I hereby swear I will never buy another CE. Lately I've bought a few and each time I kick myself for doing so. It just seems like a waste of money.

First, I rarely use the Strategy Guide and if I do, the walkthrough is exactly the same. For an SE I can minimize the walkthrough for nearly just as easy access.

Second, the last CE I played was short, not worth the CE price. Even with the bonus content, which usually only adds at most 45 minutes to an hour, I can't see paying twice the price. I could buy 2 SEs instead and get twice the content (of the main part of the game). And if the game IS really long, by the time I get to the bonus content I'm usually getting bored with the game anyway and the bonus just seems like a chore.

So from now on, since Big Fish offers a choice, I will wait for the SE and save a bunch of bucks! I'm all for developers getting paid for what they do, but in this case I feel like the consumer is being taken advantage of. It's hard to pass up on a new game (especially one that gets rave reviews) and they know it. People generally like instant gratification, so that's what makes it pretty easy to sell the CEs. I, for one, am going to look out for my own pocketbook, (not the developers) and delay gratification. As stated earlier, Big Fish offers that choice and I'm taking it.

And now I'm stepping off of my soapbox. I hope I didn't raise any hackles. I only meant to express something I've been thinking about for a long time.

Peace.

No hackles raised here. I take CEs on a case by case basis and sometimes I feel that they are worth the extra bucks and that sometimes they are not. We all have a choice, and it's good to know that the CE games will always have a standard version released a month or so later.

Hi, zookeeper!

I tend to agree with you. If I'm paying $13.99 for a CE, I expect it to last longer than 4 or 5 hours because most SEs take that long to play for half the price. I just finished a CE that took me just over 3 hours to play, and I only skipped 2 puzzles. I'm still playing the bonus chapter, but I doubt it will take me longer than an hour. I wish the developers would forget about the wallpaper, music and concept art and include more game play, but that's just me.

My problem is, if I play the demo of a CE and really enjoy it, I don't have the willpower to wait another month for the SE to be released, especially if everyone is raving about it.

There was a time when only 1 or 2 CEs were released each month, but now it seems we're getting a new one every day.

"Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies" is a prime example of a CE game at a SE price. It had a built-in strategy guide along with a bonus chapter, and it took me well over 6 hours to complete.

Susan

You can also factor into your list of options doing what I did recently, which was to take advantage of a Collector's Edition sale (and, of course, assuming there will be another sale like that in the future). Boy, did I clean up.

I've never been tempted by the CE version of a game.
The wallpaper, etc I just don't want. I don't need the strategy guide when a walkthru is available.
Like Zookeeper, I'm sometimes getting a bit bored and wishing the game would finish so I don't think I would be interested in extra gameplay.
But I'm really pleased there are CE's - for the developers to make money so they can carry on issuing SE games and for the players who like to play CE games.

Hi, Marian!

I was a good girl and passed on the CE sale, mainly because it didn't include any recently released games. Normally, I wait until I've accumulated 2 Game Club credits and use them, but there has been such a glut of CEs lately that I've already purchased 3 this month ... and there's another one today.

I really have to stop playing the demos and then I won't be tempted !

Susan

When BF starting putting out 2 CE's a week, I made the switch to only buying the SE's. So far, I haven't missed any of the bonus content and am happy that I'm saving some $. I keep track of the release dates of the CE's so that I have an idea of when the standard version will be out. I still don't have a problem filling one or 2 punch cards a month, I just get twice as many games for filling them.

I agree with Zookeeper, I've moved away from the CE's since I see I still have a few not finished yet. I don't care for the extras except the SG, or if there is extra play other than another chapter. Such as the Sherlock Holmes CE, that was well worth buying.

So, I'm waiting for the SE and the walkthrough. However, I did manage to get a few during the sale which I passed up on previously.

I usually don't have the will power to wait either, but I just had to get it because it was getting out of hand. Everyone is creating CE and really not adding anything to them worth paying for.

Like marian, I take them on a play the demo at a time. Some I've liked, others are still demos.

I too have never been tempted to buy a CE - You only have to wait a month till the SE is released, and i always have games left to play anyway. Although I did take advantage of the recent CE sale, and I bought 6 at that time! Which earned me 4 free games, so I won all round!

Hi all, thanks for the comments. It's good to know I'm not alone.

As far as the demos, well, that's what gets me into trouble to begin with. The way it goes for me is, I don't have a game to play so I figure I'll try the latest, hottest reviewed CE demo. I kid myself into believing that I can quit when the demo is done. But, alas, by the time it's over I'm engrossed and don't want to wait a month or two for the SE so I hit buy. So from now on I will only browse the SE demos. Then I won't be tempted to buy the CEs.