Oblivion Collector's Edition Details

[bapenguin]

The official Oblivion Website (http://bethsoft.com/newsletter/devdiary_1.24.06.html) brings word of the collectors edition packaging for the game. The CE comes in special packaging that resembles a leather bound book. It also contains a bonus DVD, a Septim Coin and the 112 page Pocket Guide to the Empire. Right now the 360 Collector's Edition is listed at $69.99 while the PC Collector's Edition is listed at $59.99.

Lots of good bonuses here for only 10 bucks more.

[Felonous]

I put in my pre-order for the 360 collectors addition last Sunday. Can't wait.

I really hope Oblivion does well, the message needs to go out loud and clear that we need more large content RPG games for our game systems.

[Kelegacy]

That pisses me off. A ten buck difference between PC and 360 Collector's Editions just because it's on a different platform? I'm really starting to hate this whole racket.

[Achilles]

Um, isn’t the theory behind the extra $10 that games cost more to make these days? If they need to charge more because they cost more to make, why aren’t they charging more for both platforms. This bothers me.

[ldi222]

Cloth map, wheres the cloth map?

[Chimpbot]

I don't know about you, but a fake coin, a pocket guide and a bonus DVD with a documentary on it isn't really enough for me to spring an extra $10, when the normal version of the game will already cost me $10 than I'd like.
I'm typically a chump for things like collector's editions...but I don't know if I can justify this one. A coin and a tourist's guide don't really seem enticing enough...

[Kelegacy]

Um, isn’t the theory behind the extra $10 that games cost more to make these days? If they need to charge more because they cost more to make, why aren’t they charging more for both platforms. This bothers me.
Exactly. But I expect that a 70 dollar game for the PC would go over like a fart in church.

Edit: Just saying "Seventy Dollar Game," gives me the bends. Hell, SIXTY gives me heartburn.

[bapenguin]

Exactly. But I expect that a 70 dollar game for the PC would go over like a fart in church.

Diablo II Collectors was 70 and Warcraft III Collectors was $75. Granted these were Blizzard titles, but it has been done before.

[Achilles]

Exactly. But I expect that a 70 dollar game for the PC would go over like a fart in church.I agree, and I expect it'll go over about that way for the 360 as well. People will choke down the $60, but I doubt many will go for the extra $10. Quake did it, and so did CoD, but it doesn't make it right. Shame on ye Take-Two, either charge the PC gamers $60, or charge the 360 gamers $50.

EDIT, changed Bethesda to Take-Two. Since they're the publisher I'd immagine they make pricing calls.

[Savok]

Morrowind had a great map that prone to tearing, wouldn't a detailed (none of that WoW "general shape" shit thank you) cloth map be a no brainer?

Still, it's pretty good.

[Atorak]

Can anyone recommend a place to buy this so I'm guaranteed to get it on launch day?

I'm getting the Collector's Edition...not because I'll ever use the Septim Coin, or read the Pocket Guide to the Empire, or watch the additional DVD, but purely because I love the series. The more money they make on this title, the bigger/better Elder Scrolls V will be.

I consider it an investment. :)

[Kelegacy]

I agree, and I expect it'll go over about that way for the 360 as well. People will choke down the $60, but I doubt many will go for the extra $10. Quake did it, and so did CoD, but it doesn't make it right. Shame on ye Take-Two, either charge the PC gamers $60, or charge the 360 gamers $50.

EDIT, changed Bethesda to Take-Two. Since they're the publisher I'd immagine they make pricing calls.
I'll just be buying many more used games next gen. Sure, it hurts the developers and publishers, but heck with them if they can't throw me a bone at retail.

And I don't buy used at EB/Gamestop because I don't want to help them out either.

[BleedTheFreak]

I was on the fence until I read this diary entry, the coin is VERY nice looking and I'm sure I can do something cool with it, and the pocket guide will keep me entertained in during the times I can't be immersed in the game world (like at work. Or on the crapper. You know.) The map I won't use, since there is one in-game, but I'd also be investing an extra $10 to help make Oblivion a success so we can see an expansion!

EDIT: Oh, I forgot about the DVD, that too would be something I'd be interested in watching, actually. I generally enjoy Making Of DVD's, they are usually pretty fun.

[Chimpbot]

Diablo II Collectors was 70 and Warcraft III Collectors was $75. Granted these were Blizzard titles, but it has been done before.

I believe the Half-Life 2 collectors set was around that price range as well.
Of course, these collectors sets also came with more than just a coin and a "pocket guide to the empire"; Warcraft III came with a huge art book, the soundtrack and some art. Diablo 2 came with similar things, as did World of Warcraft. Half-Life 2 came also had that type of stuff, along with a shirt and a hat.
You were paying more money, but you actually got something for your money. A fake coin, a DVD I would never watch and a little pamphlet aren't things I'd be willing to spend an extra $10 on, especially with the inflated "next-gen console" price.

[fitbabits]

I'm off to my local retailer to throw a deposit at this, but please don't tell my wife!

[jeffbax]

That pisses me off. A ten buck difference between PC and 360 Collector's Editions just because it's on a different platform? I'm really starting to hate this whole racket.
Why? They save money via no royalty to Microsoft on PC and pass it on to the consumer.

[Kelegacy]

I'm off to my local retailer to throw a deposit at this, but please don't tell my wife!
James, you didn't know this was my alternate screen name did you? I've been fooling you for a year now. You're in trouble.

-Your Wife

[fitbabits]

James, you didn't know this was my alternate screen name did you? I've been fooling you for a year now. You're in trouble.

-Your Wife
Dear Wife - you were fantastic last night, especially that thing with your tongue.

[EternalGamer]

Could someone remind me again who it was that first brought to the table this idea of a "new and improved" price point of $60 for every "next-gen" title? I'd really like to have a word with them. I'd just like to send them a little e-mail, or maybe send Tony Soprano over to their house...

Dan

[Savok]

I believe the Half-Life 2 collectors set was around that price range as well.
Of course, these collectors sets also came with more than just a coin and a "pocket guide to the empire"; Warcraft III came with a huge art book, the soundtrack and some art. Diablo 2 came with similar things, as did World of Warcraft. Half-Life 2 came also had that type of stuff, along with a shirt and a hat.
You were paying more money, but you actually got something for your money. A fake coin, a DVD I would never watch and a little pamphlet aren't things I'd be willing to spend an extra $10 on, especially with the inflated "next-gen console" price.
I'm sorry I must be tired, did you just say the HL2 Collector's WASN'T a giant pile of shit that needed to burn in hell?

[Kelegacy]

Could someone remind me again who it was that first brought to the table this idea of a "new and improved" price point of $60 for every "next-gen" title? I'd really like to have a word with them. I'd just like to send them a little e-mail, or maybe send Tony Soprano over to their house...

Dan
I hate to say this but I hope game sales slip and company's start to attribute it to the higher cost of games. This wont happen, but I hope someone takes some measures.

If Sony's machine prices games at 50 bucks and not more, the 360 games would have to follow suit or be obviously fucked. I know this is up to the publishers, so once again one of my wishes is null and void.

[EternalGamer]

Well with Call of Duty being the number one selling 360 game at $60, I don't see that happening. The reason I am not happy with this is two fold. One is that I don't think any of this money is helping developers develop more expansive games. I think it's just going into the publisher's pockets. Second, this is the OPPOSITE direction games need to go. We need to get it down to $20 5 hour long games that everybody can enjoy. Right now we are just paying more money not for more real content, but for bloated content.

Dan

[bapenguin]

$60 games make me a sad penguin. :(

Also the lack of a Jeremy Soule soundtrack with this makes me a sad penguin. :(

[dotbomb]

That pisses me off. A ten buck difference between PC and 360 Collector's Editions just because it's on a different platform? I'm really starting to hate this whole racket.

Yeah not good. PC version for me for sure on this game. Another example of how pricing strategy is going to hurt the 360. (no I'm not saying it is doomed.. just pointing out 2 price points for the same game is STUPID)

[sflufan]

A CD of the game's soundtrack would've made this an absolutely incredible CE!

[Everlost_MI]

Dear Wife - you were fantastic last night, especially that thing with your tongue.

Wow, that made me shoot out part of my Cherry Coke on my keyboard. Thanks! :)

[fitbabits]

Wow, that made me shoot out part of my Cherry Coke on my keyboard. Thanks! :)
You're welcome! I only hope the li'l lady doesn't see it. :o

[pdeupree]

Um, isn’t the theory behind the extra $10 that games cost more to make these days? If they need to charge more because they cost more to make, why aren’t they charging more for both platforms. This bothers me.

Someone already touched on this, but just to reiterate, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo do not make money on the console. They make money on the game in the form of a licensing fee charged per copy of the game that is printed (meaning you eat that fee on unsold copies of games). I have no idea what the current scale is, but in the past my impression from reading information on the web was that it was roughly $7 a copy on a $50 game.

It's actually frightening thinking about how some of this will play out in the future since, if higher game prices drive away consumers, a likely outcome is a LOT less risk taking (e.g. less innovative games in favor of more sequels, license based games, and other safe bets).

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I still have a receipt for a copy of Wizardry I bought in 1982 that shows it costing $50. That product had a development team of, oh, 2 or 3 people, but also had a significantly smaller market than todays PC or console games do. All that aside, with the fact that the cost of almost everything else has risen over time, I'm still surprised that game and other media prices have essentially remained the same for the past 20+ years.

Even looking at hardware prices over the last few years, I've found links to some info that shows the Atari 2600 at $249, the Genesis at $389.67 (that one floors me), Playstation at $299, NES at $354.91, Saturn and 3DO at $399. I'm assuming the weird numbers for the NES and Genesis involve translating Japanese Yen to Dollars.

I mainly post all this info just to point back to history. Ultimately, how well or not well future games and systems do will lie solely on how much the marketplace is willing to bear in terms of cost, versus how much developers can do with what they make. It's the age old supply and demand issue, so if demand dries up, supply cuts back.

I will say that, as a consumer, a $10 price increase on console games affects my purchasing decisions as well. It's just that, as a developer and someone who has been buying games for over 20 years now, I understand that there is another side to the coin.

[Kyle Jones]

I really only like buying collectors editions these days if they come on a DVD and the original doesn't. I like buying it and having only one disc to install, one disc to carry about, and in the darkness bind them !!

[Steele Johnson]

fuck the dvd, fuck the map, and screw the packaging. Let me download the game for $20 and I'll be happy. What in hell is this $60 crap? If it costs more to "develop" games these days, then the burden shouldn't be on the consumer. The industry needs to figure out how to cut costs and still produce a quality title. One way is with online distribution, and I'm all for it. Just give me a way to burn my own cd/dvd and I'll be happy.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Diablo II Collectors was 70 and Warcraft III Collectors was $75. Granted these were Blizzard titles, but it has been done before.


The WC3 collector's edition also came with a hell of a lot of stuff. I have to say that I regret buying it though. Someone listed the included items earlier, but forgot the DVD loaded with all of the game's cinemas and some other extras.

[Everlost_MI]

You're welcome! I only hope the li'l lady doesn't see it. :o
Because she won't do the tongue technique again if she does? :D

[fitbabits]

Because she won't do the tongue technique again if she does? :D
Exactly! Who knew? :D

[Magnanimous Gnome]

A CD of the game's soundtrack would've made this an absolutely incredible CE!

I don't know. Morrowind's soundtrack was very blase. I don't think I ever heard more than two songs in the entire game, and they both repeated over and over.

[Busted_Astromech]

About the map: if you look at the article, all versions of the game get a nice map. It doesn't say what it's printed on, however, but considering this is Bethesda, I'd assume (hope?) it's cloth.

The in-game map had better be annotatable, because I still have my Morrowind map on a cork board, with about 250 pins marking each and every hole in the ground I've yet to explore.

And the soundtrack was good, just not after playing a several-hundred-hour game.

Edit: I'd also like to extend kudos to Bethesda for releasing it only on DVD for PC. Finally, a publisher with balls!

[Deathbane27]

The map is paper, not cloth.

Bethesda Game Studios is the developer.
Bethesda Softworks is the publisher.
Take2 is the distributer.

All non-Microsoft 360 games will cost $10 more than their PC/Xbox/PS2 counterparts. This is Microsoft's doing, by charging more for the development license.


All of the above comes from the official Elderscrolls forums in dev posts last night. I would link them, but the search is down because everyone and his 12-year-old is on the boards right now. :p

Who cares what the 360 version is going to cost? It won't run player-made mods, which will make up 60% of the total content (but only about 30% of the good content) by the time The Elder Scrolls 5 is released. :D PC version = 4 free mini-expansions.

[Kelegacy]

The map is paper, not cloth.

Bethesda Game Studios is the developer.
Bethesda Softworks is the publisher.
Take2 is the distributer.

All non-Microsoft 360 games will cost $10 more than their PC/Xbox/PS2 counterparts. This is Microsoft's doing, by charging more for the development license.


All of the above comes from the official Elderscrolls forums in dev posts last night. I would link them, but the search is down because everyone and his 12-year-old is on the boards right now. :p

Who cares what the 360 version is going to cost? It won't run player-made mods, which will make up 60% of the total content (but only about 30% of the good content) by the time The Elder Scrolls 5 is released. :D PC version = 4 free mini-expansions.

The PC version, content-wise, WILL be superior. But I can't afford a new Gfx card and whatever else is required to run the game. It'd be cheaper for me to get a 360 and a few games instead of bringing my PC up to modern gaming specs. But I probably wont even play Oblivion until next year, when I get a 360 or hardware costs are down. Then maybe I"ll get it for the PC--my preferred platform for games of this type.

My 9600 Pro is aging like vinegar. :(

[Achilles]

Someone already touched on this, but just to reiterate, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo do not make money on the console. They make money on the game in the form of a licensing fee charged per copy of the game that is printed (meaning you eat that fee on unsold copies of games). I have no idea what the current scale is, but in the past my impression from reading information on the web was that it was roughly $7 a copy on a $50 game.

I will say that, as a consumer, a $10 price increase on console games affects my purchasing decisions as well. It's just that, as a developer and someone who has been buying games for over 20 years now, I understand that there is another side to the coin.Nintendo usually makes money on its consoles as well as on royalties. I know that they have to pay fabrication on the 360, but they didn't stick me with that bill when they released Morrowind on Xbox. Also they know it'll sell better on 360, so what they lose in royalties they'll make up in increased sales.

I remember in the SNES era and on the N64 there were quite a few games that were $60. I don't even mind them charging $60, it probably cost a truckload to develop Oblivion, just don't screw the 360 owners unfairly.

[fitbabits]

Nintendo usually makes money on its consoles as well as on royalties. I know that they have to pay fabrication on the 360, but they didn't stick me with that bill when they released Morrowind on Xbox. Also they know it'll sell better on 360, so what they lose in royalties they'll make up in increased sales.

I remember in the SNES era and on the N64 there were quite a few games that were $60. I don't even mind them charging $60, it probably cost a truckload to develop Oblivion, just don't screw the 360 owners unfairly.
The reason Nintendo make money on their consoles is because they're made with cheap and crappy components and held together by rubber bands.

Seriously, Nintendo make money from their consoles primarily because they have the manufacturing down to an absolute science. Sony and Microsoft are relative newcomers and their manufacturing process has still to mature to the point where the failure rate of the PS2 and Xbox/360 can even approach that of Nintendo's. I've owned a lot of Nintedo machines, and I can't think of any that have pooped out on me - nor, for that matter, any of my friend's.

[Busted_Astromech]

Hey fitbabits, who do you think you are? Wha'choo doing, tryin' to start something here, wit' yer insinuatin-ning about Nintendo? Rubber bands? Youse aught to learn yerself sometin' about internets sarcazm, boy!

*spits into spittoon*

[drakkarim]

i'll get the collector's but would've preferred a cloth map over all the other trinkets combined.

[Achilles]

Seriously, Nintendo make money from their consoles primarily because they have the manufacturing down to an absolute science. Sony and Microsoft are relative newcomers and their manufacturing process has still to mature to the point where the failure rate of the PS2 and Xbox/360 can even approach that of Nintendo's. I've owned a lot of Nintedo machines, and I can't think of any that have pooped out on me - nor, for that matter, any of my friend's.Nintendo uses less experimental components. The biggest problem with the Xbox was harddrive failures, or DVD drive failures. The biggest problem with the PS2 was the DVD drive cutting out. The top-loading drive that the Cube has is much more stable. If the revo goes with a slot drive as is shown in the press material, which needs to load, while on its side, two different sizes of discs, I think they may finally start running into problems.

Sony isn't a newcomer to the manufacturing process, that's really their primary focus ever since they've been putting together walkmans and radios. They try to be bleeding edge which will give you more defects. The Blu-Ray player for example is something that Nintendo wouldn't do because it'll likely have a very unpredictable defect rate.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I really want to play this game - very badly. Unfortunately my PC can't run it and I don't plan on getting a 360. I'll be buying a Mac for my next desktop - I'm hoping that Virtual PC will let me run Oblivion, but who knows? I'll have to do some research when that time comes - probably late summer.