So, due to a lucky set of circumstances, I was able to get my hands on the pre-order version of Ether One. In case you're still wondering if the bonus content is worth the extra $$$, allow Uncle Fronzel to help you make
The Informed Choice™ Let's start off with the OST.
The sample soundtrack is literally that: a sample. Only two songs are included and they're not even full length.
Song#1 runs 1:33 on standard as opposed to 4:51 in the Deluxe version, song#2 has been shortened by 36 seconds to a runtime of 1:10 on the standard edition. A pretty cheap move, you might as well stick to 0:30 second previews on amazon.
The full length soundtrack clocks in at 45:57. This leads me to believe that someone plans to release the OST natively on vinyl. I mean, after all, we have these things called CDs now. You can store more than 70 minutes worth of music on one of those bad boys. And since there's now this "digital distribution"-thing going on, these kind of constricts are pretty much a thing of the past. So, unless those 45 minutes of music is all that was ever composed for the game (or they plan to release a Deluxe Deluxe OST some time down the road), why not include a more complete soundtrack?
Now, I don't know much about music, other than my taste in music is impeccably awesome and everyone who disagrees can go suck it. That being said, I thought that the Joe Hisaishi-like soundtrack sounds absolutely marvellous. This is definitely one of the better video game soundtracks out there and I would not at all be surprised if this wins a fuckton of awards.
Artworks:
2 png files
Deluxe edition: 3 png files
A friendly word of warning: 2 of the 3 files from the Deluxe are identical to the ones from the standard. If you buy Deluxe, you get ONE piece of bonus artwork, not 3!
Wallpapers:
Same game with the wallpapers: two are included in the standard, a third one (which looks like a pretty half-assed affair) is added in the deluxe. The two from the SE are screenshots from the game (they can be seen in the gog game card, actually, if only I could provide links to the exact images), the third one is the same motive that gog uses in
this very announcement.
Concept art:
You'll recieve 11 files with the Deluxe, most of them extremely lo-res (We're talkin' 45 kb jpegs here, folks!)
Screenplays:
One 133kb Zip-folder. Don't let the file size deter you, this seems to be quite a solid offering. Included are six screenplays and a short readme file, warning you of spoilers. The screenplays consist of 12, 8, 53, 7, 26 and 16 pages respectively.
Comics:
Comic #1 (Nominal Dysphasia, 6 pages, 8 MBs) isn't so much a comic as it is a collage of weird imagery. Looks more like the inside sleeve of an industrial album than what you'd expect from your average graphic novel, but it's still interesting enough
Comic #2 is entitled "The Strange Tale Of Byron Spencer" (15 pages, 419 MBs). The cover is identical to the one single additional piece of artwork included in the Deluxe edition! I'm not much into comics, so I don't really want to pass my biased judgement on "The Strange Tale Of Byron Spencer".
In conclusion:
Are the $10 for getting the Deluxe Edition straight away justified? That pretty much depends on how much the OST sells for seperate from the game, as that's the only piece of bonus content that's of any real relevance. Let's see: £7 for the soundtrack on bandcamp = US$11,63. Yup, that means basically that buying the Deluxe Edition right away will be cheaper than buying the regular version and the OST seperately (plus you'll get some not-too-impressive bonus content thrown into the mix).
Is the bonus content worth the $15 upgrade? I was going to say no, considering the, frankly, quite shabby quality and quantity of bonus content). You could buy the soundtrack seperately on the composer's bandcamp site for US$11,63. You'll have to decide whether one wallpaper, one piece of artwork, 11 pieces of lo res concept art, 2 decent if short comics and a collection of screenplays are worth the extra $3,37.