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The Rise Of Limited Edition Games
John Callaham wrote to mention a piece on Gamecloud discussing the emphasis on 'special' editions of new game titles. From the article: "Games that have some extras in limited releases have been a part of the industry for a few years now. Just last year limited collector's versions of the MMORPGs Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft were released that were packed with extra stuff, from art books to extra DVDs and more. Electronic Arts released a special edition of Medal of Honor Pacific Assault last fall with lots of behind-the-scenes material and an extra weapon not in the regular edition. Midway released a special edition of Mortal Kombat: Deception last fall with extra content as well as the full version of the first Mortal Kombat game. This fall, however, game publishers are releasing more special editions of games than ever before alongside the 'regular' versions of games and they typically cost at least $10 more and in a couple of cases even more than that."
Looks like gaming companies here are finally realizing that giving away limited edition swag in games will boost sales.
It's been working in japan for years.
Look at Skies of Arcadia for the dreamcast when it released in Japan.
You got a Leather strap with a logo from the game, a bandana that is an acctual item in the game, a cell phone strap, an art book, and some limited edition artwork as well.
Or look at Gran Turismo 4. You could buy a limited edition that came with a pair of Nike Sneakers! http://www.jp.playstation.com/game/granturismo/
Because they have been a standard of Japanese games since the SNES. We've been missing out!
Can they leave out the manual, put it in a small cardboard sleeve, and shave off 10 dollars from the price? It seems like packaging should be either original and very, very cool, or dirt cheap. Where are the games that come wrapped in a bloody cloth from the game, or that are trapped in a chinese puzzlebox? Or at least have some cool pack-in... even stickers these days would be a rare treat. I never understood why publishers decided to stop with the cool free advertising of sticker pack-ins, but keep making 50-page utterly, utterly useless manuals that nobody ever reads. I know how to put a disk into my Playstation, thanks.
The ______ Agenda
See, I remember the halcyon days when games were expected to come with extra material like this. Even the grail diary that came with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was part of a primitive form of copy protection, added to the game. You got to literally pore through the grail diary looking for clues, and taking in all sorts of gorgeous artwork and background info. (LucasArts was particularly good at designing these props - probably since they had some movie art designers in the house.)
Extra content like credits, extra scenes, or "making of" stuff was unlocked by actually playing the game, maybe also entering a cheat code. (Actually, you can unlock DVD-like developer commentary in Sly Cooper by beating those gawddamn evil time trials. It replaces the level background music as you run through it.) I have no idea why, at the insane price point games have got to these days, we can't put more "premium" content in the box for everyone.
A strain of paranoid prevention can be worse than the disease, whate'er the intention.
Four years ago, I bought the special edition of Morrowind, which netted me a soundtrack, pewter figurine and art book. Back in high school, I bought the limited Might and Magic 6 box. Came with the entire series up until that point, maps and an entry form for an enormous lithograph of the cover art (which I won :D). And back in elementary school, my grandpa bought me the special trilogy pack of Hugo's House of Horrors, which came with hand-printed hint books.
Basiclly, if I really like the game/series, I'm probably going to shell out a little more for little goodies like that.