Limited Run Games

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Tron
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Limited Run Games

Postby Tron » July 6th, 2020, 11:28 pm

Here’s another reason why digital distribution sucks; many games are being made physically, but in extremely limited quantities. If you want a physical copy you have to preorder right on the exact minute of availability or else they’ll all be sold to scalpers.

Sure the game exists physically, but unless you want to pay 3x the retail price you’ll buy it digitally.

This happened with a Fire Emblem game on the Switch and now with Brigandine on the Switch. Those are just two examples of games that I really wanted and since I don’t buy many games I’m going to assume it happens a lot more that I don’t know about.

All this preordering and special editions is pissing me off. I just want to go to the dang store and buy the game. I feel this is ruining gaming. I don’t mind dlc and I think being able to buy a complete edition on disc is great, but having 2-3 different versions of the game being released from the get and only being able to preorder them online or else you ain’t getting them sucks big time.

I’m so pissed. Brigandine was one of my favorite games on the PS1. I was so geeked to read that they made a sequel. Now I can’t find it to buy it anywhere. Nintendo loves scalpers and for that I want to punch Nintendo’s president in the face, whoever he is.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby Retro STrife » July 7th, 2020, 8:32 am

I know what you mean, because I've run into the same issue with Limited Run.. missing out on certain games because they sell out within 5 minutes of the sale going up (literally). It is a common issue with Limited Run Games and part of why their games hold value and usually resell for more than original price. It's very annoying as a buyer and someone looking forward to a particular game. But I'm sure the limited nature of their games increases the desirability of their products and the urgency of buyers, and therefore is also part of their success. If they always met the demand, then they would become just another irrelevant publisher and these special runs would lose their luster and stop selling as much.

On the other side of the equation though, most of these games are only released in limited runs because they could not succeed as a normal physical release (or at least no big publisher was willing to take the risk). I don't think a physical copy of Brigandine would exist at all without Limited Run - it would be a download only game. They gave a pre-order window of that particular game to gauge interest and sell to meet the demand.. but once the pre-order window closes, they produce those copies and move on. They did the same with Streets of Rage 4, which was one I pre-ordered. They can't get SOR4 on store shelves and they can't perpetually print copies, so it's the model they go with. The ones that really sting are the games without pre-order windows that just get released on 10:00 am one morning and sell out by 10:05, largely to scalpers. Happened to me a time or two. And of course, then you see ebay flooded with the scalper resales just minutes later.

I guess I'm saying that I agree with you about the negatives and wish there was a better way, but I also try to see the positive side of them taking the risk of these games. I don't feel that it is ruining gaming though, because that thought relies on the premise that these games would be sitting on a store shelf if not for Limited Run holding them back for special release.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 7th, 2020, 9:58 am

Yeah I agree and I think I've echoed a few of them sentiments in a previous thread. If you don't check their site at the right time, you could miss out on a game you really want. Fortunately I've had the benefit of readers giving me a heads up when there was something good up for preorder, like the new Streets of Rage or Shante games.

And then there's the pressure! Sometimes you can't preorder until a certain time and quantities are limited. On top of it all, you typically have very little information about the actual game! LimitedRun doesn't even show a damn description so you're pretty much on your own to scour the internet for info.

Just now I noticed an interesting game up for preorder Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl. This thing is, this an NES title ported to the Switch. If I can get an NES copy I would prefer that. But I'm trying to figure out if that's even available.

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Retro STrife
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby Retro STrife » July 7th, 2020, 10:16 am

VideoGameCritic wrote:Just now I noticed an interesting game up for preorder Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl. This thing is, this an NES title ported to the Switch. If I can get an NES copy I would prefer that. But I'm trying to figure out if that's even available.


From what I've seen, the NES version was a very limited run, no longer in production, and sells for around $200 when it pops up on ebay. The Switch pre-order is $30, and the digital Switch download is $15.

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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 7th, 2020, 10:22 am

Damn collecting physical media reminds me of the old Yogi Berra saying "nobody goes there anymore - it's too crowded"

snakeboy
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby snakeboy » July 7th, 2020, 4:54 pm

I can understand the frustration when you miss out, and it's an imperfect system for sure, but I'm with Retro Strife in that I try to see the positive side of it in getting lots of games in physical form that we most likely wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

One thing that does annoy me - and this applies to pretty much every limited game site, not just Limited Run Games - is when the production of a game is limited to 2000 or 3000 copies, yet they allow a minimum order of 10 copies per customer. Why would anyone need 10 copies unless they were planning on turning around and selling them for a profit?

At least most of the bigger name games now get a pre order period of around 4 weeks or so. And if you want to know about releases in advance, Twitter is a great source for limited game info (following @LimitedRunGames and @LimitedGameNews would be a good start).

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MSR1701
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby MSR1701 » July 7th, 2020, 5:57 pm

When I tried to preorder Vita games on LRG, I was always never able to get the order through, even when I clicked the link right away (not having my payment method saved took too much time I guess).

For the Switch Preorders that I have done, both SoR4 and Shantae I got in and got my order with no problems. Same with the CD orders (SNK soundtracks) that I placed.

I am alarmed that they suddenly are having new games go live in the middle of the week as opposed to the usual Friday 10am ET. While checking my open order ETAs this afternoon I learned that Ys Origin is getting a Switch release (which is the first I've heard of this) that starts tomorrow morning. A little heads-up would be nice, as I love Ys, and I don't see this having as large a batch as Shantae.

I have also been interested in Simply Limited Games, though aside from Ultracore, I haven't seen anything of interest on their site yet.

If able, I would rather get the physical over digital if the price is right, especially when the game size is 3gigs or worse (looking at you, Ys VIII and your estimated 8 GIGS of memory). Price is always an issue, and only rarely will you get lucky like I did at a local game shop near me and find where someone traded in a collection of Switch games which had limited physical releases, such as Shovel Knight.

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MSR1701
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby MSR1701 » July 9th, 2020, 7:11 am

BTW, Limited Run uploaded a list of upcoming releases for the rest of 2020, with some very interesting titles listed...

A Boy and His Blob (PS4) — September 2020
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 (Switch, PS4) — TBD
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (Switch, PS4) — TBD
Carrion (Switch) — TBD*
Castlevania Anniversary Collection (Switch, PS4) — Q3 2020
Demon Turf (Switch) — TBD
Garou: Mark of the Wolves (PS4) — July 2020
Grandia HD Collection (Switch) — August 7, 2020
GRIS (Switch) — TBD*
Katana Zero (Switch) — November 2020
Kunai (Switch) — July 8, 2020*
MegaDimension Neptunia VII (Switch) — July 28, 2020*
Mighty Gunvolt Burst (Switch, PS4) — August 28, 2020
My Friend Pedro (PS4) — TBD*
Observer (Switch) — TBD*
Papers, Please (Vita) — July 24, 2020
PixelJunk Eden 2 (Switch) — TBD
Return of the Obra Dinn (Switch, PS4) — July 24, 2020
More River City Girls — Details TBD
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time (Switch, PS4) — TBD
Shantae (Switch, GameBoy Color) — September 2020
Shantae: Risky's Revenge (Switch) — September 2020
Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash! (PSVR) — July 31, 2020
Star Wars Episode I: Racer (Switch, PS4, PC) — July 10, 2020
Super Meat Boy Forever (Switch, PS4) — TBD
The friends of Ringo Ishikawa (Switch) — July 21, 2020*
The Mummy Demastered (Switch, PS4) — July 31, 2020
The Secret of Monkey Island 30th Anniversary Anthology (PC) — October 2020
To The Moon (Switch) — Q4 2020
TowerFall Ascension (Switch) — Q3 2020
Trover Saves the Universe (Switch) — Q4 2020
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Switch) — TBD*
Xtreme Sports (Switch, GameBoy Color) — October 2020
Ys Origin (Switch) — July 8, 2020*
*The asterisked titles are a part of our distribution line, which means we are selling these on behalf of the publisher. These physical editions are not created by us and are not a part of our numbered release line.

snakeboy
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby snakeboy » July 9th, 2020, 7:22 pm

MSR1701 wrote:BTW, Limited Run uploaded a list of upcoming releases for the rest of 2020, with some very interesting titles listed...


Yeah, I'm especially excited about The Mummy Demastered, Bloodstained CotM 2, and Castlevania Anniversary Collection. I'm also tempted to get Return of the Obra Dinn and Katana Zero.

I'm really surprised that they were able to make a deal with Konami to publish the Castlevania collection. And of course I already bought the digital version because I thought there was no way it was going to get a physical release. Hopefully the Contra and Arcade collections won't be far behind. And it gives me hope that maybe the Wiiware Rebirth games may one day be re-released in physical form.

Tron
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Re: Limited Run Games

Postby Tron » July 10th, 2020, 4:51 pm

I get that distributors don’t want a surplus of inventory that they’ll have to bury in the desert. That is not even close to being an issue here. When scalpers can literally make a reliable and consistent living off of this then obviously the supply is way too limited. We’re not talking about them making a few bucks like 20%. $60 games are going for $240 and selling. This isn’t new for the last year or two either.

I’m thinking conspiracy theory here. There is no way these distributors wouldn’t want to maximize their profits unless....... maybe they’re also the ones “buying” their own inventory and jacking up the price. No freakin way they are sitting back and saying, “Glad those scalpers are selling our games for 4x what we got.”


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