Wii Games Could Become Rare (?)

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I have a bit of a theory as to how Wii games will incline in their rarity and value in the next 20 years, when it becomes in a sense "old school" like the NES and Atari VCS is today. It's apparent that there is a multitude of shovelware software for the system- games like NinjaBread Man, CID The Dummy and Mini Desktop Racing. Nowadays, online resources allows us to evaluate just what you're purchasing- wheras back then you had to go on impulse and hope to God your fifty dollars wasn't thrown out the window (magazines like Nintendo Power praised ANYTHING coming to NES). These obviously means that not many people are going to invest on these games unless they're oblivious parents looking for cute games for their five year old children. As with older games, it's very possible that a game shop overloaded with the titles will send them back to their respective publisher- which would lead to the destruction of these games. Take Spyborgs (Wii) for example. It has only sold about 500 copies, and if stores do not see an increase in sales they will not buy more copies and/or send them back to the publisher to destroy. If this happens, those owners of the 500 copies are going to find the game extremely rare years later- if the rest ever produced are destroyed, that is.

Look, I'm just a dumb 14 year old who knows nothing about marketing- but I think this could be a possibility for the future of game collecting.

[Oldskool]

You might be on to something. You're pretty smart for a little kid.

[portnoyd]

The copies won't be destroyed. They'd be sold in bulk ad nauseum. Case in point: the 30 billion copies of Othello for the NES you can get brand new at any time.

[Leo_A]

Where did you get the sales figures for that Wii title? I find it hard to believe any Wii game has only sold 500 copies and that game doesn't seem to be in very short supply.

Edit - Was just 500 copies the month of release at it's MSRP. I suspect there are many more out there now that it's seen drastic price cuts through the holidays and late winter due to the weak sales at release.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I've already given this some thought concerning the mass budget releases for the Wii and DS.

However, I'm with portnoyd on this one. It costs money to destroy. More than likely, they'll be sold in bulk for bargain bins.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

You might be on to something. You're pretty smart for a little kid.

Now if you give me an equation to solve...then I'm not so smart lol

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I've already given this some thought concerning the mass budget releases for the Wii and DS.

However, I'm with portnoyd on this one. It costs money to destroy. More than likely, they'll be sold in bulk for bargain bins.

That's true, they might just be thrown into the bargain bin but then again because of that they still might be regarded as nothing special and not sell to well. I wasn't sure it costed to destroy copies but then again I'm retarded.

[Voliko]

Just take a look at the shovelware on NES

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

Just take a look at the shovelware on NES

And some of those became rare. Just take a look at Action52- it sells at a high price nowdays and I believe the Active Enterprises dust cover it came with is also collectible. Of course, you could only get it through special offers/ magazine orders and the 100+ dollars price tag would turn the less fortunate off right away.

[Leo_A]

The copies won't be destroyed. They'd be sold in bulk ad nauseum. Case in point: the 30 billion copies of Othello for the NES you can get brand new at any time.

They may be destroyed, it happens with the DVD market. Warner sold millions of excess stock to be destroyed last year and the company that was supposed to destroy it ended up reselling it to stores like Dollar Tree and Big Lots and is probably still in court over it.

If you're a company like Capcom, you don't want to send a signal to a consumer that if they just wait a few months they'll be able to pick up your next project for $10 out of the bargain bin after a couple of months. There are also likely some financial advantages to writing it off and destroying it that might make it a more attractive option then just liquidating it.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

The copies won't be destroyed. They'd be sold in bulk ad nauseum. Case in point: the 30 billion copies of Othello for the NES you can get brand new at any time.

Holy crap those only sell for like twenty bucks sealed! Here comes my first factory sealed NES game to add to the collection.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I've brought this up previously, but case in point:
A coworker worked at a game store back in the mid-90s. Cheap NES stock that they couldn't sell was supposed to be sent back to HQ. Instead of sending it back, they destroyed the cartridges on site because it costs less to destroy than ship. He told me that they must've destroyed over 100 copies of SMB/DH.

The cheapest option will always win out. Whether it's recouping some from tossing the items into bargain bins, tax writeoff, or destroying. It depends on the situation per company.

[HurricaneAndrew]

I think GameStop destroys any stock that they have determined will not sell. I've heard stories of them grinding down cartridge contacts and cutting discs in half and throwing them in the trash.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Hey man... There is a fine line between humbleness and self-flagellation ya know. :p

I bought Spyborgs for $5 at TRU not but a few weeks ago. It was the only one they had, and it was on shelf and not in the bargain bin oblivion. I bought it to play. Because the impulse calculation of Capcom + Cover Art + $5 ~ Possible win. Another title I can think of in a similar situation is Pangya for PSP... That UMD had abysmal sales. Saw the game many places first month or two, then they evaporated without an onslaught of sales. Makes one wonder.

[Bojay1997]

Hey man... There is a fine line between humbleness and self-flagellation ya know. :p

I bought Spyborgs for $5 at TRU not but a few weeks ago. It was the only one they had, and it was on shelf and not in the bargain bin oblivion. I bought it to play. Because the impulse calculation of Capcom + Cover Art + $5 ~ Possible win. Another title I can think of in a similar situation is Pangya for PSP... That UMD had abysmal sales. Saw the game many places first month or two, then they evaporated without an onslaught of sales. Makes one wonder.

Actually, Pangya got pretty solid distribution. It was and still is available at many Gamestop, Toys R Us and Best Buy locations. Toys R Us sells it for $5 and many stores still have it in stock. I am very, very skeptical that any Wii title will ever be rare and if one emerges, it will have minimal distribution. If you can find it in a brick and mortar store nowadays it just isn't ever gonna be rare.

[Pichu]

HI Retro!

[Gameguy]

There will be some rare Wii games, a few were recalled like Spy Fox and the other Humongous Entertainment adventures that were released for it.

[Ze_ro]

There will be some rare Wii games, a few were recalled like Spy Fox and the other Humongous Entertainment adventures that were released for it.
The lawsuit that caused the recall was in Germany. It's unclear at the moment whether it affected copies in other regions. In fact, I've seen Humongous titles far more often lately than I did when they were new.

--Zero

[Icarus Moonsight]

Actually, Pangya got pretty solid distribution. It was and still is available at many Gamestop, Toys R Us and Best Buy locations. Toys R Us sells it for $5 and many stores still have it in stock. I am very, very skeptical that any Wii title will ever be rare and if one emerges, it will have minimal distribution. If you can find it in a brick and mortar store nowadays it just isn't ever gonna be rare.

He is using rare in the sense that people consider Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and more laughably FFVII rare too. The first two, I saw at retail, well stocked, and at heavy discounts. Scarcity and value is more complex than just what the numbers tell. It relates directly to what people actually want more than how many there are. What good is it to have the only single existing thing of something, if no one wants it? Possibly not even yourself... :D Wii games fall into that area fairly hard.

On Pangya, I have seen it a few places since it was released. But there was a marked difference in frequency. That's all the observation I was offering.

[Leo_A]

There will be some rare Wii games, a few were recalled like Spy Fox and the other Humongous Entertainment adventures that were released for it.

Their games like Pajama Sam are some of the most popular young childrens software on the Wii. I can't imagine they will ever be considered rarities.

[Push Upstairs]

They may be destroyed, it happens with the DVD market. Warner sold millions of excess stock to be destroyed last year and the company that was supposed to destroy it ended up reselling it to stores like Dollar Tree and Big Lots and is probably still in court over it.

There were some good deals at Big Lots.

Animaniacs Vol 2 & Night Court Season 1 for $6 a pop? Yes please!

[Gameguy]

The lawsuit that caused the recall was in Germany. It's unclear at the moment whether it affected copies in other regions. In fact, I've seen Humongous titles far more often lately than I did when they were new.

--Zero
I'm pretty sure it affected all copies of the game. There are copies still out there, but they were pulled and won't be reprinted. I actually haven't seen any copies in person yet. I don't think the games will be an R8 or R9, maybe an R5 or R6.

http://sev-notes.blogspot.com/2009/06/gpl-scummvm-and-violations.html


And we started to discuss. The rough details of the final settlement were: Fingolfin and cyx can post an agreed "press release." They are not allowed to talk more about it. There is a period of time in which all current copies have to be sold. Any copies beyond this period or any reprints get fined with quite high fine for each new/remaining copy. The remaining stock has to be destoryed. There will be no single usage of ScummVM for any of upcoming games without our knowledge. Atari makes a significant donation to Free Software Foundation. Atari covers all expenses on gpl-violations.org lawyers.

[InsaneDavid]

Anyone here want a half dozen brand new copies of Spy Fox and Pajama Sam for the Wii? Name your price.

[portnoyd]

And some of those became rare. Just take a look at Action52- it sells at a high price nowdays and I believe the Active Enterprises dust cover it came with is also collectible. Of course, you could only get it through special offers/ magazine orders and the 100+ dollars price tag would turn the less fortunate off right away.

That's a special situation. It was unlicensed in a time when unlicensed games existed with an unlicensed company that was only in existence for an incredibly short amount of time.

Imagine Baby Diaperchanger which is in every store in America will never be rare.

[Bojay1997]

I'm pretty sure it affected all copies of the game. There are copies still out there, but they were pulled and won't be reprinted. I actually haven't seen any copies in person yet. I don't think the games will be an R8 or R9, maybe an R5 or R6.

http://sev-notes.blogspot.com/2009/06/gpl-scummvm-and-violations.html

It did not. The recall only extended to Germany and other territories where Atari distributed the games. Majesco handled publishing and distribution in North America. Best Buy, Toys R Us and many other US retailers still stock the games. In fact, several local Toys R Us locations just received new copies here in Los Angeles in the past few weeks.

[Bojay1997]

He is using rare in the sense that people consider Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and more laughably FFVII rare too. The first two, I saw at retail, well stocked, and at heavy discounts. Scarcity and value is more complex than just what the numbers tell. It relates directly to what people actually want more than how many there are. What good is it to have the only single existing thing of something, if no one wants it? Possibly not even yourself... :D Wii games fall into that area fairly hard.

On Pangya, I have seen it a few places since it was released. But there was a marked difference in frequency. That's all the observation I was offering.

But you're assuming that people aren't actively buying even the crappiest Wii titles. Having watched stock of various games at Target, Toys R Us and other retailers, I can tell you that if something is cheap enough, people will buy it. Heck, my local Costco does a $10 shovelware sale several times a year and they always sell out of the hundreds of games they stock for it within a week or two. You also have to remember that the level of investment required to buy games like Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and even FFVII was $50-$70 which is not an impulse buy price point. Wii Shovelware is always under $20 and often half of that. It's the kind of thing people will just grab in the hopes that their kids will be quiet when they are driving around the cart at the store. I suspect even the most obscure Wii games will be widely available at swap meets, garage sales, on Ebay and every other source for many, many years to come.

[Ze_ro]

There are copies still out there, but they were pulled and won't be reprinted.
Keep in mind these are kids games. They were never going to get a second print run anyways.

--Zero

[Press_Start]

Another Wii rare thread? sigh....

Too soon to be counting Magical Chases before the cardboard box costs more the monthly rent. For a game to reach Dynastic Hero or rare Turbo Duo levels, you're product must be made in the few ten-thousands range or less, high quality, and highly sought after. Shovelware is in low quatity, it's neither good quality or in big demand unless you're looking at a complete Wii collection. Then again, I doubt the Wii will get as sought after 10-15 years from now as obscure systems like the Turbo Grafx or Sega CD.

You're better off playing the good stuff (Muramasa, Fragile Dreams, Spyborgs, Madworld, Trauma Center, etc.) and leave the garbage in the bargain bin.

[portnoyd]

Not exactly.


few ten-thousands range or less, high quality, and highly sought after.

Production runs are all hearsay. No one can definitively confirm a single 10k run.
High quality matters not for rarity (see also: Cheetahmen II, Action 52)
When specifically talking about rarity, being desired comes from being hard to find.


Then again, I doubt the Wii will get as sought after 10-15 years from now as obscure systems like the Turbo Grafx or Sega CD.

10-15, no. 20-25, yes. The same cycle with the dominant system will repeat itself. Maybe not to the 2600/NES intensity, but it will.

[CelticJobber]

You also have to remember that the level of investment required to buy games like Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and even FFVII was $50-$70 which is not an impulse buy price point. Wii Shovelware is always under $20 and often half of that. It's the kind of thing people will just grab in the hopes that their kids will be quiet when they are driving around the cart at the store.

It was a different time, and situation but I remember seeing atleast a dozen copies of Earthbound sitting on the shelves at K-Mart for several years after its release, eventually marked down to $20 or less.