How do you feel about reprints?

[cassarah]

With the recent Yakuza 1-4 reprints I find it more and more frustrating that some companies (Sega especially) have been reprinting games that didn't sell well in the first place, and are in part only now hard to find and expensive because of their low print numbers.   It just feels less satisfying to have it when a game you hunted for and found becomes common.


I've seen a lot of people happy for reprints but its mostly people who don't have the game to begin with, how, as collectors, how do you folks feel on the subject of reprints, I for one think all it does is devalue the brand, and honestly just make it much less likely I'll consider buying games from company "X" in the future if I know they're always gonna be easy to find.

[ignition365]

I don't collect to say "Oh, my collection is worth this much" or to say "I have these games that were in really low print numbers".  I collect because I want to play these games, or I think they are going to be so bad it'll be funny.  So Yakuza 2, for instance, I wouldn't otherwise play this game because it was too expensive, but now that I can get it for under half what the going rate was, I don't mind and I can give it a chance.  Same thing happened with Class of Heroes 2G.

Fun thing about LRG for instance is that their deal with the developers/IP owners is that they "license" the title for the single print run and then the license reverts back to the IP owner.  So all of these LRG games that have been released could be re-released by the IP owner, most games it's not likely, but it could happen.

The only time reprints bother me are when Gamestop does reprints, because they sell them as pre-owned so they can sell the games at what the going rate is (Xenoblade chronicles, calling, cave story 3d, etc.)

[desocietas]

I go both ways about it. If it's something that I shelled out a bunch of money for, then yeah, I'll be a little salty if it gets reprinted and the value goes down. I try not to spend *too* much money on something for that reason and, you never know, you might stumble across that item for cheap out in the wild or with a good trade.  Same kind of feeling happens when I buy something at launch, anticipating that it'll be hard to find, and then see that it's marked down dramatically 6 months later.

I think it's a gamble in the world of collecting if you're interested in the monetary value of your collection.

Personally, I was thankful about the Yakuza reprints since Yakuza 0 was the first game in the series that I'd ever tried (and I enjoyed it immensely), and I'm grateful for the chance to own the other titles at retail-level prices.

Additionally, I'm always a fan of physical games. They recently put Harvest Moon 64 on Virtual Console, which is awesome!, but since I prefer collecting physical games, I still wish they'd reprint that cart (obviously won't happen).

[desocietas]

The only time reprints bother me are when Gamestop does reprints, because they sell them as pre-owned so they can sell the games at what the going rate is (Xenoblade chronicles, calling, cave story 3d, etc.)

I agree. That's BS. At least VGP sells them sealed and new and without the guise of "pre-owned" when the item is actually new and unsealed.

[maximo310]

I strongly disagree; I think " new" reprints give people a better chance of discovering games that they may have missed out on for the first time.

 Of course its great in collecting when you have games that are valuable, but some of the ridiculous prices for even recent games can have the opposite effect and turn people off from hunting them down altogether.

[ignition365]

A buddy of mine sold his Ocarina of Time 3D to another friend for $20ish right before Majora's Mask 3D was announced, scummy other friend sold it to another friend for $90ish, and then Nintendo pushed out the metric ton of reprints and the price crashed back down.

[crystaldan]

ehhh I struggle with it a lot, I know not everyone is into emulation but with todays technology you can virtually play anything pre sega saturn with 0 issues or next to 0 issues. It is especially annoying trying to find the original only to find a slew of reprints. Example, mini nes, lots of ebay sellers are listing it as original nintendo so if you are looking for a boxed original nintendo you will find a load of mini nes.

Kinda on the same topic here but one of the reasons why we don't really collect original nintendo games. too many reprints/reproductions/switching pcb boards/etc. I'm not about to drop a few hundred on ducktales 2 only to find its a reproduction.

[desocietas]

ehhh I struggle with it a lot, I know not everyone is into emulation but with todays technology you can virtually play anything pre sega saturn with 0 issues or next to 0 issues. It is especially annoying trying to find the original only to find a slew of reprints. Example, mini nes, lots of ebay sellers are listing it as original nintendo so if you are looking for a boxed original nintendo you will find a load of mini nes.

Kinda on the same topic here but one of the reasons why we don't really collect original nintendo games. too many reprints/reproductions/switching pcb boards/etc. I'm not about to drop a few hundred on ducktales 2 only to find its a reproduction.

To clarify myself, I was just talking about official licensed reprints (VGP's reprints of Yakuza had proper licensing, etc.). With homemade repros, I feel differently about it...

[cassarah]

I don't collect to say "Oh, my collection is worth this much" or to say "I have these games that were in really low print numbers".  I collect because I want to play these games, or I think they are going to be so bad it'll be funny.

The only time reprints bother me are when Gamestop does reprints, because they sell them as pre-owned so they can sell the games at what the going rate is (Xenoblade chronicles, calling, cave story 3d, etc.)

I never really buy a game just because it has low print numbers or its "expensive," pretty much in the last decade I've just bought what I want to play, I guess I'm just a bit ahead of the curve in terms of when a game comes out that I want I buy it right away and don't wait years to find it used/cheap, etc. so I am glad when a game i bought 7-8+ years ago ends up being "worth" something.

Fuck Gamestop reprints though, just the worst company. 

[cassarah]

ehhh I struggle with it a lot, I know not everyone is into emulation but with todays technology you can virtually play anything pre sega saturn with 0 issues or next to 0 issues. It is especially annoying trying to find the original only to find a slew of reprints. Example, mini nes, lots of ebay sellers are listing it as original nintendo so if you are looking for a boxed original nintendo you will find a load of mini nes.

Kinda on the same topic here but one of the reasons why we don't really collect original nintendo games. too many reprints/reproductions/switching pcb boards/etc. I'm not about to drop a few hundred on ducktales 2 only to find its a reproduction.

I agreed, even PS2/Gamecube/Xbox can be emulated with little to no problems, I'm much more in favor of digital re-releases instead of physical reprints, then both parties get what the want.    Yeah the recent advent of NES and SNES "fakes" have completely turned me off NES/SNES collecting.

[burningdoom]

If it's being made to make an expensive or rare game more available to the masses, and the company is upfront about it being reprints, then hell yeah. I'm all for that.

But if it's people being shady and trying to pass them off as real, obviously that sucks. And unfortunately, eBay is littered with these kind of reprints. Especially on GBA. It's to the point where even common, cheap GBA games are being pirated and sold as if they were original copies. And to make matters worse, because it's so common on GBA, even people that don't realize they own a bootleg copy are selling them (unknowingly) as original copies.

[desocietas]

And to make matters worse, because it's so common on GBA, even people that don't realize they own a bootleg copy are selling them (unknowingly) as original copies.

That's the scariest part to me. I want to collect more CIB GBA games, but it's so hard to know if the cart is a repro that the owner pieced together unknowingly.

[rayne315]

I personally do not care if the game gets reprinted so long as its the original owner that's responsible for the printing. as it stand it is their property to do with how they see fit. If I created something and the demand rose enough to justify a new printing of it I would do it without another thought. it just allows more people to have the chance to enjoy it and will significantly cut down on any bootleg copies/pirates/reproductions making the markets safer.

[emporerdragon]

I collect games because I want to collect games, not because I want a valuable collection. So, I'm not upset if the value of some of my games drop, as is has no affect on how complete my collection is.

That being said, I do tend to avoid Player's Choice/Greatest Hits when I can simply because they stick out like a sore thumb on my shelves, but if that's what I wind up with, eh.

[98dgreen]

I buy most of my games for dirt cheap at yard sales/thrift stores so no reprints dropping the price of the game doesn't bother me.  I am sure it would though if I payed close to retail on games.