Alien: Isolation - Collector's Edition

[windebieste]

This response was originally intended for the 'ALIEN: Isolation' forum, but because of it's retarded nature, was forced to post my response elsewhere, here, instead.

"Dear Creative Assembly!
...the absence of the Collector's Edition really upsets me.  ..."

-NoName.exe

http://forums.alienisolation.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/29219-alien-isolation-collector-s-edition

- - -

The reply:

Collector Items... I love 'em too.  What I don't love is when a publisher decides a particular premium Day One item to be released as a 'Collector's Edition'.  Which simply isn't necessarily true.  Read on...

There's probably a very good reason why we never saw a CE for 'ALIEN Isolation'; and that's probably largely due to the budget Sega allocated to the project.  'ALIENS: Colonial Marines' probably had a much bigger budget and creating such trophies as powerloader statuettes costs money.  It just not the result of wish fulfillment - it involves a lot of work to put that 'loader on your desk.   An idea has to be pitched.  The statue has to be sculpted.  It has to be painted.  They have to be manufactured in limited* volume.  The packaging has to be designed around it.  Then there's the additional cost of transport - all those larger boxes take up more room on a delivery order than a DVD sized game so less items are shipped per volume.

All this takes money.  As we know 'A:CM' wasn't the roaring success it should have been and it's no surprise to me that we saw no CE for 'A:I'.  Sega were probably playing it safe and keeping their costs down as much as possible in this regard.  Marketing and selling the game after the earlier debacle with 'A:CM' would have been a challenge for them.  The FPS market possesses a much larger fan base than Survival Horror which would have been a cost determining factor, too.  So series reputation, economics and demographics firmly stood in the way of the additional expense associated with a CE for 'A:I' being published.

While we all know that 'ALIEN: Isolation' doesn't boast any such Official 'CE', that doesn't mean the game is without Collectible merchandise associated with it.  There are genuine collectible items associated with the game.  If you were lucky enough to attend one of the several expos and pick up an 'ALIEN: Isolation' comic then you scored a genuine collectible item.  These were only available at such expos when they were printed - along with the rare promotional giveaways such as the Community Editions of the game and competition prizes.  If you want one now, be prepared to spend some money on Ebay.  Give it time, and these comics will become very rare, sought after and expensive.  It won't take long, either.

Although initially free, get one while you can - while they are still (relatively) cheap:



The comics didn't come with the game, sure, but their value as a collectible would appear to be assured.  You can compare this to the 'A:CM' premium edition that the publisher declared to be a 'Collector's Edition' when it was released.  This edition of 'A:CM' is still available if you know where to look.  You can still buy this Day One release premium edition more than 18 months after it was released.  To me, that's not really much of a CE in my book if you can pick it up New online at a significantly discounted rate.  To me, it's still a Collectible item** but it's nowhere near as valuable in terms of its availability:



So, seeing how a free promotional spin off comic is potentially more valuable than an Officially sanctioned CE where do we stand in terms of the Publisher making such declarations as to what is a collector's item - and what isn't?

Well, it's that simple.  They're largely talking out through their arse. 

It's a matter of supply and demand - and publisher's can get that very wrong - but their main motivation for branding  'Collector's Edition' upon a Day One release item is to promote the game, shift units and generate sales.  That's it.  A real collector's item is something rare, sought after and potentially expensive.  The 'A:CM' CE is a relic of a failed marketing exercise that will no doubt become 'collectible', but not to any significant degree and certainly not over a short period of time.

If a premium item does become a sought after collectible in due course then the publisher can then claim 'I told you so.' and will do it again; if not, well, the promotional exercise is long over and was covered by the budget allocated to it and the bullshit remaindered game becomes available for purchase online, cheap.***

TL:DR - publishing is a money game; and Sega had already blown their load on 'A:CM'. Ergo, no 'CE' for 'A:I'.

-Windebieste

* any mass produced item is a limited edition by its nature.
** the standard edition is a limited edition, too.  it probably won't be reprinted.  well, maybe as a 'Classics' reissue title, Gold Edition, Complete Edition or GOTYE (lol) - just don't hold your breath for that to appear - but it will be limited, too.
*** GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT!:
http://www.ozgameshop.com/xbox-360-games/aliens-colonial-marines-collectors-edition-game-xbox-360
http://www.ozgameshop.com/ps3-games/aliens-colonial-marines-collectors-edition-game-ps3

[ikarop]

I'm not so sure it's just a budget issue. We didn't even get fresh cover art which is rare. And what's more rare is that there are a bazillion items made for this game, more than for any of the previous games, that could have been used for a CE. Not just the comic but many t-shirts, keychains, stickers, the robot USB, the artbook, patches, a steelcase and more. Even a statue is being given away at some sites:



Maybe they'll try something once the game potentially gets a GOTY edition. Who knows. I'm sure many fans would re-buy the game if they pulled something like that.

[windebieste]

Yes.  For sure.

There appears to be an abundance of promotional material created for the game; and in a surprising variety and array.  This is the first time I've even heard of the Sevastopol miniature.  That item looks to be an exceptionally limited print run item, though. Possibly just the single instance for that competition, I am guessing.  Everything else you hve list I've heard of previously; and yes, the budget for the promotion of this title looks substantial when looking at this diversity.   

I'll add to that list the FR4ME case that was available with the 'Nostromo Edition' in some parts of the world.  It's a plastic case - not unlike the steel book item - but with 4 images inserted into it. 



Mind you, the free mini art book was just shit.  It felt cheap and ultimately served little more than to direct attention to inspire purchase of the much larger and far more rewarding 'Art of ALIEN: Isolation' hardcover tome - which is a great item to get your hands on, anyway.

While the cost of manufacture these items will vary greatly, to my mind, all of these items are arguably collectible and will be valuable to varying degrees. 

So while there is no Collector's Edition for 'A:I' per se, there is certainly an abundance of collectible material surrounding the game.   Most - if not all - would not be as expensive to produce as the CE statue for 'A:CM'.  That Alien vs Loader was clearly the Hero piece within that package.  The package also included a number of other less expensive to manufacture items as well.  The difference being, these items were all gathered into the one package as a whole.

I would love to have seen that Sevastopol miniature given the CE treatment.  Now THAT would have been sweet! ...maybe it can still happen.

This has been a very intriguing marketing exercise, nonetheless.

-Windebieste.

[ikarop]

Indeed. Plus they could have done a CE with a cheaper statue or figurine than the ACM one if they wanted and charge the same. It just doesn't seem budget related to me but rather a very deliberate marketing choice.

[windebieste]

One collectible item that is conspicuously missing is the Strategy Guide. 

In this age where you can find everything relating to a game online, there still remains the anomaly market of printed strategy guides.  Not only do these things still exist, but they are becoming more and more elaborate every year.  The number of hardcover strategy guides appears to be on the rise.  HARDCOVER!  So there is definitely a market for printed guides and many of these lavish hardcover items do sell out. 

I'm not suggesting there should have been a hardcover edition of the guide released for 'A:I', I'm just wondering about the absence of even a softcover edition being published.  In the past, 'AvP', 'AvP2' and 'AvP 2010 each had strategy guides released.  Even more astonishing, there was also one for 'A:CM' as well:







Why wasn't there one released for 'A:I'? 

Was the 'Art of ALIEN: Isolation' intended to fill this void?  Would we have seen such a strategy guide released for the game if the 'A:CM' game had been a bigger success?  Judging by the release of 'AvP 2010' and 'A:CM', it does look like Sega had entered into a partnership with Bradygames to publish such guides for those 2 titles.  Did Bradygames also acquire the rights to publish an Official strategy guide for 'A:I'; and it fell through..?  I wonder.  Maybe the guide for 'A:CM' didn't sell too well..?  Maybe Sega weren't interested because of the additional expenses involved with a printed guide..? 

I for one certainly would have purchased a copy of a strategy guide was published for 'A:I'.

-Windebieste.

[HuDaFuK]

In this age where you can find everything relating to a game online, there still remains the anomaly market of printed strategy guides.  Not only do these things still exist, but they are becoming more and more elaborate every year.  The number of hardcover strategy guides appears to be on the rise.  HARDCOVER!  So there is definitely a market for printed guides and many of these lavish hardcover items do sell out.

There's also a trend of adding extra background info to these guides.