Character Design

[Andronicus]

Rather funny!

Hes right about Bayonetta though why would anyone want her guns??

Well they'd want her "guns" but I think whoever was in charge didn't understand the concept of entendre.

That's funny. I always thought "guns" was an entendre for large, muscly arms, generally on men.

Mario: Italian plumber wearing red and blue outfit indicates subject may be doing drugs, this would also explain the strange settings of all his games and the appearance of bipedal turtles and walking mushrooms as hallucinations from the characters mind.

Wuh? Wearing red and blue means you're on drugs? *changes clothes*
Anyway, welcome to the Escapist! Don't feed the trolls.

I always thought Game of the Year editions just meant it included the game with all the DLC about a year down the track. I always think hard about whether or not I want to buy the limited edition version of whatever game I'm considering getting. The last limited edition version of a game I got was the Fallout 3 limited edition, because I just loved the look of it so much I had to get the artbook, but unless I'm really itching to get my hands on a certain game that looks awesome, I just pick up the game by itself. I'm considering whether or not I'll get the FFXIII limited edition at the moment, and if I get it, I expect it will be the last one I get for a while.

 

[lifestorm2]

the whole analogy of limited editions and anime piraters who print their gloss covers for self made boxes is kind of rude and old-fashioned, don't you think? I know you're quite ancient, but just because you came out of a biological greenhouse before other people doesn't mean you can't and adapt your views. I don't see anything wrong with the proliferation limited editions both because 1)it's incentive for people to spend, and gaming as service/entertainment industry must rely on people to spend and spend, and 2)things are weird because it's not commonly done in that region, not because it's inherently strange; hey, if more people do it, that girl you bring back to your apartment filled with ugly, burly, growling men with machine guns the size of their legs which are the the size of elephant's legs might just seem...okay.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Speaking of Special Editions that didn't need to happen, Saint's Row 2 had one with a bullet shaped flash drive.

I love that thing.

 

[HentMas]

I find it kind of harsh on the comment about the people that buys special editions; I am one of the people that buy special editions just for the sake of it being "special".

let me put a background on this, I am quite a simple man, I have no other addictions besides Video Games, and well, I like special editions because those are the only "outlets" for my "impulses" I don´t buy expensive clothes, I don´t have a fancy car, I have a kid which I am sure doesn´t need anything I haven´t provided, so the only real expense (or luxury) I give myself are my Video Games, I love the helmet from Halo 3, I love the batarang and the lunch box with the bobble head, even more the night vision goggles, this expensive games I get are my way of telling myself "damn!, you are awesome, you manage to keep your family well fed and send your son to school and still have enough money to buy special editions?, now don´t get me wrong, I only buy special editions that I think are worthy of being in a special edition.

But I do understand one of the most important issues, the quality of the Special Editions, and the price of said editions is kind of disjointed, and I would like to see more of my moneys worth in those editions.

 

[Flying Dagger]

great character design?
[spoiler = ]

[/spoiler]
or was that just great writing?

anyhow i have bought special editions, but not of games, i bought the special addition of laura marling's first album, because it came with a ton of stuff, including concert tickets and a board game, and even though it was about 3 times the price of the cd, i genuinely want to support the artist so i hiked it out.

and i think that special editions are just a way of making up for piracy losses, they assume that if the people who wouldn't spend the money to play it don't, then they can recoup some by making the people who would pay more, pay more.

 

[Weaver]

I just hate when collectors editions get IN game content, that's bullshit.

 

[Del-Toro]

That's funny. I always thought "guns" was an entendre for large, muscly arms, generally on men.

That's the magic of entendre and the human imagination. As long as it would work by some stretch of the imagination it's acceptable, and even though it's an irregular use of the word guns that it would work by some stretch of the imagination makes it good. Also Austin Powers did something like this with the fem-bots so it has precedent.

 

[GodKlown]

I very much respect Yahtzee's point here in the article. I have been quite displeased at the rush to insist any idiot will believe the packaging of a game simply because it says "Special Edition". All that means is to pony up another $20-$60 to play the same game... and isn't that what it is about anyway? Who gives a flying donkey show fuck about collector's cards, dolls, posters, or soundtracks? If you enjoy all that stuff, more power to you. But it in no way constitutes making the game any more "special". GOTY editions do make sense in that some include DLC content or added maps, which actually rewards people with the patience not to run out and buy a game the day it hits the market.
I sense a lot of these companies are missing out on merch opportunities in the long run by tossing these little baubles out with the game box instead of trying to lure people in to buying the toys and posters and soundtracks apart from the game. There is a lot of cost that isn't being discussed with this premise, but the fact remains that your average 12 year old can't afford $80 for a video game. If they truly want to make a collector's anything for a video game, I could see them getting a professional to make up some figurines, charge $30 for a character from a video game and be done with the whole thing. At least make it look a little more mature instead of some goofy cartoonish looking plastic piece of crap sitting on your desk that no one gets the reference to, unless you work in a game studio. If that's the case, then you get all your swag for free anyway.
I reinforce the main point: save the "Special Editions" for games with a pedigree or a history to build from, not some flash-in-the-pan first and only run game who's studio is going in the toilet before the sales figures for the game's release week can be calculated up.

 

[Carnagath]

Game Of The Year editions and Collector's Editions are too very different things. The first ones come a long time after the release of a game and are reissues that include any extra content that has been released since then and are fully patched and polished. They are also usually sold at the same price or lower than the original game. Collector's Editions are different packages of the original game with some bonus stuff at a higher price released usually simultaneously (then of course there are collections, which include many games and are a little bit of both).

The established fanbase argument is invalid, since there is no committee out there that decides when a game is worthy of a Collector's Edition. All games have fans, even games that have sold poorly, like, say, Beyond Good And Evil or Shadow Of The Colossus. Complaining about them is meaningless. Yes, Collector's Editions are usually overpriced, but it is your choice whether you are going to spend money on this luxury or not. I would rather own ten Collector's Editions of games that I personally love than an i-pad, but, as everything, it all comes down to personal preference and priorities, but having that option at least can only be considered positive. I was happy to trade in my new copy of Assassin's Creed 2 once I realised that it kicks ass for example, fork over 25$ more and upgrade to the Collector's Edition. For the price of a KFC dinner, I consider it money well spent.

Lastly, screw all of you "digital download whores". Some games are more than just 1's and 0's; they are everlasting memories of times spent with a smile on your face and your imagination running wild. A box is a reminder of that, something to look at occasionally and remember those times, as I still do with my copies of Grim Fandango and Diablo 1 for example. Stop bitching about boxes taking up space (yes, that means you, Yahtzee). Instead, empty your liquor cabinets and fill them with games. Or move out of the basement.

 

[DragonWright]

I can be a sucker for Collector's Editions. 'Specially if they include the soundtrack.

'Course I'd like soundtracks included standard. And for the tracks to last at least five minutes, not this two minute BS, I don't care if that's all that's looping ingame.

 

[L4Y Duke]

If you remember, that barcode on the back of 47's neck is part of the game in the first one.

When you go to kill your creator, you have to use one of your clone's barcodes in order to open a door. Using your own causes you to get gassed.

 

[The Youth Counselor]

I always thought the barcode on the back of the skull was overdoing it a bit. It made me picture some kind of underworld assassin/slave market where transactions are made with a supermarket checkout scanner.

Did you play the first game in the series? That's literally what was happening. 47 and his clone "brothers" were being sold by their "father" to the highest bidder. The barcode designated their model number, he was was a model 47- someone with 47 chromosomes and could the barcode granted him certain access in the research facility.

And yeah, I'm someone who throws their hat in the ring who hates collector's editions. 50 extra dollars for a single extra item that you can use in the game and merchandise most people will never use. It rubs me the wrong way when I see my more priviliged friends have scores of that junk collecting dust, because they were pressured into buying it. I rubs me even worse when a few of my friends who were less priviliged needed help with the bills and borrowed money from me and soon I see them with a flimsy fifty-dollar plastic batarang.

 

[Jhales]

So that was how the clients checked 47 out of the Assassin supermarket.

 

[LordZ]

You should have just titled it "Bitching About Collector's Editions" so I could have skipped this article. The little bit that you included on the topic of Character Design was neither informing nor interesting. All you did was a half-assed critique of characters from twitter. The only thing in the article that might have been interesting was the blog link but if the blog is anything like your article then I'd rather not waste my time. I would say more but I really don't care to waste anymore time on this.

 

[Kollega]

I found "Design Reboot" when i discovered Yahtzee now has Twitter and was looking what's he put on it. I must say a big, big Thank You to him for pointing me to said blog, because i actually have a large intrest in that area.

 

[solidstatemind]

A salient point:
The existance of 'collectors editions' allows those who are so inclined to purchase them, and those who think they're a bunch of garbage are still not obligated to part with their money for them. (I still have yet to see of one example of where a CE gave the purchaser a definitive in-game advantage over someone who just bought the real game.)

If CEs are not your bag, please feel free to ignore them. But there has not been a single argument yet that has successfully argued that CE/LEs are damaging to gaming as a whole.

PT Barnum: "There's a sucker born every minute." If you're not the particular flavor of sucker who would drop extra money on a special edition of a game so you can get a batarang, or a soundtrack CD so you can listen to game-music in your car, or whatever, then more power to you!

But until you can prove a difinitive link between success in a game and spending more money, what is the freaking problem?

 

[theultimateend]

I have to disagree here on the collectors/limited edition thing

It is what it is A COLLECTORS edition right or a LIMITED edition
It's just what it is it's supposed to come with that stuff cause that's what it is
Limited editions most of the time include maps and soundtracks and making off's
Collectors editions go a little further and off everything thathe limited edition has + Art books,goodies,Posters,lore books and the like

I Don't see anybody ranting about buying A premium Xbox (with the hard disk) opposed to an arcade one (without hard disk) I know it's not the best of comparisons but still

Because it has more storage space than a lowly card.

That's not what I was referring to but ok

Well that was teh flaw in your example.

The functionality of the 'collectors' xbox is FAR beyond the arcade version.

They aren't even the same console because of that memory limitation.

Most collectors or limited edition games have about 2 seconds of extra content in them if that. Most of which comes out for everyone anyways if it doesn't it is largely because nobody liked it originally.

 

[Mad World]

I don't mind figurines and artwork being included in special editions. It's the exclusive game content that really gets on my nerves.

It would be nice if... you know... one could simply get the entire game when paying for it - no matter what "edition" is purchased.