GameQuestDirect reprints - how to tell if I have one?

[Kitsune Sniper]

I was just told that this company has reprinted several PS1 and PS2 games over the past two years. I just bought a mint copy of Persona 2 from Gamestop, and it seems that it may be one of those GQD copies.

Is there a way to find out if my copy is in fact one of those reprints? I really don't care either way... of course, it would be nice to have the originals, but you know. :P

[Vectorman0]

There is no way to tell, from what I know. And I bet PapaStu and DB will back me up, unless something new was found. The only difference is that the reprints didn't have security tags.

I would say you have a very high likelyhood of having one, especially if it is mint and you got it at a chain store.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Doh. ;_;

Is there a list of these games out? I'm curious...

[Poofta!]

you cannot tell. unless it is still sealed. i am an avid psone collector, and although not at papastu or dangerboy's level quite yet, can attest that as far as used/opened/unsealed collecting goes, they are identical.

there is not reason to fear or be upset to have one of these, they are perfectly legitamite, all GQD did was fund their last print run. if anything we should all be thankful that the company made these amazing games available again.

off the top of my head, these are the games reprinted:


persona 2
rhapsody
sayuki (sp) journey west
rez

there are more but just none come to mind right now...

[Kitsune Sniper]

Yep, the local Gamestops have Saiyuki and Rhapsody by the truckload. Hrm. Apparently Gitaroo Man and Disgaea were also reprinted.

I'll probably buy Rhapsody tomorrow. Thanks. :)

[Blitzwing256]

Breath of fire 4
disgea


and I think marvel vs capcom as well

[Kitsune Sniper]

Breath of fire 4
disgea


and I think marvel vs capcom as well

You're kidding, they also did BOF4? I saw a beat up copy at the store today, too! I almost bought it...

[Blitzwing256]

Definatly bof4, anytime one would get sold they'd have another one the next day/week. and the one I did pick up (yay for b1g1f sales) was dead mint and new.

[udisi]

I wasn't sure about BoF 4 but thats also the time that all the Super Puzzle Fighters showed up too.

[Damaniel]

I think Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner is on the GQD reprint list too. Never saw it anywhere in the past, but now most of my local Gamestops have at least one (and sometimes 2) copies at $39.99 each. All nice and complete, too. Looking at the GQD website, the 'Exclusive' icon next to ZoE 2 seems to confirm this as well.

As for how to tell, I don't think there's any way. I bought what I presume to be a GQD reprint of Rez, and there's nothing on it that hints that it's not original. I don't have an original copy to compare to, though. A peek in the 'Rare Finds' section at their website might give people an idea of games that they may have done reprints on -- I noticed that Super Puzzle Fighter is listed there.

[Damaniel]

The following games are listed as 'Exclusive' in the 'Rare Finds' section at the GQD website:

- Rez (PS2)
- Phantasy Star Online 1 & 2 (GameCube)
- Silent Hill 3 (PS2)
- King of Fighters 2002/2003 (PS2)
- Resident Evil 2 (GameCube)
- Gotcha Force (GameCube)
- Army Men: Sarges Heroes 2 (PS2)
- Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner (PS2)
- Disgaea (PS2)
- Sniper Elite (PS2)

I know some of these games have been reprinted (Rez, Disgaea), and some of the others have shown up at a lot of local Gamestops and tend to have pretty high prices (at least compared to other older used games). Could all of these be GQD reprints? If you're looking for original copies of these games, I'd definitely be suspect of any of the copies you find at Gamestop/EB.

[Nimrodil]

Not new/updated, but good in inform purpose for collectors that miss the "big" debate earlier:

http://www.siliconera.com/2006/01/16/the-business-of-reprints/

little update from sep/06:

http://www.siliconera.com/index.php/2006/09/18/more-reprints-from-game-quest-direct/

[Griking]

So Suikoden III has been reprinted? Hmm, if they're working with Konami I wonder if a Suikoden II reprint is in the plans as well.

Does GQD have any affiliation with Gamestop other than the fact the they sell their games through them? I can see the reprint business as being something that Gamestop would want to be a part of.

[Captain Wrong]

there is not reason to fear or be upset to have one of these, they are perfectly legitamite, all GQD did was fund their last print run. if anything we should all be thankful that the company made these amazing games available again.

Bears repeating.

[Oobgarm]

Just a small tidbit:

Reprinted PS2 games don't have the seal on the top if purchased new. Otherwise, identical. I'd wager PSX games are the same.

At this point, you're best off not concerning yourself with it.

[GillianSeed]

At this point, you're best off not concerning yourself with it.Exactly, these reprints are only detrimental to speculators. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when a profiteer is stuck with a truckload of "rare" items that suddenly are no longer rare.

[Kitsune Sniper]

As I said, I don't really -care- if it's a reprint or not. The game is the same.

And hell, I'm getting the damn game for EIGHT BUCKS anyway!

Edit:
Griking, maybe not - GQD will likely not reprint any more PS1 games, especially since several shops no longer accept them in trade, or even sell them. Gamestop is clearing them out by the truckload already...

[drwily008]

Does GQD have any affiliation with Gamestop other than the fact the they sell their games through them? I can see the reprint business as being something that Gamestop would want to be a part of.

No they have no other affiliation. I have met the guy who owns GameQuest. My cousin and fellow DPer (Captain J) used to work for him at one of his , now defunct, stores in Ohio.

What he does is this:

1. Secures a contract to reprint ANY game which is regularly selling for more than $75 to $100.

2. Sells them on ebay in small auctions under different accounts.

3. Contacts other chains of stores (or people he knows) and tells them "I have FOUND cases of game X in the warehouse." "Have you seen how much they are selling for on eBay?" "Well do you want to buy a couple cases of these games for what I originally paid for them?"

4. After selling 2 or 3 cases to each contact and recieving the $$, he then lists around 100 of the games with a MUCH lower BUY IT NOW. Thereby screwing all of the people who bought the cases that he "FOUND IN HIS WAREHOUSE".

5. Before last year he would sell off the remaining amount he had (after supplying his website adequetly) to Gamestop or EB Games.

6. He drops little hints to people in different forums on the internet. Then when they finally get their ordered copy....they make a post something like this: OMG REZ for only $40!!!!!!!!!!!!

7. Repeat step #1

I never liked the guy, but I dont mind getting Rhapsody for $40. I know all of this first hand because he did step #3 and #4 to a close friend of mine.

Take it for what it is worth.

[carlcarlson]

it's great getting "rare" games for cheap, but it sucks when you already had the rare games and now they're not worth much. i already had rhapsody and disgaea, and now they're farely common place. I know that games are games, and not investments, and for the most part I treat them as such, but knowing that one of your favorite games (disgaea) is worth about $70 is always nice, and makes playing it that much better IMO. ah well, now I can get persona 2 I guess.

[Damaniel]

Don't let my previous comments make anyone think that I'm anti-reprint or against what GameQuestDirect is doing -- I've bought a couple of the games they've reprinted, and probably wouldn't have ever had a chance to play the games otherwise. More access to good games is a good thing.

My main issue is with how Gamestop treats these games. Rather than selling them as new, they try to maintain an air of scarcity by opening them up and selling them as used. Knowing how sought after some of these games are, they hope to catch a collector's eye with a game that doesn't show up all that often, and translate that into a sale. Of course, once the collector starts seeing more copies at different stores, they'll probably realize something is up.

Again, I think the issue of 'real versus reprint' is only one of serious importance to the really hardcore collector. For those who buy games first and foremost with the intent of playing them (like me), GQD's reprints give easier access to games that would otherwise be unattainable.

[Kitsune Sniper]

My main issue is with how Gamestop treats these games. Rather than selling them as new, they try to maintain an air of scarcity by opening them up and selling them as used. Knowing how sought after some of these games are, they hope to catch a collector's eye with a game that doesn't show up all that often, and translate that into a sale. Of course, once the collector starts seeing more copies at different stores, they'll probably realize something is up.

Which is what happened to me. :)

GQD is shady as hell, what bastards... I'm still getting Rhapsody for $7 though :P

[norkusa]

The following games are listed as 'Exclusive' in the 'Rare Finds' section at the GQD website:

- Army Men: Sarges Heroes 2 (PS2)

WTF? If GQD is only concerned about re-printing rare & valuable titles, why he hell are they bothering with this one? Isn't Sarges Heroes 2 one of those games you always see in the $9.99 and under bargain bin at GS/EB? Or maybe it was so cheap to re-print, they figured "why not"?


Interesting that they'd re-print the PS2 version of Sniper Elite and not the Xbox one. Can they not re-print Xbox games for some reason?

[PapaStu]

There is no way to tell, from what I know. And I bet PapaStu and DB will back me up, unless something new was found. The only difference is that the reprints didn't have security tags.

I would say you have a very high likelyhood of having one, especially if it is mint and you got it at a chain store.

The GQD games unless sealed are indistinguisable from their original counterparts. When Rhapsody/Persona2 and the others were being remade Sony had stopped reqiuring the seal sticker on the PS2 games (and thusly the remade PSOne games wern't required to have the stickers either). After doing what they did with them initally (online and ebay auctions) they've gone and sold off the remaining stock to GS/EB who convert them to used and they make a decent profit on the stuff as well. Though now its all PS2 stuff and they havn't dropped any games recently i'm sure that they are working on getting more done.

In regards to the Capcom stuff, that was stuff actually released by Capcom itself, not reprinted by GQD. BoF3/4 and the other Capcom stuff that all worked itself out around the same time were legitimate warehouse finds. The owner of my old indy shop got a few (few being an understatement) boxes of games from Capcom right after they found them (good to have contacts in there) and there was SNES/Genny stuff up to current at the time (PS2). The only true reprint was Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo and they actually reprinted it themselves.