Collectors/Special editions - Overdone?

Remember back in the day when special editions truly were special and only a select few games were graced with an extra edition?

These days it seems like every game gets some sort of special/Limited/Collectors edition usually consisting of a steel tin case or artbook and I must admit i'm a sucker for them and always tend to pick them up over the standard edition but is it getting too much now? Are game companies soiling the once special 'special editions' just to earn an extra buck? What do you guys think of all these editions?

I think they're generally a waste of money and shelf space, to be honest - just a way to squeeze more cash out of us. I stopped bothering with them back in 2006.

Don't touch them with a barge pole.

A bunch of horribly mismatched cases on your shelf, which you paid more for seems silly to me.

I don't actually give a flying one about what my games come in. I've got a promo COD4 in a plastic case and a proper Motorstorm PR without a manual and in an blue bluray case. Dunno why, but then I don't care. I realise that'd be anathema to most people on here, but hey, it saved me about 12 quid.

Collectors/Special editions - Overdone?

Totally. And no matter which way it goes, the customer winds up feeling hard-done by.

Don't bother. This generation they seemed to be done to death - too many awful games getting collectors edition too. I would only bother with them if I could get them for the same price as the normal copy.

The thing I'm after in special edition versions is a well made making of DVD. Fable 2 had a quite nice making of film but it could have been so much better.
If a game could come with a half hour or hour long film (shot on camcorders if need be to save costs) about the process the game has gone through to become reality I'd pay a little extra for that but virtually all making of films are rubbish unfortunately.

A little yes. I think Collectors and Special editions feel more like the normal version most people pick up. I tend to only buy a CE or SE if it actually has some good stuff with it. :wub:

Harry Bizzle wrote:Don't touch them with a barge pole.

A bunch of horribly mismatched cases on your shelf, which you paid more for seems silly to me.

I don't actually give a flying one about what my games come in. I've got a promo COD4 in a plastic case and a proper Motorstorm PR without a manual and in an blue bluray case. Dunno why, but then I don't care. I realise that'd be anathema to most people on here, but hey, it saved me about 12 quid.

Bit of a contradiction there really, you' don't seem interested in what your games come in but earlier said that the boxes a look uneven on the shelf. Surely a promo case and Pacific Rift in an odd blu-ray case looks even more uneven?

I've got 5 Specials now, Forza 2, Halo 3, Gears 1 & 2 and Resi 5. I bought them all for £20 or less each apart from Resi 5 which my girlfriend got me. I like them, the different size case issue doesn't matter at all and as long as I can get them for a similar price to the non-spec edition or decent second hand condition then i'll get one if it's for a game I like.

Would never pay over £40 for one though and have never pre-ordered one. Would prefer them to actually be limited too, seems they are as easily available as the standard editions.

I absolutely love them, unless I can get a big box/steelbook version of the game, then i don't buy it - I'll rent it out instead.

In a odd way I actually end up playing more games and speninG much less doing it this way :lol:

I used to buy them but then I realised it wasn't worth the extra money since I never looked at the extras and the larger cases took up more space on my shelves.

There definitely are too many around these days and there aren't many that really seem worth it. The hardened edition for Modern Warfare 2 seemed worth getting since CoD1 will be included but then the price is very off-putting.

I don't care about whether they match my other game boxes or not - only if they offer anything decent over the normal version. I'd never pay full price for one, but there've been a few examples where I've got them. Bearing in mind I never pay full price for a game, it doesn't work out too badly sometimes.

Perfect Dark Zero, I got the special edition new for £4.99. The normal version would've cost me more.

Assassin's Creed. £20 for the version with the Altair figure. Might as well.

Far Cry 2. £17.99 for the version with a map, poster, etc. Normal version cost as much.

I buy them for games I know I will like and will keep. Sacred 2 was the last CE I've bought and I have no regrets. I'm hoping Wolfenstein gets a CE on 360 - if so, I'm sold. I still have my lovely metal case edition of Doom3 for Xbox, too. I've got a Lost Planet CE which was a pre-owned, but the damn game's too hard for me. :oops:

I did get the Halo3 CE but gave it to my best friend's son (he's a Halo3 nut) as I wasn't too impressed with the game. Are CE's a good idea? Generally, I'd say yes - something for the fans, by way of a few added extras.

Normally not, but the COD6 NVG prestige set-up is just too sexy to ignore... :oops:

It depends on what's included, and for how much. Fable 2's for instance was piss poor once it all got stripped back, whilst Batman's looks to be a brilliant CE. Steelbook's seem to be the most common CE's that you'll find, with maybe an unlockable which you download online. I’ll continue to buy CE’s if there’s extras that I find to be to my liking.

I'm a sucker for 'em :fp:

I've got the ones for Oblivion, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Halo Wars, Halo 3, Gears of War 1 + 2, inFamous, Fable II, Killzone 2, Battlefield Bad Company and a some more I can't quite remember. :fp:

I think the most I've ever spent on one is about £45, which is my limit.

You'd never catch me buying one of those things. They're cynical attempts to milk the natural tendency of geeks to collect crap.

I love special/ collectors edition.

On preorder i have batman arkham asylum & need for speed shift special editions

I'm on the verge of buying the modern warfare 2 prestige edition :fp:

Halo's cat helmet :lol:

I only buy them for "big" releases I'm really looking forward to like Killzone 2, Halo 3 and Gears 2. I don't really bother with any others unless they were the same price as the standard edition.

Collectors/Special editions - Overdone?

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