Best developer screwed over by low print runs?

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm currently leaning toward Natsume.

Just look: The Ninja Warriors and Wild Guns on SNES. Ninja Warriors is rare enough, and there's only one loose cartridge for Wild Guns on SNES.

That said, we could probably hash the topic over for a while. Discussion time!

[davidleeroth]

Koei seems to keep their print numbers well on the low side. But I guess you'd have to be a sucker for strategy to consider them the best.

[mills]

I always find it hard to attain any hudson soft titles.

[Canadian Psycho]

Taito, particularly on the NES: Little Samson, Panic Restaurant, The Jetsons, The Flintstones 2, Power Blade 2, Bubble Bobble 2, etc.

[pacmanhat]

Treasure was the first name that came to mind for me, but that might not count for 'low print run' status.

[GarrettCRW]

Atlus came to mind with me, especially in the PS1 era and beyond.

[Ed Oscuro]

Taito, particularly on the NES: Little Samson, Panic Restaurant, The Jetsons, The Flintstones 2, Power Blade 2, Bubble Bobble 2, etc.
Notice also that Taito published Natsume's Ninja Warriors remake...hmmm

Excellent choices so far, though I'm wondering if Treasure and Atlus don't suffer more from being too "niche" here in the U.S. (whether they should be or not is another question!)

[Sylentwulf]

I'd have to say treasue, atlus, nippon ichi as well. They may all be very niche markets in U.S., but if they were so little interest, they would'nt get so damn rare so quick would they?

[segarocks30]

Taito, particularly on the NES: Little Samson, Panic Restaurant, The Jetsons, The Flintstones 2, Power Blade 2, Bubble Bobble 2, etc. I'm jealous of my cousin, he has Bubble Bobble 2 in his display case (No kidding). Must...steal...Bubble Bobble 2...from...displa... Oops that slipped!

[s1lence]

I'm going to say Treasure as well, though Atlus is another that seems to get screwed too.

[CrimsonNugget]

I had quite a bit of trouble finding Gunstar Super Heroes and the Cube version of Ikaruga in stores, so my vote goes to Treasure.

[roushimsx]

I'll throw a vote out there for Artdink. A-Train (r5), No One Can Stop Mr Domino (R4), Carnage Heart (R5), and Tail of the Sun (R7) are all fantastic games but didn't get the print run love that they should have (in my opinion, of course)

I admit that the games they make are a little too niche for their own good (Aquanaut's Holiday, anyone?), but I've found each game they've churned out has been an enjoyable and quirky title.

[smork]

Koei and Atlus, I would vote for. Sure Koei makes lots of copies of Dynasty/Samurai Warriors, but they also got many titles that are really hard to find. And most Atlus games are hard to find at one point or another....

[KingCobra]

Treasure and Koei for sure, even when they get a nice lot of pressing's, when they sell-out, it's slim pick'ens from then on out period.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Some of those companies (Koei and Atlus) tend to limit their releases to Japan and America too. So not only low print runs, but very few of thei games actually make it over here to the PAL territories...

As far as PAL games go, i'd perhaps say Koei. Their games tend to get sold out very quickly, with no stock to replenish them. Koei games also tend to hold their price in teh resale market too.


Konami are well known for their lower print runs for some of their franchises. Many of their games only have one print run (Suikoden for example), whilst others will be printed till infinity (Pro Evolution Soccer / Metal Gear Solid), and even be reprinted as Platinum / Greatest Hit's versions

Maybe not so much a big deal in America (Where games like Castlevania SOTN got a GH reprint!), but here, certain games never got that privilage, and tend to be very sought after / rare


I also think at one point Enix games were quite limited, until Square decided to take matters into their own hands. Enix, along with Atlus are two companies notorious for creating games with high demand, but low print runs

[goatdan]

I hope everyone realizes that companies are businesses, and therefore they aren't limiting the releases themselves, but instead the marketplace only has a limit of what they will purchase. A developer doesn't say, "Hmmmm... we could probably sell 50,000 copies of this, but we're only going to make 25,000 so it drives the price of the game up on the secondary market." They don't get ANY of that cash. I realize people on these boards think that companies have all these conspiracy theories, but I can all but guarantee that simply isn't true.

So really, the question should be what companies get screwed because they haven't been noticed by the mainstream. For that answer, I'd go right along with the people who have said Koei, Treasure and Atlus. All of their releases have low initial print runs, followed by a lull, followed by people discovering the games and thinking they are great a few years later. Radiant Silvergun was totally this way. In the late 90's, my buddy got a copy of the game for $40.00 and I almost did too (dammit). Less than three years later, he sold it for $275.00.