Does anyone relise that most special editions of games come with a cool case and "Makeing of" video? Is this really worth the extra money some developers ask for? Assasin's Creed came with the video, 7 or 8 videos based on assasins made by regular people as a contest, a figure of Altiar, and a comic book, all for reserving the game ahead of time! Thats service! If it were ten dollers more I'm gonna go ahead and ask for some kind of IN GAME extra, because everything else is pretty much junk and I don't care how you made the game(Exception: If its free, it's really cool stuff and I still don't care how you made it). Why do developers do this?

They do it because they feel that people want to know the effort that the developers put into the game. Having an in-game extra would mean there would be two different types of disc, and that could easily complicate things. Personally, I quite like the "Making Of" videos, and I use the MJOLNIR helmet from the Halo 3 legendary edition as a very effective bedside table (I put it on a coffee table next to my bed).

i have only found one game that has actually made good use of this feature: BFME: 2
From concept art, to that crazy sequence with the kick-boxer, it almost* overshadowed the crappy gameplay and overall disappointing game

What's BFME?

Oh, and that's the kind of stuff I like to see in a special edition box.

Battle for middle earth: 2
also added, the expansion of that game was the biggest rip off ever

EDIT: This is pretty much what the limited edition will get you
http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?Product%5FID=42145

Never cared for "making of" videos. I only buy special editions for the tangible extras... Special items, game soundtracks, extra levels, or the sort.

yeah i get the special editions for the extra stuffs, now i've started looking at a couple different stores when dvds come out to see which ones have better exclusives

there's the only special edition that got kinda hosed was the stranglehold one, the 360 version had not much extra, the ps3 version had the hardboiled movie on it

Well, as long as the extras provided justify the price of course. Actually, I found in some stores they have both collectors and normal editions the same price, it's always nice to find things like that hehe.

As for content, the making of, an art booklet, maybe a poster or some other feelies are always welcome, but unfortunately, only the big releases can afford to have these things. One thing though I love, is any game that comes with a map, have my walls plastered with em' :3

Honestly, no. The prices developers ask for 'special editions' are a complete joke.

My reasoning for this is what you can get most special eds off Amazon for.
Halo 3's helmet edition is pretty stable price wise.
But most drop their value like a stone. Today I got the Mass Effect spec ed box set, which is the game (duh), the prima guide, the art book and a making of dvd all in a funny pressed steel box with a full bleed print of the box art in it too. About 450pages total plus the game.
Brand new, Cost £15.47. Including postage.

Special editions tend to have limited appeal, and the kind of detail obsessed nerds (like me) that buy them are usually too tight fisted to pay the initial price.
When ME was new my local Gamestation was trying shift that for about £90, special edition pricing=joke.

(ps. They do it because it increases coverage and hype...)

Just to add more.

Try Cold Fear.
It plays quite similarly to Resident Evil 4 but on a ship in the middle of an Atlantic storm. Try lining up those headshots as the ship hits a wave, really disorienting and actually quite scary.

EDIT+
Question to the admins: I posted this in a different part of the Forum (I checked), so why has it materialised here?

Delete please.

Just a couple games to compare what preorders or spec-eds gave...

Special Edition Hellgate London (Did Buy) - Comic book, paper copy of the map, and an in-game pet Mana Wraith... The comic is actually pretty damn good, and unlike the game, I will actually put it on the shelf. The paper copy map was critical when I played because the in-game version sucked like Roseanne Barr on a chilidog. The Manawraith... Not so great. All it did was zap itself with electricity then cry, repeat until you de-summoned it.

Pre-Order of Hellgate London (Didn't) - Exclusive paint color schemes for your gear. Cool if everyone and their dog didn't have the same one since they only had three different patterns by what store you ordered from.

Special Edition Crysis (Didn't Buy)- Came with an exclusive multiplayer vehicle. Haven't played multiplayer with it yet, never intend to, thus wasn't worth it IMHO. Besides, I just KNOW they'll cave in like so many other companies and give the APC to everyone when the game gets old and tired.

Pre-Order BF2142 (Did) - Free items for pre-order, a 64MB Flash Drive made to look like a fat dogtag, cool logo on the front and the drive flips out with the press of a button. Rather handy and I still love it even when I have fell out of love with the game. Plus, a replacement to the standard EU rifle, a cooler and more deadly version rifle only available to pre-orders. Best part of the pre-order was this gun, some server rules can disable it (As such I know how bad the stock gun was compared to it). Price of pre-order - $0.99 towards the price of the game.

Special Edition Bioshock (Didn't get)- Don't know all of what came with it, but a resin miniature of Big Daddy was included (though by glitch, the Futureshop website kept showing the Big Daddy as the APC from Crysis). Wish I got it, didn't know how cool Daddy's were until it was too late.

World of Warcraft Special Ed. (Didn't Get) - All sorts of wicked looking but non-combative pets. Coolness factor 10, usefulness factor -2.

City of Heroes Special Edition

Extra costume pieces, extra power animations, original artwork booklet, free month's play and six Heroclix figures based on the characters in the game.

Not too bad.

fix-the-spade:

(ps. They do it because it increases coverage and hype...)

actually they do it mostly for collectors who they know will spend the extra money for some more bells and whistles

sadly i'd wish to see them do more things besides stuff like a steel box for the game

oblivion's collectors edition - a coin and a few extras (kinda dumb)

civ 4 special edition - with a sound track on cd and a fancy package (still lame)

prey special edition - an art book, a bonus dvd, 2 pewter figures (kinda cool)

dmc4 collectors - new case and 4 episodes of dmc anime (not bad)

fallout 3 - collectors edition has lunchbox and bubble boy, the amazon version has that AND a radiation watch (totally awesome)

gta 4 collectors - steel lockbox, cd sound track, key chain, dufflebag (good extras)

it's really hit and miss, dvds are just as bad for the most part, not enough company's putting thought into what to call a collector's edition. if it has extras call it special edition

If you never pirate anything, buy the full game and then pirate the special stuff because you already were legit about what mattered to the developer.

Once they start putting paper manuals in "normal" editions, I'll consider looking at the specials. Until then, I'm not giving the evil capitalists a penny extra of my money.

(PS - sorry about the "evil capitalist" trip I've been on recently, I got overcharged and it made me a bit mad.)

Things I would LIKE to see in special editions...

Plushies. Can't go wrong including plush Vortigants with Orange Box #2.

T-Shirts. Pre-order of Halo2 (XBox) had these wicked "Go Earth" T's... The crooked ass store that used to be in West Edmonton Mall didn't give away the shirts, instead sold them for $10 a piece after launch... Got two myself, but I can't seem to find one of them.

Mousepads. Cool game graphics on a nice mousepad never hurt as a promo.

Trinkets like BF2142's preorder flashdrive.

Novels. Serious, I got a wicked prequel-to-the-game hardcover novel titled "Terra Awakening" when I got my copy of Stonekeep. Priceless as a collectable, and a decent story to boot. And I don't mean graphic novels. Those and comics seem tacky IMHO.

Oh, and did I mention plushies? A 12-14" plush Halo-1 model Hunter would have convinced me to buy Halo 3 Legendary ed more than an unwearable plastic Spartan helm.

I think one of the most comforting special editions I got was the collector's edition of Another world. It had footage documented in 1990, it's nice to see things from that year.

I always check out what's included in the limited, special, etc. editions before I reserve, and it's typically those games that I reserve and never the others. I've only reserved three games of the such at this point.

Halo 3 Limited Edition (Not legendary) Included an extra "art" book with just some race profiles and other junk, some themes and icons, and a DVD. all in a two sided metal case. I wasn't impressed, but it was only something like ten dollars more american.

GTA IV Special Edition came with a, as stated above a small, but useful duffle bag, Art book, sound track, key chain, the game of course and all of it in a steel lockbox, which is surprisingly more useful than I first had figured it would be. I traded some fames in towards it, ones my roommates at school had persuaded me into buying (NHL 08, Madden 08, they were hockey players, and the worst lot to boot). So instead of ninety it came down to forty, and that included the strategy guide i picked up.

The third game I've recently reserved is SCIV. It comes with the game of course, along with a T-Shirt (Black for the PS3 and white for the Xbox with their respective cover art characters), an art book, a tournament kit which apparently is just a glorified reusable blank bracket card, or so I've heard, a large metal tin to throw it all in, but more importantly it comes with a redeemable code for exclusive content for the game such as weapons and/or armor and clothing. for eighty bucks I thought it was worth it, and the only cost to reserve it was ten bucks which goes towards the over all purchase of the game. Come july I'll grab it for the remaining seventy

Khell_Sennet:
Plushies. Can't go wrong including plush Vortigants with Orange Box #2.

Seconded. Is it just me, or would a 2ft tall plush Big Daddy have been absolutely awesome?

HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy did have a piece of real dressing gown fluff in it though.

Age of Mythology.

One wall-sized movie-style poster.
Six A4-sized cards with numerous pieces of artwork on.
One soundtrack CD.
One 'Making Of' video.
One 'Minotaur' figurine.

Johnn Johnston:

Khell_Sennet:
Plushies. Can't go wrong including plush Vortigants with Orange Box #2.

Seconded. Is it just me, or would a 2ft tall plush Big Daddy have been absolutely awesome?

Yes, yes it would have.

Once long long ago, C&C had one of their multi-title packs with C&C Gold and Red Alert plus expansions to both. I didn't buy (already had all the games) it but I now wish I had because it included soundtracks on CD. For Red Alert and C&C 1 the soundtracks were wicked. Later games, not as much so. Could you imagine how wicked it would be if the spec-eds of Halo, Halo 2, Jade Empire, Total Annihilation, TAK, or the Megaman games would have been if they included the soundtrack... Or plushies.

I'd give $200 for a plush Peewee from TA, $50 for each of the megaman bosses plus Megaman, Roll, Rush, Beat, and Eddie Fliptop... I'd truly honestly spend $500 if someone would make a 4ft tall plush Halo Grunt, NWN Deekin or Doom1 Pinkie.

OOH. 1.5ft Eddie Fliptop waste bins. Step on his foot to open the top.
Megaman Buster Cannon blender.
Covenant Elite Motorcycle helmets... Or Predator (as in Arnold's movie) helmets.
WoW Dancing Tauren alarm clocks
Companion Cube storage boxes
Guilty Spark SFX Doorbell chimes
BF1942/Nam/2/2142 series Micromachines, or Freelancer series micromachines.
Conker's Bad Fur Day line of NERF and Supersoaker weapons
StarControl 2 Plushies line
Limited Edition 4GB HK-47 Flash Drives
Nintendo "Boo" pillows
The possibilities are endless...

FUCK I need to get a job in game company merchandising!

I know it wasn't a "special edition" but Persona 3 kicks ass because you got extras for buying the game at regular price. Just had to buy it whenever and got an art book and soundtrack. (That game has the best soundtrack ever right under to Katamari's awesomeness)

gameking218:
Does anyone relise that most special editions of games come with a cool case and "Makeing of" video? Is this really worth the extra money some developers ask for? Assasin's Creed came with the video, 7 or 8 videos based on assasins made by regular people as a contest, a figure of Altiar, and a comic book, all for reserving the game ahead of time! Thats service! If it were ten dollers more I'm gonna go ahead and ask for some kind of IN GAME extra, because everything else is pretty much junk and I don't care how you made the game(Exception: If its free, it's really cool stuff and I still don't care how you made it). Why do developers do this?

You got all that for free? I paid an extra £20 just for the model of Altair. Plus your games are cheaper. I hate being this side of the Atlantic.

Khell_Sennet:
Things I would LIKE to see in special editions...

Plushies. Can't go wrong including plush Vortigants with Orange Box #2.

T-Shirts. Pre-order of Halo2 (XBox) had these wicked "Go Earth" T's... The crooked ass store that used to be in West Edmonton Mall didn't give away the shirts, instead sold them for $10 a piece after launch... Got two myself, but I can't seem to find one of them.

Mousepads. Cool game graphics on a nice mousepad never hurt as a promo.

Trinkets like BF2142's preorder flashdrive.

Novels. Serious, I got a wicked prequel-to-the-game hardcover novel titled "Terra Awakening" when I got my copy of Stonekeep. Priceless as a collectable, and a decent story to boot. And I don't mean graphic novels. Those and comics seem tacky IMHO.

Oh, and did I mention plushies? A 12-14" plush Halo-1 model Hunter would have convinced me to buy Halo 3 Legendary ed more than an unwearable plastic Spartan helm.

I want to be able to make a combine plush army (Everything from hunter to hoppermine) and that which wouldn't make sense to be made out of cotton, make into a plastic action figure.

I want low-cost plastic panels for mounting on walls to turn plain basic looking walls into the inside of a covenant ship. Could you imagine how sweet it would be if the inside of your home could be done up as a Covey ship, or an Earther one?

And could someone please make a Cortana sex doll.

The worst 'special' edition I've seen was Viking: Battle for Asgard. A cardboard sleeve and a feeble metal tin... with the standard plastic DVD case inside. Awesome.

i would buy the special edition, and pay extra, if...

1) i wouldnt find the same video, gamer pix, or xbox theme for free the next day.
2) i didnt have to pre order, because the last 3 games i preorderd bit me in the a-- and to this day i have yet to get past the second level of black and white 2.

cleverlymadeup:
oblivion's collectors edition - a coin and a few extras (kinda dumb)

I've been collecting as many of them coins as I can.

Me? I usually buy the special editions if it comes with something good. Even if it is just a steel case. 10 bucks extra for a case that won't break if my dog steps on it? Bonus!