Special Editions

I am a might confused about all the special editions of games coming out... especially since most can be boiled down to something stupid in a shiny tin and nothing truly special. The Halo 3 special edition sounds great, but not plus 100 dollars great. I was just wondering, what does a special edition of a game have to include to make you want to spend the extra money. For me, I would like some extra gameplay for my extra buck... for example Mortal Kombat Deception came with the original MK in its special edition, and Doom 3 came with the original Doom 1 and 2. I think these are what special editions should be, and certainly not every game should get a special edition... but it is getting crazy, where at this point I was suprised those Burger King Games didn't have special editions.

Just a thought.

Many special editions really don't offer anything that special, only once in a blue moon does a game special edition really go above and beyond what is needed. But that's rare.

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Originally Posted by Dragon

I was just wondering, what does a special edition of a game have to include to make you want to spend the extra money.

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Oh, something like this:

http://www.ex.org/articles/2001/imag...ar_2-img-4.jpg

And the thing is, this isn't a special edition. There *is* no special edition. This was just what you got when you bought the game. If I recall correctly, it was 60 bucks when it was initially released, but it was worth it for the game itself, let alone all the extra crap they threw in. Working Designs (who more or less inspired the whole "special edition" phenomena) always knew how to give their fans that extra bit of value with their games. Their Arc the lad Collection and Growlanser Generations packaging was brilliant, as well.

The only special edition game I own is Halo 2, but that's only because it cost the same amount as the regular edition at the used game store. So as for what it would take to get me to pay more for a special edition, I really don't know. Extra bundled games like mentioned above might do it for me if I didn't already own them.

I remember a DS castlevania game offering a poster, and two extra special edition stylus' for like 5 dollars extra. That was pretty sweet.

That wasn't a special edition though. That was just a pre-order bonus you got if you actually decided to put $5 down on a pre-order. Those were fine for me considering I didn't have to pay extra to get it. And since I frequently pre-order games I want anyway, it was a bonus.

The extra games usually get re-packaged in another game in the future. HL2 CE came packaged with HL Source, and was on a DVD. Future retail version do that now without the extra dough. Doom 3 CE on Xbox had Doom 1 and 2, but pick up Resurrection of Evil, and you get the same thing.

I guess that's like the pre-order bonus for Wind Waker then, which I partook in.

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Originally Posted by Cloral

I guess that's like the pre-order bonus for Wind Waker then, which I partook in.

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Any sensible Zelda fan did.

I agree about your point of there being too many special edition games available, but I think the biggest problem I have with them is not having the option to purchase the extras separately. Say you get the game second hand for half the price, but you still want the extra. Wouldn't it be great if you could buy it online? (Ebay doesn't count, I mean from an official company store) It'd be so much better.

No, it wouldn't be great. The game companies want you to buy the game new, not used, because when you buy it used they've lost a sale. If they offer the extras separately so that people who buy the game used can get them, they're giving more incentive to get the game used.