The Problem with Collector's Editions

ah the collector's edition because why not turn collecting video games into an even more expensive hobby taking some semi-worthless junk and stuffing it in with a base product became so profitable in the gaming industry that the term collector's edition basically became synonymous with video games so today i want to take a look at some of my favorite collector's editions while also looking at some trends i've noticed over the years that make triple a games look lazy compared to a rising wave of indie titles i've spent a lot of money on this stuff okay my interest in video game collectors editions definitely started with triple a titles even though i only bought a few of them growing up getting some video game collectibles packaged in with a game i was already excited about was a great feeling but most of the time the games i was interested in either didn't have collector's editions were ridiculously expensive or only included a bunch of dlc codes however out of the few that i did collect the little big planet 2 collector's edition is definitely my favorite it came with a cute sack boy plushie which is cool because the character is literally a plushie in the game and some really nice bookends that i still use to keep games on my shelf these items help demonstrate what i believe to be the key in designing a worthwhile collector's edition theming neither of these relatively cheap objects are necessarily valuable but that's never been the point collector's editions are made to please fans by giving them unique items related to a game's overall style the objects included should have a bit more nuance and care than general merchandise that might be sold elsewhere even though i've never been a big halo fan i still have the halo reach limited edition hidden away on my shelf and i think it serves as another great example of attention to detail a big component of the halo franchise has always been the lore so the halo reach limited edition is designed and packaged as an archive module contained inside its fun to open packaging is a sealed journal from catherine halsey a famous scientist in the halo universe the book itself is nicely designed with a magnetic cover and string bindings and contains 200 pages of journal entries filled with story details and tons of illustrations there are fake coffee stains on certain pages and a bunch of random [ __ ] stuffed in at the back but my favorite detail is the two intentionally ripped and missing pages that were only included in less than five of the journals and published online six years later and now i'm thinking about how stupid it sounds that i think a book with missing pages is somehow cooler than just a regular book this style of collector's edition shows that the developers were willing to go the extra mile and care about the worlds they've created hell if there was a 200 page lore book bundled with every new jrpg or sonic release you know damn well i'd be buying it however that just isn't happening with a majority of video games and it feels as if aaa releases are becoming more and more lacking as time goes on i can't believe halo reach and littlebigplanet 2 are almost a decade old to put it shortly collector's editions are all following the same formulas one formula that i don't even want to bother discussing is the let's cram cheap objects into an insanely overpriced bundle edition usually released for games by publishers like ubisoft capcom and bethesda for the low low price of way too much [ __ ] money i don't care if you say it's from the last of us too that guitar is not worth three hundred dollars i don't think i'd pay twenty three hundred dollars even if i could reach into the tv and take sonic's shoes right off his feet so instead i'm gonna show off a couple of recent game releases i've picked up myself because i think it helps to illustrate the other trend it seems like video game developers said alright let's just make every single collector's edition from now on a steelbook case a half-assed art book and a cd with some of the game's music even though we don't sell the entire soundtrack outside of japan steelbooks are nice but with many modern games getting day 1 steelbook releases for no extra cost they don't feel all that special anymore unless something interesting is done with their design sometimes companies just pull a yeah [ __ ] it and substitute physical items for random dlc codes i used the cactuar summon once and then never again i'm not trying to say every modern collector's edition that follows this format is inherently bad since they usually only cost 20 dollars more than the standard edition i think some of them do a great job with fire emblem 3 houses being a perfect example it loses a few points for the cd only including a small selection of the game's music but the steelbook is gorgeous and the art book is a hefty hardcover one that actually includes concept art there's also a calendar in there which i guess is theming technically the final fantasy 7 remake and kingdom hearts 3 deluxe editions fall into the category the final fantasy 7 remake has a massive incredible soundtrack but it's impossible to include all of the music on one cd which again leaves it with a small selection of music it also doesn't include a digital download code for the soundtrack which seems like a really easy bonus that developers could start throwing into collector's editions in regards to both of these games the steelbooks are fine but the art books are severely lacking with many pages just containing 3d renders of things in the game why would i waste my money on these when i could instead just buy a full official art book for around the same price as the collector's edition add-on for 20-40 bucks you can get high-quality books with hundreds of pages of incredible concept art and tons of developer interviews that give insight into a game's design process i could probably kill someone with the hardcover mario odyssey art book and now we arrive at some of the worst collector's editions i own while i adore atlas games in the persona series the persona q2 showtime edition has to be the biggest joke of a purchase i've made in my life ignoring the psp go of course inside its generic box is a plushie that looks like it came out of a bootleg claw machine a paperback art book that should just be called a we ran out of time and put official character art on each page book a deck of playing cards okay and a set of four plastic buttons i literally had a toy as a kid that could make these kinds of buttons what part of any of this appeals to someone dedicated enough to the persona series to bust out their [ __ ] 3ds again in 2019 that someone is me by the way this also happened with the endless night collection double pack for the new persona rhythm games while an integrated book and game case sounds good in theory the quote on quote art book is the same lazy garbage as persona q2 official character renders no concept art and zero interviews insider interesting text i'm not sure if they were just looking to cut costs with this strange case but they only included one disc holder with both games stacked on top of each other meanwhile the persona 4 dancing all night collector's edition had a full jewel case with two disc holders just for the damn soundtrack but apparently they couldn't be bothered to do anything with the new ones this kind of makes sense after playing the games though as persona 3 and 5 dancing felt lacking compared to the original and speaking of soundtracks a rhythm game is the place where you definitely include the soundtrack in the collector's edition so they did it with persona for dancing but somehow managed to [ __ ] it up with the new ones they didn't even give me a digital download [Music] now you may notice that this isn't the end of the video that's because there are still great collectors editions being put out by developers who love their games and care about collectors enough to do more than the bare minimum can you guess what games i'm hinting at indie games yeah of course it's indie games the first indie collector's edition i want to take a look at is hollow knight which may not even be recognizable as a video game case at first glance that's because the box itself is one of the most interesting parts it's covered in gold foil and has a little window for a cute metal brooch of the bug boy himself it also includes a super cute cleaning cloth for the switch and gold foil art prints which arguably gave off the classic i'll look at these once nice kind of feeling but there's also a 14-page comic book for quarrel an old-school game manual and a fold-out map that shows all of hallownest this collector's edition includes the exact kind of stuff i was hinting at earlier they probably wouldn't sell a cute comic of a side character from hollow knight as its own product but it's something fans of the series would be delighted to read and collect old game manuals capture that feeling of buying a new game as a kid and reading the manual in the car while you're waiting to get home and play it or when you legitimately needed one for advice back before the advent of the internet and the whole thing just looks beautiful existing to be displayed it's not just a big cardboard box with the regular cover art alright alright i've insulted persona q2 enough give me the next one if you've ever played enter the gungeon there's a good chance you're very familiar with the ammo nomicon the game's in-universe menu and database for the hundreds of weapons items enemies and bosses you'll discover so it might not come as a surprise when i tell you that the limited edition of gungeon comes bundled with a real hardcover ammonomicon while this is the only thing included in the limited edition outside of the game itself it's true to its limited name as special reserve only produced 3 500 of them each one is individually numbered on the first page alongside the game and the book itself is a faithful recreation of the in-game version this might just be my pure adoration for enter the gungeon speaking but this is one of the coolest video game collectibles i own and it's clear that the developers care about it too from the doodle scattered across its hundreds of pages finally we come to what might be a current favorite in my collection celeste like the hollow knight collector's edition the box is designed to be put on display with a hook on the top that lets the included plush strawberry hang down as if it's floating inside the box since pretty much all video game music can be found online nowadays if a collector's edition is gonna give me music i either want the entire soundtrack so i can have a high quality version of it or i want them to do something interesting well it just so happens that celeste did both you know how the main secret collectibles in celeste happen to be b-sides of cassette tapes well they put the soundtrack on a cassette tape with a super cute retro design and everything and they finally included a digital download code why can't you be like this alongside the steel book there's a small poster sewable patch postcard stickers and a foil art print some of these definitely give off the oh that's kind of cute but i probably won't ever use it vibe but there's so much nice stuff included that i didn't really mind however since they included a recipe for strawberry pie i naturally decided to mix some flour sugar and salt in a bowl add some chopped butter and water make it into some dough then cut up some strawberries mix them together with sugar cornstarch salt lemon juice and vanilla extract pour the mixture into the pie crust overlay the lattices and put it in the oven for oh i don't know 20 minutes at 4 25 and then an hour at 350. that's pretty good maybe i'm biased here but just seeing physical copies of indie games fills me with so much joy and these collectors editions take that a step further i remember playing random indies back on the wii and ps3 growing up and seeing how far they've come and the amount of detail the developers are able to put into these releases is super heartwarming while some of these items may seem useless again it's the care put into them and the relevance they have to the game itself that make them worth the purchase at the end of the day a good collector's edition recognizes the hard work put into every facet of a game's existence from the music to the artwork to the overall writing and design with plenty of little details to make the most die-hard fans feel like they bought something special now if you'll excuse me [Music] you

Channel: yakkocmn

Views: 526,658

Keywords: collector's edition, special edition, limited edition, unboxing, yakkocmn, collectors edition, review, game DLC, fallout 76 collector's edition, hollow knight collector's edition, enter the gungeon collector's edition, celeste collector's edition, rare, special, littlebigplanet 2, halo reach, worst collector's edition, collector's edition unboxing, persona q2, persona endless night collection, kingdom hearts 3, final fantasy 7 remake, fire emblem three houses, nintendo switch

Id: G2vbp4Ua0-k

Length: 12min 32sec (752 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 28 2020