Special editions

I am one of those idiots advertizing companies love. Show me a commercial of a hamburger and I rush outside to get one, not just because I want one, but because I NEED one. Off course this works the same with games… now there are games I simply have no interest in and that won’t change, Viva Piñata will never be part of my collection. There however are games that make me go “meh” at first, but when I see people in my friend list playing it or I see the commercial I start to go: ”I might want that” which inevitably changes to: “I need that” in the end. Fueled by reviews, magazine articles and colleagues talking about it I come to realize I might not even survive without having that game.

Off course funding, or more specific lack thereof at times gets in the way, I am not especially rich, quite the opposite actually. So I can’t always get what I want (humming the Stones here). But sometimes I get what I need.

This whole mess is an interesting challenge to begin with, but then there is such a thing as a “Collector’s Edition” or even worse “Limited Edition”. I have managed to convince myself that I want these only with my A rated games; Franchises which have proven to be awesome like Halo, Fable, Assassins’ Creed and the like. A collector’s edition seems to demand you buy it to prove you are a loyal fan and the limited edition needs to be bought before they are no longer available. No need to explain that when a new game of one of my favorite franchises comes out, I need to have the special, limited, collectors you-need-to-have-this-to-prove-you-are-cool edition.

There are usually three reasons for me to want the collector’s or other edition of a game, which are:

1 ) The collector’s edition has certain extra’s that make it worth the extra costs like a t-shirt, a patch (UNSC patch in Reach is awesome), Art book, bonus DVD or a statuette/ figurine.

2 ) The game developers need to be rewarded for making such an epic game. I love it when a company does it’s best to deliver something awesome. Years are spent in the creation, there’s been lot of play testing and a visible love for the game and it’s background is shown by the developers. Though not always successful, the effort is visible, Lionhead and Bungie are clear examples of this.

3 ) Extra in-game content, ranging from special armor types to complete exclusive levels or missions. Though I sometimes feel a bit cheated by this because I feel the extra content should have been part of the original game, this type of bonus is one of the most successfully employed. Pre-order the game to receive an exclusive weapon, buy the black edition to receive black armor and the white to receive white for example… actually causing some fans to buy game twice. Pokemon games are notorious for this concept.

So when it’s a franchise I care about and two of the above requirements are met, I will definitely try to get the special edition. Off course some offer more value than others. Fable 3 for instance, however awesome the coin, deck of cards and in-game content are it hardly justifies the 20 euro it costs extra, the legendary edition of Halo Reach however… though more than twice the price of the standard edition is well worth the 129 euro for the real fans, luckily they don’t release that many HALO games. Recently I acquired the “Codex Edition” of Assassins Creed Brotherhood which is by far the best value for money collector’s edition I have seen so far… for only 30 euro’s more than the standard edition…. You get:

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood game

Renaissance Collector Chest

Exclusive Codex

Map of Rome

Multiplayer characters cards
Exclusive artwork cards

Lineage DVD

Bonus DVD
game soundtrack

2 Exclusive single player maps: Aqua Gear & Trajan Market

2 Multiplayer characters: Harlequin & Officer

Exclusive Armor

And it comes in this chest, which is of surprisingly high quality.

Besides all that, though it starts off a bit slow it might very well be the best game of the franchise so far. So that’s a bonus right there, a good game, free with my Assassins Creed Brotherhood merchandize pack.