How do you feel about Greatest Hit games?

[SonicBoom]

I Know a lot of people don't like to have the "Greatest Hit" version of a game. I Personally don't really care but I am interested in the reasoning behind it. How do you feel about Greatest Hit version of games?

[TonyTheTiger]

It's mostly aesthetics due to many people being OCD about uniformity. Games lined up on a shelf with random bright green spots in a row of black can get people's goat. Another reason is probably because Greatest Hits games are designed to really stand out and that usually translates to "ugly as hell" with clashing colors all over the place. Plus there's always the prestige of original packaging, not too unlike 1st printing preference in other circles.

Me, I generally don't care in that I won't really freak over GH packaging but all else being equal and given a choice between the two I'd opt for the non-GH style.

[wiggyx]

Looks like crap in PS1 and GCN games IMO. I just print non-GH covers and use them instead.

Don't really care about the other systems. PS2, Xbox, etc seem to blend in with the rest of the crap pretty well.

[Oobgarm]

Fucking hate unless there's no other option (ie Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition, Virtua Fighter 4 Evo, etc.)

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I'd be okay with greatest hits games if they didn't change the spines. When game libraries are lined up on the shelf, it's nice when they all look uniform. PS2 games have the beautiful unifomr PS2 black logo along every game....until you get greatest hits versions which use bright red instead.

Gamecube use bright yellow. I'd be fine if the disc itself said greatest hits, but c'mon, why fuck up the spine? There's NO reason for that at all.


And it's not just greatest hits games that to do this. Some initial run games do this as well, such as New Mario Bros Wii. Why the hell is the spine RED? Goddamn.

[Kitsune Sniper]

... I don't really care. If the colors bother you so much then just print a replacement sleeve. :P

[Collector_Gaming]

Don't care really unless your out for the uber zomg rare version of a game or that must have or else my head will explode kinda thing and the greatest hits version won't do then who cares (I mean i bought FF7 in both formats... Sold the black label to a person in orlando area florida because i just don't see myself wanting to play it cause it was so prestine and so valued to FF geeks. While the greatest hits version still has some value.. I just don't care if i play it and one of my Playstations accidently put a scratch or 2 in the discs)

[TonyTheTiger]

There's NO reason for that at all.

The most important reason in the world. To stand out and move units. The more it screams, the more it catches the eye on a shelf filled with otherwise uniform packaging.

[treismac]

Meh. I buy them, but, like Satoshi, I'd prefer if they left the spines unmolested.

[j_factor]

The most important reason in the world. To stand out and move units. The more it screams, the more it catches the eye on a shelf filled with otherwise uniform packaging.

They could just use a sticker instead of changing the insert.

[Leo_A]

Cheaper to change the insert.

[The 1 2 P]

While I prefer the original packaging I'm not that anal about colors so I'll buy either or sometimes both. Ever since last gen we've had no choice but to buy the greatest/platinum/player's choice version sometimes due to extra content. But ultimately I'll take either when looking for a certain game.

[Atarileaf]

Is it "could care less" or "couldn't care less"?

Either way, its a non-issue for me.

[frogofdeath]

The cases don't bother me. Only games that I wouldn't want the "greatest hits" version would be the Zelda series for NES and N64. I'll take the gold carts over the gray versions any day of the week.

[maxpacker]

I try to find non-GH games when I can, but I do own a few GH versions.
Part of me thinks it's silly, but part of me also can't stand the yellow, red, or green etc. stripe on the front ruining the artwork on the cover.

[SpaceHarrier]

In years past, I would have said black label only. Nowadays, I don't really care, I just want to play the game.

[Aussie2B]

I try to avoid them, but I don't sweat it too much. If something is a good deal, I'll still go for it, and I'll upgrade if and when I can. You know what really bugs me, though? Looking at collections where Dreamcast games or PC Engine games are stored purely in alphabetical order. It's one thing if you don't care about organizing them at all, but if you care enough to alphabetize, how can you stand the spine colors all mixed up like that? It looks so messy to me. I alphabetize my black and white DC games separately, and my PC Engine games are alphabetized in groups for HuCard, CD-ROM, Super CD-ROM, and Arcade. I guess I'm a video game segregationist. :P

Anyway, getting back to GH games, I'd imagine that people are more likely to be seriously bothered by them the more they lean as a collector rather than a gamer. Having a GH game is better than not having the game at all for someone who actually wants to play it, but for those who don't play much, if at all, then all you're ever really seeing is the spine of the game on the shelf. If you don't like how the spine looks in your collection, there's little point in having it.

[djshok]

I hate 'em. I don't understand why companies have a need to make these things. Who the fuck cares if a game sold a million copies or not. I'm not going to buy something just because the box tells me it's a million seller. If they really want to advertise that, then I'm sure they can do it without changing the overall colour scheme of the box. Just put a little blurb about it somewhere, or better yet put a sticker on the shrinkwrap and be done with it.

[Rickstilwell1]

I try to avoid them, but I don't sweat it too much. If something is a good deal, I'll still go for it, and I'll upgrade if and when I can. You know what really bugs me, though? Looking at collections where Dreamcast games or PC Engine games are stored purely in alphabetical order. It's one thing if you don't care about organizing them at all, but if you care enough to alphabetize, how can you stand the spine colors all mixed up like that? It looks so messy to me. I alphabetize my black and white DC games separately, and my PC Engine games are alphabetized in groups for HuCard, CD-ROM, Super CD-ROM, and Arcade. I guess I'm a video game segregationist. :P

Anyway, getting back to GH games, I'd imagine that people are more likely to be seriously bothered by them the more they lean as a collector rather than a gamer. Having a GH game is better than not having the game at all for someone who actually wants to play it, but for those who don't play much, if at all, then all you're ever really seeing is the spine of the game on the shelf. If you don't like how the spine looks in your collection, there's little point in having it.

I try to store my games chronologically by release date. It's more of a pain taking the time to look up the dates but at least I know if I run out and buy a brand new game it goes on the right.

[PapaStu]

I never touched GH games originally. I've since actually been focusing on that subset of my PSOne collection. Been a fun diversion when i'm still 400+ off the standard PS set.

I don't mind them, I normally avoid them for most of my systems.

[Flashback2012]

Is it "could care less" or "couldn't care less"?

Either way, its a non-issue for me.

It's both actually. :)


"I couldn't care less" is the short and quick version. The other way is actually "I could care less but I don't know how".

As for the topic on hand, I generally avoid Greatest Hit/Platinum/Player's Choice/The Best/Etc. versions whenever possible. As Oob pointed out, in certain cases I will get the GH version if there's additional content on the disc like VF4: Evo and Fable: The Lost Chapters. I understand the point of the packaging, I just wish it didn't look so chintzy and bootleg.

[SpaceFlea]

I LOVE THEM!!!

But that's because I'm a glutton for variants. They add another level to my obsessive collecting practices.

[Tron 2.0]

It doesn't matter to me long as the game complete and in mint shape,then i'm fine with that.

[wiggyx]

Looking at collections where Dreamcast games or PC Engine games are stored purely in alphabetical order. It's one thing if you don't care about organizing them at all, but if you care enough to alphabetize, how can you stand the spine colors all mixed up like that? It looks so messy to me. I alphabetize my black and white DC games separately...

How can you stand having games for the same system in different places?

Using that system, I'd have to keep JP and EU games separate as well. I don't need it to be anymore difficult to find the game that I want to play by keeping games for one system in FOUR different places :|

[kupomogli]

^I don't even alphabetize my games. My imports are also mixed in with all the other games. I do keep all systems games together for the most part, though.

Like has been already mentioned, I'll purchase Greatest Hits when it's got extra content. It just depends on how much extra content is in the g ame and if it's actually a game I like. Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 has extra costumes, but I'm not going to purchase the greatest hits version for it. On games like Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution or Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, then the amount and quality of the extra content sells the game to me more than the ugly red border keeps it away from me.

[Aussie2B]

How can you stand having games for the same system in different places?

Using that system, I'd have to keep JP and EU games separate as well. I don't need it to be anymore difficult to find the game that I want to play by keeping games for one system in FOUR different places :|

They're in the same place, just not mixed. Like all the white DC games in a row, immediately followed by all the black games in a row, each set alphabetized separately. I keep Japanese games separate from my US releases too. That'd be even messier yet, with all the different sized cases and what have you.

This is more and more sounding like I'm some sort of video game racist, haha.

Although coincidentally enough, I do mix the GH games throughout my PS1 collection. I guess I don't mind because the spines still look fairly uniform, with only the top bit not being black. Plus I don't have that many GH releases, so it doesn't look too chaotic.

[TonyTheTiger]

Not every system had ugly packaging. Nintendo's old Player's Choice line with the medal was very nice looking. I also like the PS3's red box. I don't care that it differs from other titles (which is what it's supposed to do in the first place) so long as it looks nice on its own. Standing out from the crowd doesn't require being ugly.

[BlastProcessing402]

I don't like how they look different than the other games, but not so much that its a deal breaker or that I'd spend more for the regular version. Of course some times they do bugfixes or add new features to the Greatest/Platinum versions, in those cases I'd rather have the rerelease, despite the ugly box.

[Bubble_Man]

It's just a matter of appearence. I don't have much of a problem with it, but typically choose regular label games if given a choice.

[Scotterpop]

When it comes to GH game cases I'm more or less indifferent, although given the choice I'd rather have the first release, especially with original Xbox (those silver and white cases sure do stick out like a sore thumb against that sea of black and green!). I'm more finicky when it comes to the game discs themselves, particularly with the PS1. The disc art for the original release really blows away the bland monochrome GH versions. Guess I'm just a sucker for a pretty looking game disc.

[Compute]

Although it was never an issue for me before, I tend to prefer buying the Greatest Hits packaging on the newest generation. Mostly with the hope that I won't have to download a bunch of patches. When I picked up RDR in the GH packaging, it also included the zombie expansion. That was not mentioned anywhere on the box, so yeah.

[Gamevet]

Looks like crap in PS1 and GCN games IMO. I just print non-GH covers and use them instead.

Don't really care about the other systems. PS2, Xbox, etc seem to blend in with the rest of the crap pretty well.

I'm not a big fan of the flat silver cases used for the GH Xbox games.

[xelement5x]

I don't really like the GH games because they stand out among the other games in a collection. Normally I'll jump on a GH copy of a game it it's cheap though, then keep an eye out for a cheap replacement if I find one :)

Don't get me started on Dreamcast stuff though. I have OCD issues every time I look at the games because nothing looks consistent there.

[Bubble_Man]

Although it was never an issue for me before, I tend to prefer buying the Greatest Hits packaging on the newest generation. Mostly with the hope that I won't have to download a bunch of patches. When I picked up RDR in the GH packaging, it also included the zombie expansion. That was not mentioned anywhere on the box, so yeah.

That is something to think about. When I bought the greatest hits of Mafia II, it came with the DLC already on it.

[Tanooki]

I'm not a fan of them and so much to the point I'll even not buy the GH version of a game even when it's the better deal, depending what the loss is I won't buy it at all.

Take Fallout 3 for instance on PS3. They had a heap of DLC packages for single player(which I do), multi and more, and it adds up quite a bit. Then you get the Game of the Year version in that annoying stand out red box and it has all the costly extras included. I still down on Fallout 3. I avoid the stuff because they do annoying stuff to the packaging and containers, sometimes even the game discs/cart labels too that I just don't like so I don't buy it. I think a re-release is nice, but don't shank the look of it with ugly artistic or packaging changes.

[Dr. BaconStein]

The GCN ones look disgusting, mostly due to that yellow spine. I don't really mind the GB/C, SNES, PS1 etc. ones though (in fact the golden emblem is kind of pretty on the carts). I don't really like the Nintendo Selects or earlier 360 Platinum Hits boxes either, but mostly because of the shrunken artwork. A small emblem or header gets the point across just fine.