Rarest games?

[SuperDeadite]

The LD-ROM2 version of Goku for LaserActive. The rarest release on the system. Many sites still list it as unreleased or a prototype. But the retail version was manufactored and sold as I have one. However I've never met anyone else that has ever even seen nor heard of another copy. Even people who are selling a "full LA set" have never included this one. lol Note I mean the LD-ROM2 (PCE PAC) version only, the MegaLD (Sega PAC) version is not so tough to find.

If you're willing to include doujins, long forgotten ones are still being discovered. I have Space Soldier II for X68000 and there was no record of it even existing until I found a copy by dumb luck. Even the old time Japanese collector's I've talked had never heard of it.

[CStarFlare]

Rare games can fall into several categories, which I think are each interesting in their own right.

- Games released in small quantities and/or in very limited geographic areas. (Mr. Gimmick, foreign knockoffs?)
- Games released only in specific stores, through mail order, etc. (The Music Machine)
- Games handed out as part of an event. (Rockman 4 Gold, Nintendo World Championships)
- Uncommon software/packaging revisions (think copies of GTA San Andreas with Hot Coffee completely removed, but actually rare)
- Games produced for a special event but never intended to be obtainable by consumers. (Futari 1.5 red, for example)
- Prototypes

I imagine PC releases are a whole other world, since PCs allow for much more homebrew/limited release stuff than consoles that were more restricted.

[Obiwanshinobi]

- Prototypes

There's question whether unreleased games (Mother in English and Bio Force Ape) can be rare. Kind of like extincted species is not rare anymore, prototype is not rare yet.

- Uncommon software/packaging revisions (think copies of GTA San Andreas with Hot Coffee completely removed, but actually rare)

The Getaway first print had a British Telecommunications van in one of missions. Another curio is that - apparently - Kingdom Hearts Platinum reissue has got a 60 Hz option, unlike the original edition - rare in the sense I've not heard of any other PS2 PAL game getting fixed like that.
Speaking of Platinum, I think Shadow of the Colossus Platinum copies are quite rare (never saw one myself, whereas cardboard boxes were ubiquitous).
Then there are many regional varieties - according to Wikipedia, Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia PAL was only released in France, Italy and Spain. Recently, german Spartan: Total Warrior for 'Cube surprised me with being actually, exclusively German, language-wise. That would mean GameCube disc was too small to store all the sound data, hence the exclusivity. There could be more surprises along those lines, some actually rare at that.

[BrianC]

How rare is Super Turrican for PAL NES?

I'm guessing it's not super rare, but it is a bit on the pricey side. Looks more like the 50-100 range, depending on part of Europe bought from.

[GaijinPunch]

Fantasy Zone II System 16 version. M2/Sega made a couple of boards for the release event, and that's it. The ROMs are available to make your own, but original? Not going to find one.

Fighting Vipers 2 special version: http://collectedit.com/collectors/shou- ... -sega-9510

Sega Netmerc: http://collectedit.com/collectors/shou- ... lity-10089

I think the FZII was more of a way to reverse engineer... not actually promote. Maybe just semantics... sought after I'm sure!

Anywho, if you want to look into the Taito 3D arcade gear, there is a thread worth looking at on gamengai. I can try to find it. The problem with Japan is the lack of space. Some of this shit might exist somewhere, but it's generally not made in huge numbers to begin with (I believe there were only 750 copies of Night Striker made worldwide, of which only 333 were sold in Japan), and dedicated cabs are often chucked out due to their bulk. I don't believe any of this Taito stuff is dumped, to boot, although some of them have been recovered.

Another "sub-genre" that should get an honorable mention are those ridiculous bank software cartridges that demand several hundred bucks.

[ACSeraph]

I'm not sure it counts since it's a bootleg, but I've been fascinated by Top Fighter 2000 MK VIII ever since I first saw it running on display behind a glass case at Super Potato in Akihabara.

You could probly do a whole separate article about interesting bootlegs and unlicensed games.

[BrianC]

You could probly do a whole separate article about interesting bootlegs and unlicensed games.

Yeah, it was more common to see hacks of Pac-Man than the original. Ms. Pac-Man has been hacked a lot too. I have seen a few of them with a turbo button.

[system11]

You could probly do a whole separate article about interesting bootlegs and unlicensed games.

Like that scrolling beatemup with graphics ripped from SF2 and KOF.

[spadgy]

I like your point about categories CStarFlare. The more variety I can cover off, the better, and it will help me avoid compiling a list of similarly obscure games.

You could probly do a whole separate article about interesting bootlegs and unlicensed games.

You might have a good point there. It'd probably be best for another publication, but I'll look into it. Thanks!

[Ed Oscuro]

My understanding is that readers of the paper it's for don't seek education of "real importance" there. Giving them impression that they are being lectured may not glue together with advertisement.

This is a totally valid viewpoint, of course, and I don't think it's a crying shame if Spadgy covers rare games - that can be educational in itself. My point is just to stir the pot a little, hopefully in a productive way, not crash the article pitch. But I would like to see some balance, at least. I had to groan when a non-gamer happened across an article about some Nintendo World Championships cartridge at $30,000 - of course there's a lot of important context that never seems to be covered (nostalgia, dead investment, and the investment's bus factor, i.e. how many rare gamez investors would you need to cram into a bus and send it off a cliff for the games to drop down to a markedly lower price that other people would consider reasonable...or is it too late for that? Well, maybe that last bit is a question we can't answer). But then again, maybe somebody looking at it with fresh eyes ("$5000 -> $30,000? What an investment!") might have an advantage over old crusty gamers who used to argue that "it'll never work, you won't make any money off these things." I remember trying to make that argument about Kizuna Encounter.

I think this is important because it helps highlight that this really is a freakish, non-representative outgrowth of the hobby, really. That's just my judgement though; a lot of people don't view it quite as judgmentally, and a lot of people don't really care about it (other than "gee, I want to find something rare and awesome too.") Of course you can question my motives seeing as I am the proud (?) new (?) owner of a DTL-T10000H...that I need to figure out more...

So what I'd like to see is something that is a fair representation of the culture and the long-term picture about rare game values. It doesn't need to be a lecture to have some good information in there!

Beyond that, I honestly can't see what the value is in another non-specialist (and I don't think ANY of us are specialists in rare games, unless it's maybe for some relatively obscure platform or arcade release variants) picture click-through of random games people think are rare. There are tons of those; you gotta publish what you gotta publish but if I was being asked to do it I'd push back a little. It's just reinforcing the noise out there. ("But that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.")

What I'd really like to know is how large the pool of people who will pay this money for games really is...but again that information seems like it needs to be qualified somehow

[spadgy]

There's certainly a worthy piece in all that, but not for the space I have in this case (and perhaps not for this publication). I'll definitely consider building something up around that angle and pitching it elsewhere; a look at the worth and role of collecting, the issues around game rarity, how important it really is, what it's contribution could be, and how big the collector space really is.

And I'll always listen to your insights Ed. You'll always be my favourite upside-down forum member (or is it that we're all upside-down, and you're the only one who's the right way up? I forget.).

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, seeing as I have a big head, I bet that's the result of all you people having your blood go to your feet, otherwise you'd all have big heads just like me.

I'll be interested to see what you write, in any case.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Thread exhumation ahoy.

I read Metropolis Street Racer PAL was pretty buggy at release:

The first PAL release had a number of major bugs. Unsold discs were quickly recalled and replaced with a second PAL version that eliminated most of the major bugs, but not all. Sega Europe also offered replacement disks, the final PAL version, free of charge to anyone who had purchased a bugged copy.

How can those first print copies be discerned from the reprint? I have two discs (one scratched quite fatally) and I'd like to recognise whether it's worth restoration or it's not worth it.

[cicada88]

rare games sucks

[drauch]

rare games sucks

Hmmmmmm...

[Some-Mist]

duckman: the graphic adventures of a private dick

I own the german version (ente sub-sauer), but I've never seen a copy of the english one..

if you were even looking to *ahem* "play it by other means" it's still insanely hard as balls to find.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Thread exhumation ahoy.

I read Metropolis Street Racer PAL was pretty buggy at release:

The first PAL release had a number of major bugs. Unsold discs were quickly recalled and replaced with a second PAL version that eliminated most of the major bugs, but not all. Sega Europe also offered replacement disks, the final PAL version, free of charge to anyone who had purchased a bugged copy.

How can those first print copies be discerned from the reprint? I have two discs (one scratched quite fatally) and I'd like to recognise whether it's worth restoration or it's not worth it.

Some info here:

http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewtop ... 0&start=10

And for version differences...

http://dreamcast-talk.com/forum/viewtop ... &view=next

Looks like you're after MK-51022-0146SS on the inner ring of the disc. This is the version I bought, brand new, sometime in 2001 (not so sure about the "quickly recalled", or Electronics Boutique were dodgy buggers). Didn't even realise they did revisions which fixed the bugs!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Is "I am not amused" a line from The Typing of the Dead?

When selecting a personal music playlist as the default choice, MSR reverts to its own preset list when resuming a game (all versions).

Oh... my.

[BPzeBanshee]

Quite a few rarities in the pinball department. Gottlieb's Krull of which only 10 development tables were made before it was canned, the Critical Mass prototype which strictly speaking never made it past the drawing board but was "finished" recently, Capcom's Kingpin and the Loch Ness monster one-off prototype table, just to name a few.

[Warhol]

One of the rarest video games is the PAL version of Celtics vs Lakers[/be], on Megadrive.
Despite the US version is very common, I heard that just some few copies 've been disturbed in Europe ..

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... post740002

[ptoing]

if you were even looking to *ahem* "play it by other means" it's still insanely hard as balls to find.

Finding an "other means" copy is pretty easy actually But it seems nigh impossible finding the English version on sale anywhere.

[Some-Mist]

if you were even looking to *ahem* "play it by other means" it's still insanely hard as balls to find.

Finding an "other means" copy is pretty easy actually But it seems nigh impossible finding the English version on sale anywhere.

I was able to find an other means (tho I do own the germany copy haha), and maybe I'm not searching right... but I can't even find any sold listings on ebay for the english version.

[chronicdog]

Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk-JDHseuEA

I have a decent number of fairly rare games, like Zombie Nation (NES), Hagane (SNES), Ninja Warriors (SNES), and Chrono Trigger (SNES), among others.

I try not to buy games JUST for rarity though. They have to be at least decently fun to play. Many of the games in that video are just unplayable shit that sit on a shelf.

A Game like Zombie Nation is actually pretty fun to play, even if its no DonPachi in terms of game mechanics, its more like a Parodius - cheesy, campy, ironic, self aware.

[drauch]

Chrono Trigger is far from a rare game, just high in demand.

I can back you on Zombie Nation. The pure insanity alone warrants some good playtime with that one. Wish I would have picked it up years ago when it was still kinda affordable.

[Obiwanshinobi]

NTSC US/C SNES Chrono Trigger is that good, simply. Square Enix can keep the new English translation and whatever extras the DS version brings to the table.
PSX port is te same translation as on SNES, but lamentably unoptimised (them loading times).
I think the same guy who'd translated Chrono Trigger first also translated Suikoden II, which I also remember very fondly.

[Skykid]

NTSC US/C SNES Chrono Trigger is that good, simply. Square Enix can keep the new English translation and whatever extras the DS version brings to the table.

Why? DS CT is the ultimate version of the game. Superior translation, sharpened visuals, all the PSX cut scenes, no loading, and your inventory menus available at all times.

[pestro87]

Sorry for asking a slightly OT question but I've been wondering about this for a long time: is there a reason why Vampire Killer on the MD is so expensive or is it just in high demand?

[Limbrooke]

Sorry for asking a slightly OT question but I've been wondering about this for a long time: is there a reason why Vampire Killer on the MD is so expensive or is it just in high demand?

It's my understanding like a lot of end-of-life games in Japan where the MegaDrive did not sell well, many games were not printed in great numbers and carry a premium over Genesis versions. A good example of this are any Acclaim games. Vampire Killer is an odd one as I don't recall any benefit to owning it over the original barring case artwork and the like. Contra The Hard Corps does carry a tangible benefit in having 3 hits per life versus 1 hit-ko in Contra Hard Corps NTSC-U/C. Both games are region locked so if you want to play one or the other a region switch doesn't do you much good. Demand as a result spurs the prices onward.

[R79]

http://www.mitchell.jp/game/game_arcade_gamshara.htm

[Imhotep]

Gamshara is not a rare game. Speaking of Mitchell, Mad Motor is.