Special Editions Of Games


markusdragon

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Is it me, or is the sudden fad of releasing limited edition versions of games getting weak already.
As far as I'm aware, the fad kicked off with Halo 2, which they released a Special Limited edition of which was in a tin box, and came with a crapload of 'the making of' stuff. This was all fine and dandy, because it allowed Halo fans to choose whether or not they wanted to spend their extra money on what was essentially quite good additional stuff, especially for the price.

Then, more recently came the Doom 3 SE, which, similarly, was pretty good quality, sporting the most beatuiful cover for a game (a fantastically decorated metal DVD case) that i've seen in a long time, and the extras, although less than what you got with Halo 2, actually included a special version of Doom I and II; with the option for splitscreen multiplayer co-op. Fantastic, when you think about it.

But then, comes the clincher. This coming friday sees the release of Jade Empire, which, like these two, comes in two editions. Unlike Doom 3's special edition which cost ever so slightly more than a normal release game, at up to £40, this one is stocking, even at Play, for a massive £45. Now, for a price that high, you'd expect some pretty good stuff, but, other than the stuff that's particularly annoying me, it fails to deliver even what comes from the Doom 3 SE; it has a normal case, and only has a pathetic 'Making of video, rather than stuff like artwork. Even worse, it's on a DVD, which means that if you don't have a DVD player or remote, you have to fork out another £25 just to see it.
But the thing that's really annoying me about the SE version is that they have the cheek to ADD STUFF TO THE ACTUAL GAME! Owners of the special edition get an extra character, and a whole extra martial art exclusively. This means that people who don't want to pay for extra merchandise are missing out elements of the actual game. Not important elements, but certainly elements that would make the game last longer, and be more interesting. And how much will this set you back? officially, another fiver, but, at Play.com where the non-SE is reduced in the same way as any other game would be, it costs a whopping extra £12 for a half-baked documentary, and added gameplay features. So why would anyone buy it? Because they're serious gamers who, having bought the lesser version, would spend months wondering what they were missing out on. It's extortion for the gaming psyche.
 
Wow, that is really stupid, missing out elements just to make you fork out another £12.

I thought that the Half Life 2 Collectors Edition tin was quite nice, came with all the stuff the normal game came with, with the added bonus of Half Life: Source, a T-Shirt and extracts from 2 books, for another few pounds (£7 on amazon I think).
 
The Half life 2 package was fucking annoying though.

Being unaware of steam and special additions of the game, I went ahead and bought the Hard Copy which only comes with CS: Source as an extra. As soon as I heard Half life Source was available I thought great!! I don't mind paying an extra fiver to get a copy of that...but I can't, under no circumstances with my current copy of HL2 can I get any additional software...why is this? do they really think people will buy two copies of the same game for a few extra bits of software??

That pissed me right off.
 
hm i have downloadet hl2 via steam and i can buy the silver or gold edition for some $ more now.
i have the bronze edition and i would have to pay $10 if i want the silver edition...
you should be able to register your hl2 copy and then dl the silver-additions
 
yeah, all that junk that came with the ps1 special edition of lunar! that publisher...working designs..they're really nice!

and i've yet to buy hl2, but i'll soon buy it for all the lovely mods, and the game itself is awesome so i'm stopping myself from beating it before i buy it.
 
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