB etc with game to rip off gamers.



mtofu on 10 August 2009

i'm more of a peripheral junkie, but in recent memory i've bought the SF4 collector's edition. there was nothing special about it that made me want it desperately - i just love SF.

I don't think i've even played the BD movie yet...



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L.C.E.C. on 10 August 2009

The only game I would have bought a special edition(s) of would have/will be:

- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- No More Heroes
- No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
- The Conduit (I did)

The only things I think you really need for "Special Editions" are Art books (like Conduit), Alt. Box displays [holographic] (like Conduit), and/or bonus Content (DLC) for free (only about $5 worth though), like the Wolverine game... It should be the same price too, but as a pre-order bonus...

or for $10 more, you should be able to get an action figure or other type of thing like that (Who doesn't want a Travis touchdown action figure, or a Full-size Beam Katana replica?)

Another thing I really liked that was "Special Edition" was getting a footpedal for free by pre-ordering GH:Metallica... Not to mention the "Band Kits" for all of those music games...

The giant tins, the Making of DVDs, the Master Chief Helmet you can't really wear, ect. are all very lame...




sly777 on 10 August 2009
coolbeans said:
I could've sworn I've seen this somewhere else.

Yeah I've wrote this article on Gamespot...



Aion on 10 August 2009

No, only for my most anticipated games.



 

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V-r0cK on 10 August 2009

I only get Collector's if they are actually appealing to me and worth it.



dsister44 on 10 August 2009

I have only bought fou so far.

Halo Wars: I like metal cases plus it had the Mythic Map pack.
Viva Pinata: It is Rare
Perfect Dark Zero: see Viva Pinata
Saints Row 2: It cost the same as the regular edition

I have also pre-ordered the collectors edition of Demon's Soul