The Last Fantasy Of Collecting

The grind of collecting collector’s edition games has become exhausting. It’s getting to the point that I can’t imagine trying to get a collector’s edition without serious preparation and an actionable plan. My frustration with this began with The collectors edition of Final Fantasy XV

When Final Fantasy XV was announced I was unbelievably excited. There was a trailer for FFXV that featured a song called “Somnus” playing as the FFXV main character destroyed enemies with floating swords. He just exuded power and regality, It was amazing; the music and tone of the trailer enthralled me so much I thought about it for days.

For you understand how important this collectors edition was for me, you have to remember that Final Fantasy XV was announced in 2006. It was being called Final Fantasy Versus XIII at the time and was a slated to be a PlayStation 3 title. So in 2016, when the game was finally going to be released, I had a decade of anticipation built up for the moment I could finally purchase the game. I wanted to go big and get the collector’s edition. I said to my self, if any game warranted a collector’s edition pick up, it’s this game that you have been waiting for all these years. When I went to purchase the game the site crashed

It said i just had to click confirm to finish my purchase. I clicked confirm, thinking the next page was going to be, “Your purchase is complete”, but instead, the site crashed and I had to reload the site. Of course, everything was sold out by the time I reloaded the page. The situation upset me so much that to this day I have not played Final Fantasy XV. I picked up the “Royal” edition a few years ago,but i still have not played it. The wound is still too fresh.

Unfortunately that was not the only time that something like this happened. If you have been collecting for awhile, you probably have many similar stories as well. It’s difficult to get excited for a new release when you know you will have to deal with Scalpers and bots trying to make your purchase almost impossible so that you will be forced to Ebay and other third party methods of acquiring your game and have to pay double or even triple the suggested retail price. It all reached a boiling point for me with Xenoblade Chronicles 3. This was when I really became aware of everything that was going on behind the scenes.

Once More With Feeling

Nintendo sold the game in stores, but the collector’s edition was only available through their online store. So I waited a long time in front of my computer, prepared to buy the collector’s edition and ready to celebrate all the way to release day.

I logged into my account and I was on my way to completing my purchase when the site froze. Traumatized, I pulled out my phone remembering my experience with FFXV and hoped to see anyone already celebrating a successful purchase, but instead i read that people were having problems with the site. I kept holding on to hope, trying to get my game. I got to the point where I put in my payment information but instead of loading the final screen where i would confirm my payment the site crashed and kicked me out. When I tried to go back to the site, it was sold out.

I spent the next few minutes being consoled by the numerous gamers online recanting their experience and explaining how the scalpers and bots were the cause. I appreciated all the information, but That was the last straw for me. I had to change my criteria for choosing collectors editions.

These experiences are not the only ones I’ve had, but they’ve definitely fatigued me to the point that I don’t want to even entertain the idea of getting collectors editions of games unless I absolutely love the franchise or I know a large abundance will be readily available. I want as little trouble as possible now.

Switch 2 Roads Diverged In A Gloomy Wood

Even something like The Switch 2, who’s status is in flux right now, with me not knowing whether it will be hard to find, the pricing, and concrete details about its release scares me. Honestly, as excited as I am to play my old games and some new games on The Switch 2, I really don’t want to deal with the level of searching and pursuit that may be necessary to get the console.

It’s something that I feel many people will have to decide as they move forward with collecting beloved games. the decision of whether its worth it to contend with scalpers and bots to get something they really care about, Something that might remind them of nostalgic memories and even become a memory they will cherish forever.

Some people who don’t play video games or don’t care about the hobby much might say, “Well, it’s not a big deal,” but in reality, when you get the collector’s edition of a game, you’re turning that purchase into an experience. The unboxing, the reading of the books and manuals, the Admiring of the craftsmanship of the statue and little trinkets inside all carry weight with my love of video games. I mean, to some extent, even the pursuit is part of the experience. But when it becomes so dreadful, you feel the fatigue just imagining the action, is it really worth it? It’s great if you go through and succeed, but sometimes the success of getting a game and the joy of it might be tainted by that very pursuit. 

I see many online retailers are putting up measures to cull the rampant horde of bots that are ruining the shopping experience for many gamers but there has to be more done to make make this easier. The idea that we have to go through this much trouble to give someone money is laughable. I’m still excited about collecting but I have certainly tempered my expectations when it comes to actually seeing these editions on my shelf.