Welcome to Party Chat, the weekly Q&A where the Girls on Games team answer the pressing (and not so pressing) how, why and what-if’s of the gaming universe.
This week’s question: What is your favorite special, limited or collector’s edition of a game & why?
Stephanie:
“So Japanese pre-orders are the absolute worst because it’s so expensive to ship them to Canada. The “Premium” Japanese version of Hyrule Warriors had a wicked scarf, triforce clock, and a neat little treasure chest. I was ridiculously tempted to have my friend living in Japan order it for me and ship it to Canada, but decided against it because I didn’t want to have her go to all of that trouble. After it sold out, someone on my Facebook ended up getting the pre-order items and shared pictures. She said they were amazing and I was super jealous.”
Devin:
“I’ve fallen out of love with Collector’s Editions. Time used to be when only the grandest of titles received a collector’s edition. These were the cream of the crop, the titles we all wanted, the titles we wanted something collectible for. Now every game gets a steel case, a cloth map, and a figurine. It feels disingenuous. That being said there are collector’s editions I think are damned sexy, and a collector’s edition I’ve liked, so let’s get to this
Collector’s Edition I’ve owned: Infamous 2: Hero’s Edition. This was a nice one. Low on in-game bonuses (which are on par with day-one DLC for me) and containing items I’d actually like. This came with a statue of Cole that sat on my desk at work for many years until a “Clean desk space” rule was implemented and I had to take Cole home. What I loved most was the back pack. You got a BACK PACK! I used that pack every day until the strips literally disintegrated, but the quality was there, and you could tell it wasn’t a cash grab.
Collector’s Edition I’m looking forward to: Borderlands Handsome Collection – Claptrap-In-A-Box Edition. The price for this one is rather high, and extremely unattainable for me, but I adore the concept of this item. A very limited number are being made, reinforcing the “Collector’s edition” status of the product. It comes with your typical lithographs, custom box, and a FRAKING REMOTE CONTROLLED CLAPTRAP. I really don’t think I need to repeat myself. It balances on a single wheel. Kudos to Gearbox, you nailed this one!”
Catherine Smith-Desbiens:
“I’m not the collecting type. I’ve only really spent money on collectors edition of WoW to get special in-game mounts and vanity pets. Not a good investment considering I stopped playing altogether.”
Simon:
“I’ve always had a special place at all my computer desks for all the World of Warcraft Collectors Editions. They don’t really have anything out of the ordinary, but there’s something about seeing them, all lined up one next to each other, that brings me pure joy. Unfortunately, I’m missing the very first game release collector’s edition box. One day I’ll get my hands on it!”
Catherine Ashley:
“Ouuu, love the question. Okay, so I have two favourite Collector’s Edition from two different games. The first being Halo 3’s Legendary Edition. It was the Master Chief replica helmet that was quite big (big enough that I was able to put it in front of my face in a picture and made it look like I had the Chief for a head). They also threw in a few DVDs for good measure. But yeah, having the Chief’s helmet near me at all times makes me happy.
My other favourite Collector’s Edition is Bioshock 2’s. The game wasn’t my favourite (even though it’s really not as bad as everyone says) but man did they do a kickass job on their special edition. It came with some “vintage” posters depicting ads from the game (which I’ve yet to put up), Bioshock’s original score on vinyl, a CD of Bioshock 2’s score AND a sweet art book. Content-wise, this special edition is really hard to beat (it’s still better than Bioshock Infinite, which is pretty sick as well).”
Do you have a favorite collector’s edition? Have you ever gone above and beyond to get your hands on a limited edition version of a game? Let us know in the comment section below or on Facebook and Twitter.