Is Online Distribution killing the Collectors Edition?

I don't know about you, but I seriously love collectors editions (heck, I like just having a physical box to prove the fact that I have the game without having to start it up). There's just... that warm fuzzy feeling you get opening up a fancy, decorated box that has all these awesome physical extras in it. From the SPORE Galactic Edition, which features one of the most awesome-looking boxes, and contains a making-of DVD and art booklet, to the UT3 collectors edition, which comes in a simple metal box, with a little art booklet, and a making-of DVD and tutorial videos for the game editor, I think that Collectors/Special Editions are something really awesome. Take, for example, the collector's edition of the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins. Whilst I am currently sick of this game, after having it shoved down my throat by 2 friends of mine, it is not possible to ignore the special edition, which comes with a cloth map of the game.

Yet the thing that worries me is Digital Distribution. Services like Steam and Direct2Drive offer games at really good prices, but force you to download the game off the internet. This has started to bug me as of late: call me stupid if you want, but I get annoyed by the fact that I bought The Orange Box, and DON'T HAVE THE BOX TO PROVE IT! Maybe it's just a social thing - being able to 'show off' you impressive collection of games to others. Maybe it's just a sign of OCD, and that I'm going mad. But the fact is, boxed games are becoming either rarer, or at least less essential to the gaming experience. Take Left 4 Dead for example. I actually got a cousin from England to bring it over to Australia when he visited last year. However, the box provides very little of an 'user experience'. You put in the disc, it copies the files, activates it on steam, and then that's it. You may as well put that disc away, you're never gonna need it again. There's not even a proper manual! (at least, not on the disc). All you get is a 'quick-start' card, which just has basic install instructions, and a key command reference. Even the installation itself is a dull experience, with little game art/media and a simple copying bar.

I haven't been playing games for that long, but another of my cousins has been in the PC games market since the days of Diablo, Warcraft II (yes, 2) and Half-Life. He still has some of the box stuff/manuals. The first thing that strikes you is how much bigger the boxes were back then. They were at least twice the size of today's standard DVD cases. And they came with a proper manual: the type that gives you not only troubleshooting and game instructions, but also backstory stuff. The Diablo 2 manuals are a classic example - they come with all this extra text explaining stuff that happens between Diablo I and II. So does the original StarCraft: that has complete history profiles on each of the 3 races, and detailed unit info.

The 'smaller box and manual' principle is not limited to just games as well. A more recent example is the iPod Touch. The first generation came in this nice black box, that was a a fair bit bigger than the actual ipod. But I have a 2nd gen, and the case for that is simply the ipod, with the headphones, USB cable and 'quick-start guide' sandwiched in the back. Maybe this is because of shipping and printing costs in this day and age, with corporations wanting to spend less to make more, by cutting down on 'unnecessary extras'. I think it's a shame, but I think I know why they do this. It's pretty simple – back in the days of HL and Diablo, the Internet was a lot less mainstream, and therefore, patches for games were seen less. This meant that the troubleshooting, system specs and feature sets in the manuals would always be relevant and up-to-date. However, in this day and age, patches are release regularly, and they can sometimes change the feature of a game and/or its system specs. Case in point: the UT3 2.0 Titan patch was released recently, adding 3 new gameplay modes to the game, simplifying the interface, and adding a lot more control over the graphic effects, which may or may not have affected the base system requirements. In Left 4 Dead, survival mode was released, and more recently, the crash course campaign, which would make any printed manual significantly out-of-date.

But back to my main point. Are services like steam killing the collector's edition? I'm pretty confident we'll be seeing Collector's Editions long into the future, especially for single-player games. But some companies seem to have already decided to abandon the boxed experience of getting a Video Game, which is a shame. Valve is the main focus here: it may be that in the future, one of their games will be released as a steam purchase exclusive. But I hope that they will keep releasing boxed copies, and that they realise that the box experience is something that many gamers hold dear.

Oh yeah, and when StarCraft II comes out, there better be a special edition that costs at least twice the retail price.