Collector's Editions Are Worth the Asking Price to Me

The biggest gaming releases often include a number of versions or editions you can purchase. It's almost laughable that companies often feel compelled to release graphics so that you can discern what each edition includes. Nonetheless, something that always catches my eye is a comprehensive collector's edition.

Now, when I mention a collector's edition, I'm not talking about a game that comes with an art book and maybe a mini-soundtrack. For me to bite the bullet, it has to include something completely unique. For example, my favorite game is Final Fantasy Tactics, so you better believe I preordered the Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Collector's Box. In it, you'll find a couple of things related to the game's art, but it also has three chocobo plushes, a Ramza Beoulve figure, a Zodiac Stone magnet set, and this amazing pop-up art of the Outlying Church location.

I hate to admit it, but it being limited also increases its appeal to me. I fully realize companies that do this are exploiting FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), but I adore everything about Final Fantasy Tactics. As someone with every edition of the game, as well as the figures associated with it, the value is there for me.

Make no mistake, spending $200 on the Collector's Box isn't something I do lightly. Ever since games started to hover around the $70 price point, I've been much more selective about what I'm willing to purchase. In fact, I've never paid $70 for a game that wasn't a special edition of some sort, and I'll certainly maintain that streak for $80 games, for a variety of reasons.

Games Often Have Problems on Release

I'll be blunt and say that with the state so many games release in now, I often feel like a beta tester. I understand they are significantly bigger and more complex than they were years ago, but that doesn't excuse launching something that clearly isn't optimized, especially for PC players. DOOM: The Dark Ages and Monster Hunter Wilds are just two recent high-profile examples. I should note the latter is still getting review-bombed because, despite coming out in February, PC players continue to have serious performance issues.

Think about some of your favorite games that came out within the last five to 10 years. I'll bet any amount of money that playing most of them now is a significantly better experience because the developers added quality-of-life changes and optimizations based on player feedback. I know the famous "day one patch" and numerous title updates will make a game better, so why would I pay full price to get less now than I would if I waited for the developers to iron things out?

Frequent Sales and Discounts Provide an Incentive to Wait

Speaking of paying full price, your purchasing restraint is often rewarded with a sale of some kind. Between Steam, PlayStation, Microsoft, and Nintendo, there's almost always some kind of sale happening. Steam in particular is known for its frequent sales, with its biggest ones coinciding with every season of the year. This means every three months or so, there's a good chance that the game(s) you've been eying will be discounted.

Nintendo may be notoriously stingy with discounting first-party games, but most publishers also host their own sales, as well as random events where their games are far from full price. I remember Square Enix used to have warehouse sales where physical copies of games were around 70% to 80% off. I got some amazing games that were hard to find at the time, like the Nintendo DS version of Chrono Trigger and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII.

Too often have I felt the sting of finally buying a game I wanted, just to see it heavily discounted a week or two later.

“Complete” Editions Often Come Out Later

One of the biggest reasons I don't pay full price for games, at least AAA games, is the release of a better or "Complete" edition down the line. If a game has an expansion or season pass of some kind, a comprehensive package with everything included will often come out later. In some cases, this final version is cheaper than the original game was at launch.

One of my favorite examples of this is Street Fighter V, a brilliant game that made a terrible first impression. As someone with thousands of hours in Street Fighter IV, I was more than excited about the sequel and even got into one of the beta tests. The game itself played fine in the beta, but the state it officially launched in was laughable.

At release, we had only 16 characters, a bare-bones single-player experience (not even Arcade Mode was included), input lag, netcode problems, and a lack of online modes present in Street Fighter IV. That's not even taking into consideration how many season passes the game has (five, by the way), so if you wanted every character, the DLC was an added cost on top of what you already paid for the base game.

It took several years before the community's perception of Street Fighter V began to change for the better. Now, if you buy Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, you'll get all the content from the original release and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition (excluding certain costumes and Capcom Pro Tour DLC), which includes game mode additions and balance updates. Essentially, you'll get the best version of the game.

On a similar note, did you know that when Spyro Reignited Trilogy launched, only the first game was on the disc? That meant if you bought the physical version and wanted to play the other two games in the trilogy, you needed an internet connection to download them. The whole point of buying a physical game is to have it all on the disc, and it wasn't until the game was reprinted later on that players actually had access to every game in the bundle.

There Are Plenty of Cheaper, Amazing Games Out There

We live in an age where expensive AAA games are far from the only ones to choose from. Some of the best experiences you'll ever have are from tiny studios and developers, and at a fraction of the cost. Games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered are truly incredible adventures that will keep you entertained for dozens of hours while being $20 less than most of their competitors.

For those looking for good multiplayer games, the free-to-play space is brimming with options, with one of my personal favorites being Marvel Rivals. Games like Rocket League, Apex Legends, and Fortnite can all be enjoyed without spending a dime, though you can buy cosmetics and characters.

I'd never tell someone how to spend their money, but, for every game coming out, chances are there are others that play similarly, and at a lower price point. For instance, I mentioned Monster Hunter Wilds earlier. There are at least seven other games to play if you love Monster Hunter's gameplay loop.

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Despite the many negatives I've discussed, I know you can easily justify paying full price for a game. Naturally, there are plenty that launch content-complete, and with minimal issues for players. What I am saying, however, is that there's always an argument that can be made for us to wait before we buy them.

That is, unless the game has an incredible collector's edition.