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[levyjl1988]

Whenever I compare Collector's Editions with NA and EU, NA always gets shafted.

For example:

EU:

NA:

NA misses out on the extra box slip and the art book.

Let's look at Ni No Kuni CE...

EU version:

NA:

NA gets absolute trash!

Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered released...
physically only in EU. Digital only in NA.

No physical copy for North America. Which ruins my entire physical copy collection for Xbox One.

Also for 3D movies, I still have a 3D TV but I'm already missing out on 3D versions of Cars 3, Coco, Thor Ragnarok, etc.
3D will remain exclusive in theatres as a time sensitive thing.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 never got a NA physical release, only digital.

EU gets:

We don't even see them hit NA.

NA ALWAYS gets shafted. WHY??? and who do I blame???
This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[royox]

Maybe it has something to do with the N.American marquet? It could be something like why publishers think they have to do things like this on the box arts:

 

[sotojuan]

Maybe the gaming world is trying to make up for the lack of games released in Europe in the 90s - particularly JRPGs.

 

[The Cartographer]

PAL (EU) territories didn't get Jesus Christ only knows how many games that NTSC (NA) received (especially tons of Japanese games) so I don't really get what this thread is all about.

 

[TheShadowLord]

Ace Attorney Investigations 2 never got released in the UK or US though.

 

[gradient]

Having gamed through the 16-bit era to now I can say that the PAL market got the shaft for a VERY long time. It's only recently that NA has been getting lesser editions of certain games, but they still get an absolute TON of releases that never make it to Europe.

Yes, there are some special editions that are better in the PAL regions than their NA counterparts and there are a scant few games that get released in Europe and not NA but the fact is NA still gets a lot more releases and wins on balance by a landslide. What is needed to balance it out is region free games so that consumers can buy whichever version they like regardless of where it released.

 

[NovumAngel]

Physical Edition in US, digital only in Europe.

US also got a physical version of SMT IV, while Europe had to wait more than a year longer to get it digital only.

I don't get the complaints, this sort of stuff happens both ways.

 

[Spheyr]

They're just useless knick-knacks you're not going to do anything with after you put them on a shelf to collect dust.

 

[grumpyGamer]

Having gamed through the 16-bit era to now I can say that the PAL market got the shaft for a VERY long time. It's only recently that NA has been getting lesser editions of certain games, but they still get an absolute TON of releases that never make it to Europe.

Yes, there are some special editions that are better in the PAL regions than their NA counterparts and there are a scant few games that get released in Europe and not NA but the fact is NA still gets a lot more releases and wins on balance by a landslide. What is needed to balance it out is region free games so that consumers can buy whichever version they like regardless of where it released.

yep , you are totally right, just see the god of war 4 collectors edition, in europe is the same price with less stuff inside, i get mad sometime for not getting the NA stuff.

 

[Shifty]

This thread is real rich. Let's not forget that the US economy and standard of living is pretty high relative to other first-world countries. You pay less for these things. Sure, it still sucks, but north america is not the center of the universe as far as publisher nonsense goes.

Meanwhile here in the UK, the Xbox Duke reprint is £20 more expensive and releases a full month later. Because Microsoft in all their wisdom, with all of their money, couldn't find a distribution channel that would give their british customers a fair deal. Great, eh?

 

[Northeastmonk]

I wonder about that too. Then I think about what happen to the arcade. We've went away from playing Street Fighter at the arcades and you don't see arcade machines out in public anymore unless your with kids or you want to have a beer and play "retro games".

Does that mean it's dead and isn't enjoyable anymore? Hell no. It means people enjoy playing whatever at home and they probably want to own just the game. I could be wrong about connecting the two, but it has been noticeable in the last decade or longer.

When it comes to collector's editions and so forth. Walk into a GameStop. The CE's sit there and there's lots of ThinkGeek stuff there that probably sits until it's clearanced.

Maybe the people in charge had no choice, but to release it the way it did. Maybe the cash flow allowed for that to happen or maybe the person running things thought NA didn't care.

Also, there's probably big executives funding games with no desire to own any of that. The gaming industry changes all the time. It's either making money or not.

I could argue about the art on Japanese game boxes were better than NA. That's because America comes off as being a nation of censorship at times. It's cool when a game is popular, but it gets scrutinized later on. How do we go from being a country that made Call of Duty to one that wants it censored?

GameStop has been notorious for their cheap collector's editions and so forth. That's the game industry's fault, but still. Bethesda even acknowledged they were crap in NA.

 

[Ballthyrm]

You can't help but cry when you see that. But covers are ultimately used to sell a product, they are not an indication to the game they contain whatsoever.

 

[entremet]

Denser populations and easier distribution. It's why European magazines have higher quality paper as well.

In the US, you're talking about much less denser land mass, which makes distribution more expensive, so compromises are made.

 

[MetalSlug]

It's a shame we don't different box arts these days like in the past.

 

[Supreme Allah]

Maybe it has something to do with the N.American marquet? It could be something like why publishers think they have to do things like this on the box arts:

The EU one looks like a beautiful painting you could hang on your wall, while the NA one looks like trash someone copypasted together in 5 minutes.

 

[NihoB]

While NA gets a fair share of things EU doesn't get, I do agree their Special/Collector's editions usually are just flat out better in terms of packaging and content. An example I noticed (content same across the board in this case) and annoying to me was for Nier Automata Black Box edition. I'm from NA so of course I got the NA version which had a white box with the Yorha logo on it for the slip cover. The packaging inside was the collector's items but nothing shrink wrapped and the art book had some scuffs on it. I look up youtube unboxing video and there were lots of EU Black Box version unboxings and the art for the slip cover was much better than the plain white Yorha that came with the NA version (JPN still has the best one). On top of that the box itself was shrink wrapped and all contents inside were shrinked wrapped, which would have prevented the scuffs on the artbook for the NA version. Makes you wonder why there was a difference in content packaging/protection that contained the same items in all regions

 

[camelCase]

Having gamed through the 16-bit era to now I can say that the PAL market got the shaft for a VERY long time. It's only recently that NA has been getting lesser editions of certain games, but they still get an absolute TON of releases that never make it to Europe.

Yes, there are some special editions that are better in the PAL regions than their NA counterparts and there are a scant few games that get released in Europe and not NA but the fact is NA still gets a lot more releases and wins on balance by a landslide. What is needed to balance it out is region free games so that consumers can buy whichever version they like regardless of where it released.

Maybe it's a gesture of good will to make up for y'all getting shafted so often lol.

 

[Danjin44]

Canada is even worst. We sometimes we just dont straight up won’t get collector’s edition. Heck, I can’t still pre-order Octopath Traveler here and there is good chance we won’t ever get the Wayfarer’s Edition here.

 

[Terra_Ex]

PAL (EU) territories didn't get Jesus Christ only knows how many games that NTSC (NA) received (especially tons of Japanese games) so I don't really get what this thread is all about.

This, I remember laughing out loud at operation rainfall because they supposedly weren't getting like 3 games. Back in the day, the NTSC release landscape was like a nirvana compared to the desolate wasteland that befell PAL gamers. Ended up importing practically my entire ps1/ps2 jrpgs collection from the states years ago because of it.

 

[RokkanStoned]

Payback for having to wait forever for European release for years, or not getting the game at all.

 

[Soltype]

Each region has it's shortcomings.I don't know why America is always the focus of these type of threads, like it's a standard or something.

 

[brap]

Maybe because physical games don't sell as well in America? I know there's some games I had to get the EU physical release of because they were only released digital here.

 

[Codes 208]

Well its bandai so im not surprised. As a huge dbz fan i remember a few collectors editions for raging blast that never came stateside. Sometimes it seems to be based on publishers, and sometimes its the reverse. Europe got shafted when the 3ds xl first came out without a charger over there but it was included with NA boxes

 

[Noboru Wataya]

NA

EU

EU has been shafted for years. We never got shadowrun, splatterhouse 3, Chrono Trigger etc etc etc. It’s strange seeing the tides turn a little now but your complaining about nothing to be fair in the grand scheme of gaming in 2018

 

[TheShadowLord]

It's a shame we don't different box arts these days like in the past.

remove leon from the US box art and it might improve it. He looks so out place

 

[cireza]

US :

Europe :

US :

Europe :
US :

Europe :
US :

Europe :
US :

Europe :

It is so fucking great to be European !!!
: |

Thank God I have always been a "Sega" player, and Sega always supported US and Europe in the same way.

 

[LucidFeuer]

Well, stated blantly but in absolutely true terms: europeans are "smarter", wether in terms of consumption but also tastes, and even consumer attitudes and rights follow that. Since when have the US be known to have scrutinity in their rights, tastes and consumption?

 

[Mooreberg]

I don't care about collector's editions with miscellaneous crap, but publishers seem to be getting dumber with North American release dates relative to other games come out in North America. Yakuza 6 - english language "Asia" version available now. North America... three days before God of War. It is practically flushing "full priced" sales down the toilet for no discernible reason.

 

[Deyjandi_Von]

I can't comment on NA v EU box arts in general a) because I'm from the EU), and b) because I don't keep up with these things in general, but that US art for Ico is an abomination of the senses. One of my favourite memories in gaming is picking up my copy of SotC on launch day and it having that awesome cardboard slip cover. One of my biggest gaming regrets was selling it.

 

[KiteGr]

Yeah...
Our covers of Xenogears, Xenosaga 1 & 3, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Grandia 3, all Tale's of games on PSX & PS2 consoles and all final fantasy games until the playstation era are much better than the US ones.

You can't imagine how much of a spoiled crybaby you make your self look in my eyes right now. REALLY?! You rant because in some games we got better Swag than you?!
The reason most games came with better covers all the way up to the ps3 era was because most games came with a 1-12 month delay, if we ever get it at all. And with a little research, you'll see that most EU "collectors editions" still get inferior content (even though a true "collector's edition" will have the DLC on a disk).
Wana check our release of Guilty Gear Xrd: Sign? Are 9 months delay, with no free DLC and a digital only release good enough for you? How about Blaze Blue? What about South Park: The stick of Truth? Have you see the Contra games we've got? Our first Persona?

 

[Chinbo37]

But Europe got Terranigma}

 

[Wulfric]

Europe:
Small geographic footprint for ease of distribution
Less people

North America:
Larger geographic area makes shipping large items in bulk costly
Bigger population, manufacturing price per unit might be lower but total expenditure will be higher.

This is partially why smaller print run magazines can succeed in Europe. National distribution in NA is more costly per customer.

 

[VertigoOA]

Well in regards to Nintendo.... NoA has sucked for a long time now.

Perhaps it’s just revenge for them having slower versions of games during the golden years of gaming

 

[bad guy]

I don't think that luxury problems qualify as getting shafted.

 

[sephiroth7x]

You got Chrono Trigger... we didn't (for a long time anyway)...

However as a proper answer, its all about marketing and being bothered to market as far as I was aware (Could be wrong).

NA is a mass market. So smaller games with limited runs could be completed and sold in the UK for example only, to test the waters before publishing millions of copies. A limited run of 10,000 in the UK may sell out... leading them to know a market is there for it. If it doesn't sell, then they wont take the risk.

Also, on the flipside of this could be that certain games aren't popular in EU. Using Ni No Kuni 2 for example, it sold very well I believe for that kind of game in NA. They don't need to add anything else to sweeten the deal... so they know the game will sell even without a fancy glass case etc... in the EU, something like that might make them buy a game they wouldn't have initially even looked at...

All in all, I don't think NA or the EU can complain. I'd rather see a complete release of all games worldwide when they're finished and all special editions are the same across the board but due to language barriers, censorship issues, licensing blah blah blah it just isn't going to happen...

 

[nephilimdj]

Nintendo is easy one to explain, EU has dozens of distributors while NA has juggernauts like Walmart, Amazon and GameStop.
NOA has never worked with smaller distros the way other regions have, I mean last year Aus branch they had a EB games exclusive and Gametraders exclusive Package for one game. Gametraders has like 15 stores...

 

[Spheyr]

Nintendo is easy one to explain, EU has dozens of distributors while NA has juggernauts like Walmart, Amazon and GameStop.
NOA has never worked with smaller distros the way other regions have, I mean last year Aus branch they had a EB games exclusive and Gametraders exclusive Package for one game. Gametraders has like 15 stores...

Yeah, but to be fair don't all of the Australians live in like eight towns?

 

[goldenpp72]

As a US resident I always got the feeling they (EU) get shafted most of all. We don't always get everything but I feel this is a case of the spoiled sibling getting pissed the one time the other gets the best of them. I was sad we didn't get that limited edition Bayonetta Switch set when we are clearly the main market, but it happens.

 

[CloudStrife_ca]

If you think the US gets fucked hard vs European and Japanese collectors editions and box art, Canada is not the place for you! haha. Half the time we wont even get the choice of a collectors edition and if we do its a lesser version of what the US got. Could always order online but then you'll pay dearly for "import charges" Most recently Attack on Titan 2 for PS4 pre-order it and get a steel-book case, its advertised on the website of EB Games. Launch day comes, oh it wasn't available in Canada sorry, its a steel-book case, really!?

 

[Hotel Security]

As a US resident I always got the feeling they (EU) get shafted most of all.

I've felt the same way. I know a few folks in Europe and they're always complaining about not getting a game or only getting a small limited run that drove the price up on secondary markets. I'd say we're coming out ahead here.

Besides, most of these collector's edition just have bell-and-whistle junk that costs way too much anyway.