The Great (Or not so...) Devil Summoner 2 Box # Investigation

[Icarus Moonsight]

The scuttlebutt is, there are only 55k of these things out there. Let's test that... Report your box numbers, and numbers that you know exist (empirically). If you are any amount of unsure, don't say it, unless you mark it as uncertain. Also general comparative discussion, if you care to.

[mb7241]

Somewhat cross-posting from my other post here... I have 0992 (sealed) and 23123 (opened CIB).

Also, perhaps it would be interesting to keep track of the results, in order, maybe to see who here has the lowest number :) ?

[Cryomancer]

15083 for me, opened.

[josekortez]

Oh God, not 55,000. I had planned to go out and get one of these today. Some @$$hole went and bought the one closest to me yesterday right before I got to the store. Hopefully, the next closest one will be there this afternoon when I go to that store. I really want to play the game!

[megasdkirby]

0352 for me.

[josekortez]

I called several GS stores this morning and most of the ones on the site claimed they didn't have it. Then, I found one and the manager said he would only hold the game for a half hour. I hate freaking Gamestop! If anybody has an extra Devil Summoner 2 or knows where to find one, please let me know. I promise I'll post the number in this thread when it shows up. Just trying to keep things relevant to the topic at hand...

[Icarus Moonsight]

I have an extra that's box is pretty beat and tore up, if you don't mind that. Game is still unopened, w/ plushy. You can have if for cost + ship. PM me.

[portnoyd]

20586

[Eternal Tune]

I has 13784 unopened, since I had no real desire to play it.

[exit]

Mine is 40092 and will probably remain unopened.

[megasdkirby]

Then, I found one and the manager said he would only hold the game for a half hour. I hate freaking Gamestop!

I really can't blame the manager, as I've had customers call asking to hold a merchandise and NEVER come to the store. I usually don't hold merchandise for anyone, and when I do, I tell the customer that it has to be in less than an hour and ONLY be via me. After that, I will sell it.

But going back to topic, I would not mind another copy. I need to check my local GS to see what I can come up with.

[TonyTheTiger]

10,191.

Also, I remember where I heard there were more than 60,000. I found the specific post but, and I know this is jumping through a weird hoop, you'll have to do a Google search for:

"devil summoner 2" the highest number reported was in the 40k, now people are

The first result will be for a now defunct GameFAQs post. The link doesn't work anymore but if you keep searching for later parts of the viewable sentence you can read the whole post.

This is what it says in full:

Originally the highest number reported was in the 40k, now people are reporting higher. At least one person now said they had a number in the 60k, so something happened between now and release. But If it was a normal reprint it would be for sale at amazon, and it's not. --- - My Games - http://backloggery.com/IronMonkey008

Here's a live topic with a post from the same person.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=951791&topic=53180046

There was at least one person on GAG that reported having a number over 60k. You shouldn't have any trouble finding one, use the store check on the site and call first before going. However people are saying that all GS got a memo to gut all of them to help them sell, not sure if true or not. But that would be a reason not to wait, not something I care about though.

[ScourDX]

Mine is 11537. The only way to know the number is finding the source from Atlus. Of course they will never reveal their figures.

[kupomogli]

I forgot what mine is. It's posted in the other thread. It's in the 4,000s.

[mailman187666]

I have 8236 opened and 16828 sealed

[TonyTheTiger]

Of course they will never reveal their figures.

Which makes the individual numbers absolutely pointless. That's what's so funny about it.

[Icarus Moonsight]

The reason that we have to check these things with other people in different areas is because no one really knows for sure what the run is. That's not unusual, considering how guarded that information is for almost any release. That 55 thousand number was something Fuyukaze told me about that he read on the Atlus boards. I think he said it was from someone at Atlus, but I can't be certain of that either. That conversation was a few months ago. When he gets off of work, I'll be able to talk to him and check.

Considering all the numbers that have been reported so far, and what I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if a little under half of the 55-60ish thousand are still warehoused. Has anyone made a recent online order? Would be curious as to what number that type of acquisition method generates. Maybe all the high numbers are in those online stores inventory.

Besides, GameFAQs average membership is not credible enough to take a random post too seriously. I'll look for it on google anyway though. Maybe they have something to back it up.

[Aussie2B]

Strange that so many of you have sealed copies. Is it just a matter of not having time to play yet, or you hoping it'll become valuable down the road? The print run doesn't seem extremely low, but I guess it's a fair possibility regardless given the demand for everything MegaTen these days. I mean, Persona 2 got knocked down when all of those additional sealed copies surfaced, but now it's climbing back up. And the first Devil Summoner on PS2 used to be dirt cheap but climbed a lot just prior to the release of Devil Summoner 2 (much to my chagrin).

[kupomogli]

Strange that so many of you have sealed copies. Is it just a matter of not having time to play yet, or you hoping it'll become valuable down the road?

For me it's because I got it less than full value and assumed it would sell out and just wanted to own the game as well thinking it

I wouldn't ever play it even if it doesn't increase in price. As bad as the first game is with its boring story, extremely high encounter rate(with no safe zones,) and very stiff crappy gameplay, playing this game never crossed my mind when the only differences in the game are more monsters and a couple different attack animations.

The game has good graphics. This is the only good thing I can say about Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army. It may have had good music, but I haven't touched the game since release, so I really can't say.

[Richter Belmount]

Omg Rare , alerting the rare alarm. Dont waste your time with devil summoner 2 , its a terrible game if you want to see something underrated and under appreciated watch the 4th season of Alf and project alf on dvd. Why isn't there respect for that huh? Noone appreciates how deep and meaningful season 4 was.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Strange that so many of you have sealed copies.

The game deserves to be played. I liked the first one and the second is an improvement, practically all around. I didn't get the first for a long time because of what I heard about it. Pretty much, what I heard was wrong. I got my first copy used for $15 at GameCrazy and found the DoubleJump about a month later, which helped...

Classic Game Room HD did a great review. He compares it to Soul Reaver... I know at least some of you guys loved that game. Anyone that wants to see that review, here ya go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwybGKbQrxY

josekortez: Your box # is 14148

My play copy #16554
Bait/Chum
#1) 16389
#2) 19548

My hold/display box #2260

[TonyTheTiger]

The reason that we have to check these things with other people in different areas is because no one really knows for sure what the run is. That's not unusual, considering how guarded that information is for almost any release.

Which in this case is idiotic. "Let's individually number these games but not tell a soul how many there actually are." You may as well individually number Super Mario/Duck Hunt carts if that's the case. Part of the point of individual numbers is to say "this is X out of Y" not "this is X out of some number we don't know and never will." The set is nice but the numbering thing was a ploy. Collector bait.


That 55 thousand number was something Fuyukaze told me about that he read on the Atlus boards. I think he said it was from someone at Atlus, but I can't be certain of that either. That conversation was a few months ago. When he gets off of work, I'll be able to talk to him and check.

Considering all the numbers that have been reported so far, and what I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if a little under half of the 55-60ish thousand are still warehoused. Has anyone made a recent online order? Would be curious as to what number that type of acquisition method generates. Maybe all the high numbers are in those online stores inventory.

Besides, GameFAQs average membership is not credible enough to take a random post too seriously. I'll look for it on google anyway though. Maybe they have something to back it up.

He said it was somebody on GAG. I don't know what GAG is but if anybody does then that would be the best place to start. Frankly, I don't think either number (55,000 or 60,000+) is particularly credible since it's all equally hearsay. But judging by the fact that Atlus won't cough up the numbers, I'd venture a guess that they might keep funneling copies as needed rendering the numbers even more pointless since the total will just keep going up.

[josekortez]

The game deserves to be played. I liked the first one and the second is an improvement, practically all around. I didn't get the first for a long time because of what I heard about it. Pretty much, what I heard was wrong. I got my first copy used for $15 at GameCrazy and found the DoubleJump about a month later, which helped...

josekortez: Your box # is 14148

Icarus Moonsight, thanks for hooking me up with a copy of the game. You are a stand-up guy.

And Icarus is right. I think the game deserves to be played if it's anything like the first. Of course, the DoubleJump guide is a necessity for the first game. I went back to it recently. Devil Summoner required more backtracking and has more "what the heck am I supposed to do now?" moments than any other game in the Shin Megami Tensei series, and this is coming from a guy who has poured over 60 hours into Persona 3.

[heybtbm]

# 33587 - opened. Bought it on release day from Amazon.

[Ze_ro]

#31781. Pre-ordered through Amazon.ca, for whatever use that info might be.

--Zero

[JunkTheMagicDragon]

#1021, sealed from gamestop

[Icarus Moonsight]

#31781. Pre-ordered through Amazon.ca, for whatever use that info might be.

--Zero

That tells me that there is no actual predictable order to how these went out. If a pre-order fulfillment presents with that high of a number, then tracking numbered order as they are acquired (in terms of the date) have little bearing on the objective. Well, at least we know a method that will not work now. :) We very well may discover nothing as far as the actual total. I'm fine by that. Simply looking is interesting enough for right now. So far, we know there are at least ~40k-ish. We still haven't got anything higher. Box numbers below 30-40k range just don't seem to be of any import at all anymore. And I doubt our sample here can come up with a near-end line box number, unless by sheer accident of instance.

I know this seems somewhat retarded... I just have to at least try to know damn it! It's because it has to do with numbers... OCD engaged, prepare for ludicrous-speed.

[kupomogli]

Maybe Atlus printed them out backwards. Maybe send out a printing of 20,000 starting from the end. That way once they get to #1 they know there job is done.

So. Does anyone know who has #00001 and is it sealed? Maybe the only one that might be worth money and it's going to be by random luck that someone has it.


Seriously, that title is long. "The longer the title, the better the game," says the official game announce from Atlus PR, who tells us that the sequel to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army will ship in "extremely limited" quantity on May 12th. But what about the preciously plush Raidou?!

Even 40,000 isn't extremely limited quantities.


Future copies of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon, Atlus warns, will not ship with the adorably sideburned Jack Frost-as-Raidou, should such copies ship post launch.

Has anyone ever seen a copy without the Raidou Kuzunoha plushie(not used or gutted?)

http://kotaku.com/5140383/atlus-makes-devil-summoner-2-official-exceedingly-precious

Anyways. Anyone remember the Persona 3 thing I mentioned in atleast two other threads? Persona 3 releasing, Atlus saying they have no plans on releasing FES, and then releasing it only eight months when we all asked countless times over and over. Not just people emailing Atlus etc, I'm talking about everyone who went to their forums.

And now that I'm talking about bullshit that Atlus has done. How about every time they make pure black world tendency events on Demon's Souls it is never pure black? None of the living NPC characters that can be killed as black phantoms ever appear, none of the extra black phantoms appear in stages, and none of the Primevil Demons appear.

[Icarus Moonsight]

The talk is someone within Atlus holds the #1. Their bladder must be screaming...

[exit]

That tells me that there is no actual predictable order to how these went out.

I had the same thought earlier. I was at a local GameStop to pay off a pre-order and I saw a copy of Devil Summoner sitting on the shelf and the box # was in the mid 10000's, but I bought my copy during it's original release at another GameStop not much further away and it's in the 40000's. So either the numbers were randomly generated as the boxes were being manufactured, or shipments were being randomly sent out to every store.

By the way, if someone wants that copy I saw PM me, I'd be more than happy to pick it up for you when I pick up Heavy Rain this Tuesday if it's still there. Only thing is the game wasn't sealed, otherwise I would've picked up the extra copy for myself.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I found the link to that Gamestop thread I think Tony was mentioning here: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&q=Devil+Summoner+2+PS2+box+numbers&start=10&sa=N&fp=79a46ede2c2a175d

This thread is on the first page, 4 links down for that search. :whip:

Apparently, the thread is no longer. Just what is there indexed by google. It mentions "originally the highest reported numbers were 40k..." but, then nothing about what change they were keying into. That may well be where the 90k number sprang up. Just wish it was sourced from anywhere other than there... Anyone can post "my box # is 1204867! They lie!" So that comes in at hearsay at best really.

Fuyukaze did verify for me that it was someone internal or affiliated with Atlus that mentioned the 55k production number. So we got 40, 55 and 90. Who done it, damn it? Confess!

[TonyTheTiger]

I don't follow. Where are you getting 90,000 from? This is the original, now defunct post I was talking about:

Originally the highest number reported was in the 40k, now people are reporting higher. At least one person now said they had a number in the 60k, so something happened between now and release. But If it was a normal reprint it would be for sale at amazon, and it's not. --- - My Games - http://backloggery.com/IronMonkey008

All it says is that somebody reported getting a number above 60,000. If that's true then the 55,000 number is BS. I can't imagine it being as high as 90,000 or we'd be regularly hearing about numbers higher than we have been.

What is GAG? That's where this apparently started.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I might have an idea what this GAG board is. It might be a small, but tight knit board that Fuyukaze goes to. I'd have to ask him, because frankly, ICR. I may even be utterly confused here.

The 90k... From you, or so I thought. LOL

Ok, so far we got;
-A solid ~40k with a likely possibility for more of higher numbers
-An Atlus person stating the run at 55k. Admittedly, I'm getting that second hand. But Fuyu and me go way back. More than ten years now. He doesn't lie or exaggerate things like this in my experience. He's a very bad liar to begin with. He has no 'Poker-Face'. His face is readable, and he knows it as well.
-Finally a GameFAQs, which is MIA seemingly, forum post claiming 60k+ numbers

I don't outright dismiss the 55k claim, but the 40k tested trumps it, for now. I'm skeptical about the 60k+, because there is nothing to tie it to at all. Show me a 60k+ box, and then we know the other two are out of the running for good.

One funny thing about this thread... It certainly didn't take long to find homes for the three bait/chum boxes. LOL

[bcks007]

My copy is 36,606

linky to the gamefaqs topic,
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=951791&topic=49481847

Highest number's mentioned are, 40,161 and 40,170.

I think only 40,200 copy's where made. Until someone posts a picture with a higher number, im going with that.

[Sailorneorune]

Got #16927 here, courtesy of brian9824 by way of the USPS and Random Miami Gamestop #42.

Gonna open it after finishing Devil Summoner 1.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Truth be told, as far as arbitrary number collecting goes, I'd rather have #666 than #1 in this case.

All the reported numbers I've seen, both here and in a thread at amazon (only like 5, lame), high-end cluster in the 30's...Mostly by preorder. Perhaps 40,200 is a suspect that has no alibi?

Makes sense in a way. "First in - Last out" proposition. You start running these off at #1 and at the end of the line, they are cased and cases are skidded. Skids are wrapped, and put away in skid slots (I operated a fork lift in a warehouse for a couple months). It's possible that when you are done, the last off the line are closest to the dock... Proximity rules when you are trying to hit production quotas. It's very possible, and would explain a few things to boot.

[TonyTheTiger]

I might have an idea what this GAG board is. It might be a small, but tight knit board that Fuyukaze goes to. I'd have to ask him, because frankly, ICR. I may even be utterly confused here.

Cool, cool. If we can find this GAG post, or somebody else that remembers it, then maybe that will shed some light on the matter. That's the only avenue I can think of pursuing at this point.


The 90k... From you, or so I thought. LOL

Yeah, I think 90k is much too high unless Atlus starts to print more copies. Though considering the game's price was recently cut in half, it might not be selling well enough to justify that. What I'm expecting is a range between 55,000 and 70,000. Any higher than that and we'd be venturing into a territory where it becomes suspiciously weird that nobody has seen a number within a range of almost 30,000 units. That's far too many to be sitting in a warehouse somewhere. We'd regularly see numbers like 68042 if there were really 90,000 copies. I'd be much more willing to believe there are 10,000 units comprising the last 10,000 numbers or so that are either warehoused or just MIA for some other reason.


Ok, so far we got;
-A solid ~40k with a likely possibility for more of higher numbers
-An Atlus person stating the run at 55k. Admittedly, I'm getting that second hand. But Fuyu and me go way back. More than ten years now. He doesn't lie or exaggerate things like this in my experience. He's a very bad liar to begin with. He has no 'Poker-Face'. His face is readable, and he knows it as well.
-Finally a GameFAQs, which is MIA seemingly, forum post claiming 60k+ numbers

I don't outright dismiss the 55k claim, but the 40k tested trumps it, for now. I'm skeptical about the 60k+, because there is nothing to tie it to at all. Show me a 60k+ box, and then we know the other two are out of the running for good.

One funny thing about this thread... It certainly didn't take long to find homes for the three bait/chum boxes. LOL

Right now we have no choice but to take 40k as the most accurate for lack of hard evidence to the contrary.

The GameFAQs guy's original post may be long gone but this one is still active:

There was at least one person on GAG that reported having a number over 60k. You shouldn't have any trouble finding one, use the store check on the site and call first before going. However people are saying that all GS got a memo to gut all of them to help them sell, not sure if true or not. But that would be a reason not to wait, not something I care about though.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=951791&topic=53180046

Maybe this IronMonkey guy can point to the original GAG post if it's still around? The GAG post is really what matters here. If it turns out that it's not credible then we know to just forget about it and move on.

If it turns out to be legit, though, the implications are interesting.

It might mean that this Atlus employee was pulling Fuyu's leg or just fudging numbers, intentionally or otherwise.

It might also mean, and this is the big one, that there were 55,000 copies...until Atlus printed more. That would explain why they won't give numbers. Because, despite the individual numbering, they weren't really that serious about the "limited" nature of the product.


My copy is 36,606

linky to the gamefaqs topic,
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=951791&topic=49481847

Highest number's mentioned are, 40,161 and 40,170.

I think only 40,200 copy's where made. Until someone posts a picture with a higher number, im going with that.

40,200 would be a weird print run. I figure they're mostly done in even thousands, right?

[kupomogli]

Maybe 40,170 is the highest number.

[Aussie2B]

Hah, yeah, if it's anywhere in that ballpark, I'd be more inclined to think they did 45,000.

[TonyTheTiger]

Here's an update. The 60,000 number just got tossed out as a possibility.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=951791&topic=53180046&page=1

In response to my post:

What's GAG? Do you know where I can find this person's post or who it was? I'd like to follow this up because, as far as I can tell, no other numbers over 60k have ever shown up.

He responded:

CAG = cheapassgamer.com

And looking at the topic again, I misread the post in that it was 6k not 60k. Highest number in the topic I mentioned was indeed in the high 30k. But I do remember seeing a topic on some site (maybe that one) reporting a little over 40k.

I think it's now safe to say that there are currently not more than 60,000. Whether or not there are as many as 55,000 remains to be seen.

[Icarus Moonsight]

After a lot of digging, the highest I've heard of reported is high 40s (46xxx)... Seems 50k is the ballpark. Maybe that 55k is spot on?

[TonyTheTiger]

Sounds like it. We're definitely in the ballpark with 50,000ish so we can assess "rarity" right now. But what's the fun in that, right? :)

I guess the OCD part in us wants that last box. A picture of a box with, say, 50,000 on it or 55,000. Then we can comfortably say that since there are no substantiated reports of anything higher, and we have proof of a box with a number that marks a logical stopping point, then we've figured out the exact print run.

I think we should work backwards. Rather than try to figure out how many there are, we figure out how many there aren't. We know that there aren't 60,000. Try pushing that 55,000 number and see if it holds water. You know Fuyu better than I do and it sounds like he's got inside contacts.

[Letiumtide]

#21600

Which I think it pretty awesome. I never see solid numbers in these special editions.

[megasdkirby]

Bumping this topic since I obtained a new copy today.

It's number is 20036.