I don’t know about you, but I do enjoy video games. What I really enjoy though, is actually receiving a video game when I spend $150 to buy a collectors edition.
What on Earth am I talking about? Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the Red Dead Redemption 2 Collectors Box. Complete with ‘Metal Tithing Box’, ‘Wheeler, Rawson and Co. Catalogue’, ’12 Cigarette Cards’ and … quote:
**Game NOT included**
I tend to buy a lot of my titles digitally these days, so the idea that there is an option to buy a collectors edition without the actual game should not actually be that infuriating. But I find the items in this particular edition to be of such little substance that the game itself would actually make the $150 price tag something worth considering. As it stands – I won’t be rushing out to preorder a physical version of Red Dead Redemption 2, and can quite happily see myself picking this up digitally at launch. The temptation of GTA Online Money and shiny horse skins just doesn’t grab me, I’m sorry … maybe I’m old and jaded, or maybe I’m more representative of the average gamer than Rocksteady would like to believe.
Either way, I think this is a strategic mistake. Financially, it might be a great move – but when you risk exchanging cash for goodwill you quickly find yourself competing against Electronic Arts for ‘worst company’ awards, or – if you’re lucky – simply turned into an internet punching bag.
But then again, the internet is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, chances are this will collect a whole heap of Game of the Year Awards, capitalise on Grand Theft Auto V‘s sales streak, and establish itself as the centrepiece of the 2018 Gaming Catalogue.
Unless you’re Microsoft, and it’s overwhelmingly popular to hate you, in gaming, you can get away with almost anything.
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