The Best

Lunar 2 and its predecessor Lunar arguably created the modern collector's edition with their lavish North American releases. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete for the PlayStation shipped with a two-sided poster, a hardcover instruction booklet, paper standees of the main cast, and an impressively large replica of heroine Lucia's pendant. The original Lunar also shipped with a lavish collector's edition that included a hardbound instruction booklet, a cloth replica world map, a soundtrack CD, and a special "Making of Lunar" disc that actually contained a hidden, playable bonus mini-game called Lords of Lunar.

These collector's editions may not sound like anything out of the ordinary now, but consider that Lunar shipped in 1999 and Lunar 2 in 2000. These weren't collector's editions for triple-A games backed by a massive publisher, either, but labors of love accompanying a niche JRPG being published by Working Designs, a relatively small company. While lavish collector's edition releases weren't uncommon in PC gaming, the kinds of huge console game limited editions that are now commonplace wouldn't be seen regularly even for major titles until around 2005.

The final single-player Ultima game boasted a collector's edition that let the series go out with a bang. Called the "Dragon Edition," Ultima IX's collector's edition shipped in an oversized box that contained Ultima IX itself, a bonus disc containing the first eight Ultima games in their entirety, a cloth world map, a good-sized ankh pendant, eight Tarot cards, a collectible spellbook, and a special certificate signed by Lord British himself, Richard Garriott. While lavish PC game releases were nothing new at the time, the sheer quantity of stuff crammed into Ultima IX's Dragon Edition remains impressive to this day.

Ultima IX was the first game in the Ultima series to ship with a collector's edition, because earlier games in the series tended to make cool pack-ins a standard feature. Every game in the Ultima series shipped with a cloth map depicting the in-game world, documents written in an in-universe style, and some kind of trinket that represented an item from the game. The extras were meant to help develop the idea that Ultima games were more than just RPGs to play, but worlds to explore. The basic idea of enhancing the game experience with physical collectibles arguably comes from the Ultima series.

Good modern collector's editions do exist! One of the best is for BioShock 2, a game that by itself is pretty good but not quite in the same league as its predecessor. BioShock 2's collector's edition puts the original's to shame, though. The Limited Edition shipped with a 164-page art book, an orchestral soundtrack CD containing music from BioShock 2, three Rapture advertisement posters, and a vinyl soundtrack LP containing orchestral music from the original BioShock.

While the BioShock 2 vinyl LP hasn't gone on to become especially rare (you can pick it up for about $10 on eBay), it's one of the best types of collectibles to include in a collector's edition. It's unique, it serves as a conversation piece, and it wouldn't even feel out of place in the game's world. The fact that it doubles as a soundtrack rather than just taking up shelf space is another nifty bonus.