The G1 vs. G2 Debate Thread - Keep it friendly!!!

[oscarlucy]

I thought i'd start a new thread to see what people's preferences are when it comes to collecting video game Steelbooks - do you prefer G1 or G2 video game Steelbooks? Or do you not care at all if you like the game or like the artwork regardless of the size?

For me personally, I own a PS3, a 360 and a gaming PC - naturally, i am a pc gamer first, so I chose G1 (PC gaming FTW!!!).

Pros of G1 video game Steelbooks:

- Much larger library of video game Steelbooks. I would say that of all the video game Steelbooks ever released, roughly only around 20-25% of them have a G2 release/version.
- More Steel. Self-explanatory; you get more Steel for you buck!
- More artwork/artwork space. Goes with the above. When you compare G1 vs G2 Steelbooks, some G1 steels have a tad bit more space to extend the artwork and design.
- More exclusives/rares. Although a large chunk of G1 Steelbook exclusives are stickerbook variants, those are still rare from a collector's perspective, as they are still official Steelbooks. The only rare G2s are arguably Mirror's Edge and NFS Undercover - and those are rare due to the fact that there were so few ever produced - they just happened to be G2. There are also a lot of older titles for PC (and some for XBox), for example, that are VERY hard to track down since they were from an era when video game Steelbook collecting didn't even really exist.

Cons of G1 video game Steelbooks:

- G1s are, obviously, "Generation 1" size - meaning that they are supposed to be for the DVD era, whereas G2 is the standard case size for the more recent blu-ray standard. Some people see this as a con, but honestly, with so many G1 steels given out for multi-platform releases, I feel like when it comes to video game Steelbooks, G1 vs. G2 is irrelevant, unless you only have a PS3. The number of PC and XBox gamers outweighs that of gamers that ONLY play on a PS3.
- It is much, much more expensive to collect G1s. Any video game release that has a Steelbook has a G1 release unless it is a PS3 exclusive (even Wii games release in G1), not to mention, international variants will usually only come in G1. This makes G1 collecting a very, very expensive hobby compared to G2 video game Steelbooks.

Pros of G2 video game Steelbooks:

- G2 is the "Generation 2" standard, meaning that it is consistent with today's blu-ray video case size. If you already collect movie Steelbooks or only play on a PS3, it makes perfect sense that G2 would be the way to go.
- G2 is smaller? I don't really know if this is a con...maybe some people like less steel and less artwork?

Cons of G2 video game Steelbooks:

- Limited number of video game Steelbook releases. G2 lacks around 75% of the overall video game Steelbook landscape.
- Much smaller number of exclusives and rares. Aside from Mirror's Edge and NFS Undercover, most of the Steelbooks that release today usually will come out as G1 only, and not G2 only.
- Less Steel.
- Less artwork/artwork space.

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So, what are you guys' thoughts?

Remember, the above is solely my opinion - in the end, what really matters to me are the unique designs of each Steelbook, and given that G1 has more Steel, artwork space and a larger library, that is why I opted to go that route. Even stickerbooks in G1 size are extremely valuable to a collector since they are both limited in number and sometimes very difficult to obtain.

There are of course those few who collect BOTH sizes just cause they can afford to and because they don't care about the size - and that's awesome!

I have much respect for my fellow G2-only video game Steelbook collectors but I have to say that G1 rules the video game Steelbook world!!!

And with that, i will leave you guys with pics of my personal G1 collection (In the process of buying another shelf since i have about 5 more that i could not fit lol).