Special Edition, Limited Edition, Collector's Edition, no thanks...

Now, is it REALLY worth the extra 10, 20, or sometimes over 30 dollars retailers want you to shell out for an upcoming game or DVD? What exactrly will this "special" edition yield? A 2'' tall figurine? An artbook that wont increase in value? A helmet that'll collect dust on my mantle? A "special" pat on the back? I'm the type of person that loathes clutter so you won't find me displaying figurines, helmets, or anything of that sort. I'll just keep going to my local game retailer to buy the "frugal" edition, thank you very much! Tell me what good will that metal case do? Will it shield you from a stray bullet or an arrow shot from a rogue elf? I dont think so. You put your disc in it, plain and simple. Not worth the extra 10 bucks. Those 10 dollars could go towards another game purchase, a bangin meal at McDonalds, or a 6'er of beer. I'd go for the latter...

Okay, let's flip this around for the collectors out there. Why is buying the collector's, limited, or special edition so essential? Hmm, well lets take Devil May Cry 4's special edition. It includes a steel case, a "bonus" DVD, another DVD with episodes of the DMC anime, and a swanky slip cover for the casing. I'll admit, its a really handsome package. Worth the price? Well...for the collector, I think so. Another example, Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. It had 3 skus and all of them did well.  The Legendary edition being the top tier of the trio included the game disc, an interactive Xbox 360 bonus disc with several featurettes, a beastiarum, Legendary DVD, and a Master Chief helmet case. The Limited edition had all of the Legendary goodies sans the helmet and DVD beastiarum.

To close this up, Special Edition, Limited Edition, Collector's Edition....whats the deal? You have space on your shelf for knick-nacks, dodads, and doohickeys? Enjoy your uber editions. If you couldn't care less about extra trinkets and a larger price tag...you know the deal. Just get the standard fare. See you online folks.