Tide turning against steelbook video game collecting?

[Twisted]

I visit quite a few video game collectors sites and follow a lot of the major and some under the radar video game collectors on youtube...more and more these days i am seeing resentment towards steelbook packaging on games...some famous youtubers say they are pointless and serve no purpose and the standard game case is good enough, others say they are more prone to breakage and more fragile compared to standard boxes, and others say they hate they "stick out" in collections and LOL 'throw theres away"..LOL...when the game only comes with steelbook packaging option. for some strange reason i used to think 100% of gamers were always in favor of steelbook packaging..i was surprised to see people don't care, or dont want them..or in few cases "trash them".LOL...and replace with another empty case....i believe a lot of youtubers have a cult following, so when they say things like "hate steelbook" i think it comes across into peoples minds, that steelbooks are not a plus, but something that takes away from game collecting..the latest noise i read was one a newsfeed announcing street fighter V day one PAL steelbook...they were fans..saying "this sucks, i want a real game case"..and "i will wait now, until a regular case comes out no day 1 buy for me"..etc...just thought it was ironic and surprised to hear these kinds of comments, MORE of them..is what is scary.

[Mike1888]

If I didn't have a steelbook collection I'd want a regular case that fits with the rest of the games on my shelf.

Personally I barely even collect steelbooks anymore, I've just lost interest in them.

[Twisted]

i somewhat feel the same as you..i just think the market is being flooded with them, and it starts to lose some of it's luster as something niche, sought after, it used to be "special" to hear about a upcoming steelbook edition, but now it almost to the point where it is not the exception but the norm.....5 years ago, some of my friends used to be "in awe" when i showed them some steelbooks, because it was a rare sight to behold..and steelbooks kinda back then flew under the radar..and now my friends who are gamers are like "who cares" when it comes to steelbook packaging..same ones who used to tell me "wow, those are cool metal cases" when i showed off mine when i first started collecting steelbooks about 5 years ago.

[Funnnkyyy]

I myself have never been into steelbook collecting. I have generally only collected the ones of the franchises that I love. I can see how it would've been a big thing in the past but now with most games coming out with some sort of steelbook edition, or multiple ones depending on region etc I just think the same as you guys that they have and are fast losing their appeal with game collectors

[goonergaz]

I love steelbooks and will track down any for games I love, they look great in my uncharted explorer edition case :P

[Lemur]

Those who say steelbooks don't fit into their collections obviously don't have enough steelbooks. When you have a whole shelf of steelbooks then they fit in perfectly :1:

[g6t9ed]

I can see both sides to this story and I kept nodding my head in agreement with all the reasons to own and not own steelbooks mentioned above. I also believe that steelbooks are mainly for collectors for the same reasons why a collector would by an accompanying statue or trinket.

I think some of the reason might have something to do with the artwork associated with them. Most are either lazy or too simple. Ones that come to mind as being unique to me here recently are both the Borderlands: Handsome Jack Collection and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Both were very detailed and felt very thought out.

Honestly, I feel the same about slip-covers but I feel these fly over most people as well.

[Saturn]

One word: rust. I've been telling that everywhere every time. Yes, they rust. No, they are not stainless steel or aluminium.

And they are more fragile. But... rust. They were not made for certain countries.

[Twisted]

YES!!! two of my G1 futureshop steelbooks are indeed "rusting" on the inner areas of the steelbook where you open them up at....so rust is another issue.

[ob1ob]

I feel that the CE should always include the steelbook. In fact the guy in this Just Cause 3 CE review posted below expressed my exact opinion. I preordered the Just Cause 3 CE from Best Buy and then bought the steelbook from Target. I considered keeping the steelbook and selling the standard copy from the CE like I have done in the past for other games, but I'm just going to return the CE.
https://youtu.be/Ar3WMY0M8mo

[Saturn]

I feel that the CE should always include the steelbook. In fact the guy in this Just Cause 3 CE review posted below expressed my exact opinion. I preordered the Just Cause 3 CE from Best Buy and then bought the steelbook from Target. I considered keeping the steelbook and selling the standard copy from the CE like I have done in the past for other games, but I'm just going to return the CE.
https://youtu.be/Ar3WMY0M8mo

I think the exact opposite, I hate when CEs include steels but my opinion is just too unpopular for that to happen. Thankfully not enough people seem to have voted on the steel for Just cause 3.

[Isauretjuh]

what i hate is when they put different steelbooks in different collector's editions. Im looking at you tales of xillia and zesteria now i have to import the us versions.. And well its a bit of an overkill on steelbooks releasing atm. I mean my steelbook collection has been expanding explosively in the past 2 years.

[GameTrigger]

I think SB is easiest way to give "collecting value" for game - I collect only FF related steels but if I have option to buy game with normal case or with SB; I choose SB :)

[KnightOfTruth]

It seems pretty true here in the states that MANY companies are no longer going with the steelbook release. It seems like the only major company that is still doing a bunch of them is Ubisoft. Everyone else seems to have jumped ship to metalpaks or whatever-in-the-heck-that-was in the Tomb Raider CE ("PlasticPak"?). Even ubisoft has been doing some "metal cases" though. I'm just really glad that we got actual steelbooks for the Witcher 3 as those were classy. I'm curious to see if someone has put together a timeline and region release chart of steelbooks vs. metalpaks anywhere on the web? Would be interesting to see what percentage in the states is now non-steelbooks vs. the % in the UK (and the amazing job amazon.de is doing).

[game_player_s]

Only see one steelbook at present time, but I know I had a second one at some point. My gripe with them is that if they get scratched then the painted/printed on "cover art" is damaged, whereas with a regular plastic case if it gets scratched the artwork is on paper under what was likely scratched, not indestructable and more resillieant to damage.

And like others, rust is a serious concern with steel case games due to the rather poor grade of steel sheet metal from which they are made. Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of the steel cases, but the manufacturers of these cases would be wise to do one of the following to futre cases they make.:
1. Switch over to making the cases from aluminum or a corrosion resistant alloy.
2. Electro-plating the steel with a corrosion resistant metal, such as nickel.
3. Galvanizing (zinc plating) the steel to make it rust resistant.

[Interinactive]

Can't stand steelbooks myself. I get them bundled in CEs I order all the time, but I don't actively try to collect them.

I remember in 2004/5 I went to buy Metal Gear Solid 3, and the guy at the store tried to give me the steelbook version instead of a plastic one. I said no since I didn't like the look of it, and this was well before I started collecting. They just seem to look and feel cheap, like they're not genuine. Plus, not all games have steelbooks, and I like my console game spines to line up with the labels pointing out consistently.

[Gunmaster51]

Steelbooks are no longer the niche item they once were. The market is often flooded with multiple steelbooks for the same game in different regions (see The Division for a recent example). Before, only a handful of retailers gave out steelbooks as pre-order gifts or as part of special packages (I remember the good old days of FutureShop in Canada before they closed down lol). Now, almost every major retailer (such as Amazon, Bestbuy, etc.) sells steelbook editions of games. Most official special editions of games also have steelbooks.

I still love collecting steelbooks and have a shelf devoted to them, but in terms of rarity, the new steelbooks are just too main-stream and mass-produced to be considered Collector Items anymore imo. I used to pay upwards of $75 for single steelbooks back in the day. Now, I wouldn't pay more than $30 for most of the new ones.

[rapister]

yep, definitely a lot of mainstream steelbooks now.

rare steelbooks are released less often now

so, my suggestion is just to get the ones for the games you like

for the casual collector, this is good news, since they are readily available for your favorite games

also, at least there is less bragging on the internet