Earthbound coming to US Virtual Console in 2013

[SOL BADGUY]

What will happen is that the guys who still want to sell it for $200 will hold out.....and hold out.....and only the ones who want to sell will sell it and itll be cheaper than now. Game stores have to down mark the price a bit now for example.

[Bojay1997]

Edit: There's also this article, which I just discovered: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/how-d...lectable-games

I would hardly consider that article to be compelling evidence considering all three of the featured games were just one generation old and disc based and frankly niche titles to begin with. I'd like to see some similar data for Nintendo games over time as a number of them have been re-released on VC and yet it seems like Nintendo first party stuff continues to climb in value regardless of how many times Nintendo re-releases it.

[The Dord]

I hope the price comes way down. It's just stupid anyomre. I just sold a copy for about 250, and I've seem loose carts sell for as much as 300 on ebay in the last month, so I'm at least releived that I did so before any potential price plummet. I just can't ever seem to bring myself to hold on to a loose cart that's worth so much. But if we start seeing 200X prices again, then I may finally be able to justify putting a copy on the shelf permanently

And to anyone worried about their investment in a copy or copies of EB, welcome to the world of gambling, err, I mean investing

With the $250 one can pay for Earthbound, someone could buy a Wii U and pay just a little more to get a digital copy on WiiUVC.

[joshnickerson]

My reaction to Earthbound being released on VC, and, come to think about it, everything from that Nintendo direct that came to me via Twitter this morning...

[InsaneDavid]

I believe the prices for the original copy are going to come way down in the next couple of months. There's going to be panic selling on Ebay, once people hear the news. With so many copies being sent back into circulation, and with fewer people wanting to bid on them, it'll probably go back down to $100.

This. If there's a mass migration to sell EarthBound on eBay before a value collapse, even if there never was to be one, it will create said collapse = buyer's market.

[The 1 2 P]

Damn it, I need to sell my copy fast. Oh wait, I don't have a copy. While this VC release might drive the price down a bit, those thinking that this will cause the price of Earthbound to plummet are going to be very disappointed.

[c0ldb33r]

I've got my fingers crossed for a 3DS release. I'm much more likely to actually play it if it's bathroom friendly

[Press_Start]

VC always been the cheapest (legitimate) alternative for alot of retro games.

MUSHA ($130) 800 Wii points
Dynastic Hero ($400) 800
Shining Force 1 ($19) 800
Shining Force 2 ($29) 800
Breath of Fire II ($40) 800
Final Fight 2 ($20) 800
Fight Fight 3 ($50) 800
Megaman X2 ($60) 800
Wild Guns ($110) 800
Secret of Mana ($40) 800
Chrono Trigger ($73) 800
Super Mario RPG ($40) 800
Ogre Battle ($80) 800
Final Fantasy II ($25) 800
Final Fantasy III ($45) 800
Princess Tomato & The Salad Kingdom ($32) 500
Ninja Gaiden III ($31) 500
S.C.A.T. ($50) 500
Phantasy Star ($25) 500
Ogre Battle 64 ($40) 1,000
Air Zonk ($50) 600
Bonk 3 ($300) 600
Super Air Zonk ($300) 800
and....etc.

With the price of an Earthbound cart, you can buy over 2 grand worth of games and that can't be stated enough. Great to see Earthbound coming to WiiU.

[bb_hood]

Few things you have to remember:
1, release of VC game will not put more physical original copies of earthbound into existance. People who pay high amounts for said game are often collectors, who want a physical cart. You cant have a complete SNES collection without Earthbound, and owning a ROM doesnt count.

2, People who shilled out around 200$ for a copy for whatever reason are not going to jump at the chance to sell it for less. Demand might go down, but if someone paid 200$ for a snes games I would guess that they would not be willing to let it go for half that. I would guess they would plan on keeping it and not just reselling it after a playthrough or two.

3, Its a really popular game. Really popular. You could argue that demand for the original cart might go down but it actually might make it much more sought after. Putting it for sale on the VC will open it up to gamers who have never played or even heard about the game. This in turn might cause alot of gamers to want to seek out original copies.

4, Wild Guns is on VC, and that sells for 200+ cart only.

Just some food for though before you put your copy up on ebay

[Edmond Dantes]

As someone that has spent much of the past decade handling licensing of entertainment properties on behalf of studios and producers,

So the "1997" in your username doesn't refer to the year you were born?

[wiggyx]

So the "1997" in your username doesn't refer to the year you were born?

I'm going to say no. That post didn't read like something a 16 year old would have written.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I personally have NO idea what this release is going to do to the value of the SNES cartridge, but I will say that I've run into a LOT of users in the wild who have paid the market value for the SNES cart just to play the game. Not to collect, not to flip, not as a grail - simply because there was no other legitimate way outside of emulation (which I hear in some cases has protection measures that don't reveal themselves until the end of the game) to play it.

One would have to imagine that we're going to see SOME movement in the case of those owners.

It may not be a 1:1 scenario, but the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on PS3 and XBLA decimated the value of that game. Used copies for PS2 were selling for well over $100 before that game was released to users who similarly wanted to PLAY it, not "collect" it, and those users dumped their physical copies en masse after the digital releases.

I think the market is going to see at least a blip of more carts in the marketplace when this game comes out and even if the value isn't severely depressed, it's going to make for some competitive pricing.

I guess it's a wait and see.

[Daltone]

It may not be a 1:1 scenario, but the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on PS3 and XBLA decimated the value of that game. Used copies for PS2 were selling for well over $100 before that game was released to users who similarly wanted to PLAY it, not "collect" it, and those users dumped their physical copies en masse after the digital releases.

How difficult is MVC2 to emulate? I'd guess that a lot of people who wanted to play Earthbound probably have (although, of course it is not the same etc). However, if it is uncommon, rather than straight out rare, I would expect the price to dip as the edge is taken off the demand. If it is uncommon and costs $200 USD I'd go for it becoming expensive, but not totally insane.

I have absolutely no logic to back up my point of view. It'll be interesting to see what happens!

[FayeC86]

How difficult is MVC2 to emulate? I'd guess that a lot of people who wanted to play Earthbound probably have (although, of course it is not the same etc). However, if it is uncommon, rather than straight out rare, I would expect the price to dip as the edge is taken off the demand. If it is uncommon and costs $200 USD I'd go for it becoming expensive, but not totally insane.

I have absolutely no logic to back up my point of view. It'll be interesting to see what happens!

CPS3 emulation has not always been up to fighting game enthusiast standards, but nothing has stopped people from burning a copy of the Dreamcast version for the past 10+ years.

[Zing]

Wild Guns is on VC, and that sells for 200+ cart only.

Wild Guns is actually rare, unlike Earthbound. Also, Earthbound's demand has been spread out over the past three years or more. The price has roughly doubled over the span of those three years. Wild Guns was selling for less than half it's current value just last summer. It's doubled in approximately eight months and has had a large spike in short term demand.

[Bojay1997]

I personally have NO idea what this release is going to do to the value of the SNES cartridge, but I will say that I've run into a LOT of users in the wild who have paid the market value for the SNES cart just to play the game. Not to collect, not to flip, not as a grail - simply because there was no other legitimate way outside of emulation (which I hear in some cases has protection measures that don't reveal themselves until the end of the game) to play it.

One would have to imagine that we're going to see SOME movement in the case of those owners.

It may not be a 1:1 scenario, but the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on PS3 and XBLA decimated the value of that game. Used copies for PS2 were selling for well over $100 before that game was released to users who similarly wanted to PLAY it, not "collect" it, and those users dumped their physical copies en masse after the digital releases.

I think the market is going to see at least a blip of more carts in the marketplace when this game comes out and even if the value isn't severely depressed, it's going to make for some competitive pricing.

I guess it's a wait and see.

In fairness though, the version of the game released on PSN and XBLA had lots of options such as graphical filters and better multi-player than the aging console versions. Since it was an arcade/Naomi port anyway, I don't think people had much emotional attachment to copies on the PS2 or Xbox as they weren't really the "original" anyway. I think this is a different situation. While I would agree that there might be some small price depression prior to and following the release, it's not going to be the large drop people are hoping for.

[Spidey80]

4, Wild Guns is on VC, and that sells for 200+ cart only.

Holy crap...I actually remember buying it for only 5 bucks in 2009.

[starsoldier1]

Finally, now Nintendo needs to release the canceled Earthbound 64 or the GBA sequel over here now!

[The Adventurer]

Finally, now Nintendo needs to release the canceled Earthbound 64 or the GBA sequel over here now!

GBA Mother 3 is Earthbound 64. When they canned EB64 they moved the story over to GBA Mother 3 development.

[Edmond Dantes]

Wild Guns is actually rare, unlike Earthbound. Also, Earthbound's demand has been spread out over the past three years or more. The price has roughly doubled over the span of those three years. Wild Guns was selling for less than half it's current value just last summer. It's doubled in approximately eight months and has had a large spike in short term demand.

I'm curious as to whether or not the fact that Happy Video Game Nerd reviewed Wild Guns had anything to do with its dramatic price increase.

I'd love to play it, but...