Production of NES Mega Man's not making sense...

[MyTurnToPlay]

So I was looking through the videogamespricecharts website, checking out prices/trends for a few games....and something caught my attention. Below are the sale averages for all the Mega Man's on the NES. Yes, yes...we all know the numbers are rough figures...but they still provide some useful info that I don't get...

Mega Man $25.74
Mega Man 2 $13.84
Mega Man 3 $8.79
Mega Man 4 $12.68
Mega Man 5 $32.49
Mega Man 6 $26.74

But I can't make sense of this data. The way I rationalized it in my head is as follows:

Mega Man - The first one released. They didn't know it would be a hit, so the production was limited, hence high value.
Mega Man 2 - After success of 1, the production was obviously increased, & with greater supply...comes lower value.
Mega Man 3 - Same as 2. Production was increased even more...which is why this one has the lowest value.
Mega Man 4 - Value still relatively low. Maybe production didn't equal #3, but still great enough to cause low value.
Mega Man 5 - Here is where they lose me. In terms of value, this is the costliest Mega Man to obtain. Why did they produce so few copies? What changed after 4? I don't get this one.
Mega Man 6 - Also fairly costly. Again...I can't make sense of it. Why such low production?

What am I missing here fellas? I don't understand the logic behind some of the production numbers.

thank you.

[ApolloBoy]

MM5 and 6 were released at the tail end of the NES's popularity, which is also why games like Little Samson and Panic Restaurant tend to be pricey.

[Bazoo]

I believe the short answer is that Megaman 5 and 6 were both released after the SNES and, more importantly, near the end of the life cycle of the NES. Don't get me wrong, they were still releasing games for everyone that stuck with the NES, but companies will limit production for almost any game for a console close to its end. There might be way more to this story than this though.

Also remember not to mix monetary value and actual rarity. If I needed to guess, I would say 6 was produced in lower quantities than 5, but people tend to like 5 more, from what I've heard.

[Buyatari]

As he said 5 and 6 are late releases with lower production runs. 3 and 4 the most common.

[markusman64ds]

Well, I guess with Mega Man 5, it WAS 1992. People had moved to SNES by then. Capcom noticed this, and put less emphasis on 8-bit and more on the then-new 16-bit machines. They definitely would have wanted to make more of these;

http://www.silysavg.com/gamesandparts/electronic/images/supernintendo_streetfighter2.jpg

Because they knew they would make more money.

Mega Man 6 was released in 1993 in Japan and 1994 in America. That was the year Donkey Kong Country and the original Playstation came out! Still, I'm not sure why it is cheaper than 5.

[chrisbid]

mega man 1 was not a hit, mm2 was the first popular game in the series.

[FoxNtd]

Capcom apparently didn't want to publish Rockman 6 in North America, so Nintendo did. Europe never got the final game it seems. Interestingly, 1 and 6 are the more valuable and less common of the 6 in Japan as well as North America. I think the only trend that doesn't match between the two regions is the 5th game. I think it's cheap/common along with 2, 3, and 4 but in NA it seems to be less common. FC in general had more love and attention towards the end of its life despite SFC's era starting, whereas NES was dying/ignored far more quickly and everyone was jumping ship to SNES. I assume that Europe saw the same attitude for their PAL NES/SNES situation. As an example look at the set of late Konami games they never had intent to release outside Japan.

So the lifetime of Famicom was about 11 years? 1983-1994? Don't you wish NES experienced attention all the way to 1994 equally as much? :puppydogeyes:

[markusman64ds]

So the lifetime of Famicom was about 11 years? 1983-1994? Don't you wish NES experienced attention all the way to 1994 equally as much? :puppydogeyes:

Apparently, Nintendo made new Famicoms until 2003, and repaired them until 2007.

[FoxNtd]

Apparently, Nintendo made new Famicoms until 2003, and repaired them until 2007.

I thought the policy at Nintendo for customer service and maintenance was 20 years. 1983 + 20 = 2003. If it is true that new Famicom units were manufactured all the way until 2003, it makes sense for there to be a few extra years to cover the new units made, or else someone buying the new one would have a product instantly out of warranty. XD

[markusman64ds]

I thought the policy at Nintendo for customer service and maintenance was 20 years. 1983 + 20 = 2003. If it is true that new Famicom units were manufactured all the way until 2003, it makes sense for there to be a few extra years to cover the new units made, or else someone buying the new one would have a product instantly out of warranty. XD

They only stopped in 2007 because the parts were getting rare and expensive.

[Duke.Togo]

I agree with the above, but with MM1 you also need to consider that the higher value of the 5 screw variant skews the average higher.

[Parodius Duh!]

The Famicom Rockman 5 is super cheap and only like $10-15

[A Black Falcon]

Capcom apparently didn't want to publish Rockman 6 in North America, so Nintendo did. Europe never got the final game it seems. Interestingly, 1 and 6 are the more valuable and less common of the 6 in Japan as well as North America. I think the only trend that doesn't match between the two regions is the 5th game. I think it's cheap/common along with 2, 3, and 4 but in NA it seems to be less common. FC in general had more love and attention towards the end of its life despite SFC's era starting, whereas NES was dying/ignored far more quickly and everyone was jumping ship to SNES. I assume that Europe saw the same attitude for their PAL NES/SNES situation. As an example look at the set of late Konami games they never had intent to release outside Japan.

So the lifetime of Famicom was about 11 years? 1983-1994? Don't you wish NES experienced attention all the way to 1994 equally as much? :puppydogeyes:

Nintendo did release new NES games until the end of '94, though... they released Mega Man 6, Wario's Woods, and Startropics 2 in 1994. Of course though, because the NES launched two years after the Famicom, the system got two more years of support in Japan because it started sooner, but both did end at the same time. That's quite different from the SNES, which was done in the US by the end of '97, pretty much (apart from Frogger in '98), while in Japan Nintendo kept supporting the thing until the end of 2000...

Oh, and also, 6 is considered one of the weakest of the six NES games. That might have an impact on the price too, yeah? Sure, MM2 is cheap despite being the most popular because of how common it is, but with 5 v. 6, 5's almost always considered to be the better game, and it costs more too.

Oh, and 4 released after the SNES as well, just earlier in the SNES's life (early '92), so more people were still paying attention to the NES than in late '92 when 5 came out, or MM6 in 1994, I assume.

[wiggyx]

Well, I guess with Mega Man 5, it WAS 1992...

Dude, love your sig. That's all. Carry on...

[markusman64ds]

Dude, love your sig. That's all. Carry on...

Just in case I change it in the future, here is my sig:

http://videogam.in/images/0000001/sonic_puppet.gif

It was actually made by the same guy as the Nintoaster!

[wiggyx]

Just in case I change it in the future, here is my sig:

http://videogam.in/images/0000001/sonic_puppet.gif

It was actually made by the same guy as the Nintoaster!

I rightclicksaved the moment I saw it ;)

[Oldskool]

mega man 1 was not a hit, mm2 was the first popular game in the series.

I dunno, while Mega Man 2 was the breakout game in the series.. I do recall as a kid the first Mega Man being still quite popular. Everyone I knew that was into NES loved it.

I do agree though that 2 was when things really took off..

[ubersaurus]

huh, I always liked MM6 WAY more than 5. 5 felt phoned in, even more than 6 did... and at least 6 had the jetpack and power armor. Those were pretty sweet.

[theclaw]

http://www.silysavg.com/gamesandparts/electronic/images/supernintendo_streetfighter2.jpg

Well yeah. That's a SINGLE port for a SINGLE platform (not counting even Turbo or any upgrades), that I in all seriousness wouldn't be surprised if to date has equaled or outsold the entirety of Mega Man franchise sales across all platforms (including Legends/X/Zero/Battle Network etc) combined.