What makes a Game Rare?

[Emily]

Im not looking for genaralitys here. I just recieved Qix for the NES yesterday in the mail, its an improvement over the original and a good game. Why is it R7, why ir it rare? I know why baby boomer was rare, I know why Wisdome Trees games are rare. Are there any games that have a good storie to go along with their rarity?Hmmmmm... Obviosly Sachen games have alot of speculation behind them, but I would still hear about them too.
Any info for an ignorant/knowlagable collector? :hmm:

[Griking]

I'm not trying to be a smartass here but generally a game is becomes rare becaise there weren't too many made. This can be because the game was released late in a console lifespan or maybe it was somewhat unique and the developer didn't want to print too many copies because they were worried that it may not catch on.

[Ernster]

or maybe it was somewhat unique and the developer didn't want to print too many copies because they were worried that it may not catch on.

Than the question has to be asked why make the game in the 1st place if you think it wont sell well? @_@

[gamenthusiast]

or maybe it was somewhat unique and the developer didn't want to print too many copies because they were worried that it may not catch on.

Than the question has to be asked why make the game in the 1st place if you think it wont sell well? @_@

for the sake of innovation.

[MarioAllStar2600]

It is almost always low production rate, which is usually do to itnot having much intrest or released late in the systems life span. Pretty much what Griking said.

Or it could be like Air Raid, and nobody has a clue why it's rare. :P

[Emily]

Due companies choose to make a low production run? If not , what happened to all the loads of games not perchased by the mass marrket!?
But I am specifically looking for info on any particullar company and the rarity of a pariticualarly notorious game from them. I think those of you who choose to post shit in my threads can kiss my proverbial ass :)
Seiously though, I love learning something new 8-)

[ubersaurus]

low production run or crappy availability. Although, they seem to go hand in hand in alot of cases.

[briguy578]

The one thing that worries me with a lot of rare games is that they are rare because they didn't sell well. In other words, they are rare because most copies got returned to the distributor by retailers unsold.

While I would imagine most carts would end up being recycled or destroyed, I would think that there are an awful lot of werehouse finds yet to be made, like with Cheetamen II a few years back.

In other words, there might be 10,000 Air Raid carts, still factory sealed, out there somewhere, about to ruin the value of that one you just spent 5k on...

Beware! :eek 2:

[spoon]

Supply and demand and production run would be my answers. This is a bit of price and rarity though. As we know, rarity and price do not always go hand in hand.

[racecar]

stupid people on ebay keep jacking up the price's !! which create's demand for them thus the price goe's up....

back on to the topic...most of the time is low production run !! and the odd stuff like prototype's(low #)

[Ed Oscuro]

SNK makes a game rare LOL

[Queen Of The Felines]

SNK makes a game rare LOL

So does Atlus. :P

Kristine

[Aswald]

or maybe it was somewhat unique and the developer didn't want to print too many copies because they were worried that it may not catch on.

Than the question has to be asked why make the game in the 1st place if you think it wont sell well? @_@


Sample marketing.

In the days before focus groups, companies were more daring. This is how we got so many of the genres we take for granted today; Namco had no way of knowing that Pac-Man would be such a hit, and even driving games were a risk- if not for Turbo, which many thought would not do well (driving game), we would not have had so many of them over the years.

So, if you have an "unknown," you make some copies, and "test market" it. If it flops, you only lose a little money (as opposed to Atari's 2600 E.T. :evil: ); if it does well, you simply make more. Nintendo did something like this with the NES in America.

[tyranthraxus]

Well some factors in a low production run is that the parent company was in
financial trouble. The pushed out the door as many copies as they could
afford to make and hoped they'd sell and be a hit but they weren't and
the producers folded. Other games might be 'niche' market games, they
know they could only expect to sell a few thousand. Games were cheaper
to make then, which is why todays million dollar productions play it safe,
they only make money of they can ship 10s of thousands of the game.

And of course the market crash of 1984 certainy killed sales and companies.
And then there is the legal tangle of Tetris that made the Tengen version
rare (and there might rare computer releases too).

[Kid Ice]

Due companies choose to make a low production run? If not , what happened to all the loads of games not perchased by the mass marrket!?
But I am specifically looking for info on any particullar company and the rarity of a pariticualarly notorious game from them. I think those of you who choose to post shit in my threads can kiss my proverbial ass :)
Seiously though, I love learning something new 8-)

The only game I can think of that was advertised with a low production run is Panzer Dragoon Saga. I believe the advertised number was 5000. Why did Sega do that? Who knows. Consider the alternative...they could have made half a million and had a bunch of them sitting on discounters shelves for months. Not very good for the appeal of the future of the franchise.

What happens to the games not purchased by the mass market? Presumably, a lot of rares get that way because a large portion of the inventory was destroyed.

[Promophile]

Due companies choose to make a low production run? If not , what happened to all the loads of games not perchased by the mass marrket!?
But I am specifically looking for info on any particullar company and the rarity of a pariticualarly notorious game from them. I think those of you who choose to post shit in my threads can kiss my proverbial ass :)
Seiously though, I love learning something new 8-)

The only game I can think of that was advertised with a low production run is Panzer Dragoon Saga. I believe the advertised number was 5000. Why did Sega do that? Who knows. Consider the alternative...they could have made half a million and had a bunch of them sitting on discounters shelves for months. Not very good for the appeal of the future of the franchise.

What happens to the games not purchased by the mass market? Presumably, a lot of rares get that way because a large portion of the inventory was destroyed.

The closer you got to the end of the Saturn the smaller and smaller the production numbers got, in general at least, there are some exceptions.

[anagrama]

The only game I can think of that was advertised with a low production run is Panzer Dragoon Saga. I believe the advertised number was 5000. Why did Sega do that?

Because it was one of the last releases for a console that was commercially dead in the water by that point (in the US/Europe, anyway).

[Kid Ice]

The only game I can think of that was advertised with a low production run is Panzer Dragoon Saga. I believe the advertised number was 5000. Why did Sega do that?

Because it was one of the last releases for a console that was commercially dead in the water by that point (in the US/Europe, anyway).

I don't know. 5000 (if I'm recalling this correctly) is really low. Yes, Sega was finished as far as competing with the PSX and the N64. But 5000? I'll bet they made more Burning Rangers, House of the Deads, and Shining Force 3s, all late releases with low production runs. If the Saturn was that dead, why release it at all?

[Emily]

The only game I can think of that was advertised with a low production run is Panzer Dragoon Saga. I believe the advertised number was 5000. Why did Sega do that?

Because it was one of the last releases for a console that was commercially dead in the water by that point (in the US/Europe, anyway).

I don't know. 5000 (if I'm recalling this correctly) is really low. Yes, Sega was finished as far as competing with the PSX and the N64. But 5000? I'll bet they made more Burning Rangers, House of the Deads, and Shining Force 3s, all late releases with low production runs. If the Saturn was that dead, why release it at all?

Ill bet every one of those 5000 sold.

[charitycasegreg]

no no no!! :angry: All of you guys are wrong!...


What makes a cart rare is when it touches the hands of Greg Griffin... try to find a game that has touched greg at a garage sale, ebay, or celeb auction for less then $5,000. :hmm: 8-)

[yoursisterspretty]

I'm pretty sure there are more Panzer Dragoon Sagas out there. I think there might have been only 5,000 in the original production run, but I'm pretty sure that they did 3 production runs because of the demand. Can anyone back this up?

[Ed Oscuro]

Yes, Sega was finished as far as competing with the PSX and the N64. But 5000? I'll bet they made more Burning Rangers, House of the Deads, and Shining Force 3s, all late releases with low production runs.
Yes...didn't they? PDS is the ultra rare one of these four titles, after all.

[Kid Ice]

I'm pretty sure there are more Panzer Dragoon Sagas out there. I think there might have been only 5,000 in the original production run, but I'm pretty sure that they did 3 production runs because of the demand. Can anyone back this up?

I have heard rumors that more were made, and the number of them that pop up on ebay would seem to indicate this is so.

But, if that is the case, it was not advertised by Sega.

[qbertandernie]

ive never seen a game that greg griffon has owned anywhere!!

surely a bargain at $5000... LOL

[charitycasegreg]

ive never seen a game that greg griffon has owned anywhere!!

surely a bargain at $5000... LOL

its not a game he owned, its any game that he touches. Its like the chritina agulara water that was sold on ebay, ordinary water, touches her, turning it into gold. game touches greg, it turns super rare...

nothing I have said on those 2 posts made any sense, :?

[shvnsth]

according to game informer, about 10,000 were made

[bargora]

Its like the chritina agulara water that was sold on ebay,
ah, chritina

[Ed Oscuro]

Its like the chritina agulara water that was sold on ebay,
ah, chritina
It's chritinous. Like the edge of Oddjob's fist.

[KJN]

Another reason a game might become rare is if it had to be withdrawn due to legal reasons. Rakugaki Showtime for PlayStation or Neo Poke Pro Yakyuu for NeoGeo Pocket springs to mind.

[TurboGenesis]

I'm pretty sure there are more Panzer Dragoon Sagas out there. I think there might have been only 5,000 in the original production run, but I'm pretty sure that they did 3 production runs because of the demand. Can anyone back this up?

I have heard rumors that more were made, and the number of them that pop up on ebay would seem to indicate this is so.

But, if that is the case, it was not advertised by Sega.

With the research that I have done it is really not clear how many PDS games were actually produced. It seems to be a number ranging from 5000-18,000. Of the final 5 Saturn games, PDS and likely MKR are the most common(I think that Working Designs still sells new copies of MKR on its site). Burning Rangers, HotD, and SFIII only had one production run while I know that PDS had more. One way to conform this is the slip sleeves that the additional disk's came in. Early runs came in a black sleeve with a large circular opening and the later runs were in white solid sleeves.

[greedostick]

ive never seen a game that greg griffon has owned anywhere!!

surely a bargain at $5000... LOL

its not a game he owned, its any game that he touches. Its like the chritina agulara water that was sold on ebay, ordinary water, touches her, turning it into gold. game touches greg, it turns super rare...

nothing I have said on those 2 posts made any sense, :?

Don't forget Adol. Any game Adol touches is rare also. It's considered a Adol collection piece by many. I always found that funny people actually paid more cause some dork owned the game.

Stories though....hmmmm.....

Circus lido- This game had a extremely low print run. It was only sold in a certain book store in japan. The game use to fetch over $1000 on ebay until someone found a warehouse stocked with them. Now one can be found for a mere $50.00. I also think this game was mabe made by a small group of college students or something like that. I am sure someone knows for sure.

Super mario all night nippon- This game was originally given away as a prize from a radio contest in japan. This game is rare as hell.

Darius alpha- The only way to get this game was to buy the previous 2 darius games, send in the upc's and hope you we're a lucky winner. If you are very lucky you can even find ones with the certificate issued to the winner.

[Emily]

Thank you Greedostick! I was hoping for some some reasons or stories behind the rarity of particular titles. I hate hearing the ignorant assumption that all rare games are rare for the same reason :hmm: Low production run IS most offen the case, and if so , give me exact numbers people!I want facts not vague assumtions x_x

[PapaStu]

Thank you Greedostick! I was hoping for some some reasons or stories behind the rarity of particular titles. I hate hearing the ignorant assumption that all rare games are rare for the same reason :hmm: Low production run IS most offen the case, and if so , give me exact numbers people!I want facts not vague assumtions x_x

You realise that game companies dont usually release their production counts on their games. So when your seeing a "10k" print run or whatever, its almost allways guesstimation (usually from a bulletin board like this one) , and will never be much better than that.

[greedostick]

Thank you Greedostick! I was hoping for some some reasons or stories behind the rarity of particular titles. I hate hearing the ignorant assumption that all rare games are rare for the same reason :hmm: Low production run IS most offen the case, and if so , give me exact numbers people!I want facts not vague assumtions x_x

You realise that game companies dont usually release their production counts on their games. So when your seeing a "10k" print run or whatever, its almost allways guesstimation (usually from a bulletin board like this one) , and will never be much better than that.

True dat.

I really wish i knew the print run of my english dynastic hero. That has to be in the low thousands.

Even though some games have interesting stories, the main reason they are rare is cause of the print run.

Some other games are rare though because there prototypes. for example

earthbound
ghost lop

some games are rare cause they we're for contests

blockbuster snes carts like star fox super weekend
the nes world championship cart
there are a whole lot of pc engine hu's that we're for contests only. The only ones i can really recall are the bomberman games.There are a whole lot of others though.

Some other really rare games would be

complete final fight guy snes
keio flying squadron
zenki for pcfx
punchout gold cart famicom
haunted castle jamma
dynastic hero turbo grafx
megaman x3 genesis
y's complete with map turbo grafx
hi-leg fantasy pc engine
kizuna encounter neo geo aes
samurai showdown 5 special mvs
sapphire
beyond shadowgate
dungeon explorer 2

I personally wouldn't consider games you see on ebay every day extremely rare

panzer dragoon saga
any final fantasy game
suikoden 2
earthbound snes
pirates gold
exc. exc. exc.

[Raedon]

in the pre-16 bit era.. Boobs and cocks..