Your opinions on limited quantity, physical release online retailers

[sworddude]

Utterly Detest Them!!!

It's quite simply as to why really, I find their business model to be flawed. They set a certain date and time on the Online Store for the consumer to buy their game, but the reality is that the item is usually gone witin the hour and then the people who really want the game are at the unrelenting scheming of scalpers on Ebay.

Quick Fix - Why not set a date and let all the people who want to buy the product do so with a Pre-order before the deadline. That way the consumer has a fair chance to get their order in and get the game and the company can a reading on how much stock they need and ship within the month... It just seems so simple, yet with their current bussiness model I jsut have to pray they don't get their hands on properties I actually want.

to be fair if the demand is really there and people complain enough they usually sell another batch. But I do agree if not enough people complain your screwed. but even in the good scenario you'll have to wait for a while.

your method seems like a logical one, produce copies and afterwards produce the copies to fulfill them pre orders. no leftovers for potential losses. however financially speaking when doing so, maybe they'll lose allot of customers by doing so, lesser sales. Kinda hard to estimate what sort of influence it would have.

[Cartagia]

That's not a flawed model for them, because it is exactly their plan.  By producing a limited number of games that are only available at a certain time they are creating a market and demand.  If they produced too many people wouldn't want them.

There would be no difference if they did it as pre-orders, because that is basically what they are doing now.  If they do not set a specific amount of unit to be created they could find themselves in a situation where it actually costs more to produce the units that they bring in - this is because the manufacturing is done in bulk.  They have to purchase a specific amount of units from the factory - and this is very likely linked to the 6,000 or so units that they usually produce.  A number that I'm sure has been arrived at by crunching the numbers by determining how many can they make, while meeting the factory quotas and not sitting on too many unsold units for too long.

So, if they were to open pre-orders, per your suggestion, and they receive 6,973 orders.  They can't just produce that number.  They likely have to buy them in specific multiples - whether it's 6,000, 8,000, 10,000, etc..  Even if it was 7,000 that's still 27 unsold units.  Why do that when they could ensure that they sell all of them by capping the number at 6,000?

Like sworddude said, if the demand is there, they will make more.  If they aren't making more it just means that there isn't enough interest for them to justify making another 6,000 units. 

[telly]

If consumers get (understandably) frustrated when Nintendo doesn't make enough stock of the Switch or Amiibos or the NES classic or whatever, I don't see how a company that purposefully holds production back should be viewed any differently.

[sworddude]

If consumers get (understandably) frustrated when Nintendo doesn't make enough stock of the Switch or Amiibos or the NES classic or whatever, I don't see how a company that purposefully holds production back should be viewed any differently.

those are unfair examples

during the wii u era nintendo had done horrible in console sales almost gone broke, their reserves where pretty much empty during the wii u era. There production quantities where by far not what they where used to be nor did they expect the demand for the switch if where looking at the wii u totally understandable. Main mistake being that people thought the wii u was just a wii not a new console. There casual audience was gone while with the switch they advertised it pretty nicely and the casual audience know of it's existence that it's a new gen nintendo console.

The wii u is a great example of how big the gamer audience is. the causal audience, and a console for kids are by far the larger part of a consoles income. Just imagine how abysmal the sales would have been for the ps4 or xbox one if people thought those consoles where just the same as their last gen counter parts in other words no need for a new console.


Same thing goes for the nes classic and amiibo who would have expected so many people to be all over them, with the snes mini and later amiibo runs they altered production quantities and fixed it pretty much.

As far as rare amiibo's go from recent years, The demand is not there anymore way less people that collect amiibo, the amiibo hype has slowed down dropped dead, no comparison to them earlier years. no justification to produce those newer amiibo's a hell lot more because the demand is just to little.

[telly]

At the end of the day both scenarios are about frustration from consumers over a lack of inventory. The reason why only paints LRG in a worse light IMO.

And we all know that Nintendo at least restocked their products later on. LRG will not do that because again, it's about keeping stock low to artificially drive up demand.

[aliensstudios]

At the end of the day both scenarios are about frustration from consumers over a lack of inventory. The reason why only paints LRG in a worse light IMO.

And we all know that Nintendo at least restocked their products later on. LRG will not do that because again, it's about keeping stock low to artificially drive up demand.

Never once was I not able to get a Limited Run Games release if I wanted it. Not once have I had to scalp one of these limited games, if I wanted it I got it; as long as I was online within a few minutes of it going on sale I was able to get it. I don't see how they are "artificially driving up demand" if they aren't holding any product back; it's expensive to produce those games, what they make is what they make. It's not like they have a stockpile of limited games in a warehouse, or even the means to produce more of them. From what I understand it's up to the developer of the game to pay for the number of copies they want, LRG is just a middleman who's done all of the heavy lifting to make it easy for the little guy to get their game on disc / cartridge. The people who scalp LRG games only make 10 to 20 bucks at most because the copies of the games are usually already in the hands of the folks who want them.

Nintendo WAS artificially driving up demand because they often had more product on hand or were producing more. All of these limited game producers do a one and done. The analogy you're making is wrong. The whole NES classic / amiibo thing was frustrating, but at the same time the demand for those products is well above that of an indie game on disc.

[telly]

Anecdotally you may not have had an issue with purchasing games from LRG, but I've heard plenty of testimonials from people both on this forum and elsewhere who have. Either they can't buy the game because they were asleep or at work or whatever, or they get kicked out of their shopping cart as their making a purchase. I do think it's gotten better compared to when things first started though.

The scalper thing is tough to pin down, obviously. Looking at the games in my collection most of my games are going for about what I bought for them. Maybe like 5 dollars more. Some games, like S&S, are going for around 50-80, and Shantae RR is going for $150.

I imagine that the developers suggest a print run, but I think LRG is still the gatekeeper here. What if a publisher wanted to make 10,000 copies? 25,000 copies? Would LRG sign on for that? Tough to say, they are a small company, so making limited prints also fits with the size of their company. But then again, their name's "Limited Run" after all. Also, who makes the decision to do open preorder vs. not? I'm doubtful the developers make that call, but I could be wrong.

It's absolutely driving up demand because it's creating artificial scarcity, and there's no denying that. I can guarantee that if these games had regular standard retail releases, there wouldn't be so much hype around them. And if you want an example of that, there's a very damning bit 17 minutes in to the documentary on LRG that My Life in Gaming made, where Josh specifically talks about how people would cancel their orders the moment they saw that sales for a game were slowing and the stock wasn't clearing out within 24 hours. It's very clear to me. Also, as we've moved farther and farther past those first releases from LRG the demand isn't as intense as before, as you already mentioned in your first post.  People have clearly changed their buying habits from when Breach and Clear dropped.

EDIT: And let's not forget that LRG has also put out releases of games that are already available on physical elsewhere. I counted how many a few years back and it was around 23% at the time. The most egregious instance was where they released a game already available in North America on the PS4 and Wii U (Steamworld Heist/Dig)! It gets pretty hard to square that LRG is just "helping out the digital only developers" so to say.

[oldgamerz]

I am just pissed that there is not enough to go around. ***** scalpers who just buy all the games up and sell them for ridiculous prices. In fact if there were more to go around, then the scalpers would find themselves with a product that they are stuck with, and it would mean they would not get more then what they paid for when selling the games.  ha ha.

Lucky for some of us we gamers have options like buying consoles with games already on them and thank God for ROMs and off brand consoles

If your poor like me then just read my signature. someday games may go up in price for retro and or even digital

[mark1982]

I'm a bit on the fence about them, because in one way it does give collectors a chance to get a physical copy in a world where digital will be king. And the downside of it is as others have mentioned the limitedness of the games can be off-putting due to high prices or if you miss the boat.

Usually if I want a limited game I will make sure I subscribe to the newsletters and what not to be given any of the latest info on availability so I can make a purchase or pre-order. Luckily for me there are not a whole bunch of limited releases I look forward to. But I do feel for completionist or genuine collectors missing out because of it.

[sworddude]

I am just pissed that there is not enough to go around. ***** scalpers who just buy all the games up and sell them for ridiculous prices. In fact if there were more to go around, then the scalpers would find themselves with a product that they are stuck with, and it would mean they would not get more then what they paid for when selling the games.  ha ha.

Lucky for some of us we gamers have options like buying consoles with games already on them and thank God for ROMs and off brand consoles

If your poor like me then just read my signature. someday games may go up in price for retro and or even digital

you do realise that your only paying a premium for a physical copy and usually the collectors editions since normal examples when collectors editions are around rarely go for much more like others have mentioned maybe 10 to 20$ more. and even most CE don;t go for that much more. Usually prices are crazy around the period when they are released and than overtime it goes down a bit since hype is allot less.

Aside from that if we would look for gameplay your not missing out on much. all limited run games seem to be available online as a digital copy for a fraction of the price, cheap as chips like pretty much all digital indi games. so in terms of gameplay LRG should not matter. LRG just give those indi games a physical copy wich was otherwise not happening in terms of gameplay rarely if ever are you forced to get a physical copy.

[hoshichiri]

I'm a bit on the fence about them, because in one way it does give collectors a chance to get a physical copy in a world where digital will be king. And the downside of it is as others have mentioned the limitedness of the games can be off-putting due to high prices or if you miss the boat.

Aside from that if we would look for gameplay your not missing out on much. all limited run games seem to be available online as a digital copy for a fraction of the price, cheap as chips like pretty much all digital indi games. so in terms of gameplay LRG should not matter. LRG just give those indi games a physical copy wich was otherwise not happening in terms of gameplay rarely if ever are you forced to get a physical copy.

You two have summed up the whole matter right here. These companies are not gatekeeping the games away, most frustration is born of having to keep to the publisher's schedule instead of buying it on your own time.

I think looking over the release history of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap really sums up how these things work & the supply vs. demand angle. At the time they announced Wonder Boy, the Asia edition was available to order & would feature the game in English. No one needed to buy the LRG version- but it still sold out, and people still wanted more- enough so that Nicalis picked up the license, and now the game is readily available at Gamestops for around 20 bucks. Despite that, people are still paying $30+ to get the LRG edition (or the switch version, which LRG did not have.) The Master system original outpaces both of those for value.


Despite the high-minded statements of 'preserving games for the future', these guys are focused squarely on the collector's market. They are the Franklin Mint of gaming publishers- trying to draw you in with promises of collectible, soon-to-be-scarce, valuable trinkets... that in reality will likely never gain more than their initial cost becuase nearly everyone who bought one hoarded it in a dark closet, waiting to turn a profit. Meanwhile the true collectibles will be the things that gain scarity from us using & loving them, breaking & throwing away enough that demand for the surviving pieces goes up.

[ignition365]

I have a lot to say on the matter... but I won't.

I'll just say I don't like it and for the most part I don't like the people who run the businesses either.

[kashell]

I don't like them. There's more to it, but I won't get into it. It's all been said already.

[betelgeuse]

I don’t buy them. Seams more like a novelty item. To me they’re kinda like home brew or repro games.

[sworddude]

I don’t buy them. Seams more like a novelty item. To me they’re kinda like home brew or repro games.

2nd this