Showing posts with label Dragon Age. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dragon Age. Show all posts

05/12/2014

Not sure if designer...

I do not understand what some producers or whoever is responsible for designing video game packages have in their minds. Seriously. I am not a designer but I was lucky enough to be born with this thing "called" brain that seems quite reliable, at least when compared to most models I find every day lurking on this planet...

So, whoever made the design for this extraordinarily expensive edition... failed. It definitely isn't the worst collector's edition I've had on my hands. Capcom (in the US and Europe only because Japan is full of badass stuff) holds the gold medal on that category. 

To be honest, this edition is actually pretty decent overall, but unfortunately it has some big, stupid flaws that make it a little disappointing compared to the original images. I mean... Okay, so... no game inside the box. No news here, we've had that happen several times before, even with the newly released A.C. Unity: Guillotine Edition. But this time, the game is placed on the outer plastic slipcase, that has its own insert? That's new. What the serious business!? This is like someone having a surgery and the doctors leave the intestines on the outside.

It does not hurt too much to include an insert where you can actually place the game inside the box, does it? Because, you see, that's where the game should go: inside the box of the edition itself. And if there is definitely no place for it to fit because you were too lazy to figure out a solution, don't try to find an easy fix like this and just keep the game separated.

If you can ignore the slipcase disaster, the outer box is quite good. I'm not talking about quality or finishing because I don't know much about the materials, but the looks and textures are pretty cool. Then you open the box and remember how much you had to pay for it. Why? Well, if you are lucky enough, nothing is broken, because the interior design is horrible. I heard from the kind person who shipped this edition to me that most editions arrived at the German Gamestop stores with broken items inside and they had to be inspected one by one before being delivered to costumers. No wonder! Chances are you open the box and most stuff is out of its place, lying around loose, hopefully still in one piece but miserably falling from their places. The most fragile items are placed under the lid. When you open the box, they can fall. Yes, it's that stupid.  

I know nobody gives a crap about what I think or write in this blog but here's a small message for producers/designers/humanoids that make these things: FFS this edition is almost 200€! If you're making such an expensive edition, make it right! People order stuff online like never before. People import stuff around the world. We have Paypal. People who buy this are mostly collectors who care about design, quality and condition of their stuff. A bunch of scientists just managed to land a satellite in a frickin' comet... That's a little harder and more expensive than making a decent package for a 170€ edition. Well, 170 if you managed to snatch a preorder before resellers decided to rape prices on eBay and other websites, like they usually do after they ruin all stocks from every store and website. Boxes and packages DO matter! Just make something that can last a ride without arriving in crumbles, please! Yes, I'm not the kindest person around but I paid , didn't I? Thank you.

BTW I'm talking about the Dragon Age: Inquisition Collector's Edition, but I'm pretty sure the text was too long and you immediately looked at the picture, so you already know.


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15/01/2012

Now it's Dragons. What next?

Dragon Age Origins was released some time ago around the world and several editions were scattered through different countries. Some time ago now I was able to buy the collector's edition with the slipcase. ASlthough this edition was not officially released in Europe, it seems that two countries, Singapore and India, received a wooden box. I was very please d to figure out the Indian version is the closest thing to a PAL release (well, it is a PAL release) and even has the PEGI age rating on the box, so I did my best to get this because I was unable to find any other version.

Now that more people know about it's existence, it's becoming more and more sought after. I believe these can still be found in their countries of origin but since the internet sources for it are scarce it's not an easy task to find one. I actually got it off ebay before even knowing what it was. I thought it was some sort of shop exclusive but when I realized there were no more editions for this on sale on ebay for quite a long time (well at least with the PEGI logo) I started to wander where it came from.

Finally, as I was walking around with a friend we visited a flea market and he was lucky enough to buy another collector's edition, but this one was different from my first. His came with two discs, a large metallic box, a cloth map and several leaflets with doenloads as well as a small artbook. This edition was released in other countries like Italy or Spain, but not in the UK, although some time later I was able to buy a fully english copy for PS3. version.

Well, I believe I have all the variants of this CE... except that I think I've seen a smaller CE like the UK one but with a steelbook instead. Since I always try to avoid buying steelbooks and I already have the UK edition, I'll no longer search for more editions. This wooden box is IMO by far the best of them all.
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