Day One Edition - Three words that make me cringe!

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I have just seen the Dragon Quest Heroes PS4 game with "Day One Edition" emblazoned across the top, and never have I cringed so much! Has the industry really come to this, where almost every single game these days has to have a "Day One Edition" for early adopters who pay full price for a game on day of release?

I have come to expect this of the larger Western publishers like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft. It almost feels as if they all sat around a small table down their local pub and came up with the idea of the "Day One Edition" just to give those who pay full price a little bonus to take the sting out of paying so much for a game on release day. I have even accepted that it's a staple for Namco-Bandai. However, it's a sad day when a respected Japanese company like Square-Enix has to plaster these three sorry words all over their newest Dragon Quest release!


I've never really been a fan of the "Day One Edition" concept, and it almost feels like a cheap ploy to pre-sell you something extra (usually a season pass or other DLC) that you would most likely have paid for after buying the game. I honestly don't understand why publishers feel the need to pack such items in and give the game a completely different cover, when they could just as easily sell you a standard version of the game and eMail you the codes or give you a leaflet outside of the box. It just seems like a redundant waste of effort, but something that consumers seem to fall for time and time again. At the end of the day, those who pre-order are still going to pre-order the game regardless of whether it comes with extra content, so they require no extra coercing.

The problem is, "Day One Edition" is meaningless these days. The XboxOne was launched with a wave of so-called "Day One Editions" of all launch titles, most of which were still available six months later alongside the standard version releases. Likewise, Namco-Bandai's Tales Of Xillia 2 "Day One Edition" FuturePak was released on 22nd of August 2014, yet is STILL widely available brand new ten months later!

I wouldn't mind so much if these releases were called "DLC Edition" or "Full Package Edition", but calling them a "Day One Edition" feels somewhat of a misnomer. The exception would be where such editions are extremely limited and touted as pre-order incentives only, where these releases usually sell out on pre-orders - there are genuinely true Day One Editions, as they were only available on day one, and not for weeks / months afterwards


The whole premise behind the "Day One Edition" is to offer some kind of perk to the gamer, usually to give them a head start over their peers in an online multi-player game (such as Call Of Duty), or to make their single player campaign a little easier by offering them in-game items earlier than they would usually find them in the game, or making the game a little more fun by offering vanity outfits for their character. A lot of the time such items are available exclusively, and intended to be used on the first day of play on the first day of release - although their use varies depending on the game and time purchased, with most Day One perks being made somewhat redundant after the first week of release

This last generation has probably been the worst generation for collectors. Not only have we seen Collector's Editions rise in popularity, but also the introduction of Season Passes, DLC, and DRM. It was bad enough before with store exclusive editions and exclusive sleeves, but now we have to also consider "Day One Editions" as well! The sad thing is, to future collectors all this will mean to them is different cover artwork to collect. Whatever digital bonus was included in a "Day One Edition" will no doubt have been used or expired, and unless the edition has a unique slipcover, SteelBook / FuturePak, or small trinket like a keychain pack-in, these editions will not hold their value any more than their regular counterparts