Baldur's Gate 3 - Physical Deluxe Edition announced

[HiddenX]

The Physical Deluxe Edition for Baldur's Gate 3 will be available in Q1 2024.

More information.

 

[SSIGuy]

I no longer buy physical editions of anything but if I did, what I'd want most is a big-ass manual with all kinds of goodies, maps, lore, monster stats, etc... but maybe that's really just a 5e handbook or something.

 

[Redglyph]

Also, weren't they planning on selling a physical version of the useless in-game watch?

Wasn't that for Starfield?

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Well ... finally.
My personal opinion is that, that even if the servers won't exist anymore, then the physical items will still be there.

Edit : Consoles still get discs, and PC version nothing. Bad. What do they have that we don't have ?

Plus, a book with in-game lore would be something I'd rather prefer, too.

 

[Couchpotato]

No PC collectors edition nowadays comes with a DRM Free physical version anymore unless it's the console version. Sad this is what PC gaming has become nowadays.

Just a Steam code in a box or just a launcher that has sometimes been claimed.

 

[Stingray]

I no longer buy physical editions of anything but if I did, what I'd want most is a big-ass manual with all kinds of goodies, maps, lore, monster stats, etc... but maybe that's really just a 5e handbook or something.

BG3 collector's edition came with all of that sort of stuff except, sadly, the game manual...

 

[SSIGuy]

Wasn't that for Starfield?

Lol, it was... hey, I'm old and easily confused.

 

[JDR13]

BG3 collector's edition came with all of that sort of stuff except, sadly, the game manual...

Geez, for almost $300, you'd think they could have included a manual too.

 

[blatantninja]

Well it does come with a map at least! (my favorite part!)

 

[Carnifex]

Those physical maps always suckered me in.

 

[Warmark]

I really want this: https://box.baldursgate3.game/
I haven't bought a physical edition or Collectors edition of a game since I bought the World of Warcraft Collectors edition back in 2004, and several people have offered me over a $1000 for it, maybe I should buy two of these..

 

[bkrueger]

Edit : Consoles still get discs, and PC version nothing. Bad. What do they have that we don't have ?

No PC collectors edition nowadays comes with a DRM Free physical version anymore unless it's the console version. Sad this is what PC gaming has become nowadays.

I believe that this is practically impossible. DVDs would be too small for today's games, so you would need Blu-ray discs (and even those on a high level, namely quadruple layer = 128 GB). How many PCs have a Blue-Ray drive? I assume most new PCs don't have a disc drive at all, at least I had to specifically order one with my last PC. So how could developers distribute physical copies of a game? An external USB hard drive would be the only option I see. On the other hand frequent (and big) game updates are so common today that having the launch version on a physical read-only storage medium would not help much, you would need a good online connection for the updates anyway. So I don't see physical distribution of PC games having any relevance today or in the near future, not even for collector editions.

I would agree, however, that at least a physical handbook would be great, if you want a physical de-luxe edition.

Disclaimer: Personally I am not interested in physical de-luxe editions any more since I found that they are only dust collecting devices in the end. The last ones I bought were for Gothic 3 and The Witcher 1.

 

[Stingray]

Yep, optical disc technology has moved way beyond the DVD, and PC users haven't kept up. Most dumped their optical drive altogether rather than getting a Blu-ray drive. All the latest consoles that can play physical discs have Blu-ray drives - the PlayStation has a BD drive for near 20 years now. That's exactly the answer to Alrik's question of "what do they have that we don't"...

 

[sakichop]

Don’t need the disks, don’t want the discs.

I bought a PS5 and 3 games with disc’s. Big mistake, the constant switching of discs is annoying. Also they all required hefty downloads anyway. Not sure if the whole game isn’t on the discs or if it was just large day 1 patches.

I keep hearing about when the servers shut down we won’t have access to any games without disks, blah, blah, blah. Unless the game is always online and requires a server we will be able to buy them somewhere. I mean I just played wizardry 1 last year without a 5.25 floppy drive. lol.

A disc with a collectors edition would be nice though, but you shouldn’t open and use a collectors edition. It’s, you know… to collect.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Well, LucasArts/Lucasfilm Games once pushed the envelope by releasing "Rebel Assault" on CD only ... Why not release a game on Blueray only ?
And - why didn't PC technology keep up with what console technology has now ?
I do not believe that internet connection is the best of things ... My guess is that games on discs for consoles would stil have a part to ddownload ... But why did no-one even try to develop optical discs with even more space ? It's to me like ... some kind of lazyness : "everything is online now, so we don't have to put any resources into developing any optical discs anymore." "t doesn't matter to us whether a few archivists want to have archoives of what's contemporary gaming ..." This reminds me of how big music companies were treating master tapes ... like with the huge Universal Fire back then ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Universal_Studios_fire#2019_New_York_Times_report

 

[sakichop]

Well, LucasArts/Lucasfilm Games once pushed the envelope by releasing "Rebel Assault" on CD only ... Why not release a game on Blueray only ?
And - why didn't PC technology keep up with what console technology has now ?
I do not believe that internet connection is the best of things ... My guess is that games on discs for consoles would stil have a part to ddownload ... But why did no-one even try to develop optical discs with even more space ? It's to me like ... some kind of lazyness : "everything is online now, so we don't have to put any resources into developing any optical discs anymore." "t doesn't matter to us whether a few archivists want to have archoives of what's contemporary gaming ..." This reminds me of how big music companies were treating master tapes ... like with the huge Universal Fire back then ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Universal_Studios_fire#2019_New_York_Times_report

Don’t need optical disks with more space. USB drives are more convenient and everybody has usb.

 

[Stingray]

Don’t need optical disks with more space. USB drives are more convenient and everybody has usb.

Mass-distributing cheap software on USB sticks doesn't make sense. Both the cost and the time-to-write of each unit is massively higher. Not to mention the waste of electronics going into hundreds of millions of USB sticks that the vast majority of customers will never even use. Optical discs make far more sense, which is exactly why consoles are using them.

 

[Couchpotato]

Oh I don't need disks either I went all digital many years ago. I was just making a reply to the post above me. Man I remember buying a PC boxed game and getting a number on paper. Then finding out at home my Steam code in the Box had already been claimed.

Anyway not even one BD is enough for console games.

Bigger Than Godzilla: Why Are Games Using So Many Gigabytes?

Do all the latest big budget games require over 100 GB of drive space? What's the average size of a AAA game today? We've investigated the figures...

www.techspot.com

 

[bjon045]

I mean I just played wizardry 1 last year without a 5.25 floppy drive. lol.

I know you are joking but there are actually people who still do this!! Personally, I use dosbox these days, but I still have a lot of working 5 1/4 disks sealed away in their boxes.

 

[sakichop]

Mass-distributing cheap software on USB sticks doesn't make sense. Both the cost and the time-to-write of each unit is massively higher. Not to mention the waste of electronics going into hundreds of millions of USB sticks that the vast majority of customers will never even use. Optical discs make far more sense, which is exactly why consoles are using them.

windows is sold on usb drive. I can buy a 64 GB usb drive for $2.50 so a large company could get them for pennies probably. True it wouldn't be as cheap as disc's but disc's on pc makes no sense. Most PC's don't come with optical drives. It's a moot point anyway as downloads are even cheaper.