Collector's Editions getting out of hand! (An open request to video game publishers)

[Gemini-Phoenix]

The bizarre thing is, it's a recent trend. I look at pictures of my game room from 3 years ago and there's next to no large CE's at all, except for a couple of Steel Battalion boxes and the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. Now the entire middle floor space is littered with them, and publishers don't seem to care about how much space these things take up! Chances are, if you're a collector, you're going to have several of these things, and they all take up valuable room!

I used to have one shelf for SteelBooks and DigiPaks, and the top shelf would be for the slightly larger CE's (such as Bioshock or GTA IV). Not long before that, very few PS2 or Xbox games would receive anything special, and those that did usually deserved it. Nowadays it's common for multple SKU's to be sold, with each retailer getting some kind of exclusive

The thing that pisses me off the most are these "Day One" DLC LE's that EA and THQ seem to be quite fond of. I abhor these releases, and there's no point in them as I can often pick them up on eBay a year after release for a much cheaper price, so their whole concept is flawed. Besides, DLC on an annual FIFA game is just a stupid idea

[kennyrh]

Originally Posted by Gemini-Phoenix

The bizarre thing is, it's a recent trend. I look at pictures of my game room from 3 years ago and there's next to no large CE's at all, except for a couple of Steel Battalion boxes and the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. Now the entire middle floor space is littered with them, and publishers don't seem to care about how much space these things take up! Chances are, if you're a collector, you're going to have several of these things, and they all take up valuable room!

Yes, thinking about it you're correct. I'm wondering if it has to do with the "one-upmanship" game that publishers are fond of playing. I mean, there's absolutely no reason for the size of that Skyrim CE . . .it's absolutely ridiculous. A smaller, heavier, more detailed figurine would have looked better anyway.

I wouldn't mind one or two of these humongous boxes but, probably like yourself, I'm looking at the Modern Warfare 2 figurine set, the Killzone 3 Helghast, the Crysis 2 Nano, the Gears of War 3 LE and the aforementioned Skyrim. These would take up a whole bookshelf on their own (even if you COULD fit them in.)

And I don't even have the Halo Reach big box or the Halo 3 helmet.

Why can't puiblishers be sensible and take their lead from something like the Warhammer Space Marine set. Nice content, weighty so it feels like a "proper" CE and a reasonable size for display.

Going back to Skyrim CE. . .my local GAME had six of these on display near the doorway. You could barely get in the shop.

Use some common sense guys, please

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by kennyrh

I wouldn't mind one or two of these humongous boxes but, probably like yourself, I'm looking at the Modern Warfare 2 figurine set, the Killzone 3 Helghast, the Crysis 2 Nano, the Gears of War 3 LE and the aforementioned Skyrim. These would take up a whole bookshelf on their own (even if you COULD fit them in.)

This.

Like you say, those select few alone are responsible for taking up a great deal of the space in my very humble game room, along with several others of a similar size. When you also consider such things as the Steel Battalion sets, and various Guitar Hero / Rock Band bundles, and also Dvd / Blu-Ray CE's (if you're a collector, then you most likely collect these as well), not to mention consoles...

Why can't puiblishers be sensible and take their lead from something like the Warhammer Space Marine set. Nice content, weighty so it feels like a "proper" CE and a reasonable size for display.

I like that Warhammer 40k CE. It's only as big as it needs to be, but is packed full of nice quality stuff, and has a nice weight to it. The same can be said for the GTA IV CE and FFXIII-2 Crystal Edition. They're an awkward size, but not too OTT that make you curse their existence.

Likewise, I liked the Duke Nukem Forever Balls Of Steel Edition, as it was crammed full of stuff, but I'm not a fan of other similarly sized editions which just have a crappy figure and lots of wasted space (like an Easter egg carton) - Bioshock, Aliens Vs Predator, Fallout 3, Avatar, and Splinter Cell: Conviction are all guilty here, and they feel unnecessary

I'm personally a fan of the deluxe Dvd sized editions. Packages which stand no taller than a generic Amaray Dvd case, but which might be wider. Think Mass Effect 1 & 2, Gears Of War 1 & 2, Forza 3 & 4, any SteelBook, any DigiPak etc. You can still pack in a lot of content in a package that small, and the best thing is they still sit on a shelf comfortably alongside normal games. Even the Fable 3, Soul Calibur V, and Alan Wake "books" fit nicely and are a good size

Going back to Skyrim CE. . .my local GAME had six of these on display near the doorway. You could barely get in the shop.

Surely retailers like GAME dread these massive CE's? After all, they take up a lot of storage space in their warehouse and also shop floor space. For example, you could easily store around 100 standard Amaray sized games in the space that one Skyrim CE takes up. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which they would rather stock...