The Earthbound Inflation Thread

[portnoyd]

Worst, no. Overrated, absolutely.

[Vlcice]

It's kind of a relief to find out other people think that way. I've seen such praise for the game everywhere I kind of thought I was the only person that didn't like it. (Wasn't horrible, the gameplay just didn't do it for me.)

[dra600n]

It's kind of a relief to find out other people think that way. I've seen such praise for the game everywhere I kind of thought I was the only person that didn't like it. (Wasn't horrible, the gameplay just didn't do it for me.)

I think the problem is, is that so many people praised this game for all it's epic glory, that when those of us who haven't played finally got around to playing it, it wasn't what we were expecting. I also find this game mediocre and can't compare to the Secret of Mana, Breath of Fire, or Final Fantasy.

[crackdealer clawx]

I'm glad I got my copy for $30... I personally think it's a damn fine game but don't really care enough to argue with peoples over it.

Still ain't worth $449 bucks. I don't think any video game is worth that much.

[Kyle15]

It's kind of a relief to find out other people think that way. I've seen such praise for the game everywhere I kind of thought I was the only person that didn't like it. (Wasn't horrible, the gameplay just didn't do it for me.)

That's how I feel about Final Fantasy VII. Strangely enough, I love Earthbound.
Its one of those games I heard was good and decided to try it myself. Only after finishing it did I discover people giving it insane praise.

[Zing]

Why is this thread exclusively about Earthbound? Some of the other RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Ogre Battle have also trickled up in price either loose or as a CIB.

Earthbound CIB has pretty much doubled in price over the past year.

For what it's worth, I have several hundred sitting in Paypal account waiting for a private Earthbound CIB seller. Any takers?

[jonebone]

Earthbound CIB has pretty much doubled in price over the past year.

For what it's worth, I have several hundred sitting in Paypal account waiting for a private Earthbound CIB seller. Any takers?

I got Ogre Battle at $70 for open auction last year, and have seen it break $215 at least twice. That's tripling.

And $300 to $450 isn't quite doubling, that's the same percentage hike from $80 to $120, which is approximately what Chrono Trigger has done.

[megasdkirby]

What would be wickedly awesome? If a huge amount of copies were to be found, dropping the price of the game HARD.

[goatdan]

I don't think I've jumped into an "OMG Earthbound prices!" thread yet, so here's a few cents for everyone...

First of all, even if this was released for the Virtual Console, it wouldn't mean that would necessarily keep the price at bay. I remember three or four years ago, someone at the Midwest Gaming Classic walking up to us and asking me (seriously too) if we would continue the show after all the vendors went out of business because of the Virtual Console and how you could get every game people had for way less money. I laughed and replied that we'd have to see what happened, but I was sure that it wouldn't completely make selling old games impossible. The guy laughed at me and said that I just thought that because I was a delusional vendor.

Four years later, I can't say that much has changed either from getting vendors to the MGC or the price for selling stuff. Yeah, once in a while the price of a game drops, but not too often. The collectible games are the games that fall into one of two categories, either:

1) It's the game that everyone had or rented and loved, and it keeps inflating in value slowly because people who own a SNES could give two craps about Madden 93, but they remmeber how fun Super Mario World was, so practically every SNES-owner who is out there with a console wants to have and keep a copy of Super Mario World.
2) It's a game that everyone talks about, and it keeps inflating because people want to check it out and show to friends. Earthbound definitely fits into this category.

Earthbound prices also benefit from the fact that Nintendo uses Ness in Smash Bros, keeping him top-of-mind, while also refusing to release anything. And, whether you like Earthbound or think it is the worst RPG ever (a claim I find hard for anyone to really make), it has a legend surrounding it that is undeniable.

It is my favorite RPG. I bought a copy about 15 years ago now for $6.99 at a rental shop, with crappy label and crappy box, but I wouldn't trade my copy for a perfect copy of the game. In fact, about 10 years ago a local store used to get them relatively often, and I picked up multiple copies of the game for $7.99 mint and full, and sold them on the GOAT Store for around $60. I can't say I really regret not holding onto them for 10 years, as you never know what the market will do, but I wish I could still find them for $7.99!

Earthbound is relatively unique in the terms of how it plays out as an RPG, and that does make it special for some people, like myself. I have never made it through a Final Fantasy (I've tried multiple times on 1 and 7 and get bored on them), I've made it through one Dragon Warrior, but Earthbound even back in the day had that 'it' factor that got me to finish it -- AS A RENTAL -- by staying up until all hours of the night playing it. I can't say I'd pay $500 for it, but I don't think that a VC release will do anything but continue to drive prices up.

[mobiusclimber]

I've actually seen quite a few game prices drop due to VC releases (amongst other things). Mostly it's been common games, tho still... Suikoden 2 used to sell for $200, not it's going for $100 (or less sometimes). Valkyrie Profile used to sell for $100, now goes for $50~60. Final Fantasy VII used to go for $80~100, now it sells for $40 if that. Castlevania SOTN, Final Fantasy Tactics, Star Ocean 2nd Story... this isn't even talking about really common stuff like the Donkey Kong Country trilogy or really pretty much ANY common game you can think of that people would want.

Part of it is the VC, part of it is the economy and part of it is that game collecting was starting to turn into the next card collecting (or comic collecting) for awhile. People would pay high prices to relive their childhoods and justify it by saying they could always resell for more than what they paid since prices were only going to keep going up.

I've been hearing it's cyclical and that N64 is the next system to jump in price, but beyond a couple of games, I haven't seen it. In fact, a few of the consistent high sellers have dropped in price (Ogre Battle 64, Harvest Moon 64) with really only Conker's going up. I can count on maybe both hands the number of games that have had price spikes or held onto their high prices, while I wouldn't even be able to list all of the ones that have had their prices fall.

As for Earthbound, if it came out on the VC then HELL YES the price for a cart only copy would plummet. I remember when the price was fairly low for one, and I'd imagine it would go back to being that price again. The CIB price likely wouldn't take a hit, or much of one anyway, since it's what you might call a "deluxe package." So if you have a cart only copy sitting around and you're thinking of selling it, do it now while the price is still high. I highly doubt Nintendo will keep Earthbound off the VC forever. It's just not as high a priority for them at the moment since it would require a few changes to be made and that costs money (and time, and time is money). Eventually, tho, they'll run out of games (that don't require changes) to release on the VC and get around to rolling out Earthbound (since they know they'll be able to charge a premium AND the demand is there for it).

[Gameguy]

Final Fantasy VII used to go for $80~100, now it sells for $40 if that.

More like $20, there's literally several copies listed on my local craigslist/Kijiji for $20-$30 for several days/weeks and they're still available. There's currently a couple of copies each with a system and a couple other games for $20-$25 and still nobody bought them after several days. These types of ads would have lasted maybe a day at the most back before the drop in value.

I actually got lucky and sold off my copies right before the prices dropped, a nice first for me as it's usually the other way around.

[nesgamer]

If you know how to read in Japanese, here you go. Hell a lot cheaper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SNES-SFC-MOTHER-...item3a65452776

[Malon_Forever]

Panzer Dragoon Saga is more unreasonable.

[Tupin]

I really should play my copy of MOTHER 2, I tried it for a while but the amount of Japanese required is really high. Is there a translation guide?

[Baloo]

Panzer Dragoon Saga is more unreasonable.

I disagree. You can snag a complete copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga for about $200, and it's MUCH rarer and arguably much better as well. That's a $250 price difference. And yet it's more unreasonable?

I think not.

[Beefy Hits]

Traded $50 worth of games for this with a friend.

I agree that it's way overrated. I didn't even finish the game.

[jonebone]

Meh, it's only overrated because of all of the hype and price tag surrounding it. I had never played it until February 2009, and when I beat it, I definitely thought it was just a mediocre RPG too.

However, I'm sure if I played it as a kid, it would have had a greater impact and been much more appealing. The main character is a kid with his dog, you eat pizza, you save by calling mom, etc. Definitely an RPG that makes you feel "part of the game".... but no so much when you're an adult male picking it up for the first time.

And the final boss battle was probably the most disappointing moment in the game. Easy would be an understatement, it might as well just be a cut scene.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Yeah, I couldn't get into Lord of the Rings either, because I'm not a Halfling, Elf, Dwarf, Wizard or Ranger...

E.T. sucks too if you are not an alien.

[Kyle15]

You know what I learned from this? Publicly stating your opinion on Earthbound's quality doesn't get fans foaming at the mouth like rabid felines.

[Icarus Moonsight]

So, I take it that you actually did try your hand at herding cats?