Which last gen titles WILL be rare??

[carlcarlson]

A couple years ago a guy I worked with was talking about a game for the Xbox that was only given to people who donated to a cancer research foundation. The game had you either running or flying (can't remember) around a surreal world and shooting cancerous cells. He couldn't remember the name of it but I found the foundation online that night. I never got around to donating though, so I didn't get the game. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

[koster]

GameStop has Gundam Battle Assault 3 listed (under a slightly different title) but not currently available online (although local stores may have it in stock). Their $19.99 price sure beats this Ebay store listing BIN price of $79.99

Red Star is currently available from Amazon and Gamestop B&M stores. And autographed copies of Red Star are still available from Archangel Studios.

[Deadman]

Now I seem to have a quest. I went out again for a bit to more GameStops and found these (all Xbox):

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - packaging seemed like a Hollywood Video release or something and had no manual - yet still $59.99. Pass

House of the Dead III - packaging was hosed, manual was missing - still $14.99 pass

Syberia II - haven't seen this for a while - complete in MINT shape - $7.99

Red Ninja End of Honor - second one I've ever seen - complete and MINT - $4.99

Loons - First I've seen since it's release - complete, MINTY - $6.99

iron Phoenix - Another first in forever - complete and MINT - $9.99

Capcom vs. SNK 2 - Last of the good stuff - MINT and complete - $9.99

I picked up the last 5 on my list and took them to the front. The clerk commented how those had all just come in from a guy this weekend along with a bunch of others. Apparently the employees had grabbed a ton of his games due to the unbelievable condition they are all in. They look like they've never been played, the manuals are all untouched and the boxes are perfect. So, I bought them all knowing that these games in this condition may not come around all the time.

[diskoboy]

No one has mentioned Steel Battalion (Xbox) yet.

[Deadman]

No one has mentioned Steel Battalion (Xbox) yet.

I would, but I haven't seen one in a Looooooooooong time.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

No one has mentioned Steel Battalion (Xbox) yet.

Yeah I put this one on my wish list at play in trade... 'cause the guy said it would be $70.

So a few weeks later I go in, and the same guy says to me... "Dude we have Steel Battalion in the back." First thing I thought was why didn't they call me, like they said they would. But then I asked him "how much?"

"$150" without Blinking.

Fuck that.

That said I'm on the lookout for the controller... because I was able to find the game complete for $4 at a pawn shop- in like new shape.

[Deadman]

I forgot to mention that I saw Psychonauts, Stubbs the Zombie, Ninja Gaiden, Xyanide, Toe Jam and Earl III and a few other rare ones at a game shop, but they want a little more for theirs.

I grabbed the Psychonauts for myself and Stubbs was priced at $19.99. I already have a copy, so if anyone wants the Zombie for that price, I can get it for you just lmk.

[diskoboy]

I would, but I haven't seen one in a Looooooooooong time.

Don't feel bad...

I've never seen it, period.
Even when the game was first released.

I've never seen a physical copy, in the wild - game or controller.

[Vectorman0]

Pokemon Box
The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2

Both not "games", very sought after, and I imagine had some of the lowest print runs for their respective systems.

[Ed Oscuro]

I forgot to mention that I saw Psychonauts, Stubbs the Zombie, Ninja Gaiden, Xyanide, Toe Jam and Earl III and a few other rare ones

Only one (or two?) of those are in any way rare.

And if you say "It's a gift" no one still ever believes you.

Breaks my heart. Whoever bought it: don't forget to put a doily underneath.

[GM80]

For all the talk about NCAA Basketball 2K3's published GameCube numbers (5,900), one should note that same list puts NHL 2K3 GameCube at only 9,470. Still a very small number compared to most recent releases, and only marginally easier to find.

[TonyTheTiger]

I think these days it's things like the odd bonus (ala Document of Metal Gear Solid 2) or the unusual circumstance causing a low print run (ala NCAA Basketball) that will top the lists. The traditional "big money rarities" like late gen RPGs and the like aren't likely to become the next Suikoden II or Panzer Dragoon Saga. If there were to be a mad rush for something like that then Games Quest Direct would probably step in with some reprints.

I think that rarities might still exist but to find them you'll have to look outside of the box because the trends set in previous generations probably ended by now.

[jjgames]

I think these days it's things like the odd bonus (ala Document of Metal Gear Solid 2) or the unusual circumstance causing a low print run (ala NCAA Basketball) that will top the lists. The traditional "big money rarities" like late gen RPGs and the like aren't likely to become the next Suikoden II or Panzer Dragoon Saga. If there were to be a mad rush for something like that then Games Quest Direct would probably step in with some reprints.

I think that rarities might still exist but to find them you'll have to look outside of the box because the trends set in previous generations probably ended by now.

I think you have a good point about things being a bit different now with Game Quest Direct printing games that are really expensive. The reason RPG's are such a good bet is there is always a good demand for them. There are tons of other rare games for the old systems that aren't worth more than $5 because they are rare but nobody wants them either.

I don't know what the next rare games will be but I would still put my money on late generation RPG's. Things that sell really crappy initially but get a cult following in a few years. Something like Chaos Wars or Dokapon Kingdom.

[Mayhem]

For all the talk about NCAA Basketball 2K3's published GameCube numbers (5,900), one should note that same list puts NHL 2K3 GameCube at only 9,470. Still a very small number compared to most recent releases, and only marginally easier to find.

Actually I can believe that, NHL 2K3 was one of the last titles I got for my complete set.

[ProgrammingAce]

People using that 6,000 number for NCAA Basketball need to remember that's not the size of the print run. That was the number of copies sold during it's first calander year.

The game released on December 3rd, so it had less then a month to sell 6,000 units. It's not as rare as people think.

Games ship at about 2,200 to a skid. To think that any manufacturer would only make 2 or 3 skids worth of a game is insane. They made more, it just didn't sell very well. I would guess the total is somewhere closer to 20,000-30,000

[TonyTheTiger]

Actually, I think the story goes that Sega decided to kill off it's sports line on the Gamecube cold turkey. NCAA Basketball happened to be in the middle of printing at the time so they stopped pressing the discs and sold the few copies they had (6000-ish).

[Bojay1997]

I think you have a good point about things being a bit different now with Game Quest Direct printing games that are really expensive. The reason RPG's are such a good bet is there is always a good demand for them. There are tons of other rare games for the old systems that aren't worth more than $5 because they are rare but nobody wants them either.

I don't know what the next rare games will be but I would still put my money on late generation RPG's. Things that sell really crappy initially but get a cult following in a few years. Something like Chaos Wars or Dokapon Kingdom.

I think the whole key to RPGs having value at least in past generations has been that when you play an RPG, it literally sucks up 30-40 hours or more of your life. Other than a few on-line shooters, I don't know that I've ever spent that much time devoted to one particular game ever. It's that deep emotional connection that results in sealed Final Fantasy VIIs going for several times more than MSRP. I doubt that crappy RPGs or related games will maintain their value, particularly since lots of people buy every new Atlus game and keep it sealed in anticipation of it going up in value. It's like what happened with baseball cards and comics to some extent. The older stuff will maintain or even grow in value, but the newer stuff will probably be a lot less valuable, particularly if the underlying game was not so good.

[snes_collector]

For all the talk about NCAA Basketball 2K3's published GameCube numbers (5,900), one should note that same list puts NHL 2K3 GameCube at only 9,470. Still a very small number compared to most recent releases, and only marginally easier to find.

Do you have a link to the list? I remember seeing one list(probably the same one) that Puyo Pop Fever sold a really low amount of copies, about as low as NCAA 2K3.

[Deadman]

I forgot to mention that I saw Psychonauts, Stubbs the Zombie, Ninja Gaiden, Xyanide, Toe Jam and Earl III and a few other rare ones at a game shop, but they want a little more for theirs.

I grabbed the Psychonauts for myself and Stubbs was priced at $19.99. I already have a copy, so if anyone wants the Zombie for that price, I can get it for you just lmk.

So, I was going to back to that store today to debate buying Stubbs the Zombie for some kind of future trade bait, but decided to stop at my Circuit City on the way. On the shelf was a Stubbs the Zombie - mint and sealed marked at $49.99. I took it to the front and they price checked it for me at $8.96! Needless to say I never made it to the collector store....

[ProgrammingAce]

Actually, I think the story goes that Sega decided to kill off it's sports line on the Gamecube cold turkey. NCAA Basketball happened to be in the middle of printing at the time so they stopped pressing the discs and sold the few copies they had (6000-ish).

A single production line in a game packaging plant can produce 100,000 units per day. They would have made 6,000 units in minutes.

The 6,000 figure is rubbish. Just look at how many people on DP have a copy.