When do you start considering something "rare"?

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I was just wondering what everyones opion on which rarity level is when an idea hits "rare". Ive been considering R6 and above rare. Anyone else?

[suppafly]

Same here...anything from R6 upwards is considered RARE

[Barbarianoutkast85]

My scale on things is R1 threw R3 is common R4 and 5 uncommon then R6 and above I consider rare.

[Kroogah]

DP scale, paraphrased from the Advance Guide:

1-3: Common
4-6: Uncommon
7-9: Rare
10: 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle

[Barbarianoutkast85]

My personal scale was just a lil off oh well.

[qbertandernie]

i think anything R5 and above youre damn lucky to find off of a specialized source(like ebay)...

[imanerd0011]

I consider all games that are R6 and above rare games, but for NES there are also some R5's that I consider very rare too.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

You got games which are limited release or released for a certain time only. Ie, Paper Mario is considered rare as it was only out for a short time before the GameCube was released.

Then you have what most people consider to be rare, but is actually just scarce - Ie, a good game, but you never see it for sale cos people tend to hold onto it - Games like The original Release Final Fantasy VII...

Then you have true rare games, where there are only a handful out there. A few Neo Geo AES carts spring to mind here... ;)

I have found over the years that RPG, shoot 'em ups, and puzzle games tend to be the more sought after. Look at all the rare games for any system and you'll see a majority fit into one of these three catagories...

I have also found that a majority of these rare games are made by Atlus or Konami... Coincidence? Nope, I believe that they release only a certain amount.

Oh, there is one other type of rare as well. Games like the PAL Space Channel 5 Part 2 which got released everywhere except the UK - This is considered rare as it never got a UK release, therefore all copies have to be shipped from Europe or Australia.

The PAL A version of Animal Crossing is also considered rare as it is basically the same as the American release, whereas the UK release had certain features cut out of it like eReader support...

PSO on the GameCube is also considered rare as you require the scarce BB adapter in order to play it. Not many BB adapters = not many PSO games. Why release more games than there are adapters???

[Nesmaster]

most R5's and everything above

[NESaholic]

Indeed there are some R5 rated nes game that you can call rare and are hard to find.Still R6-7-8-9 are harder and deserve the rare title more.

[imanerd0011]

I'm not saying that the digitpress guide is wrong, but I think they need to make some changes to the rarity of the NES guide. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man are both R7's, but I think they should be R5's or so, because there are usually a few of each of them on ebay. Casino Kid 2, and Godzilla 2 should be R6's, along with Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt, Swamp Thing, and Moon Ranger.

[christianscott27]

after a game hunt i'll check my finds against the guide and think "well thats nice" or "i think its more uncommon than that". my rare to common standard is pretty straight forward - if i have it already its common, if i dont its rare.

my collecting is done exclusively from the wild and local trades so i tend to trust my gut more than guides. my method is fairly simple, for the systems i choose to collect i make a text list of every game available in the US, then as i find the games i scratch them off the list. the games that remain on the list after several years of intensive hunting are rare in my book. i dont try and divine the reasons why a game is hard to find, it just is. i know it sounds naive, not taking into account production runs or ebay prices but i've checked thru 10,000s of NES games with list in hand and here are the last ones i need to complete my collection. in some cases it matches the DP list very well, in other cases i'm still not finding these very "common games"


NES LIST
add heros of lance
adventure island 2
adv lolo 2
adv lolo 3
archon
baby boomer
bandit kings
baseballstars 2
bases loaded 4
battleship
battletoads and dbl dragon
bignose freaks out
blackjack
bomberman 2
bonks adv
bußble bobble 2
bucky ohare
capn comic cd
casino kid 2
castl deceit bu
chip n dale 2
chubby cherub
color a dino
contra force
cool world
crystal mines cd
cyberball
death race
defender of dynatron
diehard
donkey kong jr
donkey kong jr math
double dare
double dragon 2
dragon fighter
dragon warrior ll lll lv
duck tales 2
dusty diamond
fantastic adv dizzy
faria
fire n ice
fp i can rem
fist of the north star
flintstone suprise
galactic crusader
gargoyles quest 2
godzilla 2
golf grand slam
gun nac
home alone
ikari warriors 3
incredible crash dummies
indiana jones crusade taito ubi
jackie chan
james bond jr
jetsons
kid klown
kid kool
king of kings
kiwi kraze
klash ball
last action hero
last ninja
legendary wings
lgd of ghost lion
lemmings
l empereur
lethal weapon
linus spacehead
lil sampson
magic of scheh
mario is missing
maruels xmen
master chu
mega man 1 5
metal mech
mickey numberland
might and magic
mighty final fight
mission cobra
monster in my pocket
moon ranger
ms pac man namco
muppet adv
nigel mansells
ninga crusaders
ninja gaiden 3
op secret storm
panic restaurant
paperboy 2
pesterminator cd
power blade 2
pradikus conflict cd
predator
pro wrestling
puzzle
race america
raid 2020
rainbow islands
rc pro am 2
robocop 3
robodemons cd
romance of the 3 kingdoms 2
roundball 2
shinobi
shockwave
snow bros
spiritual warfare
stadium events
stanley
stunt kids
sunday funday
super cars
super dodge ball
super spy hunter
swamp thing
swordmaster
tagin-dragon
temco baseball
temco cup soccer
tmnt tournament fighters
terra cresta
tiles of fate
times of lore
tombs of treasure
touchdown fever
trolls on treasure isi
untouchables
widget
wizardry 2
wurm
zombie nation

[postulio]

i consider r4 a confortably nice find/piece of collection


r5 i consider games you probably dont wanna get rid of, because youll probably not find another one soon/easily and might end up paying a lot

r6+ are rare and definate must collects.

[Iron Draggon]

I grab everything that I can above R4, because chances are you'll never see it for sale again. R1 & R2 are the only truly common games, R3 & R4 are very uncommon and hard to find, and they may even seem to be rare, as you may not see them for sale anymore often than you'll see above R4 for sale.

Anything made by Atlus, Konami, or Titus, snap it up as quickly as possible. They're infamous for not making enough copies of any of their games, and they all tend to become highly sought after over time, even if they aren't right now. The majority of all games above R4 are made by those companies.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I will usually buy a R5 if I don't have it and it is a good price, I can generally find r5s around often enough but sometimes they are tougher to find. If I see an R6 I will always buy it within reasonable price point, even if I already have it I can even trade a r6 to someone regardless of value because there is usually someone looking for one.

[Dr. Morbis]

I consider a game rare when I HAVE to use eBay or other online sources to get a game. I don't go by "R1" and "R2" because it's not the same across platforms. I'll find a NES R1 500 times for every one 7800 R1 I run into. When I go hunting in the wild, NES and Genesis games rain from the heavens, but a lot of other common systems' libraries are noticably absent. For example where have all the SNES systems and games gone? Are SNES fans the ultimate hoarders?