Collector’s Editions of games are becoming more and more popular as video games slowly gain ground in today’s pop culture. Some embrace the higher prices and extra swag, while others are not so happy with some of the ridiculous price hikes. For example: the original Gears of War Collector’s Edition only jacked the price up $10, GTA IV’s crazy bundle cost $30 more, and Halo 3’s Legendary Edition was a staggering $70 over the regular edition.

So, how do we judge whether a special edition of a game is worth the dough? The items themselves really only have value to the die-hard fans and collectors, so only time and possibly online auction prices will tell how valuable these items will become. The only other measure is how well the special edition versions of the game retain their value compared to the regular versions. Some helpful charts from VGPC.com after the jump might surprise you.

Video Games Price Chart’s recent blog did some research comparing the launch prices of regular and limited/collector’s edition games to the current (as of Oct. 18, 2008) prices. They included mostly games launched within the last three years, which makes sense since the “collector’s edition” phenomenon is one that has very recently exploded in popularity among game companies.

As you can see, regular editions of games had an average of a $40 price drop. Compared to the drop of $37 for limited/collectors editions, it doesn’t seem like a huge difference. But we are talking about new games here; stores buy collector’s editions of games at a higher price than the regular editions. In turn, they can’t sustain as much of a price drop on these special editions — if they don’t drop the price enough, however, these games will only gather dust over time since most of the hardcore fans of a particular game will make sure to order and buy the special edition of the game as soon as possible after its launch. Look at Halo 3’s Legendary Edition for a good example of this: at launch it was priced at $130, and stores are now forced to slash the price down to $80 due to the slowing of sales.

However, the actual resale value of the products have more dramatic differences. This means that if you ever plan on selling your copy of a game (either to a store for credit or on eBay) then the collector’s edition of the game will retain its value much better.

In fact, collector’s editions actually have a chance of rising in value (which is the hope one always has when buying such things). VGPC reported that while all of the regular editions of games decreased in price, 3.4% of collector’s editions actually increased in value.

So, are collector’s editions worth the extra cash? The numbers here say yes. However, one last factor to consider is the individual. How much do you love a certain game or series? I am personally in love with the Persona series, so I made sure to pre-order the game for the limited edition art book and soundtrack CD, as well as the $30 Social Links Expansion pack for the game. However, I’ve never played any of the previous Fallout games (a crime, I’ve been told) so I didn’t run out and pre-order the super-extra-toys-and-stuff edition of the game.

So numbers aside, what do you readers think about this recent trend? Are you happy for the chance to get some extra swag, or do you think collector’s editions are merely a ploy for companies to get better unit sales?

Source (for information and charts): VGPC.com

Tags: Bundle, collectors edition, eBay, legendary, Limited Edition, value, Videogame Price Charts

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1 Comment » Sam Naylor on October 28, 2008 1:11 pm I don’t care about giving money to these companies as long as the collector’s stuff is actually good. They do a good job, I’ll buy. It’s capitalism! RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.