Limited Editions, Collector’s Editions, Premium Editions, etc. I’m sure you’ve seen them around. Maybe you have a few of them yourself. Me, I’m something of a collector of them. While I buy these almost compulsively, I am also able to judge whether or not the premium content is worth the premium price (you know, before I buy it regardless). This series is made for people curious about these premium releases, either because they’re planning on digging some up on ebay or something or just wondering what they contained.

I don’t really plan these ahead so I’m always open for suggestions. If there’s an LE you’re curious about, send me a message and if I have it, there’s a good chance I’ll review it.

While these are reviews of the bonus materials contained and the unit as a whole, it is important to know what I personally value in a premium release.

Making-of/Documentaries: I recently got my degree in film production and I hope to someday become a video game developer. For these reasons I love making-of videos and production featurettes as they give you a look at how the game was developed, inspirations, and the goals of the designers and developers. Many Collector’sLimited Editions just include one of these and call it aday.

Soundtracks: I find it hard to really describe why I love game soundtracks. Maybe its because I’m fascinated with the development of video game music as much as I am with games themselves. Video game music has, for a long time, been looked down and and disregarded because people listened to 8-bit music and heard the primitive beeps and buzzes of the limited hardware without really examining the music itself. Now, many game music soundtracks rival film scores and I enjoy being able to experience it apart from the game.

Art Books: This goes back to my interest in game development. Many well-made art books include a plethora of concept art that lets you see how ideas begin and how they evolve as the game design process runs its course.

Presentation: This isn’t a specific item, but I always enjoy it when a premium edition is presented in a unique way. The worst games in this department just stick a bonus disc in a paper sleeve inside the game case or shove all their items into a large enough box. The best ones cannot be compared to anything else and either exude excessiveness or make you just gaze upon it in awe.

That’s basically a rundown of what I love to see in Limited Editions. I’m also fond of anything that really enhances the gameplay experience or that provides additional information on the game’s universe. What I hate to see is laziness or cheapness on the part of publisher. Things like DLC as bonus content typically get low marks as far as I’m concerned because digital content is rarely appealing to me and is incredibly inexpensive for the publisher to include. Trinkets and jewlery are rarely interesting unless its something important in-game. Squall’s necklace, for example would be a great bonus item, but the Africa necklace included in RE5 is lame. I can spend all day describign what I love and what I hate so I’ll stop here. I sort of look at things on a game-by-game basis so my evaluation for each release can’t really be put on a rubric, at least none I have any interest in devising.