Wii Games Could Become Rare (?)

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I have a bit of a theory as to how Wii games will incline in their rarity and value in the next 20 years, when it becomes in a sense "old school" like the NES and Atari VCS is today. It's apparent that there is a multitude of shovelware software for the system- games like NinjaBread Man, CID The Dummy and Mini Desktop Racing. Nowadays, online resources allows us to evaluate just what you're purchasing- wheras back then you had to go on impulse and hope to God your fifty dollars wasn't thrown out the window (magazines like Nintendo Power praised ANYTHING coming to NES). These obviously means that not many people are going to invest on these games unless they're oblivious parents looking for cute games for their five year old children. As with older games, it's very possible that a game shop overloaded with the titles will send them back to their respective publisher- which would lead to the destruction of these games. Take Spyborgs (Wii) for example. It has only sold about 500 copies, and if stores do not see an increase in sales they will not buy more copies and/or send them back to the publisher to destroy. If this happens, those owners of the 500 copies are going to find the game extremely rare years later- if the rest ever produced are destroyed, that is.

Look, I'm just a dumb 14 year old who knows nothing about marketing- but I think this could be a possibility for the future of game collecting.

[Oldskool]

You might be on to something. You're pretty smart for a little kid.

[portnoyd]

The copies won't be destroyed. They'd be sold in bulk ad nauseum. Case in point: the 30 billion copies of Othello for the NES you can get brand new at any time.

[Leo_A]

Where did you get the sales figures for that Wii title? I find it hard to believe any Wii game has only sold 500 copies and that game doesn't seem to be in very short supply.

Edit - Was just 500 copies the month of release at it's MSRP. I suspect there are many more out there now that it's seen drastic price cuts through the holidays and late winter due to the weak sales at release.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I've already given this some thought concerning the mass budget releases for the Wii and DS.

However, I'm with portnoyd on this one. It costs money to destroy. More than likely, they'll be sold in bulk for bargain bins.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

You might be on to something. You're pretty smart for a little kid.

Now if you give me an equation to solve...then I'm not so smart lol

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I've already given this some thought concerning the mass budget releases for the Wii and DS.

However, I'm with portnoyd on this one. It costs money to destroy. More than likely, they'll be sold in bulk for bargain bins.

That's true, they might just be thrown into the bargain bin but then again because of that they still might be regarded as nothing special and not sell to well. I wasn't sure it costed to destroy copies but then again I'm retarded.

[Voliko]

Just take a look at the shovelware on NES

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

Just take a look at the shovelware on NES

And some of those became rare. Just take a look at Action52- it sells at a high price nowdays and I believe the Active Enterprises dust cover it came with is also collectible. Of course, you could only get it through special offers/ magazine orders and the 100+ dollars price tag would turn the less fortunate off right away.

[Leo_A]

The copies won't be destroyed. They'd be sold in bulk ad nauseum. Case in point: the 30 billion copies of Othello for the NES you can get brand new at any time.

They may be destroyed, it happens with the DVD market. Warner sold millions of excess stock to be destroyed last year and the company that was supposed to destroy it ended up reselling it to stores like Dollar Tree and Big Lots and is probably still in court over it.

If you're a company like Capcom, you don't want to send a signal to a consumer that if they just wait a few months they'll be able to pick up your next project for $10 out of the bargain bin after a couple of months. There are also likely some financial advantages to writing it off and destroying it that might make it a more attractive option then just liquidating it.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

The copies won't be destroyed. They'd be sold in bulk ad nauseum. Case in point: the 30 billion copies of Othello for the NES you can get brand new at any time.

Holy crap those only sell for like twenty bucks sealed! Here comes my first factory sealed NES game to add to the collection.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I've brought this up previously, but case in point:
A coworker worked at a game store back in the mid-90s. Cheap NES stock that they couldn't sell was supposed to be sent back to HQ. Instead of sending it back, they destroyed the cartridges on site because it costs less to destroy than ship. He told me that they must've destroyed over 100 copies of SMB/DH.

The cheapest option will always win out. Whether it's recouping some from tossing the items into bargain bins, tax writeoff, or destroying. It depends on the situation per company.

[HurricaneAndrew]

I think GameStop destroys any stock that they have determined will not sell. I've heard stories of them grinding down cartridge contacts and cutting discs in half and throwing them in the trash.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Hey man... There is a fine line between humbleness and self-flagellation ya know.

I bought Spyborgs for $5 at TRU not but a few weeks ago. It was the only one they had, and it was on shelf and not in the bargain bin oblivion. I bought it to play. Because the impulse calculation of Capcom + Cover Art + $5 ~ Possible win. Another title I can think of in a similar situation is Pangya for PSP... That UMD had abysmal sales. Saw the game many places first month or two, then they evaporated without an onslaught of sales. Makes one wonder.

[Bojay1997]

Hey man... There is a fine line between humbleness and self-flagellation ya know.

I bought Spyborgs for $5 at TRU not but a few weeks ago. It was the only one they had, and it was on shelf and not in the bargain bin oblivion. I bought it to play. Because the impulse calculation of Capcom + Cover Art + $5 ~ Possible win. Another title I can think of in a similar situation is Pangya for PSP... That UMD had abysmal sales. Saw the game many places first month or two, then they evaporated without an onslaught of sales. Makes one wonder.

Actually, Pangya got pretty solid distribution. It was and still is available at many Gamestop, Toys R Us and Best Buy locations. Toys R Us sells it for $5 and many stores still have it in stock. I am very, very skeptical that any Wii title will ever be rare and if one emerges, it will have minimal distribution. If you can find it in a brick and mortar store nowadays it just isn't ever gonna be rare.

[Pichu]

HI Retro!

[Gameguy]

There will be some rare Wii games, a few were recalled like Spy Fox and the other Humongous Entertainment adventures that were released for it.

[Ze_ro]

There will be some rare Wii games, a few were recalled like Spy Fox and the other Humongous Entertainment adventures that were released for it.

The lawsuit that caused the recall was in Germany. It's unclear at the moment whether it affected copies in other regions. In fact, I've seen Humongous titles far more often lately than I did when they were new.

--Zero

[Icarus Moonsight]

Actually, Pangya got pretty solid distribution. It was and still is available at many Gamestop, Toys R Us and Best Buy locations. Toys R Us sells it for $5 and many stores still have it in stock. I am very, very skeptical that any Wii title will ever be rare and if one emerges, it will have minimal distribution. If you can find it in a brick and mortar store nowadays it just isn't ever gonna be rare.

He is using rare in the sense that people consider Earthbound, Chrono Trigger and more laughably FFVII rare too. The first two, I saw at retail, well stocked, and at heavy discounts. Scarcity and value is more complex than just what the numbers tell. It relates directly to what people actually want more than how many there are. What good is it to have the only single existing thing of something, if no one wants it? Possibly not even yourself... Wii games fall into that area fairly hard.

On Pangya, I have seen it a few places since it was released. But there was a marked difference in frequency. That's all the observation I was offering.

[Leo_A]

There will be some rare Wii games, a few were recalled like Spy Fox and the other Humongous Entertainment adventures that were released for it.

Their games like Pajama Sam are some of the most popular young childrens software on the Wii. I can't imagine they will ever be considered rarities.