1. Why double the price? Ok, I don't know how much it costs in US, but I live in germany and bought the CE for only 15 Euros more than the normal Version. (NV: 45-50 Euros, my CE: 60 Euros).
On Amazon.com the normal version costs $44.99, the CE $58.99. Thats not double the price, in fact its very cheap for a well made CE.
2. The CE includes: The game (of yource ), a Manual about 80 pages longer the normal version, a techtree, a strategy guide with historical infos on the period of time and the different nations (i think its the weakest feature since it has only about 50 pages and the strategics arent really helpfull, perhaps for noobs), a demo CD (well kinda meaningless), a huuuuge poster, a >
210 pages hardcover book "the art of age empires", a soundtrack cd (50 mins) a making of dvd (~45 mins), and of course its all in a huge beautyfull square box.If youre an huge Age Fan, you should get it.
If youre someone (like me) who likes well made game boxes with a lotta goodies in it (like in the good ol' times) instead the simple dvd-ammarays in which games are delivered today, get it.
Otherwise you should get the normal version.
However, I'm very happy with my CE, yet I dont know if its limited or not, but thats not very important for me.
[This message has been edited by pulaski (edited 11-05-2005 @ 09:30 AM).]