Why are these games so expensive?

[kurthnaga]

I've been trying to get ahold of a copy of Radiant Dawn for a long time now, and I just don't understand why the games are still running at 60+...

[Icon of Sin]

Likely because of their rarity.

PoR is even worse since it got released at the end of a console era rather than the beginning.

[Crimson Red]

Yeah, and it might be other things too such as a a "monopoly" on the copies (not exactly that but if there are less places to get it from that means less competitive pricing which is bad for the consumer), and perhaps more people keep the game or something so there are less copies in circulation or there weren't originally a lot of copies put out lol, just theorizing here though

EDIT: it's possible demand also went up a while after (e.g. because of Awakening)

and I know Xenoblade Chronicles and Metroid Prime Trilogy have similar circumstances though still somewhat different but the prices are equally if not moreso high

Edited January 19, 2014 by Blazer

[Mr. Haar]

It basically is all a result of the fact that these games are rare and also renowned for their epicness. It's a terrible combination when it comes to pricing.

Luckily, I knew someone who knew someone who just lent them to me. Dodged a very big reduction to the ol' savings account.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Mr. Haar

[shadowofchaos]

renowned for their epicness

Radiant Dawn flopped in sales, so that's not the reason.

[bookofholsety]

on a related note, it never ceases to amuse me how i've only ever seen exactly one copy of FE9 and maybe two or three new copies of FE10 in the flesh (one of which being mine). even in the local second-hand circuit copies of FE9 are non-existent, though there's usually two or three copies of 10 around (probably the same three never being bought)

[BrightBow]

Radiant Dawn flopped in sales, so that's not the reason.

That's not a contradiction.

Games like "Psychonauts" and "Beyond Good and Evil" are down right legendary for managing to bomb despite receiving tons of praise by critics and players alike.

Fire Emblem is no Psychonauts but it has always received critical praise since it was around. The Tellius games were no exception there.

Anyway, maybe these games were probably mostly bought by devoted fans. These kind of people would probably rarely sell the discs, leading to the high prices.

Edited February 14, 2014 by BrightBow

[Mr. Haar]

Radiant Dawn flopped in sales, so that's not the reason.

You're saying it's bad because it didn't sell many copies? I can't imagine a worse way to judge a game's quality. And you're doing it.

[Faye]

I think soc is saying the reason the game itself is so rare is because it sold so poorly. The game might be epic to fans, but the sales numbers say otherwise. 8U

[solrocknroll]

I got my copy of RD for $70 and my PoR for $50. I got RD from a GameStop and PoR from a second-hand not-Gamestop store.

The prices aren't terrible, if you know where to look.

[Alertcircuit]

The prices aren't terrible, if you know where to look.

Like where?

[Moira]

Well I just got a PoR rom on my computer for free from that cool rom website, so you can look there if you want to play it. As for Radiant Dawn, I'm probably not ordering it any time soon and I didn't find a rom of it either.

Edited March 18, 2014 by n00srac

[Book of Ereshkigal]

You're saying it's bad because it didn't sell many copies? I can't imagine a worse way to judge a game's quality. And you're doing it.

Where in his post did he even imply that?

Low sales = less copies to be resold, often meaning higher price.

[Moira]

Where in his post did he even imply that?

Low sales = less copies to be resold, often meaning higher price.

well, he was responding to someone saying that it was rare and held onto because it is an epic game (paraphrasing), and he specifically targeted the part about the game being epic by saying they didn't sell well, which means thats not a reason. So it can very easily be interpreted as "since the game didn't sell well, the games not epic."

[Elieson]

Its a collectors game

Now that 13 came out, more ppl are exposed to fe, and more ppl now want it, which means price jacks aren't a surprise.

[Anacybele]

I got PoR from a GameStop for $30, though it was used. Same with RD. But then that copy of RD stopped working right. Then an FE miracle happened and I found one remaining BRAND NEW copy of RD at Walmart for $60.

Yeah, I probably just got lucky, but if you look hard enough, I'm sure you can get them for decent prices somewhere! No fan should be deprived of playing these awesome games! Screw sales, they're way better than the numbers say.

[IceBrand]

I use to have both POR and RD. Until someone robed my house and stole my games. I bought RD back and saw my POR for 30$. Sadly someone bought it.

[Florete]

I find it rather awesome that I could sell back games I bought new for $50 each - and Radiant Dawn on release day - for a profit all these years later. Not that I ever would.

[dondon151]

I find it rather awesome that I could sell back games I bought new for $50 each - and Radiant Dawn on release day - for a profit all these years later. Not that I ever would.

damn, i should have stocked up on FE10 discs!

[Loki Laufeyson]

I find it rather awesome that I could sell back games I bought new for $50 each - and Radiant Dawn on release day - for a profit all these years later. Not that I ever would.

Right? My Tellius copies came from like, first wave. PoR was 50 bucks like normal when it was released. I got that one on release day. RD i got for Christmas the year it was released.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

I think, that Gamestop does not know, how precious FE9 and 10 are. In Germany I bought both games used for each 30€ = 42$. If I sold them, Gamestop would give me for each 8€ = 11$. I do not know Gamestop works in other countries, but you should try your luck there, first.

[Alertcircuit]

American Gamestop isn't really an option, they stopped selling Gamecube stuff like 2 years ago. You could theoretically get FE10 there but like none of the stores have it. And about the trade-ins, I think they do know, and they're just trying to make a profit. I have a feeling the majority of their income comes from the used games because they pay people a small amount and then throw it back on the shelf for about $3-$5 under retail price.

[Loki Laufeyson]

My GameStop has an RD. I know it does. Im not sure how much they want for it though.

[Dark Sage]

as noted, the games didn't sell well at all, but my guess is that they never had a particularly large printing run anyway. So there's not much of a supply to begin with but combined with the fact that the target audience will rarely sell their copies, you're going to get those high prices.

Frankly I'm surprised PoR isn't more expensive. I got a used copy of Persona 4 (PS2 version, not Vita) for $30 and I think that's a more widely available game. Stuff like the PSX Tactics Ogre sells for like, $100 and that game is more in PoR's scarcity range. Then again PSX Tactics Ogre was released like 8 years before PoR so...

[Refa]

Well, like you hinted at, it'll probably get more expensive with time; probably around when people who grew up playing Game Cube games (that just feels so wierd to say to me) become old enough to be super nostalgic about them and start increasing the demand.