Rare games from this generation?

[TonyTheTiger]

I don't even want to think about someone taking up the task to determine the scarcity of DL titles and content. Since there is no physical copy either it is universally available or it isn't available at all, outside of buying a system that has it inside already. How the hell do you rate that? You can't even transfer ownership without sending out the box as well... It would make certain used systems more desirable (netting a higher sale value), I guess, but rarity is pretty much inapplicable in the sense that we all understand it here.

Agreed. A download is pure potential. If you have 1,000 copies of a game cartridge or disc then that's all there is. The number can only go down as copies start to get destroyed. With a download, it really works in reverse. You start with one. This single instance of data is then offered around and out of that one instance more appear out of thin air. Essentially, the instances of that data is limited by very few external forces. In theory, every single XBLA title can be as abundant as the Xbox 360 itself. It could even exceed the number of 360s as you can have a computer with multiple copies of the same data. It might not be usable data if it's not on a 360 but it still exists in that instance.

And like I said, there is no appreciable difference between a download that was obtained legitimately and one that wasn't (crackz, hakz0rz, w4r3z, etc.). You can have a copy of the data that was included on the 1,000 cartridges I mentioned above but the difference between the ROM and physical copy is more measurable.

Look at Nintendo's Wiiware games. Without going into specifics, it is very possible to obtain any of those games without buying them from the Shop Channel. What if Nintendo decided to remove Lost Winds tomorrow? Sure, nobody would be able to buy it legitimately anymore. The consoles that do have it legitimately are in Group A. Group B, however, consists of consoles that have the game via download from other sources. It would be very difficult (if even possible) to distinguish between Group A and Group B. And even if you could, few people would care. Any individual instance of the game has the potential to multiply.

So talking about downloads in terms of rarity is like inquiring as to what the rarest SNES ROM is. You can scour websites, newsgroups, torrents, P2P and list out the ROMs that are less available I suppose. But few people if any would be willing to pay a premium for that ROM.

You could think of it like a transaction that can be ongoing and a transaction that's a one time deal. If I found a one of a kind prototype tomorrow I might be able to get somebody to pay me to dump the game and provide the ROM. But the second I hand over that data, I can't go to potential customer #2 and offer, "The ROM ripped from the original game for a fair price." Whether he pays to get the data from me, or gets it from customer #1, or finds it on a website, it's all the same. I suppose in theory you can have a hold out situation where each person is railroaded into paying for a ROM and thus absolutely refuses to distribute it to anyone else without being paid as well but I can't imagine that going on for very long in the real world.

[Famidrive-16]

I'm pretty sure fixed versions of Card Fighters have showed up in stores. Not sure about BB though.

Is there a way to tell with fixed versions or not? There were quite a couple copies of CF in the last store I was in.

Thirding BB though, I haven't seen that game at all since it's original release.

[emceelokey]

Blast Works sucked. I don;t know why tha game got such good reviews but back to the topic.

I think Madden '09 is going to be released on the original Xbox. Xbox has pretty much been taken out of ever retailer that doesn't sell used games and even the game stores have phased those out so Madden 09 might be something worth looking out for.

[koster]

Have there been any rare Madden games? A year from now, used game stores still carrying Xbox games will probably have stacks of Madden 09.

[Nature Boy]

I think Madden '09 is going to be released on the original Xbox.

It is. And it's the first game to be released for the original Xbox since ... Madden '08!

Finding copies of Madden '98 on Genesis is harder to find than, say, Madden 94-97, but it's value is still very much the same (i.e. nothing ).

[GM80]

Anyone else seen Super Fruitfall (US version) for the Wii? Someone next to me at GameStop was attempting to trade it in, along with a pile of other stuff, and it wasn't even in their system ... so I bought it off the guy for a dollar.

There's a lone copy on eBay for just 99¢, and CodeMasters (publisher) doesn't list it on their website. I read in another thread here that only Best Buy had a few copies, and that was at least a year ago.

[norkusa]

Finding copies of Madden '98 on Genesis is harder to find than, say, Madden 94-97, but it's value is still very much the same (i.e. nothing ).

Funny that Genesis Madden '98 is worthless but NHL 98's are worth around $20-$30. I've even seen some go for $40-$50 earlier this year.

[kaedesdisciple]

I'd assume that maybe the LE Devil May Cry? I don't see it much places but walmart still sells it...oddly enough the LE version is 49.99 and the normal edition is 59.99, doesnt seem right.

Just to put a qualifier on that: an authentic SIGNED LE copy of Devil May Cry 4. Has anyone ever confirmed that these exist other than seeing the picture of the group before they were put into "circulation?"

[8-bitNesMan]

I think Madden '09 is going to be released on the original Xbox. Xbox has pretty much been taken out of ever retailer that doesn't sell used games and even the game stores have phased those out so Madden 09 might be something worth looking out for.

I saw Best Buy's ad yesterday and they had Madden '09 advertised for every system except the Xbox. Maybe '08 was the last one for it...

[heybtbm]

I saw Best Buy's ad yesterday and they had Madden '09 advertised for every system except the Xbox. Maybe '08 was the last one for it...

No, there's a regular Xbox version of Madden '09. Maybe BB isn't carrying it.

[roushimsx]

Maybe '08 was the last one for it...

Or you could check Amazon real quick.

Oh hey, there it is.

[Bojay1997]

Anyone else seen Super Fruitfall (US version) for the Wii? Someone next to me at GameStop was attempting to trade it in, along with a pile of other stuff, and it wasn't even in their system ... so I bought it off the guy for a dollar.

There's a lone copy on eBay for just 99¢, and CodeMasters (publisher) doesn't list it on their website. I read in another thread here that only Best Buy had a few copies, and that was at least a year ago.

I still see copies at Best Buy here in Los Angeles. In fact, there are a bunch of them in the front row sections still going for $20 at three of the locations closest to me. Could be a rarity down the road, but not exactly a great game so I doubt the value will go up much.

[m117]

Didn't read all the other posts but, I thought about the issue of the popularity of downloadable games in this gen. PSN and XBLA has become a great showcase for some very untraditional yet successfull games that may have in disc form been either non-existent, or in short run. I think the availability of these games on the digital market may be a factor in the decline of the rare, physical media based gems that we are used to seeing for each generation.

[TonyTheTiger]

There's always going to be something that could qualify as "rare" so long as there are physical copies being manufactured. The odds alone would suggest that something would slip through. What varies is how many things turn out to be rare and what those things are.

[kewlrabbit]

I thought of another that's probably going to be somewhat hard to find later. It's called L-O-L (sorry for the spacing, it's not spelled like that, but everytime I enter it like that i get a laughing smilie) by Agtec on the Ds. It got very bad reviews (Game Informer gave it a 1) and is only avalible on Agtec's Website. If that dosen't spell Rare, I don't know what does.

[8-bitNesMan]

Or you could check Amazon real quick.

Oh hey, there it is.

I felt no desire whatsoever to go check Amazon or any other site for a sports game on a last gen system that I have no intention of buying. I was merely pointing out what I observed in an ad from the newspaper. Many thanks for the link and the sarcasm...

[TonyTheTiger]

I thought of another that's probably going to be somewhat hard to find later. It's called L-O-L (sorry for the spacing, it's not spelled like that, but everytime I enter it like that i get a laughing smilie) by Agtec on the Ds. It got very bad reviews (Game Informer gave it a 1) and is only avalible on Agtec's Website. If that dosen't spell Rare, I don't know what does.

True true. I wouldn't be surprised. But, oddly enough, even if the game turns out to be the OMG RAR3ST DS G4M3 I just could never bring myself to spend $20 on a Pictochat clone.

[s1lence]

I see Space Chimps and Summer Athletics for the 360 being hard to find. Hail to the Chimp gave me some trouble trying to locate as well.

Mass Effect LE is going to be a hard to find title (as stated previously) as well as Bioshock LE. I'm sure there will be other variants that are going to be hard to find. I also see alot of the Wii shovelware becoming rare.

[Bojay1997]

I see Space Chimps and Summer Athletics for the 360 being hard to find. Hail to the Chimp gave me some trouble trying to locate as well.

Mass Effect LE is going to be a hard to find title (as stated previously) as well as Bioshock LE. I'm sure there will be other variants that are going to be hard to find. I also see alot of the Wii shovelware becoming rare.

Really? Where do you shop? Hail to the Chimp is stocked at Best Buy, Fry's, Gamestop and a number of other retailers, as well as Amazon.

I still don't buy that Wii shovelware will ever become rare or I think a better way of thinking about it is in demand. I believe for a game to appreciate in value, it has to be hard to find and have something interesting going for it (i.e. it's a good game or a weird game or is really never made widely available at retail.) None of the shovelware games has any of these things going for it. As such, I doubt they will ever become rare.

[roushimsx]

I still don't buy that Wii shovelware will ever become rare or I think a better way of thinking about it is in demand. I believe for a game to appreciate in value, it has to be hard to find and have something interesting going for it (i.e. it's a good game or a weird game or is really never made widely available at retail.) None of the shovelware games has any of these things going for it. As such, I doubt they will ever become rare.

Yea, but rarity and value don't always go hand in hand. There's a ton of R5+ games that don't appreciate in value because the demand for them is low. Hell, there's plenty of extremely uncommon games that kick ass and don't appreciate in value. For every System Shock, there's a Terra Nova still waiting to be loved. For every Planescape Torment, there's an Arcanum that still can't sell to save its life.

Those shitty Wii games may never become valuable, but they sure as hell may become rare in the future.