Limited Editions

[Trivun]

So, I just this minute ordered the 'Join Or Die' Edition of Assassin's Creed 3 on Amazon, ready to arrive on my doorstep on release day (31st October here in the UK). While reading through, it got me thinking about limited editions of games. Now, I personally don't care about all the swag and extras and such. I don't care what my character looks like, and since I have no space for it I'd rather avoid having figurines of all the characters of a game or whatever. What I do care about, however, is the story. Oh, and multiplayer maps too I guess.

The thing is, AC3 has several 'exclusive' single-player missions, plus more story info given n the diary of George Washington, which are staples of the limited editions. Then, those extra single-player memories are split across different editions, with each edition only having one or two of the three available, and there are another four that are limited to the PS3 version of the game only (which peeves me greatly, as an Xbox 360 owner). AC has a tough-enough plot to follow at the best of times, what with the whole conspiracy of Those Who Came Before, and the Temples, and everything else. So splitting the fluff material (which I'm massively interested in) across not just several editions but also different consoles, is a little out of order, I think. Then again, this is Ubisoft we're talking about.

So really, I guess my main qustion is, what do you guys think of Limited Editions for games? Should they be used, and more importantly, should they be allowed to be used to split up extra story info or important parts of a plot for any reason?

Also, if anyone can tell me whether or not Ubisoft have announced they'll release all the single-player missions for AC3 later as DLC or anything, that would be great

 

[C F]

The thing is, AC3 has several 'exclusive' single-player missions, plus more story info given n the diary of George Washington, which are staples of the limited editions. Then, those extra single-player memories are split across different editions, with each edition only having one or two of the three available, and there are another four that are limited to the PS3 version of the game only (which peeves me greatly, as an Xbox 360 owner).

Now I don't usually get up-in-arms about this sort of stuff, but Assassin's Creed splitting some of its memories amongst choice premium packages?
That makes me sad.
And the other, sadder thing is, I can see it as an effective business practice. A horrible one that any respectful gaming company with morals wouldn't and shouldn't dare try, but still effective.

The journal thing's A-okay with me though, they did the same thing with Halo: Reach and Halsey's journal. An interesting collector's item if you're a Halo nerd, but only tangentially related to the story. It was pretty sweet, actually.

 

[Trivun]

The thing is, AC3 has several 'exclusive' single-player missions, plus more story info given n the diary of George Washington, which are staples of the limited editions. Then, those extra single-player memories are split across different editions, with each edition only having one or two of the three available, and there are another four that are limited to the PS3 version of the game only (which peeves me greatly, as an Xbox 360 owner).

Now I don't usually get up-in-arms about this sort of stuff, but Assassin's Creed splitting some of its memories amongst choice premium packages?
That makes me sad.
And the other, sadder thing is, I can see it as an effective business practice. A horrible one that any respectful gaming company with morals wouldn't and shouldn't dare try, but still effective.

The journal thing's A-okay with me though, they did the same thing with Halo: Reach and Halsey's journal. An interesting collector's item if you're a Halo nerd, but only tangentially related to the story. It was pretty sweet, actually.

I agree there, since extra content that isn't important yet still adds to the story is one thing, and fine, but I don't see why I should have to pay for extra content that is pretty important to the story unless that content was developed at a later date (i.e. not simply withheld from release). I'll still buy those extra missions if they do get made available as DLC, but I see no reason why I should have to in the first place.

Still, it's not the first time Ubisoft has done this, or worse. Remember AC Brotherhood, where a very important memory sequence (the Da Vinci Disappearance) was part of the game but locked, and you had to buy it to unlock what was already on the disc? The sequence itself was pretty amazing, but it made me sad that Ubisoft deliberately held it back just to extort more money out of us...