[General Discussion] Limited Editions and You

I myself like Collector's Editions for games, but I do get annoyed with substandard ones. The things I like:

Hard Metal Cases rather than slip sleeves. Slip sleeves are annoying, but those metal cases (ala Final Fantasy XII) are really nice, especially when they have a nice unique art on the front. I also like a nicely designed over-sized case like the Age of Conan Collectors Edition I have.

Art Book, but not a chincy thing. I want a thick, good artbook, with pages of concept art, high quality paintings, what have you, on nice quality paper. I would prefer a nice hardcover as well, but those you never see.

The Soundtrack is equally nice, as long as it actually includes all of the songs. I hate it when they skip out on songs for what is supposed to be the soundtrack for the game.

An Extras Disk(s} is nice when they include the "Making of" Documentaries, all of the CG Videos, Bloopers, Jokes, and even PDFs of the instructions.

Instructions and Shortcut Cards. I like having hardcopies of these so you aren't bouncing between game and PDF, and when they are well presented it shows the developer cares. Having them in color as well is important. The Guild Wars Manuscripts were things that I liked as well, with an story included as well as backstory for the characters.

The Strategy Guide being included is a nice touch, especially if it isn't one of those Bradygames style ones. Strategy Guides that actually show everything is nice as well.

Maps are also good, especially when they are made from something better than normal poster paper, and done in either a nice "style" (ala my Hyboria map made from faux leather...I just wish it were larger) or super useful (ala the GTA IV map on the back of the poster).

Keychains, figures, and all other knick knacks are meh to me, as they are more clutter that don't add anything for me, as I can usually get figures and such elsewhere and at much higher quality than they give out.

I do dislike in-game content that is exclusive as it creates the haves and the have-nots in the game but if it is something simple like bonus costumes and such that have no effect on gameplay I don't mind as much. And I loathe preorder bonuses as they are part of the driving force behind "day one sales" mentality that causes consumers to buy a game before they know it's good. Thus crappy games get sold on extras and not on the game itself...but that's another issue.

I am willing to shell out the extra money for Collector's Editions, as long as they look like some effort went into making them. Demon's Souls looks like it will be a great collector's edition, and is a good example of adding value to a physical game and I already have it on order. I see this becoming more important as games turn into a digital-only medium, and I don't want to see collector's editions becoming meaningless (see DVD Director's Cuts/Unrated/Special Edition/Anniversary Edition/Blarg).

Jam it back in, in the dark.