Jimquisition: Limited Collector's Complete Edition

[girzwald]

The whole episode was very well said, especially the bit about confusing consumers and making everyone have to do a mountain of research to buy a damn game.

At some point, I plan to do a similar video myself about the bullshit that is the music industry and their editions (iTunes edition, SHM edition, Japanese bonus tracks, regional variations, etc.)

In the age of the internet where piracy is quite common, all these companies are doing is punishing the consumer who wants to give them their hard earned money.

http://www.cpuhack.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/PiratevsLegit.jpg - this image sums it up best.

Indeed, that image does sum it up best.

Studios would do well to just give us the freaken movie as well. Stop with the DvD/Blueray multi packs with the director cometary and interviews with random people ( I don't care what the boom guy was thinking during the shoot) with bonus games and previews and other crap. Just give us the damn movie and charge us less.

 

[burymagnets]

Thankyou Jim!

 

[Indignator]

RE: Price Cuts

Price cuts are a matter of supply and demand. Games that sell well stay at higher prices while games that sell poorly get their prices cut. It's as simple as that.

For example, right now on Steam both Modern Warfare (a game four years old) and Duke Nukem Forever (a game less than a year old) sell for $19.99. Black Ops, over a year since the original release, is still a full $59.99!

RE: DLC

There are two types of DLCs, good and bad.

The good DLCs take the form of what used to be called expansions for PC games. Borderlands and Fallout 3/NV are perfect examples of games with good DLCs. It is not only inevitable that such DLCs will be bundled in a "GOTY Edition" it is a good thing because it allows newer customers to get the full experience right out of the box.

The bad DLCs take the form of pointless extras like skin packs. The Oblivion horse armor and similar items in Dragon Age: Origins are perfect examples of bad DLC. These things do have their place though in free-to-play games. The infamous hats in Team Fortress 2 are a good example.

Finally there is the worst kind of extra content, the non-downloadable extra content. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 is an example. You bought the original MvC3 but want the extra content from UMvC3? Sorry, you can't get it a la carte, you must pony up the money for a full version of UMvC3. This is criminal* and I don't know how Capcom is still getting away with this. These sorts of things made sense back in the 80s and 90s when Capcom made their money on the arcades and it was nice that they kept making updated versions of their coin ops. But in the days of DLCs this is simply unexcusable.

*I'm being hyperbolic.

 

[MercurySteam]

I agree, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West was a shit game. Luckily I found it for $40 or something like that over the internet on release. For us who live in Australia, that's pretty good. Still, I won't play it ever again.

 

[Vault101]

My god. Jim Sterling really is right about everything. .

the only thing that annoys me is when collectors editions give you "in-game" stuff

look, Im not paying this much for pixels..I want "physical" Items people

but dont write off all collectors editions..sure its probably not worth it unless your a big fan, however if you are....theres sotmhing special about a nice box and extra things...and some are really cool

Like Infamous 2..an awsome looking big box (looks great on top of my shelf) coles backpack, and a really cool figurine/statue...I usually go for ones with figurines in them (like the batman AC one..that was awsome)

in other words...you know what your getting,

 

[SovietSecrets]

Alas I am a sucker for artbooks so I continue buying whatever edition of the game coming out. I mean hell I got Diablo 3, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, and Ninja Gaiden 3 all preordered and all collectors (though I am getting Max Payne 3 for $50). That's $330 just about without the tax included. Yet I get them because I love the stuff that it comes with and because I know I am going to love the games already. Don't mind shelling out that extra bit of cash for something I know I love.

 

[NaramSuen]

I agree 100% that the games industry has trained consumers to take a wait and see attitude with a new title. They tell you in advance that they will have DLC, which means that there will be a Game of the Year/Complete edition if you are patient enough and most likely it will retail for a much cheaper price with all content on disc. Also, any title with a sequel will likely get a bundle at some point down the road. All these things tell the savvy consumer to save their pennies.

Keep on preaching the good word Jim!

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Being a die hard Fallout fan. I got the collector's edition of Fallout 3 when it came out. The the DLC was announced, I had to buy them individually through that shitty games for windows thing. Awhile later they release the GOTY edition with everything in one disc for like 50 bucks. Needless to say I was pissed.

For New Vegas, it killed me to do it, but I didn't buy it when it came out, I was gonna wait for some edition where all the DLC was in one disc but thanks to Steam I got it with all the DLC for like 20 bucks. I think that at the very least, if you buy a Collector's Edition of a game when it comes out, all future DLC should be included for free!

 

[gphjr14]

Another reason why used games are good for the consumer and their wallets, and naysayers are either full of themselves or out of touch with reality.

 

[Kapol]

I disagree with the point about 'GOTY editions' and 'Complete Editions' of games being a bad thing. Yes, it does give people a reason to wait for it to come out. But it's not like the people who pay for it on release don't get anything. They normally get to play the game a year+ in advanced. Though it is shrinking more and more. But even 6+ months is a long time in my opinion. That's a pretty good deal for about $30-$40 depending on the added content (like the MK9 Complete seems mostly a waste to me).

As for Collector's Editions, I don't think they're inharently bad for new IPs if they follow a few simple rules. These are: Don't make it too expensive (the $200 for a new IP example falls under the just stupid price-range. I wouldn't pay that much for an IP I LOVED unless the stuff was actually completely worth it), include some good quality items in it and not just DLC, and finally, don't try making multiple versions to confuse people. I think games like Records of Argast War did it right. From what I remember, the CE was only $60, with $50 for the normal. That's only $10 and is actually the normal price for a game. I actually like that some games are making the pre-order bonuses special editions.

That brings me to multiple retailer DLC. DON'T DO THAT. There is not anything more annoying to me then having to choose between someplace I want to buy a game. I can buy it somewhere I don't like like Gamestop and get something good or someplace I do like and miss out. It's just stupid.

 

[Antari]

Easily your best video so far. I'm in total agreement with ya Jim, and Thank you! I just hope everyone listens.

 

[Erttheking]

Am I an idiot for buying ME3 collector's addition. Meh, maybe. Do I regret that choice? Meh, not really.

 

[Chad Brumfield]

Jim Sterling is a true American hero.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Thank you Jim and even if nobody listens to you at least after everything goes to shit people like me can point to your videos and say "Look! You fucking twats! He's been warning you all along and you didn't listen...YOU DIDN'T LISTEN!!!"

Hah, too true buddy. Thing is, nobody does listen. People will still buy AT LAUNCH, pretty much anything, it's in their nature. People will line up around the block to be the first to watch or buy the latest, because of hype, fanboy/girlism, or just to be cool, first, or because they just don't care about anything else and want it that bad.

It's nothing new. With the price of games climbing, the DRM and updates, extra software and patches needed, day one DLC, just no matter what fucking happens people will still line up around the block to be the first, and it will sell like all shit on the first day. So if the "evil publishers" can get away with it, they'll damn well do it. That's not to say the games aren't getting better and a million times more elaborate and still don't warrant these price hikes, but the pubs are just trying to make money, like any Bill Gates or Joe Blow.

 

[DoubleChops]

Thankyoou Mr. Sterling (in monotone primary classroom voice)

 

[Metalrocks]

pretty true. im also never happy if i have to get a DLC which still costs some money. i got my self the CE of ME2 which cost me 120AUD. and later on i still had to get the DLCs for this game. i was always wondering why i dint had access in to these 2 rooms on the normandy.

AC2 was different. you got at least the whole lot, including a statue of ezio (always on my desk) and the additional levels. yes, i did pay more but at least i had the whole lot.
deus ex HR the missing link was at least worth the money. even it should have been in the final version, it was very good and if you play in stealth mode, i actually got out over 8 hours of game play.

but i do agree that if the publisher bring out a game no one has really heard of or how it will be, this is really stupid and almost false advertising.

 

[Irridium]

Firsly i would just like to say;

[HEADING=2]You should NEVER feel guilty for buying used, it is your RIGHT as a consumer.[/HEADING]

I have to say that I don't really understand this argument.

It's also my right as a human being to seclude myself in my apartment, live in my own filth, and die at the age of 30 from a heart-attack caused by overwhelming obesity.

Does the fact that one has the right to do this mean that one shouldn't be embarrassed or feel guilty for leading such a life?

No, I'm not saying that these two things are exactly equivalent, but can you at least see where I'm coming from?

I'm not saying this because I think buying used is something to feel guilty about (not especially anyway), but rather because I see this argument that "If it's my right to do something then it's always perfectly acceptable to do it and there shouldn't be any negative consequences" so often.

And it's just so dumb.

"Wall of text that I don't in any way disagree with"

Well I DID say that I didn't think they were equivalent and that buying used games wasn't something to feel guilty over.

The only thing I took any umbrage with is the argument that the fact that it's your right to do something makes it perfectly acceptable.

So I hardly understand the purpose of your response.

Some things that are in your right to do are perfectly acceptable. Some things aren't. Depends on who you are and what the right in question is.

 

[Zom-B]

Firsly i would just like to say;

[HEADING=2]You should NEVER feel guilty for buying used, it is your RIGHT as a consumer.[/HEADING]

I have to say that I don't really understand this argument.

It's also my right as a human being to seclude myself in my apartment, live in my own filth, and die at the age of 30 from a heart-attack caused by overwhelming obesity.

Does the fact that one has the right to do this mean that one shouldn't be embarrassed or feel guilty for leading such a life?

No, I'm not saying that these two things are exactly equivalent, but can you at least see where I'm coming from?

I'm not saying this because I think buying used is something to feel guilty about (not especially anyway), but rather because I see this argument that "If it's my right to do something then it's always perfectly acceptable to do it and there shouldn't be any negative consequences" so often.

And it's just so dumb.

"Wall of text that I don't in any way disagree with"

Well I DID say that I didn't think they were equivalent and that buying used games wasn't something to feel guilty over.

The only thing I took any umbrage with is the argument that the fact that it's your right to do something makes it perfectly acceptable.

So I hardly understand the purpose of your response.

Well, acceptable is entirely subjective. Some people think that it's entirely within a person's rights to die at the time of their choosing, especially if they are living in pain or with a terminal disease. Yet some people also think that's not acceptable.

In many places it's a woman's right to have an abortion and yet some people don't think that's acceptable too.

My point is YOU only get to choose what is acceptable for YOU. While I would never endorse living in your own filth and dieing of obesity at 30, it's also not my place to tell people they can't do that.

Whatever your position is, you're drawing comparisons between used sales and terrible lifestyle choices. It casts used sales in a negative light, which is the only reason I can think of to make such a comparison. Since you didn't compare used sales to something positive I can only infer you take a negative view of them.

 

[Morbira]

Remember that Extra Consideration bit they used to do on here, Jim? I'd love to see you and Yahtzee have a back and forth debate over some of these issues in more depth. Both of you have my highest respect for your insightful and entertaining analysis of the gaming industry and culture. Considering the used games debate pits you both on opposite ends, I think the discussion would be very informative and entertaining.

Also, THANK GOD FOR JIM STERLING!