Videogames that will be sold out everywhere from Black Friday to Christmas

[GrandAmChandler]

So I never preorder ANYTHING, but I think now may be a good time to start. Rock Band is quickly approaching as well as Super Mario Galaxy and I have made some conclusions.

Software

-Rock Band (360, PS3, PS2) is going to be tough to get. Did you see the article about the shortage already?

http://kotaku.com/gaming/rock-band/time-to-start-worrying-about-rock-band-availability-318040.php

http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/lbox/200345b.jpg

- Super Mario Galaxy is going to be the Wii seller this holiday season (as if they needed a system seller, we will get to that in a minute.) This game looks amazing, plays amazing, and is the killer App. that the Wii needs. Going to be tough to get, but not as tough as Rock Band.

http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/lbox/230014brp.jpg

- Guitar Hero III (Wii, 360, PS2, PS3) It was scarce when the original came out, but I think Activision has the idea, for I am seeing these everywhere. No telling what Black Friday may hold though. I think extra wireless guitars may be tough to get as well. (360, PS3)

http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/lbox/200344b.jpg

Hardware

- Wii Systems are going to be impossible to find again. Rumor is that a ton of systems will be released with Super Mario Galaxy launch, but we all know what happened last Holiday, and they are still scarce in most regions currently.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21IIAyYn93L._AA115_.jpg

- DS Lites, especially Gold and Pink bundles. There was a mad craze last year to get that damn Pink DS Lite. Systems prices spiraled out of control on eBay last year. This was definitely a surprise to me, and I personally think came unexpected to Nintendo.

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/10/holiday_ds_bundles.jpg

Honorable Mention

- Wii Zapper w/ Link's Crossbow training. This is going to be something that flies under the public radar until it actually hits. I predict these will be tough to find.

http://www.gamestop.com/common/images/lbox/802783b.jpg

What do you guys think will be some of the tougher items to get this holiday season?

-GAC-

[YoshiM]

Rock Band: Yeah, I could easily see this as being hard to get as it's being sold in a bundle. Not many stores are going to want to carry $170 package for a video game system.

Super Mario Galaxy: This being hard to get a hold of? I disagree. It's probably going to be everywhere. Even after the big hoo-ha of the Wii launch, I still saw copies of Twilight Princess at many stores. Same situation here.

GH III: They are everywhere now and they're still going to be everywhere later. Unless there's some weird sale or promo.

DS Lites: I have to wholly agree with you. It's just mind boggling that these things still fly off shelves. They're not just for gifts but people who own DS's will sell/give/trade what they have and get a new one just because of the new color. My wife passed by Gamestop's trade sale with her DS because she thought the brighter screen wasn't worth it and the D-Pad wasn't responsive enough (I traded in mine and got the white-love the screen but hate the D-Pad for Animal Crossing). When the Crimson came out, she jumped on that as soon as she saw the sales flier.

Zapper: Y'know, I'm not sure how I see this. Are people going to get on the accessory bandwagon this generation? I think the longtime Nintendo fans will get one but beyond that the sales will be on the cool side. People have to store their Wiimotes and 'chucks, now where do they put the Zapper and the Wii Fit board?

[neuropolitique]

Zapper: Y'know, I'm not sure how I see this. Are people going to get on the accessory bandwagon this generation? I think the longtime Nintendo fans will get one but beyond that the sales will be on the cool side. People have to store their Wiimotes and 'chucks, now where do they put the Zapper and the Wii Fit board?

Or their Guitars? I think people are now more than open to accessories. Will the zapper be hard to get? Prob, but only because I don't see them flooding the market with them. I don't think people will go nuts for them. Now the fit board would be another matter.

[Wolfrider31]

Yeah, I think Galaxy will have enough supply to satisfy the deman (which is going to be huge) but I preordered it just in case. (I had trouble finding Zelda on launch and had to hold off until after Christmas to pick it up.)

And I think Yoshi M is right about RockBand. It might not necessarily be the demand that makes it scarce but the size and price that are going to scare retailers off from stocking tons of them. GHIII seems pretty well stocked.

I really can't see the Wii Zapper flying off the shelves. Maybe its my old man brain kicking in but I think people would be more responsive to a new Duck Hunt rather than Link's Crossbow Training, and there doesn't seem to be much hype/need for the peripheral.

[GrandAmChandler]

I really can't see the Wii Zapper flying off the shelves. Maybe its my old man brain kicking in but I think people would be more responsive to a new Duck Hunt rather than Link's Crossbow Training, and there doesn't seem to be much hype/need for the peripheral.

This is not a thread based on sales. I am saying these are going to fly under the radar, and not many are going to be around, thus making them hard to get. There is no way this will be like a Rock Band or a Super Mario Galaxy in terms of sales, this is a quirky game / accessory.

Now if at the same time they release Duck Hunt, other NES Zapper games, Super Scope 6 games on the Virtual Console at the same time as launch......

All bets are then off. :p

[s1lence]

Well, I can verify that GH III is hard to get from around here. A friend of mine had to go all over the twic cities to find a copy. I did not have that problem as I pre-ordered. No surprise on Rock Band either with the cost and all the accessories that come with the game. I knew that was going to be a pre-order a long time ago.

As for Galaxy, i could see that being hard to get because of the Wii being so popular.

I could see COD 4 being hard to get over the holidays, no exact reason but I see alot of Halo 3 gamers are going to be switching to COD4.

[Wolfrider31]

This is not a thread based on sales. I am saying these are going to fly under the radar, and not many are going to be around, thus making them hard to get. There is no way this will be like a Rock Band or a Super Mario Galaxy in terms of sales, this is a quirky game / accessory.

Now if at the same time they release Duck Hunt, other NES Zapper games, Super Scope 6 games on the Virtual Console at the same time as launch......

All bets are then off. :p

Oh wow, you know I never thought of that. Super Scope VC games? Crap... there goes another 20 bucks. Thank God for multivitamins.

[heybtbm]

There is no way that Super Mario Galaxy will be hard to find. Games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero III will be HTF only because of their specialty hardware. Regular games? No way.

[dlopez9069]

I can easily see these things selling out in major cities but where I live we don't see that stuff. There is no black friday rush, just a few sales.

[dcx516]

i think rock band is going to be a big pain the ass to get. ive played super mario galaxy (not a killer app) i think it sucks but it should be readily available. the wii is starting to show up in my gamestop, we got 20 in the other day and there are about 15 left and supposedly were going to get more for black friday.

[misfits859]

I can see Rock Band turning into an ebay cash cow.

[Bojay1997]

I can see Rock Band turning into an ebay cash cow.

I kinda doubt it. There is certainly demand for Rock Band, but I think part of the problem is they underestimated Xbox 360 demand and probably miscalculated what the demand would be for the PS3 and PS2 versions. I've heard from a couple of sources that the Xbox 360 is doing something like 5X the number of pre-orders the other versions are. I would be willing to bet that the PS2 and PS3 versions will be somewhat available while the Xbox 360 might be in shorter supply. Having said all that, it's a game that costs $170 that is available at roughly the same time as a very similar game (GH3) and I just don't see a lot of people beyond the core Guitar Hero audience needing to have the game right at launch or even this Christmas. I could be wrong, but at a time when a lot of gamers are already going to be putting a Wii, Xbox 360 or PS3 on their Christmas list, I can't see most people expecting to get a game that almost costs as much as a console as well.

[DigitalSpace]

I think the Wii Zapper will be tough to track down until at least January. It's bundled with a game and it's $20. It's definitely not going to be the next Wii Sports but it will be a hit.

[ZackyH]

Can you actually pre-order the Wii Zapper anywhere? I asked at Gamestop but they wouldn't allow me to do a pre-order on it. You can only do pre-orders on games.

[Bojay1997]

Can you actually pre-order the Wii Zapper anywhere? I asked at Gamestop but they wouldn't allow me to do a pre-order on it. You can only do pre-orders on games.

I believe it's available on Gamestop's website, but it's priced at $5 above MSRP like they have been doing with a lot of lower priced items lately. I'd recommend you just take your chances at a local big box retailer or indy game shop.

[kainemaxwell]

Super Mario Galaxy: This being hard to get a hold of? I disagree. It's probably going to be everywhere. Even after the big hoo-ha of the Wii launch, I still saw copies of Twilight Princess at many stores. Same situation here.


Agreed, I'm sure the retail stores are going to have an abundance of this.

[crazyjackcsa]

I think it's fun when people give an opinion and pretend it's a fact!

[ScourDX]

Isn't Rock Band published by EA? They tend to release games in massive quantity. I can see EA making more copies next year.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Isn't Rock Band published by EA? They tend to release games in massive quantity. I can see EA making more copies next year.

Well, the games may be easy to come by, but the bundles? They'll be in huge demand for a looooooooooong time.

[Gamingking]

Wii Zapper, Zelda DS lite and Super Mario Galaxy, are all on my wants.
Hopefully i'll get SMG on release day.

[j_factor]

I agree with the Wii Zapper. Consider also that two games that use it are coming out before Christmas (Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad) and I'm pretty sure neither of them have their own bundled-with-Zapper option. I'm sure both of those games work okay with just the standard Wii controller, but a lot of people who buy them will want the Zapper to go with them.

[dave2236]

I bet Wii systems will be going for $350-400 on ebay at christmas and I could see Rockband hitting $250. the problem with rockband is that ordering 50 copies of that takes up alot more room than 50 copies of Mario Galaxy in a back store room.

[Flack]

Well, I can verify that GH III is hard to get from around here. A friend of mine had to go all over the twic cities to find a copy.

Did he try Target? I was there last night and they had a stack of them for every system, $20 off regular price.

[Bojay1997]

I bet Wii systems will be going for $350-400 on ebay at christmas and I could see Rockband hitting $250. the problem with rockband is that ordering 50 copies of that takes up alot more room than 50 copies of Mario Galaxy in a back store room.

Well, given how much space Best Buy, TRU and Target are devoting to the various versions of Guitar Hero, as well as extra guitar controllers, I have no doubt that they will pile hundreds of copies of the Rock Band package into each of their stores come release, even if they have to just do a pile on the floor rather than keeping any in the stock room. I would agree that the 360 version will probably sell out, but it's not like every gamer in America has $170 to spend on one game, nor the interest, nor the room to set it up.

[SkiDragon]

I don't expect Galaxy to be hard to find. It's just software. All the rest are hardware-centric items that always seem to be more susceptible to selling out. The Wii has been relatively easy to find lately, but that could easily change again near Christmas. The Zapper, as much as I dislike the idea of it, will probably be hard to find. Wii Play was initially hard to find because of the free remote, and the Zapper is only $20.

[jajaja]

- Based on what the guy from EA said about Rock Band i would belive that it isnt something that just being pulled out of thin air. So it might be hard to get this one ye.

- I dont think Super Mario Galaxy will be hard to find. I'm sure Nintendo knows how big this title will be, especially in the US, and have been able to produce enough copies to fill the demand :)

- I have no idea how many guitars they have made for Guitar Hero 3, so it might be hard to get, but i belive that the game itself will be easy to find.

- I'm pretty sure Wii will be hard to get unless Nintendo manage to spit out millions of consoles before x-mas. I think they will have atleast 2-3 millions ready before 2008, but still, it will probly be hard to find.

- I have no idea how limited the new DS colors/bundles will be so i have no idea if this will be hard to get or not.

- I dont think the Wii Zapper will take off at all. Its just a piece of plastic and i've read that some people prefered to play Resident Evil UC without the Zapper than with it. I dont see how it enhances the gameplay that much since the Wii controller is doing that job pretty well even without the Zapper attachment. However, there is a new Zelda game, so it might sell quite a bit. But still, i doubt it will be hard to find it.

[otaku]

I'm holding my wii till xmas to see what I can sell it for right now I could get what I paid for it (around 250) with no real extras with it. So I'm hoping it goes to 300-400 without any extras by xmas :)

[Lothars]

Well I also could see the PSP slim selling tons this christmas season, though I think that Rock band will be hard to find for both 360 and PS3 at least initially but I see lot's of Guitar Hero 3 but it's the one with the crappy Explorer Guitar, so at least around here, the PS3, 360 and Wii versions are impossible to find at the moment.

The DS i think at least the special editions will sell but the other versions I don't really think they will be that hard to get.

[dgdgagdae]

I'm holding my wii till xmas...

You could do serious damage that way!

[Slate]

Well I also could see the PSP slim selling tons this christmas season, though I think that Rock band will be hard to find for both 360 and PS3 at least initially but I see lot's of Guitar Hero 3 but it's the one with the crappy Explorer Guitar, so at least around here, the PS3, 360 and Wii versions are impossible to find at the moment.

The xplorer isn't any worse than the Les paul considering that the les paul doesn't work properly all the time..

And I can see rock bad selling out. It's a good thing that I reserved it.

[gepeto]

In the day and age of cd's I question any cd based game that claims to be rare. No chips needed easy to produce so why rare?

[jajaja]

In the day and age of cd's I question any cd based game that claims to be rare. No chips needed easy to produce so why rare?

It still depends on how many copies thats being made tho. Some games might have low production numbers even if they are on CD if the publisher dont think it will sell alot.

The games in the first post wont be rare tho since they are games in really popular franchises, but if they ship less copies than what they would expect to sell it might be hard to find the games for a brief period of time.

[portnoyd]

Here's a darkhorse HTF candidate: Eye of Judgement for the PS3. Took us a while to find one of these period last week. However, it may just be an early weak supply kind of thing.

[Oobgarm]

Here's a darkhorse HTF candidate: Eye of Judgement for the PS3. Took us a while to find one of these period last week. However, it may just be an early weak supply kind of thing.

I don't know if I'd say it going to be in demand, though. I'm fairly certain initial shipments were small, but I don't think they really expected the entire gaming community to find the premise interesting. Especially not some of the reviewers who gave it a good score. I think they were going to play the niche market from the beginning, and, a few non-card game converts or collectors aside, this game will be in supply.

As far as the others:

Mario Galaxy: It's been a while since a Mario game was out, so I think demand on this will be heavy enough that it will sell out in many places. Not everywhere, though. I think they'll be just a bit behind the demand, but not setting eBay ablaze with crazy resellers getting OMG $100+ prices.

Rock Band: Duh. Get the first shipment, but don't hold your breath for a huge second one. A larger quantity will hit next year, I'm sure.

Guitar Hero: Of all the platforms, 360 will be hardest to find, I think. A lot of places ordered a TON of PS2 copies, and I haven't seen them move as well. Maybe around Christmas with the new GH I and II 2-pack, but I don't think it'll sell out completely.

Wii Zapper: Eh, could go either way. Wii Play was tough to locate there for a while.

PSP: This is an underdog candidate. I've been seeing it advertised heavily on TV now, so it may very well find it's way into many homes. Even with better software and redesigned hardware, the DS will outsell it 10:1.

[Damaniel]

Here's a darkhorse HTF candidate: Eye of Judgement for the PS3. Took us a while to find one of these period last week. However, it may just be an early weak supply kind of thing.

I didn't have a problem getting the game, and I've seen copies of it just about everywhere. On the other hand, the booster packs... finding those takes some effort, some luck, and probably some small animal sacrifices to the appropriate deity. I managed to get a few packs from a local Gamestop, but only because a friend of mine knows the owner and was able to get him to hold every pack they got in stock one day. Other than that, I've seen no sign of boosters, theme packs, or any other cards anywhere. Maybe supply will increase soon, but for now buying the game probably means playing with just the starter deck for a while.

I agree about Rock Band, though. Most stores probably won't carry very many -- it takes up a lot of space on the shelf, and the $170 price tag doesn't really scream 'impulse buy' like less expensive games might. If you want it, find a place that's still taking preorders and hope for the best.

[mailman187666]

I actually had to check a few stores for Eye of Judgement recently. A couple gamestops told me they got a real small shipment of the game in. Best Buy, Circuit City and such had no such game in stock. I took a trip to Toys R' Us to find the game, booster packs, and starter decks. It took me quite a bit of driving around to eventually find the game and the packs to buy. They probably will ship more this month a bet.

[GrandAmChandler]

If SMG is going to be a killer ap for Wii, then Nintendo REALLY needs to get up to speed on producing enough systems. I don't understand how a veteran company STILL can't supply enough systems a year after its release. Pretty embarrassing, actually.

Supposedly there is a MAJOR release of systems happening next Sunday for Mario Galaxy, as well as on Black Friday says insiders.

-GAC-

[heybtbm]

I agree with the Wii Zapper/Wii Play analogy. I think the Wii Zapper will be hard to find in late Nov/Dec. I have it pre-ordered at Amazon. It's going to be a necessity for R.E. Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost Squad.

Now that think about it, Ghost Squad may be a little tough to find this year. I'm sure they're not printing tons of copies. They even lowered the price to $29.99 before the release. That's usually not a good sign. Still what's a Sega gun game without some cheesy Japanese goodness?

[kentuckyfried]

Well I can say for certain that noone will be able to find a copy of Smash Bros Brawl this Christmas, and it's all Sonic's fault.