Do you like steelbooks? -

[Pissmaster]

Their early work started with 2004's Killzone for the PS2, a little too bland for my tastes. But when Final Fantasy XII came out in '06, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole case has a clear, crisp look, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the case a big boost.

They make for very attractive packaging, but they do compromise the integrity of your game shelf, standing out as being a bigger, shinier case, often with a slipcover. Not to mention, not every game gets a steelbook, and some can go for relatively high asking prices on eBay, making it a hassle if you want to replace every possible game case you own with a steelbook edition.

Some games ship with them only in expensive collector's editions, while others ship exclusively in them. As far as I've found, Hitman 2016 didn't actually have a physical edition that shipped in a normal case - it was steelbooks across the board. Halo 2 had an unusual situation in that the collector's edition was so vastly overproduced, that the standard edition in a normal Xbox case is worth more, due to its scarcity.

I like them when I get them. I've never gone out of my way to buy one, but it's nice when they're not sold at a markup. Also if you're fat and you sit on one, the case gets permanently dented, so if you buy one used, you can tell if its been owned by a fat piece of shit before, which is lovely.

The Dead Rising 2 steelbook looks like a pill container and doesn't actually say "Dead Rising 2" on it:

Americans didn't get the slipcover for it, either, so it's pretty great to just have this weird zombie pill container mixed in with all my PS3 games.

 

[Jimmy Durante's Ballsack]

No. I would rather get an actual collectible in my collector's edition.

 

[L50LasPak]

I can relate a tale of the Halo 2 Collector's Edition. I got it a little while after the game came out in pristine condition and it remained that way for quite a long time. After I moved out of my parents house and got a roommate, who also had an Xbox with a fair collection of games. His Halo 2 tin was spotted with rust, to my surprise, since I thought the case was aluminum or some cheap stainless metal. But nope they were actual rust spots, to the point where you could scrape the top layer off with your fingernail and see the exposed metal underneath. I figured he was messy and maybe the case had been exposed to moisture or something, he was kind of a slob.

Jump ahead a few years when I'm moving some stuff around, and as I'm setting up my old Xbox I find my copy of Halo 2 is covered in the same rust spots. Even though I'm positive it was stored in good condition for the entire time I've owned it (it sat on a shelf). Over time in used game stores I've noticed all of the goddamn Halo 2 Collectors cases have those same rust spots on them. And the Doom 3 Collectors cases too actually, but those you don't see as much.

Kind of turned me off the the whole idea. I'm not big on vidya collecting in the box these days anyway, but still leaves a sour taste.

 

[MrTroll]

As much fun as it would be to dump on the spergs who collect crap like this, tbh they're not much worse than the console retards who still buy physical copies of games because they think that Steam or XBL or whatever is going to magically disappear their entire collection one day and only having a piece of mass-produced plastic will save their beloved loli JRPG's for future posterity.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

As much fun as it would be to dump on the spergs who collect crap like this, tbh they're not much worse than the console retards who still buy physical copies of games because they think that Steam or XBL or whatever is going to magically disappear their entire collection one day and only having a piece of mass-produced plastic will save their beloved loli JRPG's for future posterity.

Waiting on those superman memory crystals so I can store petabytes of rips for future posterity.

 

[some Sketchy dude]

I only had a few DVD and PS2 'collectors edition's steelbooks. And I hate them. The ones I had, and the few my friends at the time had, were built with heavy back and front covers, like heavy weight. They usually also have cheap, usually weaker/thinner metal or cheap, thin plastic bindings, that would break easily.


Even easier to break when it had those stupid latches on the 'case opening side'(side opposite the binding), that you forget are there and accidentally break the case trying to open it normally.

 

[Pretty Boy Extremism]

No. The only one I have is for Dragon's Crown and I got it second hand because it was cheap. The case itself was so washed out you wouldn't know what game it was if it wasn't formed the way it was so whoever owned it previously must've done some crazy shit with it, but the disc was still in perfect condition somehow.

I can relate a tale of the Halo 2 Collector's Edition. I got it a little while after the game came out in pristine condition and it remained that way for quite a long time. After I moved out of my parents house and got a roommate, who also had an Xbox with a fair collection of games. His Halo 2 tin was spotted with rust, to my surprise, since I thought the case was aluminum or some cheap stainless metal. But nope they were actual rust spots, to the point where you could scrape the top layer off with your fingernail and see the exposed metal underneath. I figured he was messy and maybe the case had been exposed to moisture or something, he was kind of a slob.

Jump ahead a few years when I'm moving some stuff around, and as I'm setting up my old Xbox I find my copy of Halo 2 is covered in the same rust spots. Even though I'm positive it was stored in good condition for the entire time I've owned it (it sat on a shelf). Over time in used game stores I've noticed all of the goddamn Halo 2 Collectors cases have those same rust spots on them. And the Doom 3 Collectors cases too actually, but those you don't see as much.

Kind of turned me off the the whole idea. I'm not big on vidya collecting in the box these days anyway, but still leaves a sour taste.

lol is steelbook collecting like sword collecting? Do you have to coat it in a fine layer of mineral oil every 3 months to prevent it from rusting?

 

[sasazuka]

I think I only have one steelbook for a game, for Forza Motorsports 4. I have a couple for movies, Ratatouille on DVD and Hanna on Blu-Ray. It's a fun bonus but only when it doesn't add to the cost of the game or film.

 

[agility_]

A lame excuse to jack up the price of a game, together with bullshit like a useless pin, a tiny "artbook" or even worse, a music cd.

 

[The Shadow]

They fucking suck, they're too easy to scratch.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Don't care about them. Never seemed worth paying extra for.

 

[Meat Pickle]

Steelbooks sounds like a collectors' gimmick, unless if you are an avid collector of the game series it's not worth the extra bucks.

 

[The Iconoclast]

I like getting them when I don't need to go out of my way to get them, and sometimes they look really damn good. I got the steelbook for Persona 5 at launch at the same price as I would've gotten the regular edition. I got the steelbooks for Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 for about the same price as what the standard games were going for. I do have the steelbook for Spider-Man PS4 because I got the collector's edition, but that steelbook looks awful. Lol

...like Peter's new face

 

[sasazuka]

A lame excuse to jack up the price of a game, together with bullshit like a useless pin, a tiny "artbook" or even worse, a music cd.

I don't think I've gotten a CD as an extra since about Persona 4 but compact discs are my most favourite kind of bonus and something I still would pay extra for today (except most modern games don't seem to bother with CDs as bonuses anymore so, if I want a CD soundtrack, I have to order it from Japan).

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

I don't think I've gotten a CD as an extra since about Persona 4 but compact discs are my most favourite kind of bonus and something I still would pay extra for today (except most modern games don't seem to bother with CDs as bonuses anymore so, if I want a CD soundtrack, I have to order it from Japan).

Got CDs with SMT Soul Hackers and SMT4 at launch. The first print run of Witcher 3's physical PC release also came with one. They seem to be more of a first print run thing. Wish more games came with maps. Love those.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

Love the Yakuza Kiwami ones

 

[Snekposter]

Got CDs with SMT Soul Hackers and SMT4 at launch. The first print run of Witcher 3's physical PC release also came with one. They seem to be more of a first print run thing. Wish more games came with maps. Love those.

I was lucky enough to snag a first run of the Witcher 2 box when that came out, with game disc, map of the northern realms, and so much other content. Stole my head right then and there.

 

[John Titor]

I got the FFXII one. To my disappointment, one of the points has rust after a year.

 

[BananaSplit]

As much fun as it would be to dump on the spergs who collect crap like this, tbh they're not much worse than the console retards who still buy physical copies of games because they think that Steam or XBL or whatever is going to magically disappear their entire collection one day and only having a piece of mass-produced plastic will save their beloved loli JRPG's for future posterity.

Blindly trusting digital services is particularly worse imo, because there is absolutely no telling what could eventually happen in the future, especially when you take account of the Wii eshop reduced to ashes because the third-party company in charge of the online went down, or Konami going as far as to remove any possibility to download P.T. from your own game list on PS4. The latter is an extreme case to be fair, but I don't doubt one second that companies would do that shit in a more regular basis if things went their ways.

And that's not counting games being sometimes de-listed or region-locked digitally, thus making physical or piracy your sole options.

 

[MrTroll]

Blindly trusting digital services is particularly worse imo, because there is absolutely no telling what could eventually happen in the future, especially when you take account of the Wii eshop reduced to ashes because the third-party company in charge of the online went down, or Konami going as far as to remove any possibility to download P.T. from your own game list on PS4. The latter is an extreme case to be fair, but I don't doubt one second that companies would do that shit in a more regular basis if things went their ways.

And that's not counting games being sometimes de-listed or region-locked digitally, thus making physical or piracy your sole options.

The odds of Steam/PSN/XBL shutting down or removing paid content from an account are vastly smaller than the odds of a house fire, robbery, or other physical event claiming your precious vidya collection. It's basically the difference between storing your money in a bank and cramming it under a mattress.

The fact that you can only find one extreme example (a free promotional teaser for a cancelled game) of a reputable (i.e. non-Nintendo) digital service removing a claimed product from user accounts tells me all I need to know about the long-term reliability of digital vg content.