Jimquisition: Watch Dogs - Five Collector's Editions For One Game? What? F*$%ing WHAT?

[Seracen]

This is just disgusting. I actually had expiring store credit that I applied to my preorder. Despite the fact that I'm only paying $30 for the game after all the deals, I am still almost tempted to just move the preorder, potentially losing the credit in the process.

It galls me to support such a business practice, esp considering the inevitable GOTY edition release...

 

[Thanatos2k]

Thank God for not caring about Collectors Editions, Special Editions, or What-have-you Editions. Their impractically large boxes and kitschy statues are apparently the reason I should pay more money. Well, joke's on you, industry.

The thing that bugs me is that you're seeing additional in-game content, like missions and story material, in sets like this. I don't care much about plastic crap that comes with the games, but when I see a bunch of missions offered as DLC, I can't help but wonder how much longer the game would be if it weren't diced up for pre-orders.

Not that I have a lot of experience with pre-order bonus missions, but these usually seem like tacked on extra content for the sake of getting people to pre-order. This certainly seemed the case with Assassin's Creed 4. I don't think I ever played a game thinking 'Hmm, something's missing here...' only to find out later that there was extra content only available by pre-ordering that would've made the game experience feel more complete.

The only special/collectors edition I ever bought was Dark Souls, and that was because those were the only copies they had left and were priced the same as the regular version. And it just had a little art book and the soundtrack on CD. Anyway, that being the only one, I never felt like I was missing out on actual game content by not pre-ordering.

Maybe there have been games where single-player/story content was locked away at the admission of pre-ordering, but I (thankfully) have never come across them. DLC generally pissed me off more in that respect. The Mass Effect games specifically.

How about Assassin's Creed 2, when they do a timeskip and skip over entire chapters that they later sold as DLC?

I sure as hell noticed that there was something missing.

 

[Stealth]

Hes right, too many collectors

 

[Baresark]

That is some real bullshit. I mean, I was kind of on the fence about this game... but this really beat that out of me. That chart is bullshit. Usually, the further right the more you get, it's not usually all over the place. It doesn't make it easy to find what you want. Now I'm just gonna wait till the GOTY Edition comes out before I even consider it. I would certainly never preorder a special edition for a game that is the first in the series. But, I'm sure some people will preorder that and love it. It's their money I guess.

 

[LazyAza]

Yeah stuff like this is a big part of why I don't buy many games anymore, least not until they're dirt cheap because they're on sale and all the parts that should have been included from the start are.

But with Watch Dogs I never gave a fuck, everything about the game seems boring, cliche and generic and the dlc and preorder stuff just makes me even less interested.

 

[jpoon]

Spot on Jim. I have had the same feel for a long time and you said it right.
This BS needs to be realized by the shitheads that make these decisions for so many publishers. Advertising is like a poison after a point and I've damn well had more than my fill.

I would like to see the game turn out great but I won't be buying it on day 1.

 

[CH_Gorog]

Great video, Jim! Always look forward to what you have to say on the industry.

 

[The Great JT]

Times like this I'm glad I'm not interested in Watch_Dogs.

 

[Cerebrawl]

If I'm feeling charitable I might buy the inevitable GOTY/Definitive edition in 2-3 years when it's on 75% off on steamsale. I'm certainly not buying it as its being marketed now.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

I definitely feel like Ubisoft are wishing me a big "Fuck you, you cheapskate only pre-ordering" No added extras for you.

 

[Hutzpah Chicken]

I don't understand why everyone is so surprised or shocked that this sort of thing will happen. This is how the industry is progressing. If you wish to change the industry, simply don't buy these products. If larger and larger groups of individuals start doing this, the industry will be forced to change their tactics.

That gives the Escapist users some options. One could try and reach out to the larger gaming community and lobby your point or find other games to play.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Would it really have been so hard to add a "complete" edition for those who want everything? Just to make it SLIGHTLY convenient for people who have the money to spend on that extra crap?

 

[Blackpapa]

The choice is pretty clear to me. If the ORBIT DRM system is still in place, the cracked edition. If the game holds up to it's promises, I'll be getting the GOTY edition once ubisoft gets all the DLC out of their system.

 

[el_kabong]

I think the true shame is that the pre-order system has been incredibly beneficial to AAA developers and I don't see that benefit decreasing in any way. Not only does this allow them to potentially hook people for multiple editions of the same game with slightly modified content as mentioned in the video, it also helps AAA developers eliminate over-production, which is a type of business waste caused by creating more product than is immediately required.

Take the infamous ET game. If that game came out now with pre-orders, the publisher would already have a pretty good idea of how well it will sell prior to the game actually being in production. They still might end up eating high development costs, but they won't need to find a place in the desert to bury wasted stock. In that way, they are able to kick the can further down the road. Simultaneously, this puts most risk in the development phase, which exacerbates AAA's fear of IPs that are not sequels or clones of other successful franchises.

At the end of the day and for a lot more reasons that I won't go into here, I don't believe pre-orders and the slimy practices found there-in will be getting any better.

 

[Jadedvet]

I think what UBI is doing is foolish but nothing to get angry about. The gaming industry has taught me, through this kind of thing to never buy at launch and I will simply apply what I have learned to Watch Dogs.

Running about a year behind the release schedule gets you better games, cheaper. Especially true for PC gaming.

 

[Saltyk]

You know, I rather liked the Spread Sheet that explained the differences between the PS4 and Xbox One. But one to explain the differences between different versions of a game...

Also, five different versions of the Collector's Edition? Five? FIVE!?
Mega Jesus Christ. That's just ridiculous. That's way too many versions.

I agree with something else Jim touched on. I like a lot of things at their core. I like Preorder bonuses and DLC. But not when the Preorder Bonus and DLC is stuff that I use to get for free. Back when I had games that had multiple paths and endings and sometime just accomplishing certain tasks in the game was enough to unlock another path to take.

Remember back when you unlocked all the addition characters and content just by playing the game? Pepperidge Farms remembers. And so do I.

 

[stickmangrit]

Cool Story Bro Time:

i've never quite understood the purpose of collector's editions, at least in terms of what's included in them by publishers/devs. i worked at a GameStop in South Carolina for two years(worked the Black Friday of the Wii/PS3 launch and the one after), and in that entire time i saw one, ONE, collector's edition that when i saw what came with it i thought "oh that's fucking awesome!" and that was Unreal Tournament 3 for PC. for those not familiar, it included six hours worth of video tutorials on how to utilize the included toolsets to make mods and maps, which, asied from being the backbone of that particular franchise, is one of the single coolest things i've ever seen in a collector's edition. it added genuine, tangible value to dropping an extra twenty bucks for the game. it was the only time i've ever seen a CE include something that was absolutely WORTH the extra cost.