When o' When - A Gamecube Pricing Conundrum

h8b1llg8ts

At my weekly stop over at GameStop, while my wife is getting her nails done, I came across a treasure. It seems for the first time ever I saw Pikman 2 for sale. Of couse, I had no excuss not to get it but $39.99? I could get the Rock Band game for the the PS3 for even less. As I looked around at the other Gamecube games I saw Mario Party's at $34.99, Smash Bro at $29.99, even Donald Duck Goin Quackers (a game I have for the Dreamcast) for $14.99?

Really? At the time when all my friends were buying oXbox and PS games and I was buying Gamecube games they were laughing at me. Gamecube games were almost given away at that time. Even the presale demo giveaway games for the Zelda Windwaker and Pokemon Coliseum have new high price lives at Gamestop.

But I really can't wrap my head around why?

PatboyX

They play on the Wii and people ran out of Wii games to play.

Buy it on half.com or something.

Couscous

I don't know why most good GC still cost a lot. I can understand Nintendo's games. They never price drop those games, but even third party games still cost a decent amount.

cloudeagle

h8b1llg8ts wrote: »

At my weekly stop over at GameStop, while my wife is getting her nails done, I came across a treasure. It seems for the first time ever I saw Pikman 2 for sale. Of couse, I had no excuss not to get it but $39.99? I could get the Rock Band game for the the PS3 for even less. As I looked around at the other Gamecube games I saw Mario Party's at $34.99, Smash Bro at $29.99, even Donald Duck Goin Quackers (a game I have for the Dreamcast) for $14.99?

Really? At the time when all my friends were buying oXbox and PS games and I was buying Gamecube games they were laughing at me. Gamecube games were almost given away at that time. Even the presale demo giveaway games for the Zelda Windwaker and Pokemon Coliseum have new high price lives at Gamestop.

But I really can't wrap my head around why?

Small print run of Pikmin 2. There ya go.

I feel for you, I recently searched for Pikmin 2 for MONTHS and couldn't find it for much cheaper than $40. I eventually sucked it up and paid the $40. And be glad you grabbed it... I literally went into various Gamestops and other stores dozens of times before I found it.

Darlan

I've been looking for a cheap copy of Pikmin 2 ever since I got my Wii as well, but it's looking more and more like I should just wait until Pikmin 3 anyways.

Too bad though, it would've been nice to get something for my Wii this year other than Okami. I've never bought so few games for a system before.

Feral

Why is Mario Kart: Double Dash still $40 new and $35 used everywhere I look?

I'm not like itching to buy it or anything but if I found it for a reasonable price I'd probably pick it up since, y'know, no Wii yet.

Zampano

To be fair, Pikmin 2 is totally worth $40. It is a culmination of the Gamecube's entire career, up there with Resident Evil 4 I believe.

Zombiemambo

Gamestop's pricing of older games makes absolutely no sense. Rez for the PS2 is still like $30 used.

Zampano

There are some games that are priced that way though due to being cult classics and suddenly achieving a degree of notoriety and demand. Rez is one such game. Another is Beyond Good and Evil. If you can even find it, it'll probably be $30 or so. Unless you get it for dirt cheap of Steam.

I rest easy, though, knowing that I bought Killer7 for $9 when it was worth so much more than that to me.

RainbowDespair

Zampano wrote: »

There are some games that are priced that way though due to being cult classics and suddenly achieving a degree of notoriety and demand. Rez is one such game. Another is Beyond Good and Evil. If you can even find it, it'll probably be $30 or so. Unless you get it for dirt cheap of Steam.

I don't know about the Gamecube version, but GameStop's website has the PS2 version of Beyond Good & Evil for $6 and apparently it's in stock in 3 stores near my area.

Zampano

Obviously I live in a wasteland of quality games then.

Feral

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gamestop's pricing of older games makes absolutely no sense. Rez for the PS2 is still like $30 used.

Well, Rez for PS2 is crazy rare.

Double Dash is fucking everywhere.

They could use the boxes to shingle the roof of every mall in the country with a Gamestop and still have a few left over.

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Zampano

The problem, it would seem then, is that Gamestop fucking loves money. Which wouldn't normally be a problem except when it clouds their common sense and basic math and market analysis skills.

Daedalus

Pikmin 2 had a small print run? Really? It went Greatest Hits at one point. I know, because that's when I bought it. New. For $20.

Daedalus

Zampano wrote: »

The problem, it would seem then, is that Gamestop fucking loves money. Which wouldn't normally be a problem except when it clouds their common sense and basic math and market analysis skills.

really, it's not even a problem then, because other used game store chains do not exist in this country.

When you have the retail market cornered, you charge whatever the fuck you want.

Opium

Feral wrote: »

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Price is just a signal of whatever the customer will pay for it. Apparently they can charge 30-40 bucks for MKDD, so they will. If people were only willing to pay 5 bucks for it, it would be 5 bucks.

Dodge Aspen

Zampano wrote: »

To be fair, Pikmin 2 is totally worth $40. It is a culmination of the Gamecube's entire career, up there with Resident Evil 4 I believe.

Pikmin 2 is my favourite game of last generation. I just love it. It's in my top 5 all time. So fucking great.

Feral

Opium wrote: »

Feral wrote: »

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Price is just a signal of whatever the customer will pay for it. Apparently they can charge 30-40 bucks for MKDD, so they will. If people were only willing to pay 5 bucks for it, it would be 5 bucks.

Cool, I'm totally going into Game Crazy tomorrow and saying, "I want Double Dash and I only want to pay $5 for it."

Shadowfire

Feral wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gamestop's pricing of older games makes absolutely no sense. Rez for the PS2 is still like $30 used.

Well, Rez for PS2 is crazy rare.

Double Dash is fucking everywhere.

They could use the boxes to shingle the roof of every mall in the country with a Gamestop and still have a few left over.

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Rez isn't crazy rare anymore, since it was re-printed, but it's also not extremely common, either.

Also folks, you need to realize something else - Gamestop prices these games where they are because Nintendo still has not lowered the MSRP on them.

RainbowDespair

Shadowfire wrote: »

Feral wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gamestop's pricing of older games makes absolutely no sense. Rez for the PS2 is still like $30 used.

Well, Rez for PS2 is crazy rare.

Double Dash is fucking everywhere.

They could use the boxes to shingle the roof of every mall in the country with a Gamestop and still have a few left over.

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Rez isn't crazy rare anymore, since it was re-printed, but it's also not extremely common, either.

I'm surprised that the price hasn't dropped from the decreased demand due to the XBLA Rez.

Zombiemambo

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Shadowfire wrote: »

Feral wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gamestop's pricing of older games makes absolutely no sense. Rez for the PS2 is still like $30 used.

Well, Rez for PS2 is crazy rare.

Double Dash is fucking everywhere.

They could use the boxes to shingle the roof of every mall in the country with a Gamestop and still have a few left over.

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Rez isn't crazy rare anymore, since it was re-printed, but it's also not extremely common, either.

I'm surprised that the price hasn't dropped from the decreased demand due to the XBLA Rez.

That was my point. It's not difficult to find, there aren't a limited number of copies and above all it's only $10. Asking for more than that is pointless now.

I worked at Gamestop for awhile and noticed some really odd pricing on some games. I still don't know why they charge so much for certain titles.

FyreWulff

It's kind of like how I was looking through Wal Mart's "$15 or less" games bin, and there sat a copy of Pariah for Xbox, 50$.

Wut.

Shadowfire

Zombiemambo wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Shadowfire wrote: »

Feral wrote: »

Zombiemambo wrote: »

Gamestop's pricing of older games makes absolutely no sense. Rez for the PS2 is still like $30 used.

Well, Rez for PS2 is crazy rare.

Double Dash is fucking everywhere.

They could use the boxes to shingle the roof of every mall in the country with a Gamestop and still have a few left over.

Okay, so that's obviously exaggeration, but there's still no reason Double Dash (and some other first-party Gamecube games) should be so expensive.

Rez isn't crazy rare anymore, since it was re-printed, but it's also not extremely common, either.

I'm surprised that the price hasn't dropped from the decreased demand due to the XBLA Rez.

That was my point. It's not difficult to find, there aren't a limited number of copies and above all it's only $10. Asking for more than that is pointless now.

I worked at Gamestop for awhile and noticed some really odd pricing on some games. I still don't know why they charge so much for certain titles.

Has Mario RPG dropped in value yet? Final Fantasy IV? VI?

Sometimes, the value just doesn't drop like you'd think it should.

And for the record, Rez is still going for quite a bit on eBay.

troublebrewing

Pikmin 2 is only 550 pts on Goozex, then you look at trade info nearly 100 requests and none offered and active.

BTP

I've been wondering this myself, but not with Nintendo's games naturally.

Take the NHL games for example. I've seen a store with used NHL 2003-2006 (or 06, I guess) for Gamecube, and going from 06 downward, the prices were expectedly dropping to less and less....until I hit NHL 2003. It was closer to the 06 price than anything else. Is there anything special about the 2003 version? Could it have something the other years didn't have?

Actually, is there anything in particular any version had that the others lacked? I'm kinda tempted to pick up one of them, though I'm not hurting for anything to play. Should I just pick up the 06 game?

Oh yeah, I even saw Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for $20. Is that reasonable? It's hard for me to tell due to knowing Pac-Man on the Virtual Console is 500 points, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison.

slash000

Gamestop's high Used prices are simply based on low supply and high demand.

Double Dash? Rez? Stuff like that? Pretty high.

But not Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 high.


It goes for about as much on Ebay.

Speed Racer

This makes me feel good that I got Pikmin 2 for like 10 bucks from a little mom-and-pop game store that was going out of business.

Local H Jay

i feel so dumb

i saw dreamcast marvel vs capcom 2 for $17

and didn't buy it

MHYoshimitzu

I bought Marvel vs Capcom 2 for Xbox because it was cheaper and I didn't own a Dreamcast then.

Worked fine on the 360 when it first came out. Then Microsoft started updating the backwards compatibility, and it stopped working. Same for Silent Hill 2.

y2jake215

BTP wrote: »

I've been wondering this myself, but not with Nintendo's games naturally.

Take the NHL games for example. I've seen a store with used NHL 2003-2006 (or 06, I guess) for Gamecube, and going from 06 downward, the prices were expectedly dropping to less and less....until I hit NHL 2003. It was closer to the 06 price than anything else. Is there anything special about the 2003 version? Could it have something the other years didn't have?

Actually, is there anything in particular any version had that the others lacked? I'm kinda tempted to pick up one of them, though I'm not hurting for anything to play. Should I just pick up the 06 game?

Oh yeah, I even saw Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for $20. Is that reasonable? It's hard for me to tell due to knowing Pac-Man on the Virtual Console is 500 points, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison.

nhl 06 is the culmination of all that is awesome in hockey. me and my friends got it over a year ago and still play at least 10 games every time we're together. i recently bought an xbox solely to play it. pay the 6 dollars and get hours and hours of awesome.

FyreWulff

BTP wrote: »

I've been wondering this myself, but not with Nintendo's games naturally.

Take the NHL games for example. I've seen a store with used NHL 2003-2006 (or 06, I guess) for Gamecube, and going from 06 downward, the prices were expectedly dropping to less and less....until I hit NHL 2003. It was closer to the 06 price than anything else. Is there anything special about the 2003 version? Could it have something the other years didn't have?

Actually, is there anything in particular any version had that the others lacked? I'm kinda tempted to pick up one of them, though I'm not hurting for anything to play. Should I just pick up the 06 game?

Oh yeah, I even saw Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for $20. Is that reasonable? It's hard for me to tell due to knowing Pac-Man on the Virtual Console is 500 points, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison.

The only special thing I can think of is that it has a specific mix of Make Me Bad (Korn), but that might have been 20-02. I'm not sure if they ever really added new features.

Seol

slash000 wrote: »

Gamestop's high Used prices are simply based on low supply and high demand.

Double Dash? Rez? Stuff like that? Pretty high.

But not Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 high.


It goes for about as much on Ebay.

Is this just the PS2 version? I got MVC2 on the Xbox in a four-for-£20 deal.

Xenogears of Bore

Xbox version is slightly higher than normal but the real deal is PS2 version of MvC2.

Dreamcast version doesn't even chart.

BTP

y2jake215 wrote: »

BTP wrote: »

I've been wondering this myself, but not with Nintendo's games naturally.

Take the NHL games for example. I've seen a store with used NHL 2003-2006 (or 06, I guess) for Gamecube, and going from 06 downward, the prices were expectedly dropping to less and less....until I hit NHL 2003. It was closer to the 06 price than anything else. Is there anything special about the 2003 version? Could it have something the other years didn't have?

Actually, is there anything in particular any version had that the others lacked? I'm kinda tempted to pick up one of them, though I'm not hurting for anything to play. Should I just pick up the 06 game?

Oh yeah, I even saw Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for $20. Is that reasonable? It's hard for me to tell due to knowing Pac-Man on the Virtual Console is 500 points, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison.

nhl 06 is the culmination of all that is awesome in hockey. me and my friends got it over a year ago and still play at least 10 games every time we're together. i recently bought an xbox solely to play it. pay the 6 dollars and get hours and hours of awesome.

6 bucks, huh? I think it's 15 bucks at my nearest store.

I've been reading some reviews. It seems the gameplay is okay and not overly-defensive, and there's create-a-player. That stuff's good. But then they say the goalies aren't that great unless you crank up the difficulty, especially when you bring in C-stick dekes that only "star" players can do. That part sounds a lot like the Megastrikes from Mario Strikers. (Actually, maybe I should make an actual attempt through Mario Strikers Charged before getting another sports game.........anyway, carrying on.)

And then there's the talk of problems in Dynasty mode. Stats don't carry over, fake players in the roster, only good for 20 seasons or something like that. It sounds like I might as well stay away from that mode. If all I'm going to get is a good Exhibition Mode, then it almost makes me wonder if I should just go back and play some Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey on my N64 instead. Especially when I see stuff like below.

What the hell is this?! (Turn down the volume. Yeesh.)

But more concerning is this. NHL 06 is supposed to be 2006, not 1906, when there was no rule banning the tactic of two goalies at the same time.
There was no Y2K bug, EA!

Finally,...
this is supposed to be using Auto-aim. WTF?

I'm trying to find positives to this. I don't get into sports games too much, and when I do want one, I want to make absolutely sure I'm getting a good one. With Gamecube pretty much being dead, and me trying to catch up on that system's games, I'm thinking now's the time to know and get which of the sports games were the best ones. I hope you can see why I'm being kinda picky. :P

BTP

Holy crap. The one GC NHL 06 I knew of is gone. They had 2003, 2004, and 2005, but I don't think any of them have the new rules in them. Like the sections behind the goal line that the goalie can't enter.

I can find multiple PS2 and OXbox versions anywhere, but not the GC version. Probably has something to do with almost all GC sections disappearing or disappeared in stores already. This is nuts.

Rigor Mortis

Local H Jay wrote: »

i feel so dumb

i saw dreamcast marvel vs capcom 2 for $17

and didn't buy it

I'm even stupider than you.

I saw Radiant Silvergun for $4 at a local thrift shop and didn't buy it.

Radiant fucking Silvergun

ArcSyn

troublebrewing wrote: »

Pikmin 2 is only 550 pts on Goozex, then you look at trade info nearly 100 requests and none offered and active.

Yeah, I own Pikmin 2 and it's in my hold queue. I'm also first in line if I activate it. But I'm not willing to give it up yet.

But yeah, finding games used is best to do online, instead of a retail store where they choose a price instead of the market.

Couscous

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Local H Jay wrote: »

i feel so dumb

i saw dreamcast marvel vs capcom 2 for $17

and didn't buy it

I'm even stupider than you.

I saw Radiant Silvergun for $4 at a local thrift shop and didn't buy it.

Radiant fucking Silvergun

HAHA, dumbass.

SirUltimos

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Local H Jay wrote: »

i feel so dumb

i saw dreamcast marvel vs capcom 2 for $17

and didn't buy it

I'm even stupider than you.

I saw Radiant Silvergun for $4 at a local thrift shop and didn't buy it.

Radiant fucking Silvergun

I don't mean to be offensive, so please don't take it that way, but...

Man, you're an idiot.

Rigor Mortis

SirUltimos wrote: »

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Local H Jay wrote: »

i feel so dumb

i saw dreamcast marvel vs capcom 2 for $17

and didn't buy it

I'm even stupider than you.

I saw Radiant Silvergun for $4 at a local thrift shop and didn't buy it.

Radiant fucking Silvergun

I don't mean to be offensive, so please don't take it that way, but...

Man, you're an idiot.

Well, I wouldn't have posted that story if I wasn't implicitly allowing you all to mock me for your own amusement :P

But I wasn't entirely stupid. Clearly some asian immigrant had dumped his old saturn games as they also had Princess Crown and Gunbird for $4 each. Those I did buy.