Gadgetory

this year was a great year for special editions and today we're gonna count down through all 11 that were released here in the US so they're gonna be a couple missing like the animal crossing des which is an honorable mention but there are some awesome ones gonna go through especially Sony who has five play stations that came out this year that are on this list so let's take a look at all of them first up and I'm a little sad to have to put this here at number 11 is the super smash brothers switch now to be clear I think this is a cool design I think it is something that is better than just getting a regular switch if you're getting your first one overall I don't know if it's necessarily something you should upgrade into but the biggest problem the system really has is that it's just very low effort as far as qualifying as a special edition in fact I was even a little hesitant about putting it on here because the switch itself is just a regular switch there is nothing unique about it instead all the different design choices go into the joint cons and the dock the left-right con is awesome featuring the cross design for the smash brothers logo while the right joi con without the context of being with it is a Greyjoy clone with a server line on it which is just kind of weird to me the big one for this special edition though is the dock featuring characters from Smash Brothers crowded in the left and right sides facing each other like a vs. screen very much the promotional art style they've been pushing for this game and it's one of the parts that really has the most attention to detail out of everything in the system well I still wish there was a little bit of color involved somewhere the black and white approach doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would in person it's a really cool thing and I hope hope that for those of you they didn't pick up the system that it gets sold on its own on the side because it's definitely with a cooler dog options out there next up at number 10 for very similar reasons as the smash brothers console is the Diablo addition switch once again there just isn't a whole lot going on here although which parts are missing are a little different mixed up in this case we have a special design on the switch itself with regular joi cons and I'll get to that problem in a moment and then a redone dock design once again now the switch on this end has a half design of Diablo spaced from Diablo 3 on it which I think look really cool it's a very small minimal thing but it's a little hard to work with the back of the switch right now when all you really have is the logo and the kickstand so you don't want to take up a lot of space it looks cool but once again I I wish there was some degree of color just some way of mixing it up a little bit as for the dot design this is actually something I think is a really cool deep cut for anyone who's a long-term fan of the habló franchise because the art on here with the angel and devil facing each other it's actually based on the original Diablo concept art not stuff that was made apparent and later gamez so if you've been a longtime fan this is gonna be something that you get react to and it's just a really cool choice to go with really the biggest problem this system has that is kind of fixable is the fact that it just has regular greyjoy cons but just seems like a really big missed opportunity for Diablo because you usually associate very warm hot colors with it reds oranges maybe if it's just a little yellow highlights there's so many things that could have gone with now thankfully since the switch is a modular system if you bought this one you can make it cooler still by just going out and buying the right kind of joy cons either hunting down the Mario red or even just going for the neon red ones that have more of an orange look either those are gonna look way better on this system the only thing is well you're spending more money to make a system cooler that should have been just this cool in the first place coming in at number nine is the first of many play stations on this list the Monster Hunter World ps4 Pro now this is one that I actually really liked in concept but I think it runs into a little bit of a problem when it comes down to the execution so the main draw here there's a couple little things going on but the really big thing is the design of Rathalos on the top of the system it's this whole half gloss half not gloss to create this print design and then flames and red which I think stand out really nicely but the black on black approach just gets a little too muddled too confusing and results in a system that looks really cool when you look at it from a very specific angle and then the other angle it's kind of just an unclear mess which is a real shame because when you look at the controller that was paired with it which has this muddy red finish I think that looks really cool and I really wish they would have focused on that being on the main system itself either by adding mole redecide from the fire or making the main part of the system red with the Rathalos and black just some more color to make it really stand out a lot more clearly because the art once again is really cool it's just you can't really skip most of the time aside from Rathalos up top it does also feature the name of the game in the bottom corner of the top written in gold which is a nice little static although I you normally I'm not a huge fan of swapping the title of stuff on this correctly and then on the front of the system are a couple symbols that if you haven't played Monster Hunter just kind of looked like nonsense but they're actually referencing the different factions of the exploration team in the game then at number eight we have the Gold Rush Xbox one X I think okay look we get a lot of special division systems I actually missed out on grabbing that one this year so like it had this gold the black kind of shade design which is cool but I don't know if it was the right color choice I just looking at pictures I think that's where this one goes this list at number 7 is another ps4 Pro the God of War 4 edition now this is one where I think it's simultaneously a really cool design but also kind of not depending on what you know of the game and how much you've actually played because it's a very busy looking system and if you don't get what it's supposed to be a depiction of it kind of just looks a little weird at first so this is actually supposed to depict the main acts that Kratos uses throughout the game and with that in mind it's a really cool-looking design I love the color choices I like that we want to sort of like a dark steel with a grey and some gold trim all really fine choices but if you don't picture that and just look at it from a pure aesthetic standpoint it's a little crazy the front of the system also features this kind of gold braid design for the middle tier which I'm a little hit and miss on because I think the gold looks really nice next to the dark steel but with the lighter gray not so much it also features the runes representing the different realms on the bottom which is a really nice touch for the front as I have said many times before I'm always a huge fan of silver on systems so for the controller to actually just embrace a silver look instead of using either of the Grey's on here I think it's really nice touch featuring the God of War logo and sign right here on the touch pad and just a little logo on one of the handles again I think this is a super cool design for anyone that's played the game and you get the imagery of the Leviathan acts right away but on a shelf back-to-back with every other system it's just a little bizarre fellow human Kevin a lot of gaming systems so he is giving one away check out the link below for chance with Nintendo switch next up is the Pokemon Edition Nintendo switch now this is these special editions which design that I think is the best one they've released thus far and a large reason for that is because it's the only one that actually uses some kind of special design on each major aspect of the switch we have a design on the back of the main switch body itself special joy cons and a special limited edition dock design now while this is a Pokemon edition of switch the main focus here is on Pikachu Eevee the two choices for Pokemon let's go and that plays a role in each low aspect here on the main switch body itself on the back we have this print design that features outlines of both Pikachu and Eevee and different stances and positions and I think that while this is probably the lowest key option and still not going as far as I would like special editions were just ago it's the best effort out of what we've seen so far and what really plays well here though is how the Doc interplays with the joy Kahn's so go along with any of Pikachu and Eevee you have designs where the joy comes each side are matching colors for those different pokemon and in fact the wrist straps which I don't have attached right now because it's on the switch offer an alternate color design that kind of represents the other colors on those Pokemon which is a really nice touch although personally I'm never going to see that because I never use the wrist straps and then the front of the back features Pikachu and Eevee along with the joy hunt they match and what I really like here too is that unlike the other designs we've seen where they always have a black and white approach they actually did embrace colors here and then I start eating garbage at number 5 is the 3rd PlayStation on this list and the only one to come out this year that is a special edition ps4 slim and honestly it's my favorite ps4 Suleman that they've made the days of play PlayStation now what I really like about this one is that oftentimes Sony's really trying to heavily push the idea that PlayStation consoles by default are black and I get it it's a popular move for systems right now but really the color that I've always associated PlayStation with is blue and embracing that for the system I think is a really good look if you're not familiar with why this PlayStation exists something that Sony's started do the past couple years is during e3 they'll have a promotion called days of play where a lot of different systems go on sale there's limited-edition bundles all that kind of thing and so the big thing this year was this special edition PlayStation which not only goes to that blue color that I really like but to accent that in a really cool way is having the four main PlayStation button symbols in gold not only large but with little ones kind of flying around as well which I think looks really beautiful now what all this works on the system itself I think it's pulled off really well actually on the main controller itself where you still have that same kind of shade of blue but it's not the glossy look that's on the top of the system but also on the touchpad is a constant repeating pattern of the four symbols in gold which is a nice touch I'm not always a huge fan of stuff being put on the touchpad but I think this is one of the better executed ideas they've done number four the last one before we get to our top three is the white xbox 1x now I can already hear some of you guys it's a little weird I know to put a simple white system this high up on the listen we've had so many cool crazy designs coming before it but honestly I really think this is a great-looking xbox and I think this is the color double NX really should be I understand the appeal of all black systems I get why they did that for the launch 1x but I think the white just looks so much cleaner and works a lot better what the 1x is aesthetic versus what they did with the 1s a large part of this is the change in how they've approached to having the disk drive so on the 1s is the disk drive was put in the middle here where it kind of interrupts the main body whereas on the One X's they moved it to being in the kind of little crease area between the base bottom and the main part of the unit system and so it hides that disc tray and it allows this whole top part of the system just be this singular clean looking kind of monolith and it works so well with just the plain white and I've said this so many times before and I'm sure somewhere in the Edit Matt's going to include a joke about this but I love the approach to having two-tone jam I don't like having a system that is all just one color I want to have some contrast and the black and white just does that so well kicking off our top three is a 2d s that's right a 2d s this system might be slowly dying off but it hasn't stopped Nintendo from releasing new designs as the years have gone by and this year you normally see either cheap newer bundles and slightly different colors or special editions like this Hylian Shield one right here and this looks so amazing and this is exact what I'm talking about when I talk about how with the switch Nintendo knows how to do better because we can see examples of it right here inspired by the iconic shield present in a lot of the games in the series I think this takes all the most important elements and makes it something that isn't too complex but still has a lot of stuff going on I think the blue and silver is a really good color contrast but you still get that little hint of gold on the Triforce and red for the bird symbol and on the inside you're still focusing on those main two colors of blue and silver ish gray which is just a really nice color contrast when it comes to 2d s is a Nintendo has really started out the game on special editions even though it's kind of dying off right now this is a very close competitor for my number one paper design they've done period because the Polka ball one from last year is also really amazing look I know this which is the big hot thing right now but if you still like a lot of the 2d s library or you've never picked one up you should really look into getting one of these cuz it is a great looking system and there's still a ton of awesome games out for it by the way if you're looking for a way to customize your own system or maybe just change up the joy cons and a special edition to which a great option is the skin from today's sponsor D brand they have a whole line of skins that are completely safe to use on your switch on the joy console and the dock and you get a whole bunch of different colors different designs for instance going back to the Diablo suit you talked about earlier if you just want to be able to get some red joy cones or even orange ones on that you just get the skins themselves and apply them looks great if you want more details check out the link down below coming in at second place our runner-up for the best special edition of the year and this was a really tough one for me is the spider-man ps4 pro because this really exemplifies a lot of the stuff that I want to see when it comes to a special edition system it runs such a great balance between simplicity and complexity having something that looks cool but isn't all over the place first off I really like the reliance I'm just using two colors at first I kind of wish there was maybe a little blue to kind of have the full spider-man suit look work but I really think just sticking with the red and white was the right call to make and just using the giant spider-man logo from their version of the suit in the game just looks so cool and beautiful on it you know they don't have to put the name spider-man on it they don't have to add anything else to it they just have the one main logo taking over the whole top of the system and it looks gorgeous I think also how they approached using these colors on the controller was a great call as well where you've got the main controller being read you should got some red highlights on like these symbols for the buttons but then using white for not only the buns but also the sticks you're still keeping black for the touchpad but it all works so well together it's such a beautiful excellent design paired with one of the best games to come out this year honestly it was a really tough call to leave this one being the runner-up and the only reason why it isn't number one this year is because this next design is just such an insanely good one that system the number one system to come out this year is the 500 million edition ps4 now this is admittedly kind of a rough one to compare because well this was made commercially available something people could buy it wasn't a giveaway it wasn't totally random luck it was a hard system to get they are very limited they only made 50,000 of them worldwide and that's represented by the fact that each of them has a little number on the front telling you what number you have now this is a system meant to celebrate a major marketing milestone for PlayStation it's not 500 million ps4 sold but it's 500 million Playstations in general going all the way back to the beginning and to help celebrate that once again kind of like what I was saying with the days of play ps4 they lean on the color that I think is really the more traditional PlayStation 1 blue but instead of doing a solid color they went for a much more retro static something they did a lot with the ps2 s and that's the transparent design which is so beautiful with this it's release really reminds me how odd it is that we don't actually see a lot of transparent consoles of anymore because it's something that was done a lot with older ones and yeah the inside of those systems were kind of cool-looking and there was stuff to see there but as systems have gotten more complex there's actually more cool stuff to show off in the inside and more light effects and things you can do that you really see in the system and I love the approach to of balancing out with this very deep dark blue because it's not a transparent thing that you can just see super clearly through it just gives you little hinting Zoar everything going on on the inside now this color alone is a beautiful choice but I think what it really sells it all together is also the approach of the kind of copper accenting bronze that's going on on the logo over the system the title in the front the little number plate and it's also present on the controller in a few places as well like on the PlayStation button I think that kind of just metal color plays really well with the blue in a beautiful way and they mix this up a little bit on the controller itself the main body still has that dark transparent blue but then as an accent of that they have a solid dark blue as well that for the button sticks the grip and then just a slightly lighter blue that's used for these symbols on the buttons again while this wasn't limited to being any kind of giveaway or separate sight thing that's super limited from a consumer standpoint something you can buy at a store this is still something that really didn't make all that many of and it was sold at a premium price and it shows in the final design this is easily the best system that came out this year and honestly I don't know if Playstations ever going to this as far as special-edition ps4s go