I HATE "GREATEST HITS"!

[Joker T]

I hate them also, don't look nice at all.

However..

I saw the Greatest Hits version of Killzone for PS2 there was a sticker over the wrapping that said Greatest Hits. After you have removed the packaging, there is no trace of it being Greatest Hits.

[Jasoco]

I hate them also, don't look nice at all.

However..

I saw the Greatest Hits version of Killzone for PS2 there was a sticker over the wrapping that said Greatest Hits. After you have removed the packaging, there is no trace of it being Greatest Hits.That was put there by a store worker when the game became a Greatest Hits. It's a regular version with a sticker.

I guarantee* you the subsequent versions will have the new packaging. I've actually seen the Sony rep do this myself.

*Guarantee void in Tennessee.

[PDorr3]

Hahah yeah I hate GH games, I also hate asking all ebay sellers if its a GH game, its gotten to the point where I only buy them if I see them in a store like EB. The red/yellow/silver boxes just stand out too much in a colelction...ugly.

[Chrome]

So why do the lot of you hate the "Greatest Hits" games? Is it because they are re-releases or because of the altered cases/artwork? Maybe it's a mixture of both?

I really don't care one way or another, but I'm more of a player than a collector.

Later,
Chrome...

[bangtango]

IMO, they do it for the parents or young gamers who have no clue. Parents out at holiday time see games marked as "Greatest Hits" and go, 'Oh, that is a popular title.' Makes it easier for them to shop when they have no idea what to get.

Mainly a chance for the company to promote the fact some game has actually sold, which in turn would translate to more sales. They can't worry about collectors because truth is, gaming companies do not owe a thing to the collectors of the world. Their job is to get the game into as many hands as possible. No designer or company goes into the process with the mindset that someone out there wants to buy the game then resell it on Ebay for an inflated price later on.

With that said, I doubt I have any greatest hits games in my PS library. I would often buy them near the original release date.

[Tron 2.0]

I don't mind having GH and Player's Choice stuff. I buy what I can get for a good price, and if that's a GH copy, it doesn't bother me in the least. Although I wish PS2 hadn't used a red band for their GH packaging. For some reason, even though it looks a little tacky, I like the Green PSX GH packaging better than the PS2 GH packaging.
Same here, to me it's just a "lable" long as the game plays perfect 'then that's fine with me.

[slapdash]

This should have been a poll...

I hate them too.

Someone mentioned that they like them because they're cheap -- why not just mark them down to $20 and not change the case? In fact, that's what they do anyway until the old stock clears the stores and the new stock with the crappy new cases come in.

You know, the thing is, the Gamecube ones are the most jarring, but I don't hate them as much for some reason. The XBox ones are probably the least jarring, but since they started with nuclear green, the platinum still looks more out of place. Weird.

[Rikimaru]

GH = yuk.
The Red Color on PS2 GH??? Hey honey, lets paint our barn---

Nazi Swastika Red ©

[Snapple]

IMO, they do it for the parents or young gamers who have no clue. Parents out at holiday time see games marked as "Greatest Hits" and go, 'Oh, that is a popular title.' Makes it easier for them to shop when they have no idea what to get.

Mainly a chance for the company to promote the fact some game has actually sold, which in turn would translate to more sales. They can't worry about collectors because truth is, gaming companies do not owe a thing to the collectors of the world. Their job is to get the game into as many hands as possible. No designer or company goes into the process with the mindset that someone out there wants to buy the game then resell it on Ebay for an inflated price later on.

With that said, I doubt I have any greatest hits games in my PS library. I would often buy them near the original release date.

Man, that is so far off the mark.

They rerelease a game as part of their Greatest Hits so they can get more people to buy these games by marking them way down and then repushing them. They're doing a favor to gamers, but you act like it's some kind of evil plan.

MAYBE the reason they didn't think twice about changing the label is because they didn't think there would be people so anal that they refuse to buy the games with a green strip.

The label helps the game stand out on the shelf to people who have already seen the game before, when it was going for full-price. If they didn't put the shiny new label on, people might not notice that the game they passed up a few months ago because it was too expensive is now marked down.

[residentvania]

I see no problem with buying or owning a GREATEST HITS version of a game. I think its a great idea. Its cheaper then the original release and plays the same. So you have a boarder across the top of the case that say's " GREATEST HITS". Its still the same game!! And i would rather pay $20 or less for a game then $50 anyday.

The best greatest hits game on ps2 is DEVIL MAY CRY 3. New features and a price tag of $20. Can't beat that!!! I gave my old copy away and kept the greatest hits.


8-)

[Jasoco]

Pretty please don't use bold text as your "Style". It is not only distracting and hard to read, but also the only way people can tell when someone posts a link. Sorry. :)

Thank you.

[residentvania]

Who cares? Bold print looks good in my opinion. :evil:

[JPeeples]

And in my opinion, it's hard to read. I wouldn't the GH stuff as much if it didn't cut off some of the cover art. The shade of red they used really doesn't fit many game covers either, making it stick out badly. I don't mind the Platinum Hits cases much by comparison, since the silver border and case can really make some covers shine (like Call of Duty), and even the Player's Choice stuff isn't that bad, since very little is cut off, and the yellow stripes on the top and side can just be colored in with a sharpie. The only PS2 GH game I have is VF 4 Evo, and I'll add DMC 3: SE to that soon. For PH, I've got Spider-Man 2, PGR, and Dead to Rights. I don't have any GC Player's Choice games, but I do have some SNES ones. With that, they just turned red text to gold and put a gold ribbon image over a red one. Pretty minimal changes, and the gold trim looked nice while making the game seem a bit more regal. It was perfect for Link to the Past.

[incubus421]

Yea, my Final Fantasy Tactics is "Greatest Hits" version. Needless to say it kind of disspoints me, but I can live with it. Doesn't bother me too much either way. I think that is the only "Greatest Hits" game I have, and if I was really worried about getting the original it wouldn't be too hard. I have some friends and family with the originals....and every man has his price ;)

[Nature Boy]

It's fun revisiting something you've posted a year ago. And while my thoughts on GH packaging hasn't changed one bit (I just ran out and bought RE4 for cube in the original packaging, new, before the PC label version takes over) I *did* buy a PC game in the past year.

Pac-Man World 2/Pac-Man vs.

I know you can get Vs with other games, it just doesn't make any sense to buy a non-Pac-Man game to get Pac-Man, so I bit the bullet and I'm happy. The *one* yellow label definitely sticks out, but the *game* was totally worth it.

Still no VF4 for me though, and it's still looking like it'll never happen.

[JPeeples]

I think the yellow stripe fits it being on a Pac-Man game. It's one of the few PC cases that actually accentuate the case.

[Cryomancer]

Well, I think the Sega All Stars line on DC looks nice. Especially if you have a nice big CD rack with a white, black, and orange row. Personally I just say give them their own section. If you get enough of them it looks like a division, not something sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the normal ones.

Uh oh, I'm supporting segregation based on color! LOL

[FullCircle]

Isn't the greatest hits Legend of Zelda cart harder to find than the gold one? Maybe it's good to pick them up once in a while.

[Crush Crawfish]

I myself have no problem with it, especially if it makes a game I've been looking for cheaper and easier to find (See: Xenogears, Final fantasy tactics). However, if given the option, I'll probably go with the non-GH version.

[Iron Draggon]

I HATE them too! My search for a factory sealed copy of Metal Black for the Saturn took alot longer because all I kept on finding was new copies of the Saturn Collection version. Screw that. Ugly white border all the way around the shrunken cover art, ugly red spine instead of a nice gold spine, and even the disc itself has an ugly logo on it that forever brands it UNORIGINAL. To hell with that BS!

So I FINALLY found a new copy of the ORIGINAL version, but I was afraid that I would never find one, as my search took more than a year, and even special requests for it came up with nothing but used copies of the original version available. Then one day on ebay, I gasped in dismay when my regular search for Metal Black turned up a new copy of the original version that had just been posted. I couldn't have jumped on the BIN for that game faster!

I do have a few exceptions in my collection though. My copy of Tetris S for the Saturn is the Saturn Collection version, but if I ever find a new copy of the original version in mint condition, I will be swapping out my SC one for it.

I also have almost all of the Sega Classics games for the Genesis, both the blue spine versions and the red spine versions, but I am keeping those as they make those games stand out, and they are all games that should stand out, IMO. But if I had been able to find the original versions of all of those games back in the day, I would've bought the originals instead, and I would never have bought the reissues. However, I still think it's cool that those few games stand out in my Genesis collection. It makes them look as special as those games are, so I don't really mind it.

Then there's my Sega All Stars version of Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast, but that one is like the Sega Classics games to me, it makes that game stand out, and it should stand out, so I don't mind that it's not the original version.

No GH versions for any of my other systems though. I will never get any of the GH games for the PS, even if it's the only way to get a copy of a game that I really want to own. Those games just scream cheap and ugly all over them, so they are NOT going in my collection. I simply won't have it.

As for the Player's Choice games from Nintendo, if only all the manufactureres would market their big sellers that way! As someone else said, the cart and the manual are identical to the original versions, so all you have to do is swap the box to make it completely original, and if you don't keep the boxes anyway, you don't even have to worry about it.

So for me, I will always prefer the originals, but sometimes a few exceptions are worth making. Like the ones that are enhanced over the original versions, of course I would want those, but only after I have the original version as well. I would never replace an original version with a GH version in that case, even if the GH version is the best version of it.

[l_lamb]

How about the new Xbox "Best Of Platinum Hits"? Same Platinum packaging but they added a red stripe across the from that says "Best Of" and changed the "Platinum Hits" lettering to red. Saw a few at Best Buy this week, all priced $9.99. Here's (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/press/2006/0302-bestofplatinumhits.htm) a link to the press release. Looks like package variant collectors just got a lot more to deal with.

[mjluther]

How 'bout these apples:

Gran Turismo 4 just went Greatest Hits, just the right price for me. So, I head to my local mega-mart to see if I can snag a non-GH copy for $20, which I've done with several games in the past.

All they have is the GH version, frustrating enough. But the guy working there tells me that when the new GH releases come out, a vendor buys back all the non-GH copies, and any original-artwork copies that remain are only there because they were missed during the purge. He didn't say why this is done, but my guess is that, when both versions are on the shelves, the GH version sells much better.

It sucks, Beavis.

[JPeeples]

I don't really mind the "Best of" Platinum Hits casing. With some games like Soul Calibur II, the packaging ends up looking much nicer than etiher the original or PH version.

[Nature Boy]

So what do I do this weekend? Buy *two* GH games: Fable: The Lost Chapters and God of War.

The former because, although I have the original, I wanted the GH version 'cause of the extra stuff it has. So now I have both versions.

The latter because the GH was just a sticker! Since I'm in Canada and they're supposed to obey French Language laws, they had the sticker on the French wrap-around, which meant I wasn't worried about wrecking anything either (not that I did, but I toss the French packaging anyway).

I'm really not sure I'm ready to step up to the next generation when I can get games as good as these for half the price of a 360 game... :)

[Sibs]

You can count me as another person who just HATES how a GH/PH/PC game's case looks on my shelf. They stick out like sore thumbs. And then there are the little things like the GH(PS1/PS2) games have manuals with only black and white print as opposed to the original version's full color manuals.

I used to like the whole "Greatest Hits" idea back in the day, but now as a game collector, all it has done is just bug the crap out of me every time I see them on my shelves.

I take expection to a few games though, like Fable:The Lost Chapters or Devil May Cry 3 because of their extra content or modes of play.

[Dangerboy]

I actually appreciate Greatest Hits titles, for several reasons:

1. If you're actually collecting GH variants (like I am) when you seperate them from the original releases on a shelf, you get the overall picture of what that particular system's audience was. The results are often quite amusing. For example:

Nintendo GH: Almost always all Nintendo quality games, with other big calibur games like RE4 and Baiton Kaitos.

PlayStationOne GH: Quality Games like FF7 and Crash Bandicoot sitting next to turds to Dukes of Hazzard and WCW Nitro...

2. Working retail, it's always an eye catcher. No less that 2 people every other day ask me what the difference between the GH box and the original are. When I explain what the GH means, the customer wants to know what they're missing out on. It may look sucky on a shelf, but it really helps drives sales.

3. If you push it even further, companies can get REALLY creative in their marketing. Microsoft now has the "Best of" Platinum Hits. $9.99 games going up against $19.99 games will suddenly get customers to look over at your cheaper prices. I've sold more CounterStrikes and Fuzion Frezy games than other titles in the GH category.

Now granted, some color choices may suck (bright yellow?) but I do like Microsoft's Silver, and the original PSone's green was a nice compliment to the black.

4. Greatest Hits make the original look even better. Case in point:

Had the Dragonball GT re-release had the GH banner, most collector's would not have cursed spending the $$$ on the original one when they can have the same black label re-release for $15.

Jason

[slip81]

The greatest hits versions don't bother me that much, but then again I'm more of a gamer than collector. But being an avid comic collector I can understand the want for the original.

I just want to play the games, so I don't really care about the box, though if I'm going to buy a game and the GH and non GH versions are available at the same price I will get the non GH.

Lately though GH versions have been getting added content, so I wonder if this will change peoples minds, or just make them hate them more because now the better version has the stupid banner.

[mezrabad]

Lately though GH versions have been getting added content, so I wonder if this will change peoples minds, or just make them hate them more because now the better version has the stupid banner.

Yeah, I had a good chuckle over all the collectors who would be "conflicted" when they found out "Fable: The Lost Chapters" did not have a non-platinum release.

"Added content but with the platinum banner? Uh . . . ." *gurk*gurk*twitch*twich*

[ozyr]

Man this is a long topic. I know Joe and how he collects, so I can see why he hates Greatest Hits. Me, I'm just a gamer. I don't care if it's orignal or not, as long as it is cheap and I can play it. End-of-line