Theres been a lot of stigma recently regarding the quality of the assorted "crap" in the collectors edition of the new Batman game. In response I wanted to ask the community at large, 'why is this suddenly a big deal?'

Ever since developers realised that they could make money from creating a piss poor excuse for a bonus featurettes disc, or a flimsy plastic figurine (in this case the batarang), or a book full of concept art, they've been doing it; especially if the game is hyped enough and predicted to sell well. Batman: Arkham Asylum is just another classic example of trying to cash in on a games infamy before it's even been released. People still seem to be stuck in the notion that if a game is meant to be good, the quality of it's bonus items will match. And so we're stuck in this endless cycle of emptying our wallets further in the hope that this time, the collectors edition of a game will be have the a decent set of goodies.

Frankly, if Rocksteady's marketing crew thought the company could afford the time and money to make ceramic or metal Batarangs, or even better quality ones in time for release I'm sure they would have. But at the end of the day, the content for Collectors Editions are almost an afterthought. I'd be more annoyed if a company whipped up plans for a collectors edition straight away and then it affected the quality of the game. And at the end of the day, we're all paying for the game and the extra paraphenalia is a bonus and nothing more. I enjoy the novelty of collectors editions, but am always prepared to recieve a bit of crap. It's never going to be full to the brim of featurettes, or ultra detailed. On top of that, it's an optional extra, so if you don't want to risk it, don't bother making that purchase in the first place.

I'm from the UK, and while you got a leather bound journal in your collectors edition, we got a poorly made paper version that look likes it will fall apart after a few reads. Hell, our box wasn't even as impressive as the American version. So if any of you need comforting about the fact you wasted your money on a piece of crap, you can seek consolation in the fact that us Brits got a crapper version of that crap.