NEWS
by Murray Lewis
Gamer Network wants to sell you indie game collector's editions
Gamer Network, the company behind sites Eurogamer and GamesIndustry, have partnered up with collector's edition veterans Idea Planet to offer special physical releases of indie games in a new venture they're calling 'Gamer's Edition.'
Each release will focus on one game, or one series of games, and will be packed full of natty extras to please our senses and strain our shelving units. First up for the premium treatment are two modern indie hits, Hotline Miami and Papers, Please.
It was born of the realisation that digitally distributed indie games were taking up almost as much of our gaming time as the megabucks triple-A stuff, but they didn't have much in the way of cooler toys or accessories.
It didn't seem fair that you can get a series of statues for Gears of War Judgement but nothing for Thomas Was Alone.
It didn't seem fair that you can get a series of statues for Gears of War Judgement but nothing for Thomas Was Alone.
The Hotline Miami package will include both the original and the upcoming sequel, Wrong Number, bundled with heaps of extras like a comic book and the official soundtrack on a real C-90 cassette tape. Quite how useful that will be to anyone is beyond me, but it's pretty cool.
Papers, Please is crammed with even more stuff, including an inkpad and stamps, an Arstotkan passport, and the immigration rulebook from the game.
The releases will run you $60 and $70, respectively, but Gamer Network have gone for an old playbook borrowed from old-school limited-run publishing - namely, the products are available for pre-order indefinitely. If and when they gather enough support to pay for the thing, it will get published and sent out to everyone who pre-ordered, but there's no limit on how long that can take.
It's the ultimate version of great digital games - a Special Edition that includes the game and some one-off special-edition gifts. Each one is individually numbered and there'll only ever be a single production run.
[...]
Each Gamer's Edition is intended as a one-time thing. We might reissue the game in future if it's really popular, maybe, but it'd be a different edition with different items.
[...]
Each Gamer's Edition is intended as a one-time thing. We might reissue the game in future if it's really popular, maybe, but it'd be a different edition with different items.
Time will tell how well this will hold up in the long run, but it seems they've already got more games lined up for the Collector's Edition spit-shine. If you're interested you can check out the packages over at Gamer's Edition.