This may seem very fickle of me, but I'm really disappointed with the way...whoever is responsible handled the US Special Edition exclusive to Gamestop. I'm a sucker for a good steelbook, or any sort of unique packaging really. All of my games and movies are on display in my living room and all of my friends are at varying degrees into this stuff, so I like it when companies do that sort of thing. Some European users managed to get ahold of the game early and posted videos of the packaging on the youtubes. I saw the steelbook, which had already been revealed, covered by a nice clear plastic sleeve which overlays the title. The spine of the steelbook is also plain black with a similar overlay treatment of the title from the sleeve. so I was excited. I thought we'd finally gotten a nice domestic release of a quantic dream special edition. When I picked up my copy from Gamestop today however, I was a bit shocked to see that while the steelbook was 98% correct(the spine has the title printed on it) the sleeve was changed for a cardboard version featuring the EXACT SAME art as the standard edition. Now I know some of you will say just get rid of the sleeve, but I like keeping all of my stuff complete. I have all my lego, transformers, and console boxes as well. I just don't understand why the US always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to packaging for these things. We don't even get the printed manual that the Euro versions feature. What is even the point of the steelbook if it's just going to look exactly like the standard version on my shelf? Now I know that the EU version runs a few Euros more than their standard edition. I would have gladly paid a few bucks more for parity. Maybe I'll just have to import everything from the UK from now on. I did that for Heavy Rain and the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. They didn't even bother bringing those Special Editions over...

My advice to you, my friend, is to stop wasting extra money on special editions of any video game. Only time it's about worth it is if you happen to get some DLC for it. Even that, in most cases, is just a stupid extra outfit or something. I know you said you really like things like a steel book but is it really worth it for something you're just gonna shelf and probably never look at again?

Pay a bunch more to import over such a trivial thing? I don't even.. Yeah, I got nothing.

In my experience, steelbooks don't really stand the test of time. I got a few when they started doing them in the early/mid 2000's, a lot of them are now rusty. Halo 2 being the worst, it now looks like this:

I tend to avoid them like the plague now. Maybe they got better at making them, but you don't know that until 5 years later so no thanks.

The US Steelbook seems way better to me.

@grixxel: The special edition didn't cost any extra as its gamestop exclusive.

Yeah, it doesn't have any crappy logos on it.

Yep, totally agree. All the text and logos are just cruft. I'd say get over your hoarding and toss the sleeve, or at least pack it away with your old games or something.

us steel book is way nicer. And if you hate the slip cover don't throw it away, just stop caring! At the end of the day it's just some bullshit packaging. All of my cases are in a box I bought at staples and my games are in a nice binder case

@catsakimbo: I hardly think its "hoarding" to want to keep your games package complete especially if your fond of displaying them. Ive kept a bunch of thr oversized cardboard boxes that a lot of my games have came in Like Deathsmiles.

The logos that you see on the EU version are printed on a clear plastic sleeve. The steelbook itself is the same, except for the spine which is blank on the EU version.

As I said, I enjoy being able to display my collection. It is my prerogative to feel that way just as hiding your collection is yours.

It's been a while since I imported one but I don't recall them being much more expensive. Maybe $10-20 more than a typical US game?

@slashdance said:

In my experience, steelbooks don't really stand the test of time. I got a few when they started doing them in the early/mid 2000's, a lot of them are now rusty. Halo 2 being the worst, it now looks like this:

I tend to avoid them like the plague now. Maybe they got better at making them, but you don't know that until 5 years later so no thanks.

Uh, geez where do you live? It's pretty humid here in New Orleans, but damn! I've never seen any of my steelbooks exhibit that behavior. I'll have to see if I can dig up my copy of that but I'm pretty sure it's fine. But actually, at least in the pic, the rust lends a bit of battle-worn-ness to the look of the case

@amdman: think of it this way:does your hatred for the slip cover supercede your need to keep everything together? If it does, put the slipcover away and display only the steelbook. If it doesn't, keep it together and display it with the cover. It's as simple as that. Sony probably figures most people dont care That much about the packaging. And it isn't like you spent extra for it. So take it or leave it

And another way to think about it is the European steel book is being bombarded by a bunch of bullshit logos whether they want it or not. The US steel book is way fancier

Edit: I didn't see that you said those logos are on a piece of plastic. Anyway, the European version is still worse because it's spine is blank. I'm assuming you're displaying the game on a bookshelf. If that's the case there would be nothing on the spine to display; it would be an out of place piece of metal.