Worth buying Raiden 4/Raiden fighters aces from xbox GOD?

[cave hermit]

I want to play Raiden 4, but the cost of a sealed copy is a bit pricey, and even used ones are up there. Xbox Games on demand has it and raiden fighters aces for $20, but then I wouldn't really be buying the game, I'd be buying a license to play the game. Would you guys say its still worth it, or should I wait to get a physical copy new or used?

[hermit crab]

Great games, buy them. Physical copy - doesn't even need explanation. Brand new - to support the devs and physical releases in general. Or support yourself and go with the cheapest option... Used copies seem to be going for cheaper than the Games on Demand price (on Amazon).

[Ed Oscuro]

Great games, buy them. Physical copy - doesn't even need explanation. Brand new - to support the devs and physical releases in general. Or support yourself and go with the cheapest option... Used copies seem to be going for cheaper than the Games on Demand price (on Amazon).

Raiden 4 is 6 years old. Devs aren't seeing any money from shrinkwrap sales anymore. Games on Demand probably gives MOSS a chunk of cash.

That being said I'd still get the physical version, for the reason cave hermit (cave hermit...hermit crab...*head explodes*) mentioned.

[retrojc]

Great games, buy them. Physical copy - doesn't even need explanation. Brand new - to support the devs and physical releases in general. Or support yourself and go with the cheapest option... Used copies seem to be going for cheaper than the Games on Demand price (on Amazon).

Raiden 4 is 6 years old. Devs aren't seeing any money from shrinkwrap sales anymore. Games on Demand probably gives MOSS a chunk of cash.

That being said I'd still get the physical version, for the reason cave hermit (cave hermit...hermit crab...*head explodes*) mentioned.

Depends on the sales route, if you are hang the new game direct from amazon/ Walmart etc then the dev/publisher will get something. But GoD is the best way to support the dev.

[Pretas]

Valcon Games (RFA's publisher) has gone out of business, and UFO (IV's publisher) only releases downloadable games anymore.

That said, these games are some of the best STG packages on the 360, and it's definitely worth owning hard copies of both.

[MR_Soren]

Great games, buy them. Physical copy - doesn't even need explanation. Brand new - to support the devs and physical releases in general. Or support yourself and go with the cheapest option... Used copies seem to be going for cheaper than the Games on Demand price (on Amazon).

Raiden 4 is 6 years old. Devs aren't seeing any money from shrinkwrap sales anymore. Games on Demand probably gives MOSS a chunk of cash.

That being said I'd still get the physical version, for the reason cave hermit (cave hermit...hermit crab...*head explodes*) mentioned.

Depends on the sales route, if you are hang the new game direct from amazon/ Walmart etc then the dev/publisher will get something. But GoD is the best way to support the dev.

I think the developer/publisher got their money when the retailers bought their copies of the game from the developer/publisher. Any sealed copies still sitting around aren't sending more money to the developer/publisher because I doubt they still have a pile of copies waiting to ship out if demand picks up.

[Crafty+Mech]

Either way, I would definitely recommend Raiden Fighters Aces! Jet is my favorite of the three games in that combo, but RF1 & 2 get a lot of playtime as well.

[hermit crab]

You guys need to look at the big picture. Demand for brand new shrink wrapped games will cause stores to order more of them in the future. Giving developers incentive to make and sell such things, and profit.

Also I'm under the impression from digital downloads half of the money goes to M$ and the other half goes to the publisher. Devs don't get shit from a sale. Comparable situation really.

[cave hermit]

Well, I guess I'll just wait until I see a used copy with the original case and manual on Amazon for under $30. I'm just a bit hesitant to order a used game given the risk of scratches (I had an incident involving a $30 copy of Rtype delta, toothpaste, and vaseline just 2 weeks ago. I regret everything.), but it's still better than not being able to play the game I purchased years down the road. I'll probably get Raiden 4 first since I'm still thinking of buying Legacy on GOG (is that a good port by the way? Arcade accurate?).

EDIT: well, turns out someone on Amazon is selling a CIB copy for about $30. Don't know if I should spring for it...

[CStarFlare]

Hell, I'll sell you mine for $30. It's got old an old gamestop sticker on the front and back (easy to remove with some Goo Gone) but the disc (and soundtrack) are near mint. If you're unsatisfied, you know where to find me.

[BPzeBanshee]

since I'm still thinking of buying Legacy on GOG (is that a good port by the way? Arcade accurate?).

No, it's not. Stolen code from MAME that doesn't work as well as MAME should at the best of times, at worst unnecessary performance issues and stupid as fuck bugs.

If you're going to buy the games digitally, do it with Aces. I just blew like $500 AUS on a J360 and these exact two games on disc used condition from our forum's reliable seller rancor. If you're in the US you don't have to spend nearly the amount I did for hard copies, so it's definitely worth trying for them.

[Crafty+Mech]

since I'm still thinking of buying Legacy on GOG (is that a good port by the way? Arcade accurate?).

If you're going to buy the games digitally, do it with Aces. I just blew like $500 AUS on a J360 and these exact two games on disc used condition from our forum's reliable seller rancor. If you're in the US you don't have to spend nearly the amount I did for hard copies, so it's definitely worth trying for them.

It really stinks the PAL version never saw a release. I picked up a used NTSC copy of Aces in good condition for under $30 recently.

[Special World]

Raiden 4 is solid. Raiden Fighters Aces is fantastic. Definitely worth buying from GOD if you can't feasibly get them any other way.

[Ed Oscuro]

You guys need to look at the big picture. Demand for brand new shrink wrapped games will cause stores to order more of them in the future.

Stores aren't holding onto old shrinkwrapped games much. Some might keep sales tracked (because that's essentially free for the retailer) but warehousing them long-term is not. I tend to find old(er, within a few years and sometimes more recent than that) shrinkwrapped games at the thrift only. The last game I found at the thrift this way was Project Gotham Racing 4, from 2007. Too old for the stores to keep on the shelves. This affects everybody; for a perspective on how it affects even independent sellers who don't mind warehousing stuff, look here (search for "New Old Stock").

I am quite sure the idea that even publishers see regular income from new old stock sales is quite laughable.

There is a kind of parallel with other publishing industries - like the newsstand return. Although the website here makes it seem straightforward, of course it isn't - most publishers simply will not ask again about unsold items, because what do you do with unsold items other than destroy them, maybe to recycle them for new stuff - and of course this isn't straightforward to do with many video games. Bottom line, people aren't going to spend more time and effort on unsold items than they have to.

The agreement between retailers and publishers is usually that retailers pay once they have sold items - publishers have to do this because making retailers pay up-front for an order of a game can have all kinds of unintentional effects that hurt both publisher and retailer (which I won't detail here, but basically to make money both publishers and retailers want to see a return right away, and not to keep things in stock for a long time).

I have seen, very rarely, some retail stores sell VERY old merchandise new (i.e. Tomb Raider 2 and GPA SPs Lites between 7-12 years after their releases) and they were not full price (even discounting inflation). How much time do you think they would waste trying to renegotiate a price on sales? Publishers write that stuff off; they don't want to make things even harder for retailers. Fire sales of really old stuff (and at this point Raiden IV is actually getting close to the "ancient" status Tomb Raider 2 had around ~2008) don't really indicate to a publisher that they ought to make more stuff like that, because they want the full price on release day, not pennies of return on their investment after the dollar has lost value due to inflation years later.

Retail stores, for their part, want to see a return right away, so that they keep inventory moving. My local GameStop has moved out of its decades-old mall space into a larger space in a new building nearby, yet its PC gaming section is just the back half of a small floor stand (about as wide as your average gamer), and mostly composed of the same Blizzard compilations as years ago (that apparently keep selling). Surely we could say "if only they kept some copies of Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger in the back, they could make lots of money today!" But actually keeping lots of stuff around like this effectively limits their throughput. In the time they could move tons of things through, making a new sale on each, they don't want to keep old and relatively unpopular games like Raiden IV (or even Raiden Fighters Aces) on the off chance that there is one shooting games fan in the city who will visit them in a few years looking for that game.

It really stinks the PAL version never saw a release. I picked up a used NTSC copy of Aces in good condition for under $30 recently.

I was in an agreement to get a copy here for $30 (which I let fall through, oops!) and then I noticed used copies were selling on eBay for $15. That game really hasn't kept its value, aside from maybe the Japanese version which might be worth it to a collector for what looks like higher-quality cover artwork. The US covers are terrible.