I'm just curious to see if any of youz guyz own a "special limited collectors platinum gold diamond edition" game. You know, the kind that are two to three times more expensive than the regular version and come with a silly action figure, a second "making of" disc that no one will ever watch, and a clunky metal case. Does anyone plan on buying the BioShock or Halo 3 special editions?

What are these special editions?  I've never seen one.
 
Oblivion CE (a septim coin!)
Guild Wars Nightfall CE (for the love of directsong music!)
Command & Conquer 3 Kane Edition (I would've bought the GDI edition if they made one!  28,830 of 100,000 I think I have.)
UT2k4 (It was like 20$ CAD)
 
And..
 
Half Life Adrenaline Pack! (the only one worth it I think, it was around 100$ CAD when I bought it)
 
Games that I don't have CE:
Farcry
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2142
Starcraft
Diablo 2
Warcraft 3
System Shock 2
Supreme Commande
 
List goes on.. I usually don't buy CEs, but 10$ more, I just had to!
 
 
AND FOR THE LOVE OF MYSELF!  WHY THE CD CHECKS??????

Yes, but only if it comes with a figurine that I can show my girlfriend...    
 
Some games include special maps or character classes only in the Special Edition... so it depends on a cost benefit analysis.
 
If there is no gameplay difference... HECK NO.

the only collectors edition game i have is resident evil 4 for the ps2. it was 30 bucks used at gamestop, came with everything, even the print, in mint condition and unopened. i was surprised, and that's why i got it.

I was given the Ultima IX: Ascension collector's edition  as a joke.  It came in a box about the size of a door and had a certificate of authenticity.  I remember buying the Quake III tin, and I must have bought several Bioware RPGs as collector's editions because I do have several cloth maps fluttering about my house.
 
I also remember buying the collector's edition of Diablo II.
 
Recently, I bought the collector's edition of The Battle for Middle-Earth II because it had extra in-game assets.
 
I'll only buy them now if they offer some really good in-game content.

If I'm really looking forward to a game then I'll get the extra stuff. Otherwise, no. Halo 3? No. Bioshock? Didn't know there'd be one, but I probably preordered it already. :? Half-Life 2: Episode 2? I'll be getting the Orange Box (?) on the 360 and Episode 2 on Steam. Mass Effect? If they had a $200 version, I'd probably get it.

I've never seen one that cost 3 times normal...  Most collector's editions I've seen run $10 more than normal.
 
At a small price hike like $10 I've been guilty several times.  
 
I'd never consider getting a collectors edition that ran more than $20 more than normal version, and even then only if it was REALLY AWESOME and had in game effects of some sort.

it depends on the game.  Most time it like why or why bother.

I remember a Diablo 2 special edition case that I bought a long time ago, because I was addicted to the game. Beyond that, I have never bought a special edition of anything.

I bought the collectors edition of STALKER, mainly because they were out of the vanilla edition and the manager gave me a staff discount. Nepotism, I love it too.

 
What did you have to, um, do to get that staff discount, Aaron?
 
BTW, what do you think of STALKER? I'm not thrilled, sorry to say...

ive never managed to pay more for the collectors edition(strange really), but whenever i go to buy a game i always find the ce on offer, for example i got the Quake 4 CE for 19quid two weeks after it came out, and they were selling the normal one for 29quid. btw the quake 4 CE was worth it, came with Q2 and all of its expansions.
 
same thing happened with me and RE4, i got it cheaper than the normal game.

 
What did you have to, um, do to get that staff discount, Aaron?
 
BTW, what do you think of STALKER? I'm not thrilled, sorry to say...
Go to school with him. I'm not quite sure how you do it where you come from...?
 
As for STALKER... It's good, but nothing terribly great. Also, it's RPG elements more tighten the spectrum of people who can enjoy the game, rather than widening it I think. The only hybrid games I really enjoyed were along the lines of SS2, Dues Ex and so on. But they have other things going for them...
 
Of course STALKER was also weighed by the expectation of several years of development. The more times a game is on the cover of a single games magazine, the more disappointing it's going to be.