Lunchtime Discussion: Game Editions

With several special editions of games calling at me from the past and the future today’s discussion from CaptainMurdo seems like a safe bet to provoke you lovely readers to comment. What are your thoughts?

Nowadays, it seems as if every game is released in two forms; one for the poor folk and one for the really poor folk who collect things. Of course, I am talking about Limited and Special Editions of games. Now the special-ness of each game differs vastly from a simple metal tin to a rather good looking ‘box’ and a fair bit of DLC. It just depends on the publisher and how much they believe they can squeeze out of you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love special editions. I would buy every single one available if I had the funds. But that’s my point. There seems to be so many games with limited editions (some even have several, a la Modern Warfare 2) that they are losing their appeal. So many of these editions are hastily thrown together by the publishers as if to say “me too!” Can’t we just have the good ol’ days of only the big releases, and I mean big releases, having a shed-load of extra stuff giving us more bang for our buck? Or at the very least, could the publishers put a little but more thought into the extras?

However, it wouldn’t be a Lunchtime Discussion if you, the reader, weren’t involved. So I put this to you: Are you willing to pay that little bit extra for some exclusive goodies? Will you be giving Sony your arm and possibly leg for the God of War III: Ultimate Trilogy Edition? Do you think Limited and Special Editions are losing their ’shazam?’