Collector’s Editions, Special Editions, Limited Editions or by whatever other name they are known , have been seeing a big  price hike lately. Gone are the days when an extra £20 would see you net a nice amount of extra goodies, instead it’s not that uncommon for them to hit the £100 mark, but at least many of them do offer some pretty cool stuff. Sadly, if you’re anything like me, this price hike means having to be more selective about how many of these packages you purchase.

With the end of this year looking to be one of the greatest in gaming history, theirs plenty of cool Editions on offer for those willing to spend some cash. On that note, here’s a rundown of what’s on offer, all in order of which will be released first.

And please remember than all prices shown here are the average price of the product. Dig around a little and you can generally find them cheaper.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Collector’s Edition
Release Date: 26/08/2011
Price:  £89.99

The Collector’s Edition for Deus Ex comes packed with 44-minute long making of Deus Ex: Human Revolution documentary, a 30-minute long game soundtrack, an art-book, a in-game pack which contains weapons and gadgets, and 10,000 in-game credits to spend on weapons upgrades and other cool stuff to help you on your journey.  You’ll also get a rather nifty Adam Jensen statue/figure to proudly display on your worktop or desk.

While the Collector’s Edition is certainly a great package, the extra £40 you pay compared to the Augmented Edition (listed below) only gets you the Adam Jensen statue. That’s quite a price hike for a single item. However, Amazon are selling the Collector’s Edition for £75. It pays to shop around.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition
Release Date: 26/08/11
Price: £49.99

The Augmented Edition is essentially the Collector’s Edition’s little brother. It offers almost everything its older brother does, except for the spiffy Adam Jensen figure. For your cash you’ll procure a 44-minute long making of Deus Ex: Human Revolution documentary, a 30-minute long game soundtrack, an art-book, a in-game pack which contains weapons and gadgets, and 10,000 in-game credits to spend on weapons upgrades and other cool stuff to help you on your journey. And it all comes in some nice packaging.

Considering it’s a £40 price increase up to the Collector’s Edition which only nets you a statue, the Augmented Edition is good value for money. It’s the package I’ve opted for.

Driver: San Francisco Collector’s Pack
Release Date: 02/09/2011
Price: £69.99

If you fancy splashing some money out to celebrate the first release of a Driver game on consoles since 2004, you’ll get a replicate Dodge Challenger Hemi R/T Six Pak for your money. Along with that you’ll also get a map of San Francisco, three exclusive in-game multiplayer cars ( 1963 Aston Martin DB5, 1972 Lamborghini Miura, and 1966 Shelby Cobra 427) and four single player challenges.

A nice little package to celebrate the return of Tanner. The Challenger replica looks to be very well made and the in-game extra’s are pretty decent.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Collector’s Edition
Release Date: 09/09/2011
Price: £79.99

Purging the Heretics can be an expensive business as this pack shows. For your trouble you’ll get some very nice packaging, a chunky art-book, 25-collectors cards detailing characters from the game and providing hints and tips, a soundtrack and a Purity Seal.

This is quite a pricey package, and I personally wouldn’t call it great value for money. The Purity Seal looks nice enough, but the real star looks set to be the art-book.

Gears of War 3 Limited Edition
Release Date 20/09/2011
Price: £59.99

The Gears of War trilogy comes to an end with a couple of brilliant packages. The Limited Edition of the game comes packaged in a steelbook case and contains an Octus Service Medal engraved with a code to unlock Adam Fenix for multiplayer, a fabric COG flag to hang on your wall and Adam Fenix’s personal effects which include the original schematics for the Hammer of Dawn, his last will and testament and more.

For just £20 more than the regular edition of the game this package offers plenty of neat things and is one of the better price packages coming out this year. If you’re a Gears fan but don’t fancy blowing a hundred quid on a statue, this is the way to go.

Gears of War 3 Epic Edition
Release Date: 20/09/2011
Price: £99.99

If you really want to finish the trilogy with a bang, the Epic Edition is certainly the way to go. For that high price-tag you get everything included in the Limited Edition (listed above) as well as a beautifully crafted statue of Marcus Fenix contemplating how he’s going to kill the next Locus. Along with that you’ll get a 96-page art-book and an Infected Omen skin pack for your weapons in multiplayer.

The price-tag points this edition in the same league as Halo Reach’s, and is arguably just as cool. The statue of Marcus Fenix is utterly wonderful ( a trailer regarding it’s creation is available on Youtube) and the extra art-book and skin pack help make the £40 price leap worth the money. Ona personal note, I’ve already got the Epic Edition pre-ordered.

Dark Souls Limited Edition
Release Date: 07/10/2011
Price: £39.99

The Dark Souls Limited Edition is a free upgrade from the normal edition to anyone who has pre-ordered the game. It contains an art-book, soundtrack, digital game guide and ‘making of’ DVD.

If you pre-order  Dark Souls you’ll get a free upgrade to this edition, making it the best value for money Limited or Collectors Edition to hit this year. If you’re getting this game, there really is no excuse not to hit the pre-order button and scoop up all these awesome extra’s for the price you’d normally be paying.

Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Collector’s Edition:
Release Date: 14/10/2011
Price: £59.99

The Limited Collectors Edition of Forza 4 comes packaged in a steelbook case and will contain three car packs which will bolster your garage with a total of 25 extra cars. Along with that you get a 96-page book written by the Top Gear team which talks about the various cars in the game. Finally, you get a sticker set.

There’s a growing divide between those that like in-game content in their Collector’s Edition, and those that prefer physical content for their money. The Forza 4 Limited Collector’s Edition is certainly one for the in-game content crowd.  It’s the cars that come with it that will likely sway potential buyers one way or the other.

Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition
Release Date: 21/10/2011
price: £59.99

The Caped Crusader returns to console with a Collector’s Edition that comes with a Batman statue, crafted by Kotobukiya, an art-book, a digitally downloaded “from WaterTower Music including original songs by hit artists” album, a copy of the animated Batman: Gotham Knight film and early access to the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map and Dark Knight character skin.

It’s important to note that both the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map and Dark Knight skin will be available as paid-for DLC sometime after the games release. Other than that, the pack does offer very nice value for money. Kotobukiya usually craft brilliant statues as well, though the black and white coloring may not be to everyone’s taste.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collector’s Edition
Release Date: 11/11/11
Price: £130

The sequel to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which is top of many people’s ‘best games ever’ list, comes packaged with a 12″ statue of Alduin, the World Eater, perched atop a Dragon Wall. It also contains a huge art-book that contains over 200-pages of art and  commentary from Bethesda. This hard-cover book comes in measuring at 3.8cm x 30.8cm. It will also come with a “Making Of” DVD that contains interviews, overviews of the Elder Scrolls franchise and much more. And finally, you’ll get a lovely map.

The Skyrim Collector’s Edition has been the centre of much controversy since its announcement, and that’s for good reason; that’s a big price-tag attached to it. The stand-out item in this package for me is the art-book, as I’m a sucker for a detailed art-book which covers the designs from the sketched stage to the fully finished product. But there’s no denying that £130 is an utterly ludicrous price-tag. I’d love to own it, but that’s a lot of money, especially when the US gets the pack for $150, which translates to (at the time of writing) £91. Bethesda needs to check their math.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Collector’s Edition
Release Date: 15/11/2011
Price: £49.99

An older Ezio will continue to fight the Templars in Revelations. Meanwhile, we can celebrate his old-age with the Collector’s Edition which comes packaged in a nice box with a 50-page art-book, soundtrack, extra single player mission, two extra multiplayer characters and the animated Assassins Creed: Embers short film.

The Collector’s Edition pack may not be the most exciting edition coming out in 2011, but at just £10 more than the normal Edition there’s little reason not to upgrade and net yourself a few extra goodies.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Animus Edition
Release Date: 15/11/2011
Price: £68.99

The Animus Edition of Revelations allows you to end Ezio’s journey with a little more style than the Collectors Edition offers. The Animus Edition contains an in-depth encyclopedia featuring details on characters, locations and story of Assassin’s Creed, the Assassin’s Creed: Ember animated short movie and game soundtrack. You’ll also get some in-game content; a single player mission (Vlad the Impaler), Armor of Brutus and two multiplayer characters.

Again, like the Collector’s Edition, this isn’t the most exciting package coming out at the end of this year, but the encyclopedia should certainly be interesting and the Ember animated film looks beautiful.

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So there you have it; not only is the end of 2011 packed full of gaming goodness, it’s also bringing quite a few awesome packages with it for us to blow our money on.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m away to sell my Grandma so I can afford the Skyrim Collector’s Edition.