[The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Just Push Start.]
We all saw it coming, but we never expected the price tag that was slapped on it. For those of you who haven’t seen what Bethesda has done recently, a collector’s edition for Skyrim was announced and included what seemed to be some awesome goodies. You get a 200 page artbook, a special metal case, a making of DVD and a 12″ statue of Alduin, the World Eater. All of this for a cheap low price of…$149.99???? Woah lets slow it down a bit Bethesda, what is this Call of Duty?
All jokes aside after seeing this price I was extremely turned off to the idea of purchasing the collector’s edition and a little disappointed in Bethesda for the trip into unnecessary content department. I am super pumped for Skyrim and was so close to putting all my money down on this until I realized that this was just a way to exploit people like me into giving away huge sums of money on a hobby that already costs me enough. I understand wanting to make more money off of the immense hype on this game, but $150 is a steep price for these items and now it just seems that Bethesda is pulling what Activision does with all their Veteran Call of Duty collector’s editions.
First off the Alduin statue is made of what they claim to be “high quality PVC.” Congrats, you just paid for piping and the wages of the worker who pressed the button to manufacture them by the hundreds. This doesn’t scream “top notch quality” to me. This screams “what material can we make these out of that is cheap and will turn us the biggest profit?” My next problem with it is the making of DVD, something that they include in the package that you paid a hefty sum for. Why would you even want this when you can just watch developer diaries on the internet on the progress of the game? Makes little sense to me. The only thing worth looking twice at in this package is the 200 page art book, but why look at art when you have the finished product in front of you?
There are other collector’s editions out there that are just as bad, but some of them are actually worth the privce paid. The Batman: Arkham City collector’s edition is an example of one that includes enough to warrant its $99.99 price point. For $50 less than Skyrim’s you get: A Batman Statue and stand, early access to the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns skin, collectible art book, Batman: Arkham City album from WaterTower Music including original songs by hit artists, available via digital redemption, bonus DC Universe animated original movie, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Four collectible cards. Bethesda you should be ashamed.
The whole point of this rant is simply to encourage those of you who feel like some of these collector’s editions are worth it to second guess what you are paying for. When you are looking at a collector’s edition consider the price, how much is being offered compared to the price and the quality of the items included in the package. I made the mistake of giving into the hype of a game and shelled out more than I should have on a crappy collector’s edition. Now I stay clear of them due to how little attention developers give them. Most simply throw a few things in and slap a ridiculous price on it just because of the magnitude of the hype surrounding it.
Christian
August 7, 2011 at 5:59 AMYeah, i also decided not to buy the Collector’s Edition after waiting for it’s announcement. It’s just not worth it.
Anon
August 7, 2011 at 6:36 AMYour points are very debatable. Look at the Batman CE with a little more scrutiny. But first, a list of what you get in each
Skyrim Batman
Statue Statue
Art Book Art Book
Bonus DVD Bonus DVD
OST
4 Cards
Digital Content
Now that’s putting it very simply. However; The Digital Content costs the developers nothing to include. It’s content that should be in the game, but they’re charging you money to play it early. The Bonus DVD is comparable to Skyrim’s; anything you said about one you can say about the other (and you said the dev dairies can be seen online; they can’t). The PC version of Skyrim atleast will come with the OST (no luck for console gamers). The Batman statue looks to be about a 3rd the size of Skyrim’s, and doesn’t have any colour on it. And yes, it’s made of PVC. Are you familiar with the materials properties outside of piping?
And finally the art book. Which do you think is worth more? An A6 saddle stiched, 20 page paper back booklet or an A4, hardback, perfect bound 200 page one? But oh, you think an art book doesn’t have any value because you’re playing the finished game already.
Middlefinger
August 7, 2011 at 8:45 AMI called apparently 12 hours after it was announced to upgrade and they’d apparently already sold out for that time. They seem to be selling quite well.
Tim Hamilton
August 7, 2011 at 9:36 AMI have no problem with ordering the collectors edition, the choice is there for people who want it to buy iy.. if you don’t want the statue and dvd etc, then dont buy it.. why people get so offended at these things is beyond me… I have mine on preorder now and have no qualms with paying £129 for it, ^_^
Anon
August 7, 2011 at 11:48 AM^ Feels a bit shilly in the comments.
If you exaggerated your facts, or skipped over the blatently obvious anymore you’d might as well change your name from Anon to “IWorkForBethesda”
The Batman statue is about 2/3rds of the size, and from a well-known and very good company. The Artbook is superior, I’ll give you that. Looks like something I’d want for sure. The DVD is a moot point, no one really watches them either way, and YES they will be available to watch online. There will always be ways for that, easily.
Taxes in, the Skyrim CE will be more than double the cost of the game. That’s a cash-grab, and you know it.
Dovahkiin
August 7, 2011 at 12:04 PMConsidering how lame Bioware CE’s have been lately with 99% DLC unlocks at launch, I’m so glad Bethesda don’t disrespect their customers the same way. It may look a little underwhelming, but at least they’re honest and not hiding behind launch DLC. The making-of DVD is a tradition for Bethesda, I’d just wish they’d skipped the art book (save the art for the inevitable 1000 page prima guide), and instead have a soundtrack CD and lore book/paperback novel included instead. Considering the Elder Scrolls rich heritage, you’d think their lead writers could produce a novel to include, and it’d be dirt cheap to do, and a perfect way to enrich the experience. The new DeusEx has a prequel novel, and even Battlefield 3 is supposed to have an accompanying paperback.
Anyway if you want a ripoff, look at Aussies paying $200+ for Uncharted 3 Explorer Ed. which is almost identical to the US Collector Ed. selling at $99 USD, and the AUD is worth more atm. That kind of price abuse doesn’t go unnoticed Sony. Sony = relentless GREED.
Regardless, at the end of the day Bethesda have longer development cycles than a lot of Studios and produce a level of quality and content that far exceeds their contemporaries. Even if Elder Scrolls games were to cost twice as much, they’d still be worth ever cent, and it’s a remarkable achievement that the studio can turn a profit given what they must spend in creating the high detail game assets for the world. I’ll pay them whatever they ask for if it means they can keep making quality RPGs like Skyrim. I doubt any of the modern FPS blockbusters they spit out annually would come close to what they have to spend to make something like this.
IMO ppl are lucky the std ed is so cheap (and purely a reflection of the weak economy). Fact is the USD aint worth what it used to, and Publishing Houses are very bluntly trying to move US expectations of prices well across the $100 barrier to close the gap with the rest of the world they have been ripping off for decades. The drop in USD means ppl are going to be in for a rude awakening in the coming years as game prices escalate as fast as Publishers think they can get away with it without hurting sales. What that translates to is more pain for consumers on blockbuster releases like StarCraft2 xpacs/Diablo3 etc. Oh, and there’ll be many more blockbusters to empty your wallets too, since investors are flocking to strong sectors like gaming.
Phoenix
August 7, 2011 at 12:43 PMI will definately buy the collectors. I don’t really mind. I like art books and I like statues. Skyrim is not like any other game. You can play it for SOOOOOO LONG. For me, thats already a lot (even in terms of value) compare to many other games where you can finish in 3 hours.
I will preorder as soon as they put it up in canadian websites ( amazon.ca or ebgames.ca ) Right now , they don’t have it yet! I really want to preorder it!
wtf
August 7, 2011 at 12:48 PM“why look at art when you have the finished product in front of you?”
Ok I agree this collector’s edition is overpriced, but that is kind of a dumb thing to say. I love looking at concept art.
On a side note, I’m hoping they will eventually start selling the book by itself. I already pre-ordered the game months ago and I refuse to buy this collector’s edition.
Andrew
August 7, 2011 at 2:58 PMBuying a collector’s edition is retarded. $150 for a game when were in one of the worst recessions ever? I sure hope to God I don’t see any of you guys walking in line for a welfare check, God forbid!
People are so stupid with their money and yet still demand things like national healthcare because they can’t afford it or social security which is bankrupt. Damn fools. On top of that Bethesda is jumping on the $60 for a game train. Screw them.
BW
August 7, 2011 at 9:24 PMA collector’s edition is exactly that. An edition for collectors. If you dont want it then who cares. You really can’t compared Skyrim to Arkham. Sure batman gives you a lot of items but they’re just a bunch of miscellaneous things without much effort. A puny artbook barely worth 5 bucks, a 99cent skin, a 10 dollar statue, some dlc worth maybe 5 bucks, worthless cards, and some music. I really don’t see what you’re going on about it being “worth” a $99 price tag.
Skyrim gives you a MASSIVE art book which would probably retail at around 40-50 bucks. A 12 inch statue (decent material-better than that batman statue for sure) made by IPFactory over at Gaming Heads which would probably retail at around $100. (they make quality statues which retail for over $200.) And a nice burlap feel map.
Yes the price tag is hefty but its a decent deal if you’re a fan of collectable quality game statues. This is a poorly written article with little knowledge of anything. You equate quantity over quality and make idiotic statements like “The only thing worth looking twice at in this package is the 200 page art book, but why look at art when you have the finished product in front of you?” I dont know why I bothered responding to this but I just wanted to let you know, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Its too bad you wasted money on crappy collectors edition but the items to include in the Skyrim collectors edition were thought about by the developers and what the fans would want. Not some crappy misc items you’re not gonna look at after you unbox the game and throw away in a couple of weeks.
Jamie
August 7, 2011 at 10:07 PMI too was waiting for the CE to be announced only to be considerably disappointed. The content sounds great, but it adds an additional $90.00 to the price. Just not worth it to me. The Batman is a bit overpriced too, considering what you get. Except for the statue, everything arrives in digital format and some of it is recycled. Can I please get a discount for having to take Batman: Gotham Knights as part of the package?
Seriously, Skyrim’s CE looks astounding, but $150.00 is just a bit too much to take.
chris
August 8, 2011 at 2:53 AMi personally loved collectors editions for the content you get, and i love the dlc codes you get with most but again they are already ingame and usually not used after 5 mins because you have found something better. Skyrims collectors has actual things you can keep and a true fan will be happy with that, PVC figurings are very expensive so im not surprised about the price. if you break it down for me its gonna be $11.50 a week put aside until release day and its paid off so stop complaining
Ben Munton
August 8, 2011 at 4:40 AMI totally agree with the author on this one. But why should you be complaining about the price? Us Aussies have to pay double for the standard edition, making it $119.95 and an extra $50 for the collectors edition making it $200.00. Please, save your complaints and think about other countries which are paying more, even double the amount you’re paying.
But nonetheless, I’m still going to get Skyrim. I wont be getting the collectors edition but the only thing I care about is the game. That’s why we’re buying it for, right? Not for some shitty little statue made out of PVC piping.
Sinere
August 8, 2011 at 8:19 AMThink of it this way, if you only care about the game, then just stick to it. If other people want to “waste” their money on a statue and some other “useless” content, let them.
If Bethesda manages to sell every Collector’s Edition of Skyrim, it will probably make them more hyped in making a sequel of The Elder Scrolls. That means they will put much more work into the next game. Of course the price for that next CE is probably going to be more expensive, but that just means that the franchise is selling well.
SilentHill84
August 8, 2011 at 8:24 AMBen Munton I’m glad someone else shares my view no offense to Americans but I ofren hear them complaining online and on various forums how much games are and the prices for videogames are too high etc. Like you said other countries are paying double even more than what the U.S. pays for games and Special/Collector’s Editions. I am from the UK and we pay much more than U.S.does. for videogames and especially game consoles. Of course I know not all U.S. gamers are like this but when I see people complaining about videogames prices they’re usually American.
Miguel A.
August 8, 2011 at 9:23 AMOk, so basically, you think that they’re supposed make this based off of your budget and spend a crap load of money and sell it at a loss so you can be happy? No! I’m getting the collector’s addition because I have the money and it’s definitely worth it if you’re not a cheapskate. That’s basically what this boils down to is you being too cheap to want to support the company and give them a little extra profit. Get over yourself.
Brightstreak
August 8, 2011 at 11:18 AMInsane costs!! for practically nothing. it’s not even like the words on the wall glow or anything
PsychoAlfy
August 10, 2011 at 12:13 AMPeople stop complaining, its annoying. if you dont want the CE cause its to pricey then dont get it. Bethesda put more time and effort into this game then you think, they know some fans want quality collectors item. Besides $150? some people have it much worse where they have a hard just just affording game itself. IF you can afford the CE but just dont want it because you think its to much then just keep it to yourself cause complaining isnt helping, it just makes you seem immature. As a Elder Scrolls game lover i will get the CE its the only game i ever preordered and might be last so i want to get what i can. remember if you can afford the game but just dont want the CE cause its to much to you then dont be saying the CE sucks just cause you think its to much, thats insulting to people who want it.
karmorda
August 23, 2011 at 9:57 PMAt least the Skyrim CE come with not only a case, but a metal one. With Batman Arkham City CE you get a paper sleeve, WTF *people who made Arkham city*????
Ashh
August 24, 2011 at 5:28 PMIf you do not want the collectors edition .. Then dont get it!! They are releasing a limited quantity of these and when they have sold out, despite the “debatable quality” of these items, particularly the Alduin statue, will be incredibly high. For example, they produced Elder Scrolls coins for the release of ES IV: Oblivion for only two weeks, now the coins go for around $100 on online sites and even more when you go to an actual gaming convention. But as i said earlier, if your not a hard core fan of a game and dont wont to get the collectors edition, then dont. It is pointless and quiet honestly pathetic that you have nothing better to do than try and ruin a perfectly good thing for people who actually enjoy “geeking out” when it comes to their favorite game.
JoeTheMighty
August 29, 2011 at 4:25 PMYea thanks for the perspective.. ive already decided that the Skyrim collecters edition does not benifit the customers at all & i advise not to buy.. I actually have respect for Bethesda & Todd Howard, but its slowly melting away with this.. makes me think of the Skyrim DLC.. will they have the same quality as a recycled PVC pipe aswell? This is the only game im intrested in. Ive played enough multiplayer shooters to the point where ill never buy another.. im to good at them now & its just boring to me.. They can change the landscape & the guns but its all the same, Run around and kill eachother, over & over.. & over.. Skyrim for me will be amazing & much needed.. No other games appeal to me & probly never will.. Television is spamed with commercials & i cant stand to watch it anymore. Im counting on skyrim to give me mental stimulation & pleasure in my spare time.. if it fails then im done gaming for good.. But im kinda hoping that Skyrim is so big & beautiful that they just cant fit all there ideas on one disc.. and thats the purpose of the early DLC talk.. YOU BETTER NOT SKIMP MY BAG TODD! LOL”
BabyFacedBarbarian
August 29, 2011 at 4:50 PMThe CE is optional, dont freakout. Some people really get into this stuff and want everything that is available for the game ya kno, Have you ever been to a comicon? Theres people out there that get married dressed as darth vader & have ewoks as best men 4real. They just do what they do. But aaaa JoeTheMighty You hit the nail right on the head, Shooters are a dying breed in my opinion fellas like us are going to have to enlist in the marine core for excitment if they dont step up ”
THK
August 29, 2011 at 4:53 PMwho cares
Who cares about Aussies?
September 6, 2011 at 12:48 PMSeriously, why are you aussies saying that it costs more for you to buy video games? Either your dollar is worth shit, or your country’s importation laws are shit. Complain to your country about shit costing a lot, not at us.
Now, let’s also take into account that you Aussies don’t buy anything else. You don’t have anything to spend your money on- may as well make video games cost a fuckton for you. Your beer is actually just water, and your water is actually just water. Your beef is also water.
Gman
December 27, 2011 at 12:05 AMI got the CE of Skyrim for 30 dollars at Best Buy because it was on sale. LOL