Real limited edition is the new trend

[Zeus]

My bud went to an EB manager's conference and was told that we're gonna start seeing real limited editions of games as opposed to readily available ones that sit on shelves (he's got about 30 CoD5 ones in his back still) and the publishers take a loss. That seems to be the new trend. Hell, I can still get a copy of Halo 3 Legendary (with the helmet) for $50.

I've started to notice this here. Not sure if you Amercians are running into the issue, but us Canadians have been cut-off from pre-ordering either the Hardened or Prestige editions of CoD6 since about August. I was more than willing to plop down the extra $20 for the Hardened but I can't. I'll have to try to line up at Walmart or something day one to have a chance if I'm so inclined.

And look at this version of Uncharted 2. It comes with a replica of the dagger that's central to the storyline of the game. Only 200 were made and they were given away as promos as oppose to being able to purchase them in-store. Look at the insanity of these auctions

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=unchar ... &_osacat=0

This one is an extreme case. But it looks like that's they way they're going. So if you like the extra stuff, you're gonna have to pre-order early.

[Flip]

Very limited edition real copies for stores and DL for just the normal game itself sounds like a good plan to sell games for the future. With DL being the preferred way to distribute games lately, copies of the normal game in stores is a waste.

[Zeus]

Very limited edition real copies for stores and DL for just the normal game itself sounds like a good plan to sell games for the future. With DL being the preferred way to distribute games lately, copies of the normal game in stores is a waste.

Not according to any surveys in the last year. The strong majority of people still prefer to have a physical copy. Digital distribution is what the companies want, not the consumers. It'll be at least another 10-15 years before you see the marginalization of physical media, if at all.

But in terms of the "limited edition" content versions of games, expect to see a higher resale market for all but the very few widely-distributed version for some of the larger games. Ebay's gonna start making some nice coin out of this after the companies have been burned over the last few years

[Julius Seeker]

I find that really hard to believe that people prefer physical media. Particularly considering the massive popularity of mp3 players over CD players. They're a lot cheaper, better availability, and the user is able to pick and choose what songs they want if they don't want a whole album.

Where are these surveys which show that people prefer to buy physical media with the data on it, as opposed to directly downloading it? Also, did these poll target everyone, or did it target those with the option (no point polling Japanese about whether they prefer French or German cable for example).

[Lox]

Except you can buy CDs, rip them into mp3s, and take them with you. You can't do that for games so it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.

Heck, if you could rip games onto a memory card and take them with you, I'd be all over that.

[Flip]

Except you can buy CDs, rip them into mp3s, and take them with you. You can't do that for games so it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.

Heck, if you could rip games onto a memory card and take them with you, I'd be all over that.

Yet, you probably dont buy CD's to rip them and take them with you... According to your logic, people would.

Its not apples to apples because MP3's of CDs give one the option of DL'ing just a portion of the product. You caant just buy half a video game.

[Julius Seeker]

If you look at the mobile and app store gaming industry you'll see that isn't exactly true; you can download portions of a game that you want. On Wiiware there are several games like that as well; I have been posting about one recently: Final Fantasy 4 AY.

But when speaking about games, it is not exactly a good comparison at this point because most games sold are either direct download or stored on disks; there's not usually the option. Music is similar enough and a better source to examine presently for direct vs storage media because there is wide availability in both formats currently. When games become more widely available for download, I am sure people will rather download the game. IE, World of Goo is widely considered a great game and one of the most successful WiiWare titles to date: do you think people would prefer to wander out to EB, scavenging through their shelves for the game, and paying 40 dollars for it as a budget priced console game, or the original 15 it was at for instant download?

[Zeus]

Do I really need to point out for the 7,000th time why most people prefer physical media over digital downloads? I specifically didn't say anything about that as I figured we'd not only beaten that dead horse but ground it up and had some nice burgers from it. But if you would like me to repeat it again, I can.

Also, you guys are taking this thread on a tangent. The initial post was in reference to the increasing scarcity of the "limited edition" versions of retail releases versus prior years where they have really just been "more expensive" versions and not limited at all.

[Lox]

Except you can buy CDs, rip them into mp3s, and take them with you. You can't do that for games so it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.

Heck, if you could rip games onto a memory card and take them with you, I'd be all over that.

Yet, you probably dont buy CD's to rip them and take them with you... According to your logic, people would.

Its not apples to apples because MP3's of CDs give one the option of DL'ing just a portion of the product. You caant just buy half a video game.

I meant that you buy CDs, rip them, and take the mp3s with you, not the CDs. And that's how I buy almost all of my music because I like having the physical media in case something happens to it. And actually, episodic content lets you buy a portion of a game. Actually, yeah, it's still not the same thing, but it's closer.