Hmmm… Allow me to get into trouble (again) as I break this down for you and possibly help Sony and other game companies save some money in the future (hopefully).  While these Collector’s Editions are indeed really cool, they also present a telling case against themselves (as well as make people like me wish for the older, wiser days). For example, sure, it’s fine and dandy to get a demo of the eagerly anticipated The Last of Us as well as additional God of War content, but why not stick those onto a separate DISC and put it in the box as opposed to creating paper vouchers that end up getting tossed or lost? This way, gamers without PSN access could play the demo and access that bonus content which wouldn’t be initially available to those with the standard edition. That soundtrack CD is a good idea, but it’s too bad games aren’t using Redbook audio these days, as it would have been super to just hear the soundtrack alone by accessing it off the game disc (just like the “old days”)…

As for that lovely Kratos statue, well… I guess it’s fine (hey, you have to have SOMETHING to show off to potentially jealous friends, right), and I’m not about to suggest some sort of mail-in coupon for those that just want one and nothing else (as that’s a wee bit TOO old school). But I do have to wonder how many of these editions will be produced as well as the amount of red PS3 bundles headed to retail next week because I almost always see other consoles and collector’s editions end up as overstocks on closeout sites (or overpriced on eBay for months afterward). Sony’s far from the sole guilty party here, as Microsoft does this with seemingly more frequency (there’s a new Xbox 360 model for their major first-party releases plus a few themed systems that pop up for certain other games (Kinect Star Wars and a few Call of Duty games have gotten custom consoles). All this as retail sales for games have been bumpy these days as it seems people want to spend LESS, not more on their AAA titles.

Granted, I could be wrong here, but I don’t think so, given that when I pop into some game retailers around here a few weeks after some of the bigger games have launched, I’ll see stock sitting around and even a few returns of limited or collector’s editions. As always, we’ll see what happens, but I think the first step to saving money and staying upright is to realize you need to strip some things down to more basic levels (and get more people interested in the process)…