Collectors Editions

[moycon]

A few of the upcoming releases have collectors editions.

I saw this after I had already pre-ordered my game (at a decent price below retail mind you) and then was like. Oh damn if I would have waited I could of pre-ordered the collectors edition...and then I thought...why?

 

I have collectors editions.

 

Perfect Dark Zero, Prey, Lost Planet , Oblivion, Need For Speed Carbon (Some I did pre order and therefore paid full price for)

 

And not just 360 Games....

 

DVDs (In special fancy tin or wooden boxes chock full of junk)

 

King Kong (The original) , WickerMan (The original) Forbidden Planet, Blade Runner Ultimate (Haven't got yet)

 

PC Games

 

All 3 Guild Wars (Even tho I have yet to even play Factions or Nightfall since I got the 360)

 

I keep thinking to myself, I need to get all my collectors editions out and look through all the shit. All the little figures, all the books, all the maps, the reproduction lobby cards, the calendars, flipping my reproduction of of the Septim, while listening to game soundtracks and watching "Making of...." DVDs. It would probably take hours of my time.

 

Needless to say...I haven't yet.

 

So I'm wondering to myself, why do I care that BioShock and Two Worlds both have Collector's editions?

I just can't justify losing the great deal I got. ($45 for Two Worlds pre-order)

Especially since not only would I lose the $15 discount, I'd have to fork over $10 more.

Yet my ears still perk up when I hear collectors edition, because I just know one day I'm going to want to look at all that great stuff.

 

Does anyone else buy into these things?

If so what is your favorite types of extra's?

For me it's when they include soundtrack CD's I think probably because that's the one extra I do actually tend to use as background music while working or whatever. Hmmmm Miniature Robby the Robot is awfully handy to have around the house as well.

[Atariboy]

I only buy when it has significant additional ingame content, like Doom 3 having Doom 1 and 2 on it.

[SINGLE TOOTH]

I used to buy them, until I realized I was getting ripped off..

$10 more for a "bonus dvd" and some stupid piece of paper with a code, so I can download "exclusive" desktop wallpapers and maps??? Maybe you get a lousy pewter figurine, but who really cares?

 

And PC games are not really all that collectable in the first place. The only thing I do like, is they come in the nice tin case usually.

 

The last collector's edition game I bought was Prey for PC. And only becuase it was $20 at EB. Cheaper than the regular version at Walmart. Walmart still wants $50 for the collector's.

[SINGLE TOOTH]

I only buy when it has significant additional ingame content, like Doom 3 having Doom 1 and 2 on it.

 

Yeah, if they actully give you cool stuff, I may buy it, but not some shitty dvd and instructions on how to download a novelty mouse cursor.

[moycon]

I only buy when it has significant additional ingame content, like Doom 3 having Doom 1 and 2 on it.

 

Yeah, if they actully give you cool stuff, I may buy it, but not some shitty dvd and instructions on how to download a novelty mouse cursor.

 

I was never a fan of Making of DVDs. I wouldn't buy a collectors edition based on that. It seems like you can just get that stuff online now you know? I think that is why they are trying to come up with new stuff these days. Guild Wars came with a hardcover art book (Very cool) Factions came with a calendar and soft cover art book (Actually the GW sets came with a bunch of stuff), Many come with in game exclusive content. (Special weapons or cars for instance) Some like you mentioned come with figures. Blade Runner I believe comes with a mini repro of Deckars car! Two Worlds comes with a hard cover book with an RPG campaign!! Even tho I've never played a roll the dice RPG, I still WANT THAT BOOK!!!! LOL!! In the end tho, it's nothing that a person can't live without, and yet, there's just something appealing about it all to me. (Making of DVDs aside)

Edited August 19, 2007 by moycon

[zeropolis79]

I used to buy them, until I realized I was getting ripped off..

$10 more for a "bonus dvd" and some stupid piece of paper with a code, so I can download "exclusive" desktop wallpapers and maps??? Maybe you get a lousy pewter figurine, but who really cares?

 

And PC games are not really all that collectable in the first place. The only thing I do like, is they come in the nice tin case usually.

 

The last collector's edition game I bought was Prey for PC. And only becuase it was $20 at EB. Cheaper than the regular version at Walmart. Walmart still wants $50 for the collector's.

 

Asda (a UK store owned by Walmart) still want £40 for FIFA Street 1 for the original XBox!

[Gabriel]

Game collector's editions generally aren't worth it. Working Designs was the closest to actually doing them right, and even still, their collector's editions easily fall under the "bunch of junk" category.

 

Glancing at my shelf, I see I have the KOF Maximum Impact and Mortal Kombat Deception collector's editions. The KOF game comes with a bonus disc with interviews no one sane would ever want to watch. Deception comes with a bonus disc featuring MK1 (which was conveniently cut from Midway Arcade Treasures II). Deception was probably the most worth it.

 

Sometimes DVD collector's editions are worth it. I'm glad I got the collector's edition of Rock & Rule. It has a bonus disc with a different cut of the movie as well as another cartoon which was sort of the inspiration for the feature. That latter bonus was something I recall watching with my little sister, and I have fond memories of it.

 

The Gundam Zeta collector's set came with a bunch of Gundam figures attached to pencil sharpeners. I suppose that's not worth the $250 I paid for it to most people, but it's damn hard to find good mecha miniatures!

[moycon]

Sometimes DVD collector's editions are worth it. I'm glad I got the collector's edition of Rock & Rule. It has a bonus disc with a different cut of the movie as well as another cartoon which was sort of the inspiration for the feature. That latter bonus was something I recall watching with my little sister, and I have fond memories of it.

 

Oh damn I forgot about Rock & Rule, I have that as well. (actually I bought it and a regular version I got excited)

Great flick.That was the first movie we watched on the projector I bought and it was incredible.

Nothing like turning the volume up and watching R&R on a 10 foot wide "screen"

[Lord Helmet]

I have the collectors editions of Perfect Dark Zero and FF XII. Got FF as a gift, and PD0 was used. Same price for the regular edition so I got the special edition. I could really care less as long as the game is the same.

[moycon]

Old thread but new information in regards to collector's editions.

 

I still love them, but some stand out like the recent Ghostbusters Slimer Statue in the Ghostbusters Slimer Edition. This statue was high quality (if you've ever been to a comic book shop and seen the statue on display for crazy money, that's what you got) and the collectors edition was well worth the $49.99 on sale I paid for it, and I would have been worth it if I had paid full price.

 

Other collector editions extra's are just wretched. When I saw the $100 Batman: Arkham Asylum collectors edition, I just knew the Batarang prop was going to be kick ass and high quality like the Slimer Statue. Something you'd be proud to display on a mantel. I couldn't believe my luck when I found someone selling the extra's for a mere $20. So I snagged it right away. Wow what a lousy piece of sh*t this thing is. Feels like balsa-wood with a crap, black paint job stuck on a cheap jack plastic display thingy. I feel sorry for anyone that paid an extra $40 for this drek. Although the doctors journal was sort of neat, it didn't make up for the fact. So sad.

[Mendon]

I really enjoy some Collectors Editions and don't mind paying the extra $$$$ for them. Two good examples are Halo War's and Fallout 3 as both came packed with some very nice goodies (IMO)

 

But I'll pass on many others, with Modern Warfare 2 Hardened Edition being a good example. An extra $20 to get a metal case, art book, and download token for classic Call of Duty isn't much of a deal (IMO)

 

 

Mendon

[Mord]

Does anyone else buy into these things?

If so what is your favorite types of extra's?

For me it's when they include soundtrack CD's I think probably because that's the one extra I do actually tend to use as background music while working or whatever. Hmmmm Miniature Robby the Robot is awfully handy to have around the house as well.

 

I tend to be weak against the Bonus Stuff when it's something physical and the price isn't sky high. (If the price is being inflated upwards to cover all the bonus materials, it's hardly "bonus" at that point.)

 

But I tend to prefer soundtrack CDs and art books at a minimum.

[godslabrat]

Other collector editions extra's are just wretched. When I saw the $100 Batman: Arkham Asylum collectors edition, I just knew the Batarang prop was going to be kick ass and high quality like the Slimer Statue. Something you'd be proud to display on a mantel. I couldn't believe my luck when I found someone selling the extra's for a mere $20. So I snagged it right away. Wow what a lousy piece of sh*t this thing is. Feels like balsa-wood with a crap, black paint job stuck on a cheap jack plastic display thingy. I feel sorry for anyone that paid an extra $40 for this drek. Although the doctors journal was sort of neat, it didn't make up for the fact. So sad.

 

Wow, and I was totally going to pony up the money for the collector's set. Forget it, I'll wait until after Christmas and snag the basic set, hopefully after a price drop.

[Video]

Depends on the "stuff" weather I give a crap about collectors editions or not. To many have the "we through a whole bunch of shit in there" thing going on, with a lot of papers, some pewter tiny tin crap nobody's goinng to notice, or worse, a "code" you have to put in by a certain date or you can't get your "bonus" material.

 

That's another thing, Bonus material. Stuff like the original Doom being packed in with Doom 3 was sweet. Something like the extra levels of Halo 3 being packed in with halo wars....so what? If I was into it, I would have already had all those levels DL/d long ago. (yeah, you could technically say I got Doom already, in almost every format in fact, but not for the X-box)

 

There's the pack in stuff. I love the fairly large helmet that was packed in with Halo 3 (A lot of people were dissappointed iirc, go figure) The night vision thing in MW is cool, not really any different than the toy eyeclops night vision thing I already got, but still cool.

 

If your going to have extra discs, have something cool, in the case of Halo wars, a map pack that wasn't already available would have been awesome, oh, did I mention, you have to download it? Yeah, no physical disc, I think that's a rip there....but eh...

 

In Halo ODST, you got a code to play as Johnson. I like Johnson, but somehow, I don't think it's worth the extra $10 it woulda cost for the code.

 

Anyhow...If I'm buying the game anyways, I don't tend to preorder months in advance, so I useually get to see the bonus sets in advance of buying stuff, I'll decide if the bonus stuff sounds cool or not. If it's worth the money (IMO) then I'll pick it up, if not, I'll keep the $10-$100 and put it towards something else I want. If I'm not into the game, the bonus stuff isn't going to persuade me into buying the game/movie/music either way.

[shadow460]

I've got a couple of older collector's edition games. I don't know if UT '99's Game of the Year Edition counts or not, but there's a whole bunch of cool stuff packed on the second disc that you'd ordinarily have to download. I wouldn't have recommended it to someone who had all that extra stuff, but for a newcomer to UT, it was awesome.

 

The others I can think of are Grand Theft Auto for PS1, which has a nifty cardboard box to hold three CDs in their jewel cases, has books and maps for all three discs, and I think that's it.

I have Red Alert 1 in something called The Domination Pack. It has a quad CD case that looks like an actual jewel case (looks like a normal size 2 CD case), it has the instruction sheets for both Counterstrike and Aftermath, and it had the instructions for the main game as well. There was also a CD in a separate case full of Frank Klepacki's soundtrack for the game. It came with the same stuff a normal CD would. Out of all this, the Counterstrike expansion pack in nearly impossible to find these days since it did not feature any extra units or FMV, only missions and maps.

I don't know if my Tiberian Sun is the collector's edition or not. I don't think it is.

Finally, I have Red Alert 2 in the Collector's Edition. I don't have the gatefold box that it came in anymore. Mine had the World Trade Center on the box, too, whereas the later ones did not. It also has the skyline of New York City on the front of the jewel case, whereas my later version doesn't. The Collector's Edition has a DVD in the case that can be played in any DVD player and features the same kind of content you'd see in the special features of a DVD movie. There's about a half hour segment with Udo Kier in the makeup department among all that, which alone made it worth the extra $10. The set also has a CD entitled The Soundtrack and has the Red Alert 2 logo on it. It all came with the gatefold box and a pewter Chrono Legionnaire that stood about two inches tall.

 

I've a very few other games that could be considered special editions, like Sega Rally Plus or some Zelda, Crash, and Spyro titles that has 3D covers. I have Collector's and regular editions of both N64 Zelda games that didn't come with anything extra besides a fancy cart and box.

 

I've also got some Not For Sale versions that came with various accessories, like the Virtua Cop 2 that came with my Stunner.

 

Are they worth it? Yeah, I think a Collector's Edition is worth a little more when it's new, maybe $10 more. Most are definitely not worth double the price, though.

 

Here's what I paid for some of them:

Red Alert 1 - $70, which was the same cost as the main game and both expansion packs purchased separately.

Red Alert 2 - $60, which was $10 more than the normal version.

The three Zelda titles cost me about $10 more a pop for the collector's editions, even the used Zelda 1 cart.

Grand Theft Auto with the 1969 London pack and GTA2 cost me $15 used.

[A_Locomotive]

I'm all for collectors editions so long as they actually offer some cool stuff. This is one I always wish was released in the US. Its the Polish limited edition for one of my favorite games. It all came packaged in a large tin can.

[Skarrj]

I dont know what stalker is, but id be all over that boxed set.

[doubleminor]

I dont know what stalker is, but id be all over that boxed set.

 

It's a first person shooter game on the PC based in the Chernobyl area.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

 

I'll buy a collector's edition if it's something I'm really looking forward to. Otherwise if you wait, the prices will drop significantly if there are any left over in places like Gamestop.

 

There are some exceptions when it becomes a 'for real' collector's from the start. A good example is the recent Metal Gear Solid Collector's Edition. Konami sent no more than what was already preordered to most places.

[pce_collector]

I stopped buying collector's editions quite sometime ago. These newer collector's editions with the downloadable codes really hurt. You have to open the box and redeem the code right away, which hurts future resale value in some cases. It also seems cheap in that you have all this cool stuff like a game disc, tin, and an art book, but then you have this scratched off code card along with that stuff.

[Mord]

I stopped buying collector's editions quite sometime ago. These newer collector's editions with the downloadable codes really hurt. You have to open the box and redeem the code right away, which hurts future resale value in some cases. It also seems cheap in that you have all this cool stuff like a game disc, tin, and an art book, but then you have this scratched off code card along with that stuff.

 

Collectors editions that use DLC codes for the bonuses just stay at the store as far as I'm concerned - and I'm usually extremely weak against collectors/limited/deluxe editions.

[A_Locomotive]

I dont know what stalker is, but id be all over that boxed set.

 

As Doubleminor pointed out its a horror FPS set in an alternate reality in the area surrounding the Chernobyl NPP. Its loosely based off of the movie Stalker (1979) and the book on which its based, Roadside Picnic. Its a fantastic series and if you enjoy FPS' its definitely worth checking out. Its extremely atmospheric and a joy to play.

[Keatah]

As I probably said before. I rarely buy anything with DLC add-ons, and the limited collector's editions do little to open my wallet.

As far as anything "collectable" or "special edition", I only got the Alien DVD box set, with the "making of" documentary.

And I got it at the time because I could get all 4 movies in one fell swoop at an introductory price of $39.95 one day only.

That's about it I think.

 

There's little resale value in this stuff later on, so why bother? The market is so fast moving today that nothing can gestate and build itself into "classic" status anymore. It's simply not allowed to. Especially cheap gaming stuff. And, again, what about the server issue with codes. Once a certain day passes, the material is no longer available. Well whopptiefuckindoo! Sounds worthless to me. Sounds like the gaming company is trying to get your money without actually giving you something.

[Taskmaster99]

The only collectors edition i have ever bought was War in the North. it came with the music CD...leather quiver....scroll....etc. The only reason is because it was on sale at Gamestop and i had a ton of trade ins so it cost me nothing....lol.

[Keatah]

The gaming industry wants the distro model to be like on-demand cable tv, with the high price of brick & mortar purchased material. It eliminates middlemen (except for the ISP, which YOU pay for, so no loss to them), excess stock, a whole warehouse, and everything else that goes along with selling a physical product.

 

A counterpoint, on the PC, I have 0, nada, zero, zilcho problems with this except for one issue. There are very few PC software titles that are collectable. And I'm quite fine in having a local copy stored on a USB drive of whatever I downloaded. As long as that's the case, then no problem. I do have a problem with activations and software phoning home and being dependant on the network. What if the activation server goes down or something?

[Numan]

The only collectors edition i have ever bought was War in the North. it came with the music CD...leather quiver....scroll....etc. The only reason is because it was on sale at Gamestop and i had a ton of trade ins so it cost me nothing....lol.

 

79.99 at best buy now