Chrono Trigger / Seiken Densetsu 3 demos

[withalligators]

I picked these up while in Japan about ten years ago at a flea market. They seem unused. Any ideas for value? I'm trying to price out a lot of my stuff then sell about 2/3rds the collection. I believe they are ROMs for stores to demo that have various save states with parties at different points in the game. But I've never tried them out.

[TonyTheTiger]

Any ideas for value?

A lot.

I can't put a number on it, but I've seen those pop up on Ebay once in a blue moon. But whoever it was kept putting it at some astronomical number, like $1,000 or something (might have even been $2000), and I don't think they sold over the 3 or 4 times I saw him list them. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it fetched that with the right buyer.

[Haoie]

Excellent condition too. They'll be worth a pretty penny.

Although, if it was me, I'd be tempted to open and play with it.

[NayusDante]

I've seen the Chrono Trigger one on ebay for $150, but that was a year or so ago.

What I'd love to know is if there's any difference between these and the final products. Since they designate that it's Read Only Memory, I'm guessing there's no save. Have these been dumped, or would there be any reason to dump them at all?

[TonyTheTiger]

I've seen the Chrono Trigger one on ebay for $150, but that was a year or so ago.

Really? That sounds like a very good deal all things considered.


What I'd love to know is if there's any difference between these and the final products. Since they designate that it's Read Only Memory, I'm guessing there's no save. Have these been dumped, or would there be any reason to dump them at all?

There are and I know that CT was dumped and is different. I don't know about SD3. CT is actually particularly cool. The game is designed so you can only play through certain parts of it via the save slots. If you pick New Game you play up to a point and it cuts you off with a "Coming 1995" message. Then you can pick one of the save slots and play through a different section of the game until you get the same message. But with Game Genie you can walk through doors and stuff and explore areas and see differences that you aren't supposed to.

[SparTonberry]

Both have been dumped.

[withalligators]

Both have definetely been dumped? Any idea where they are to be found? Hope this question isn't too taboo. If they haven't, I'd be willing to lend the carts to someone with the proper experience in doing so, so long as they are trustworthy and with references.

[wadakatsu]

These usually sell for a few hundred bucks in Akihabara -- they're rare, but definitely not impossible to find since most of the retro shops seem to have one in their obligatory high-price showcase.

[Adol]

I picked these up while in Japan about ten years ago at a flea market. They seem unused. Any ideas for value? I'm trying to price out a lot of my stuff then sell about 2/3rds the collection. I believe they are ROMs for stores to demo that have various save states with parties at different points in the game. But I've never tried them out.


Around $100 each,boxed and complete condirtion,like those ones.
More demand for Chrono Trigger,of course.
Maybe up to $150,but that's it. Romancing Saga 3 sample rom would be even less,because it's more common.
You often see them on Yahoo auctions,going for 10000Y or less.

[Blitzwing256]

some of the graphics in the kingdom of zeal were differnt, and the epoch looks differnt as well.

[badinsults]

They are a nice novelty, but certainly not the rarest things in the world. You shouldn't pay more than $200 for them.

[TonyTheTiger]

It's funny because you'd imagine there would be an absurdly small number of copies. These prerelease demos were presumably only distributed in Japan (whether or not there is an English prerelease of Chrono Trigger I have no idea) and they were probably only sent to the press. Even if every Japanese video game publication in 1995 got two or three copies, I'd imagine it would still number well below 100 in total. If they are "rare but still common enough to find" that means they were distributed a little more liberally. Were these ever sold to the public in some limited way like the Donkey Kong Country Competition Cart was?

[Blitzwing256]

they weren't a press item, they were instore demos, (like our nfr crap) and considering how popular those games were, quite a few copies were made..and a good chunk of them trickled into the collector market

[TonyTheTiger]

That makes more sense then, thanks.

[JLukas]

These are a great value, especially CT which has many differences when using a cheat device to explore areas outside the demo chapters. It isn't often you see a true SNES demo cart outside of a trade show, big name Square RPGs no less. I'm surprised they don't sell for more.

[eskobar]

I saw the CT demo selling for $400 usd on ebay ... it was a store called "squareworx" or something, specialized in rare stuff.

[TonyTheTiger]

I don't know. I get the feeling $100-$150 might be a "deal" price rather than an average one. A complete copy of an ordinary North American Chrono Trigger can sell for a good $70-80. So something like this, even if there are as many as 1,000 copies floating around, should in theory sell for much more.

[NayusDante]

Thing is, not a lot of people seem to know about these. The collector-base that goes after store demos isn't as big as the one that just goes for games.

[Blitzwing256]

you can get the japanese chrono trigger (or romancing saga3) complete for 10$ pretty easily they are about as common as sport games are in the us. very differnt market over there.

[TonyTheTiger]

Thing is, not a lot of people seem to know about these. The collector-base that goes after store demos isn't as big as the one that just goes for games.

Yeah, but it's Chrono Trigger. I would imagine that would factor in somehow.


you can get the japanese chrono trigger (or romancing saga3) complete for 10$ pretty easily they are about as common as sport games are in the us. very differnt market over there.

No question the Japanese version is common (and cheap) as dirt. But that doesn't have any bearing on the availability of this demo, right?

I get what you guys are saying. I'm sure that a store demo of some common as hell game today won't exactly fetch a startling amount ten years from now. But a sealed NA Chrono Trigger can sell for over a grand, something that few games can muster. There are rarer games that won't get that high. That's not just "rarity" at work. That's also the CT name working its magic. Perhaps you're right that most people who would care about this are fewer in number driving the price down but there were certainly enough sealed game collectors more than ready to drive the sealed game's price up, right? And sealed game collectors, I'd imagine, are fewer in number than people who pay attention to imports.

It just sounds weird to me, that's all. And I'm not even complaining. I'd love to own one of these things and to hear that it's a relatively affordable item makes me rather happy. But I'm still surprised.