Collector Sense

When debating about whether a Collector Edition is worth the extra dollars, even the most diehard fan will have a hard time rationalizing. To the casual observer, the extra content looks like a bunch of useless trinkets unless it's something practical. I have bought my fair share of CE and while some were great and some not so great, I don't really look at them that way.

I tend to spend on CE the same way one is willing to spend a little extra on a lavish meal on their birthday or anniversary. That lavish meal is never going to be worth the money but when you are in the mood during a special occasion, the purse just feels a bit looser. I feel that way with a highly anticipated game, it's a bit more special than the average game so spending more is ok. Sure once in a while but not every game, that would be like eating a lavish meal every day. 

Disc is No Good

In the wake of Rockstars' announcement of their previously Microsoft exclusive DLC content coming to the ps3, it seems like everyone is cashing in on DLC these days. A while back i made the decision to purchase the RE5 DLC on Playstation Network instead of the disc version. My reasoning was the timing of the release as the DLC was debuting on the PSN roughly a month before the retail disc version would be available in stores.

What i failed to realised then was this was all referring to the US release dates as the Japanese will be getting their retail disc version, Alternative Edition in stores the same day as the DLC debut in the US Playstation Network. The only problem was the DLC content will be spread out over the course of two weeks, with the second episode debuting two weeks after the first. I initially thought that this would be a great idea as i can devote all my attention on one episode before moving on to the next but this presents a problem when i'm planning to play with my friends who are getting the Asia or Japanese disc version. Being the impatient gamer that i am, waiting for my RE5 Collector's Edition to arrive last year was one painful experience. Story of my life, looks like it's all set to repeat itself with the release of RE5 Alternative Edition this year.

Red Hot and Ready to Rumble

My decision to purchase Ninja Gaiden Sigma Greatest Hits was purely an impulsive one, for the longest time i have avoided the series because of Itagaki verbal sparring with Kamiya. Of course being a kamiya fanboy, i was naturally on kamiya side but it pains me as an action junkie not having played what critics touted as one of the best action game of this generation.

The first game came out with a Gamestop-exclusive Collector's Edition and the standard version quickly went out of the print to be replaced by a Greatest Hits version. My only option was the Greatest Hits version and i wrestled with the notion of owning a GH this soon for the longest time. Since graphics are much more of a concern for me now, the fact the game runs at 60fps on 1080p certainly helped in making my decision. Also Itagaki's lack of involvement with the Sigma series and also his eventual departure from Tecmo also made the decision a lot easier. In the essence, it was the perfect fit as i was looking for something new to play on my ps3 and also to top up my order of the last remaining two Organic Biohazard diorama.

This is Your Chance

A few days ago i was pretty chuffed having save USD30 by getting my buddy to buy Madworld and Yakuza 2 from Gamestop. Today i learnt that the Collector's Edition of Resident Evil 5 has dropped to USD79.90 at Play-asia, that's like a USD30 discount not with counting any additional discount vouchers. Sure i'm mad about it especially since the Xbox 360 CE has long since been out of stock, it just goes to show how many more 360 users there are and how well the game is selling on that platform. Nothing much i can do about it, i won't have trade the experience of playing it back on 13rd of March for anything else and certainly won't settle on a standard edition that time while waiting out for the price of this to fall. For those who were waiting out for this big discount now is your chance, it may not be worth it back when it was full-price price but at this price you are certainly getting your money's worth for everything included.

March Madness

Here is a collection of my orders for this past month alone, a bit more than usual but hopefully this won't become a trend as i already spent a long more than i've hoped to. Some were bought in a haste some were purchased during this spring sale and finally some were an accumulation of a year long of wait. Overall i'm pretty satisfied with all of them and they will go quite nicely to my RE collection.

Over the years i have accumulated quite a few RE games and books to make a decent collection while it's nothing compared with those guys on the RE forums, it's nice to own almost every game for such a storied and celebrated gaming series.

Evil Helping

Before my Resident Evil 5 Collector Edition shipped, i made a rather impulse purchase by pre-ordering the limited edition strategy guide for the game. If you haven't been keeping up to date with strategy guides like me, yes they come in limited edition version too now. I don't really know what possessed me to get the guide as well seeing that i don't normally use them, i guess i felt the Collector's Edition was lacking an art book and i have read that the Limited Edition Guide will include some behind-the-scene content. Well if it turns out to be anything like the one Prima did for Metal Gear Solid 4 then i should be pretty please with it.

I remember my first ever strategy guide being a gift from my sister, Tomb Raider 2 not the proudest entry into my collection but it was probably the only guide which i actually made any use of it as i used it quite a lot to collect all the dragon stones that i missed. My subsequent strategy guide to some of my favourite games had been pretty lacklustre, like Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil 2. Games have gotten much more complicated since then so i supposed game guide has also evolve with the time so it would be interesting to see if i'll make any use of it apart from the bonus content included inside the limited edition.