Steelbooks with Games

[vivigamer]

Hi,

I know I can be really picky when it comes to the design of Steelbooks that we get with games. I think what it comes down to is that I don't like seeing cases without all the official identification on it - Console logos, Age Rating logos etc. There's just something inauthentic about it depsite even being an official product to me. I find they look odd on my shelf compared to everything else.

My ideal set up for a steelbook is to have one which is bare of any logos, has the title of the game on the middle part (Which faces outwards on a shelf) THEN has a clear plastic sleeve that goes over the steelbook which has all the official details on it. In particular I love the late PS3- Early PS4 designs which would have the PS3/PS4 logo at the top left corner, age rating at the bottom left and sometimes the logo for the game placed to fit the image of the steelbook - Look at games like Beyond: Two Souls, Final Fantasy XV, Until Dawn for examples. I really miss this.

Nowadays, I find that a Steelbook is often a bonus item. So when you pre-order a GAME you will get an additional Steelbook case with the case of the base game... so either way one is going in storage. It's either that or youe will get a Special Edition with will have a big outbox containing the base game case & a Steelbook in a bulky case... I don't like bulky cases on my shelf either - So for Final Fantasy XVI, I just have the base game on the shelf. With SIFU it was just an Artbook& Steelbook, so I had to decide on eithe the Bulky case or just the Steelbook, I went with the Steelbook and it stands out like a sore thumb - Hated the game anyway so I may sell it, but that is a seperate conversation 

Anyway, I was just curious on what other collectors thought on Steelbooks and how they like to present/receive them. I really do like getting Steelbooks but for me without a detailed sleeve they just seem like a fake case.

I took my plain FF16 Steelbook and put it in the FF15 Special Edition Sleeve to show you what I mean as an example:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fznh4ceWAAEtI0s?format=jpg&name=medium

[tripredacus]

A lot of steelbooks are like they are because they are designed (at least originally) to be for multiple consoles. I'm more surprised the ones inside of actual game editions (like the clear plastic slipcase type) do not have the system designs on it. For the types of steelbooks that are common to be sold with games (such as the third party distributors or places like GAME) where they are not inside of the game packaging, I'm betting that those particular instances are not licensed. And thinking of it that way, it is possible that steelbooks require separate licensing for the console as well, to explain why even the ones inside of game packs have no specific branding.

I like the steelbooks you can find for movies, where they are designed to be a movie case. I have one game steelbook (for console anyways) that is ideal. The Final Fantasy XII on PS2: https://vgcollect.com/item/980

I actually think I have others, but they stay inside of the plastic slipcover. That FFXII example I don't have the outer packaging but it stands fine on its own.

[telekill]

I don't generally bother with steelbook games but have them for all my Uncharted games and Shenmue 3.

 - Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection - Had to order a steelbook for this from the UK (I live in America), and Sony's marketing opted to give American gamers the middle finger with this collection's collectors edition, or lack thereof.

 - Uncharted 4 - Bought the Libertalia Collectors Edition

 - Uncharted: Lost Legacy - Bought black steelbook from Germany and added the subtitle in the appropriate locations (front and spine).

 - Shenmue 3 - I picked up the Best Buy steelbook due to being a backer of this project. I was pretty happy with how it turned out and am happy to have my name in the credits. I just wish the story would continue and complete.

[tripredacus]

Besides the large tin (there was a craze in the early 2000s to sell PC games in those) I also have a "thick" steelbook for Unreal Tournament III. Are any console games in these types of cases?
There are some pictures of it here
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175624700372

[randomstranger]

Hi,

I know I can be really picky when it comes to the design of Steelbooks that we get with games. I think what it comes down to is that I don't like seeing cases without all the official identification on it - Console logos, Age Rating logos etc. There's just something inauthentic about it depsite even being an official product to me. I find they look odd on my shelf compared to everything else.

I'm the opposite. I prefer if the front cover is all cover art and no logos and other clutter. I'd like if all those things would be just a sticker on the foil you can remove.

As for Steelbooks specifically, the design is generally more simplistic, but the quality of the case itself has a more premium feel to them, so I don't know if I prefer them to the plastic case or not.

[bikingjahuty]

Steel books are cool, but I generally treat them the same way I treat Collectors/Limited Editions now; unless it's a game I adore, or from a franchise I generally really like, I don't go out of my way to get them. They just take up too much space.

[kashell]

Never cared 'em, and never saw the point.

[dhaabi]

I have fewer than ten SteelBook cases, but I believe they all have some kind of complementary slipcover. I've never obtained one that's added as some sort of bonus to a limited edition or comparable version or one that's sold separately from the actual game release. So, I don't have the issue you're mentioning where a spine title is absent, but I can certainly see how that would be annoying.

On that note, I don't go out of my way to collect these but will choose them over the standard release if the price is right. From the few cases I own, my favorite may be for Yakuza Kiwami, as the slipcover design is interactive with the SteelBook itself, as shown here.

[BinaryMessiah]

I remember getting the Rage 2 Collector's Edition and in my steelbook there was a cardboard disc with the Bethesda.net code printed on it. I've never been more offended.

[koemo1]

I have one steelbook, for fatal frame for the Wii U.
There was not normal version of the game.
I don't like to pick up special/collector's/limited editions of games, so I don't have many steelbooks

[pzeke]

The only steelbooks that I own are for Resident Evil 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and this is because I got them in two separate lots. I’ve considered selling them, but I kind of like them: I like the laser cel that the RE4 comes with, and I really like the artwork on the steelbook of MvsC3. Nonetheless, to be honest I’ve never understood the appeal of steelbooks beyond the artwork. They’re impractical, I feel. But, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, to each their own, as they say.

Still feel the same.

[...]

Anyway, I was just curious on what other collectors thought on Steelbooks and how they like to present/receive them. I really do like getting Steelbooks but for me without a detailed sleeve they just seem like a fake case.

I took my plain FF16 Steelbook and put it in the FF15 Special Edition Sleeve to show you what I mean as an example:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fznh4ceWAAEtI0s?format=jpg&name=medium

Yeah, I've seen plenty of steelbooks, even DVDs that look ten times better with their sleeves/slipcovers.