Collector's/Special Editions

[elmuerte]

I'm prone to forking over money to get the Collector's- or Special editions of games.

I've got quite a bunch of them (in no particular order):

• Bioshock
  
• Bioshock 2
  
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
  
• UT2004
  
• UT3
  
• Mass Effect 2
  
• Fallout 3
  
• Darwinia/Multiwinia
  
• Starcraft 2
  
• Darksiders
  
• Duke Nukem Forever
  
• Prince of Persia (2008)
  
• Machinarium
  
• Alone in the Dark (2008)
  

Just to be clear on this, with Collector's/Special Edition I mean the releases that contain more than just the gamedisc, and also have a normal edition. For example "Jade Empire" only has the special edition, so that one doesn't count.

Of all these special editions I have I think the Bioshock 2 special edition is the best of them all. The old fashion record containing the sound track really makes it more special than the others.

I don't own the New Vegas special edition because Bethesda sucked big time and didn't release it within my reach of ordering one.

So, what's your most special special edition?

On a side note, by most special non-special edition would probably be Stonekeep (it came with a rather nice novel). Although the Crusader games came close: contained some company news letters and stuff (from the in-game world). Phantasmagoria is also quite nice with the rather special box it game in (in the Netherlands at least).

[Lu]

I have never found the value proposition of any special edition worth the price of entry. Plus, I don't want anymore useless junk cluttering up the place. I did get the enhanced edition of the Witcher, which was all cheap.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I picked up the Special Edition of Bioshock, but then I sold it (the model quality wasn't very good). I also picked up the Special Edition of Fallout 3, but only because it was the same price as the normal edition. That model was OK.

[Nappi]

The only "Special Edition" I currently own is the regular boxed The Witcher 2 Premium Edition. Sure, there is no normal edition but the "premium" is not just some marketing bullshit in this case: apart from the game itself, you'll also get the making of DVD, the soundtrack, the map, a game guide, a coin as well as some concept art and papercraft.

I also pre-ordered Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition.

[Raff]

I'm a total sucker for nice looking packaging, books etc but to be honest games rarely get nice enough looking editions and I don't seem to have that much. Most stuff is awful (I love seeing stacks of misguided Killzone 3 cat helmets in shops) and often they turn out to be very dissappointing (like the dreadful Bioshock one with its bewildering Moby CD.) I have imported the odd fairly cheap game from Japan for the sake of the nicer packaging. I like Gamecube games in dinky little boxes with card sleeves, and if they include a mic or something, boxes with embossing and foil.

I'd have bought the shit out of some of the cool stuff Sega Direct did with PS2 remakes if it was sold here:

_2YpL4sOFyc

Why does Japan get so much more stuff like this? Is it just much cheaper for them to import from China?

Also cool - Standard Rhythm Heaven for GBA (with tiny stickers!):

Edited July 18, 2011 by Raff

[Tanukitsune]

I got the Digital Deluxe Edition of Mafia II when it was on sale on Steam, if that counts, but the last physical one I bought was Dead Rising 2, which came with a pen that looks like Zombrex and a "making of" DVD, kinda lame, but it cost me as much as the normal edition.

I use to buy more C.E.s a long time ago, but they take up too much space and aren't worth the extra money to me anymore.

[elmuerte]

That music box is awesome. Much better than the usual plastic stuff.

I have never found the value proposition of any special edition worth the price of entry. Plus, I don't want anymore useless junk cluttering up the place. I did get the enhanced edition of the Witcher, which was all cheap.

Oh right, I have the Witcher "platinum edition", but I think that's more or less the normal version right now.

There is a limit to where I'll go with getting the special editions. The higher price should be worth the extras. There have been a couple of special editions I simply skipped due to it's price, and the lack of extras. I don't care much for plastic statues, which are often shite. But I really enjoy making off stuff, sound tracks, and art books.

Quite some special editions I bought were very cheap (Machinarium, Darksiders), and some were pretty much the same price as the normal edition (Mass Effect 2, Prince of Persia). And I also bought a few quite a while after the game was released, so with quite a discount (Bioshock, Fallout 3, Alone in the Dark).

I got the Digital Deluxe Edition of Mafia II when it was on sale on Steam, if that counts

No, that doesn't count. Digital Special Editions are bullshit.

[twmac]

I have the special editions of both Record of Agarest Wars, Death Smiles XX, and am purchasing the Catherine (mainly as it is the same price as the normal game so why not?)

I generally hate special editions as they take up space adn clutter my apartment. But for the entertainment of seeing a girl's bemused face when she discovers the pink RoAW, anime girl pillow case, I will pay the price.

[miffy495]

Haha. My DS Lite was covered in those Rhythm Heaven stickers. That was a great little pack-in.

[subbes]

I like cloth maps. I never use them, but I like them.

I own at least 3 copies of Neverwinter Nights - the original, the Diamond edition, and a Mac version. I wanted the edition that came with a poster, but it was too limited.

[Orv]

I like cloth maps. I never use them, but I like them.

I own at least 3 copies of Neverwinter Nights - the original, the Diamond edition, and a Mac version. I wanted the edition that came with a poster, but it was too limited.

I have the poster. I'll give it to you. . .for your soul! I love NWN.

That said, I have;

- Warhammer Online

- Star Trek Online

- Star Wars Galaxies

Why yes, those are all MMOs.

The resulting art book and comic from WAR are both pretty neat, and I reread the comic every so often.

I have the Star Trek faux-communicator badge pinned to my fedora.

And the Star Wars Galaxies box sits in a closet in shame.

I probably won't get another CE anytime soon.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Oh wow. I bought the Star Wars Galaxies boxset, too. What a disappointing waste of life that was.

[Patters]

I have a few:

The best one is the RUSE one, simply as I got a Steelseries Xai for a great price.

Not pictured: Halo 3, Fable II Monster Hunter Tri and AitD 2008

[Sno]

I'm kind of a sucker for a cool CE, so just some of my favorites -

- The Legendary Editions for both Halo 3 and Halo Reach. I really love both of these, the Reach LE especially is a pretty extraordinary display of continuity porn.

- The CE for Oblivion, for having an updated version of the pocket guide to the empire. (Which previously appeared only with Redguard, and was a fairly desired trinket among fans.)

- GTAIV for coming in a real goddamned lock box, which still strikes me as just kind of a brilliant bit of presentation.

- UT2k4 for the CE version of the game being on a DVD instead of six CD's or whatever it was.

- Fallout 3's lunchbox case and the crazy Vault Boy bobblehead.

- BioShock had a pretty cool CE, I love that Big Daddy figure, even if it is a really boring pose and of dubious build quality. (And what the shit? The soundtrack disc is a CD with Moby remixes? Are you fucking serious, 2k?)

- Assassin's Creed 2, on the other hand, came with an incredibly detailed twelve inch figure of Ezio.

Hmmmm...

Yeah, those are my favorites.

[syntheticgerbil]

I think my most prized special edition is Samorost 2 from Russia, just because it was so god damn hard to find a site that would ship to the United States. Someone else from the Machinarium forums had to clue me in. It was also very cheap because of the Russian dollars.

I think the most high priced one I have is for Metal Gear Solid Subsistence, because I had to pay way too much money for piecing together a set that had the outer box that would hold the regular game plus the preorder only theatre disc thing. Preorder only special editions suck.

I don't know if I can remember off the top of my head most of the special editions I own, but I think almost all were bought second hand way after release. Usually special editions end up worthless, especially the newer ones, because they are not anywhere as limited as advertised and most people don't want to spend $40-50 extra bucks on some junk and maybe a download code.

There is a limit to where I'll go with getting the special editions. The higher price should be worth the extras. There have been a couple of special editions I simply skipped due to it's price, and the lack of extras. I don't care much for plastic statues, which are often shite. But I really enjoy making off stuff, sound tracks, and art books.

Yeah I agree in the most part. I only get the special editions with soundtracks if I like the composer (why wasn't there one for Tales of Monkey Island?) or art books if I actually like the art of the game. Otherwise my only requirement for getting special editions is just an extra disc either offering additional content or making of videos.

Things like crap statues and figurines or other game goodies can really just fuck off because I have no use for that junk taking up space in my house. Bulky cases holding almost nothing is lame too. I prefer my games to take up as little space as possible as it is.

[elmuerte]

I never paid $40-$50 more for a special edition. That's pretty much double the price I pay for normal games.

Anyway, the reason why I started this thread was because of the announcement for special editions for the console versions of Arkham City: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/07/18/biff-batman-arkham-city-collectors-edition/

I think the inclusion of that shitty animation movie sucks. Sounds they have leftover stock. It should have been a OST.

[elmuerte]

ok, this looks pretty awesome: http://www.destructoid.com/batman-arkham-city-collector-s-edition-in-picture-form-206470.phtml

but... no European release? also... no OST, but downloads... and the usual on-disc DLC

[Tanukitsune]

I thought it was coming with a Catwoman statue?

That reminds me, has anybody bought the C.E. of the Telltale Monkey Island series? I heard it came with a lot of neat goodies.

[miffy495]

Yeah, I have it. It's alright, I just never know what to do with the stuff I get from these things. It's just on a bookshelf right now...

[elmuerte]

Skyrim Special Edition has been announced:

http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/08/05/quakecon-2011-skyrim-collectors-edition-announced/

150 euros ($220) is quite steep though. The extra stuff isn't really worth 100 euros.

[a purple future]

for the most part I don't care about collector's editions because I don't need extra crap to clutter up my apartment.

That said, the fact that the Dark Souls limited edition (art book, strategy guide, soundtrack, dvd I think) is the same price as the standard is friggin AMAZING. I'm all over that.

[Orv]

Skyrim Special Edition has been announced:

http://bethblog.com/index.php/2011/08/05/quakecon-2011-skyrim-collectors-edition-announced/

150 euros ($220) is quite steep though. The extra stuff isn't really worth 100 euros.

Definitely only 150 dollars. I freaked out a little when I saw your post, then realized that was mildly insane.

[Nappi]

[elmuerte]

Definitely only 150 dollars. I freaked out a little when I saw your post, then realized that was mildly insane.

Yes, you USAians only have to pay 105 euros, which is much more reasonable.

[Roderick]

A do not consider a 150 Dollars pricetag 'reasonable', let alone a 150 Euros one. Look, I just don't care about a statue. What the hell were they thinking? THe Oblivion CE was really cool and had a minted Septim, awesomely tying into the lore of the series. But this statue doesn't do anything to enhance the flavor of world, it's just some generic dragon.

So, I'll just be getting the regular version, and download a rip of the making of.