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If you ask me, it’s rare to find a collector’s edition that’s actually worth collecting and hanging onto. Most of the time, you’re better off getting pre-order swag than what you’re paying an extra ten to twenty bucks for. And again, if you ask me, exclusive pre-order DLC needs to go away, and fast. As the year comes to a close, I decided to tally up the Limited Editions that have graced our offices, be they publisher-sent or employee-purchased. I’ve broken down the contents, retail price at launch, the current lowest eBay price/resell value, and the badass to bamboozle ratio.
Released: 2/17/09
Limited Edition also contains: Limited edition figurine, hour-long HD anime movie (Blu-ray on PS3, game disc outputting in 720p on 360), mini-strategy guide, CD soundtrack.
Retail Price: $79.99
Cost difference: $20
Badass to bamboozle ratio: Do you live in a city far removed from shops where you could just buy a Ryu figurine? If the answer is “yes,” then $20 isn’t a bad price to pay for said figurine. You should probably just buy it used at this point, though, if that’s what you’re looking for. The anime movie is one step removed from Flash-generated fan art. Figurine tips the scale slightly away from bamboozle.
Office-friendly swag? A Ryu figurine, while geeky, is far less ridiculous than most plastic baubles in your cubicle.
Lowest eBay price as of article publish: Same retail price (sealed), $50 used.
eBay resell value: Roughly on par with the amount the game's price has dropped since releasing ten months ago.
Released: 3/13/09
Limited Edition also contains: A bonus disc with special features, including "The Making of Resident Evil 5," a digital art gallery, and a trailer for Resident Evil: Degeneration. A Tricell messenger bag featuring designs based on the game's storyline and setting, a Chris Redfield figurine, a BSAA patch, a Kijuju-inspired pendant, a custom-made steel case with special art showcasing signature elements of the RE5 campaign.
Retail Price: $89.99
Cost difference: $30
Badass to bamboozle ratio: There’s a nine year-old Spike Lee movie about racism on television... basically, there’s little badass here, and a lot more bamboozle. No matter how ardent of an RE fan you are (and trust me, I liked RE5 a lot more than Mr. Sessler), it’s hard to justify damn near $100 with sales tax for a few baubles and a metal case. The Chris Redfield figurine isn’t too impressive, and the messenger bag feels cheap.
Office-friendly swag? Unless you want your co-workers to think that you’re a sucker and a huge nerd, don’t bother showing any of this stuff off. Better yet, don’t bother with it.
Lowest eBay price as of article publish: $9.99 sealed.
eBay resell value: Woeful.
Released: 6/30/09 (Limited Edition), 7/28/09 (standard edition)
Limited Edition also contains: Two-disc original soundtrack and a bonus video with tutorials.
Retail Price: $49.99
Cost difference: $10. Already out of print; this was the rare occasion when the limited edition released first for the fans.
Badass to bamboozle ratio: You know if you’re the target audience for BlazBlue. A one-month headstart on the general public is more badass than bamboozle, even if that time’s up now.
Office-friendly swag? Not a bit of it.
Lowest eBay price as of article publish: $36
eBay resell value: Not that high, currently.
Released: 8/24/09
Limited Edition also contains: Waynetech Batarang Storage Box 12” In-Game Design Batarang; 50 page character encyclopedia, behind-the-scenes five-chapter series DVD featuring interviews with Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, exclusive Challenge Map DLC.
Retail Price: $99.99
Cost difference. $40
Badass to bamboozle ratio: The Batarang is plastic, and it’s mounted to a stand. Take off your rose-colored Bat-goggles and decide if that’s worth an extra $40.
Office-friendly swag? X-Play’s Matt Keil has the Batarang above his cubicle. Let’s ask him what he thinks:
“By far the worst Limited Edition I’ve ever bought, certainly in memory, because nothing in it is useful. The Batarang is deliberately preworn, so it looks like it was scuffed, but most likely by someone in a warehouse. The encyclopedia contains the same material that you unlock in the game, but in print, and I never watched the DVD. The box can’t fit anywhere. I still have it in my cubicle, because I have nowhere to fit it at home.”
Lowest eBay price as of article publish: $84.99. Used.
eBay resell value: Shockingly high.
Demon’s Souls (PS3)
Released: 10/6/09
Limited Edition also contains: 150 page strategy guide and large outer slipcase.
Retail Price: $69.99
Cost difference: $10
Badass to bamboozle ratio: It’s a strategy guide for one of the most balls-kickingly difficult games in recent memory. Don’t worry, the only people who will look down on you are checking GameFAQs for walkthroughs behind your back.
Office-friendly swag? No reason to keep it at your cubicle when it should be on your coffee table with a bottle of Maalox.
Lowest eBay price as of article publish: $71 sealed.
eBay resell value: Word is that this one's already out of print. Check back in a few months. It could skyrocket in value.
Released: 11/10/09
Hardened Edition also contains: Steel case, “Behind the Lines” concept art book, Call of Duty Classic downloadable voucher.
Prestige Edition also contains: Night Vision goggles with stand and the contents of Hardened Edition.
Retail Price: $79.99 (Hardened), $149.99 (Prestige)
Cost difference. $20 (Hardened), $90 (Prestige)
Badass to bamboozle ratio: Depends. After pushing my sinuses into my neck, I needed to loosen up the goggles a bit. They’re fun, but getting $90 worth of it depends on how often you plan to cosplay as Capt. Price or Soap McTavish.
Office-friendly swag? If you have a pair of $90 night vision goggles at your cubicle, you either work somewhere with trustworthy folks or you’re crazy. As for the Hardened Edition, you're basically paying $5 for a tin box and an art book and committing to purchasing Call of Duty Classic.
Lowest eBay price as of article publish:
Hardened: An auction on the verge of finishing is up to $62. But Amazon is selling it for the same price as the standard game as of writing.
Prestige: A heated auction that ends in 15 minutes is up to $130.
eBay resell value: Still high. The buzz on MW2 is still strong. Check back in six months.
Released: 11/17/09
Limited Edition also contains: ginormous collectible tin, an 8.5” Ezio collectible statue, two exclusive in-game maps (if you want 100% completion, apparently you need the exclusive maps), hardcover art book, bonus disc including soundtrack and behind the scenes footage. Asia got two similar limited editions with two different Ezio statues.
Retail Price: It was a Gamestop exclusive that retailed for $80. Good luck finding one now.
Cost difference: $20.
Badass to bamboozle ratio: As Limited Editions go, this is actually pretty badass. The statue is cool, the tin is large enough for some sort of reuse (controllers, peripherals, etc), and the game soundtrack is good enough to listen to on its own.
Office-friendly swag? An 8.5” statues is pretty big and bulky, but it's a nice statue. Depends on the geek threshold of your co-workers.
Lowest eBay price as of article publish: $95, but it’s also got 8 bids. Most bids have tipped well over $100, and only one used copy has surfaced.
eBay resell value: A search for used Master Assassin’s Editions on eBay reveals one being sold for around $65. At that point, though, you’re paying for the statue, the game, and a tin box. The DLC codes have probably been used. Take that for what you will.
This won't be the last time I focus on Collector's Editions. In the future, I'll be taking a look at Limited Edition games from years past and seeing if they've actually increased in value. For now, let the buyer beware!
Comments
Displaying 1–20 of 30
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XwingVmanX
Games are to expensive as it is, so the LE has to benefit me someone in the game usually for me to get it. But that Ezio statue looks really cool, wish i got that one lol.
Scarfo
I bought the collector's editions for Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition, Assassin's Creed II Master's Edition, Street Fighter IV Collector's Edition, Resident Evil 4 Collector's Edition, NBA 2K10 Collector's Edtion, Batman Arkhum Asylum Collector's Edition, and pre ordered God of War III Ultimate Edition.
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FrontLinePlaya
im getting god of war 3 ultimate edition and hoping to get the assassins creed 2 and forza 3 limited editions for christmas. and ill probably get the splinter cell and mass effect limited editions next year. i love LE games
Remixxx
I bought the Batman CE and SFIV SE and honestly the SFIV was pretty bad. The movie was badly animated and it was pretty boring. I actually love the Batman CE. To me batarang is cool even if it is plastic. And I think if you knock it down because you can't throw it or it's not metal you're retarded. So let me get this straight you wanna stand outside have a batarang in hand and throw it? Sounds like a great fun time especially if you gotta run and go get it after you throw it. It's not a boomerang.
StrongestSaiyan
I don't really mind CE versions, especially since it's rare for them to have something that makes me even want one, so I'm not out much. What I dislike is the constant pre-order bonuses at Gamestop. I'm fine with a pre-order bonus if you can get it at multiple retailers, but I hate having such a restriction placed on me as a consumer.
BobBobson108
I am sorry to say that I ponied up the dough for the RE5 CE, but only because the image on amazon.com made the necklace and the Chris Redfield figure look ENORMOUS. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box... Now, with that fresh in your mind, imagine the look on my face after playing the game through, and thinking RE4 was one of the best games I've ever played. You are now either laughing at me or crying with me.
CustosIntusSilentium
The one thing about CEs that I wan't to see as a new standard is what GoW3 is doing. If you buy the CE, you get the DLC for free. If I'm gonna spend any extra money on a game, I'd like to get a little more game for my money especially if it costs me $100. But the swag needs to be on-par too. If I'm spending any more than $5, I better get more than just a couple cheap trinkets and art booklet.
NinjaCrisis
This brings up many points, but it brings up one really obvious one.
They are "collectors edition", mean that if you are a "collector" you will dish out a little extra dough to get that copy lol. Have i bought any collectors editions? why yes i have, most recently the GOW collection for PS3. Why you might ask? why not, if you're a fan of the game go for it.
I think we should have covered "Limited Edition Consoles" (CODMW2 Xbox 360 elite)lol.
Buying a whole new console is kinda.... ehhh idk especially when you already have one with all the accessories. I think limited edition skins would be cooler with the collectors edition game. But as I stated in the above "if you're a collector you will dish out the extra dough".
Peace :D
BorderLineStaker
Actually there were 4 different limited versions of Assasin's Creed 2
dbeam308
The Last CE I bought was Gears 2. And I swore off CEs after that.
Until I saw the Bioshock 2 CE.
Completist
I'd liked to see the dumb bastard who lifts the limited edition of God of War III over their heads in triumph only to have it come crashing down hard. :P
ParanoiDave
Assassin's Creed II was worth it, but something as ridiculous as Modern Warfare 2 might only be useful for the person who wants to resell it (which is pretty stupid in my opinion), or some kid who might find some use out of the goggles. That is a prime example of nickling and diming.
jrippin
I have the SFIV and AC2 collector's editions and I think they were well worth the $80.
r3a3p3r
what about forza 3 LCE? Definitely worth it in my opinion. Get a nice USB drive and Keychain, but the best things is the VIP membership. Its the LCE that keeps on giving.
Snicker60515
Hopefully Square Enix does the same with Final Fantasy XIII as they did with Assassin's Creed when it launches on March 9th. I think that stuff like that would be well worth any extra price added on to it. I know that when I put down my deposit for that one, I asked the chick at Gamestop what I needed to do to secure any collector's edition since I bought the collector's edition of FFXII and it was basically the same price but with a cooler box. But that bundle is really worth buying. AC2 has it all.
PopReference
I picked up SFIV, BatmanAA, and AC2 limited boxes at their release. (All for 360[worst to best in that order])
The extras DVDs are never really that good, but the Radom Access video and sound track for AC2 was good. (But there was 1 song missing from the disc that I heard in game. The "Techno + preist chanting" one.)
Anyway, the best special edition I've picked up was Halo3 colectors(not the helmet one). Because it came with a surround sound test, which brought to my attention: there was something wrong.
-that's all-
dantastic4
The only collectors edition I can see owning is the Demon Souls one because of the fact it actally contributes something to the game.Buying stupid toys,dvds and boring booklets are just dust collectors.Give me some added value to my gaming experience like free DLC with a special code when I buy the game brand new.People that buy this are sending the wrong message to game developers when they spend an upward of $250 on a game just for useless junk.Collectors edition for the most part milk the consumer than really add any kind of value.
GreedyMcNasty
I bought 4 street fighter 4 LE worth every penny. I also got the Blaze Blue LE it's cool. I do think the DLC should go away as well. But I am a sucker for street fighter. If they make another LE for Super street fighter. It's a done deal. 2 import and 2 domestic.
KUNZistheMAN24
I REEEEAAAAALLLLLLLLLYYYYY wanted to win the Uncharted 2 Special Edition
TangoAlphaLima
I didn't buy any of these limited editions, and usually I'm against the practice, because I find it to be a waste of money. However, I'm kicking myself badly for not pre-ordering the ACII limited edition from Gamestop. I never pre-order games, because I think the practice is unnecessary. Games are always plentiful, even so-called limited editions. However, for whatever reason, Gamestop seems to have only ordered/produced exactly the number of ACII limited editions that were pre-ordered. If I would have known it would be so rare, I would've actually put down the money for it. A pretty sweet statue and the game's soundtrack, not to mention the DLC, would have been worth the extra cost in this case.
Displaying 1–20 of 30
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