Has Xenoblade Been Reprinted?

Early this year we wrote an article asking if Xenoblade would be reprinted because the game was selling for $95+ in used condition. In the past few days people have started speculating that it was reprinted and prices have started dropping.

On July 31st, Gamestop listed Xenoblade as 'unavailable' on their website. Today Gamestop shows the game is instock in used condition for $90.

People are reporting that Gamestop stores nationwide now have used, but pristine copies of the game in stock. There are seven Gamestop's within six miles of me that have the game instock. The two I went to came with the original case, manuals, and inserts.

Gamestop definitely has a very large quantity of the game instock now. How they got these is the question collectors want to know.

1) Is it a bunch of used inventory Gamestop had purchased from customers and is just releasing them all at the same time?

2) Is this large restocking of Xenoblade part of the original inventory that was held back by Gamestop for some reason and is now being sold as used so they can sell them for $90 instead of $50?

3) Or did Nintendo reprint the game and Gamestop is selling it as used in order to sell it for $90?

If it is a reprinting then prices for Xenoblade will probably continue to decrease because there could be many new copies available. All the Gamestop copies are opened and complete, so prices for loose and CIB versions of the game might decrease in the near future. Brand new versions will continue to sell at a premium because supply for them has not increased.

Do you think Xenoblade was reprinted or is another option more likely?

Will Xenoblade Be Reprinted?

Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii has been steadily increasing in price and now sells for almost $100 in used condition.

Right now the game is selling for almost double the retail price. I am a huge fan of the game and think it is one of the best games I've played in a long time, but I'm very tempted to sell my copy for $100.

The big question is: will Nintendo reprint the game in light of these high prices?

The high resale prices for Super Mario All-Stars for Wii were enough to get Nintendo to reprint the game. But Mario All-Stars originally sold hundreds of thousands of copies so a reprinting might be able to sell a similar number.

Xenoblade might have only sold tens of thousands of copies. Maybe reprinting isn't worth the investment (Note: I do not know the number of units sold for Xenoblade but I'm confident it sold less than Mario All-Stars).

What do you think? Will Nintendo eventually reprint Xenoblade? Or will the game continue to increase in price and become the Earthbound of the Wii?

15 Rare Wii Games | Most Expensive Wii Games

There are some rare Wii games that are hard to find in the "wild" and sell for a premium to their original retail price. Below is a list of the Wii's rarest and most expensive titles.

The list is ranked by average sales price per game in new condition.

Click for Prices For All Wii Games

15 Rare Wii Games

One Piece Unlimited Adventure

New Price: $150 Used Price: $61
One Piece Unlimited Adventure is an adventure game based on the One Piece anime from Shonen Jump in Japan. Bandai published the game in the USA at the same time the new One Piece series was airing on Cartoon Network.

The game sold poorly and was the last One Piece game released in the USA (as of Jan. 2012). The sequel One Piece: Unlimited Cruise was released in Japan, Europe, and Australia but never in the USA. Because of the poor sales the game is hard to find at any stores and fans of the anime keep the price of the game very high.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3

New Price: $130 Used Price: $49
Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a fighting game with the Dragon Ball Z anime characters. The first two games in the Budokai Tenkaichi series were released on the PS2. Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 was released on the PS2 and Wii, but the Wii version is much more expensive.

Tenkaichi 3 was published by Atari but all new Dragon Ball Z games are published by Bandai. This complicates any plans to republish the game. More than likely the game will not be republished and it will stay rare and expensive.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

F1 2009

New Price: $128 Used Price: $46
In 2009 the Wii received an F1 series racing game from Codemasters. They never confirmed if it was poor sales of the Wii version or the lower graphical abilities, but the 2010 and 2011 versions bypassed the Wii and released on 360, PS3, and PC only.

With the high prices for sealed copies of F1 2009, the best bet is the game didn't sell very well and is hard to find. Formula 1 fans help keep prices high because this is their only chance to race through an F1 season on the Wii.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Fritz Chess

New Price: $110 Used Price: $60
Fritz Chess is a chess game released by Deep Silver in 2009. The game is based upon a German chess program that teaches kids how to play chess and also allows players the ability to get a chess point rating by playing against the computer.

The game was originally sold at a budget price of $29.99 but now sells for $110 when brand new. Deep Silver is rumored to have only released the game in select markets in the US as a limited release. The exact number of units produced isn't available, but is very small.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Metroid Prime Trilogy

New Price: $95 Used Price: $65
Metroid Prime Trilogy includes Metroid Prime 1, 2, and 3 in one collectible metal case. The first two games were originally released on Gamecube but the Trilogy versions changed the controls to match Metroid 3's Wii motion style controls.

The game was published in August 2009 as a collector's edition and true to the name within 6 months Nintendo had discontinued the game. Prices have steadily increased since this announcement in January 2010.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

My Horse & Me: Riding for Gold

New Price: $70 Used Price: $55
In 2007 Atari announced a licensing agreement with the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) to make realistic horse video games. You get to groom your horse, ride it, take it to the vet, and compete in shows. In 2009 Atari released the last of these games for the Wii, My Horse & Me: Riding for Gold.

Atari stopped publishing the game in the USA though it is still published by Bandai Namco in Europe. Atari doesn't even acknowledge the games existence on their website anymore so it is unlikely to republished by them.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Walk It Out

New Price: $60 Used Price: $48
An exercise game that is compatible with the Wii Balance Board and Wii DanceDance Revolution dance mat. You walk in place to the beat of different songs and your avatar on screen walks through different locations and sceneries.

The game is no longer available at any major retailers because it was discontinued by Konami. Prices jumped in December and early January of 2012. Demand might be driven by weight loss and exercise New Year's resolutions so the price spike might only be temporary.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Godzilla Unleashed

New Price: $55 Used Price: $32
Godzilla Unleashed allows you to destroy cities with Godzilla and other monsters. It also includes party modes for multiplayer.

The game originally released for $50 and resale prices quickly dropped in the first several months. But in early 2010 prices started increasing again and the game now sells for more than the original MSRP when brand new. The game was published by Atari, which like Dragon Ball Z and My Horse and Me, might help explain the increase in price.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Dokapon Kingdom

New Price: $50 Used Price: $32
Dokapon Kingdom is a board game and role-playing game in one. It is similar to Mario Party games with a board and random dice rolls, but with very deep RPG elements and strategy built in too.

The game is published by Atlus and Atlus is known for printing limited quantities of their games and for games that keep their value over time. Dokapon is no exception. The game is fairly difficult to find brand new so it continues to sell for the original retail price nearly three years after release and prices continue to go up.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Kororinpa Marble Mania

New Price: $50 Used Price: $16
Kororinpa is a marble rolling maze game similar to Marble Madness for NES or Super Monkey Ball. You tilt the Wii remote to get the ball to roll through the maze and reach the goal.

The game is fairly easy to find in used condition, but is no longer available brand new. The publisher, Hudson, closed in 2011 and was purchased by Konami later that year. Konami has canceled all Hudson projects and most likely will not reprint Kororinpa.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure

New Price: $49 Used Price: $45
Skylanders Spyro's Adventure is a new Spyro game released on all consoles. The game comes with figurines that you can import into your game to play with. Activision sells other action figures separately in hopes that people will buy the game and then buy and collect the action figures too.

The high price is due to higher demand than Activision predicted during the 2011 holiday season. They will most likely continue production and supply will catch back up with demand and the price will drop.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Hasbro Family Game Night Fun Pack

New Price: $48 Used Price: $40
Hasbro Family Game Night Fun Pack is a compilation of the board games included in Family Game Night 2 and 3. It includes games like Life, Operation, Jenga, Twister, and more.

This two game collection released in the beginning of November 2011 for $50. The game has continued to sell at the same price for the last two months, but more than likely EA will continue production and the price will drop in the future.
See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition

New Price: $45 Used Price: $39
For Mario's 25th Anniversary Nintendo released a "limited edition" Mario collection with Super Mario Bros 1, 2, 3 and the Lost Levels. It was originally released in December 2010 with very limited quantities and for a short time the game was selling for $90-100 in brand new condition, which is nearly triple the original MSRP of $29.99.

In March 2011 Nintendo announced they were reprinting Mario and prices quickly dropped down to $30 with the larger supply. After the second shipment sold out prices have started increasing again. If Nintendo refrains from printing a third time, Mario All-Stars will probably continue to climb this list.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Beyblade: Metal Fusion Battle Fortress

New Price: $45 Used Price: $36
Beyblade: Metal Fusion Battle Fortress follows a game specific story with characters from the animated series. You battle your customized beyblades to try to become the World Champion and can also battle against your friends.

This is another Wii game released by Hudson. Like Kororinpa, Beyblade will probably never get a reprinting. It will probably keep these high prices in the future and might even get more expensive when the original supply runs out.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Kirby's Return to Dream Land

New Price: $43 Used Price: $40
Kirby's Return to Dream Land was released in October 2011 and is a brand new story with Wii remote style controls. The game is similar to other Kirby platformers with skill copying abilities and also includes up to 4-player co-op.

The game was only released four months ago, but it has kept its value very well during this time period instead of quickly dropping in price like most other games do. If Nintendo pulls a Metroid Prime Trilogy and discontinues Kirby it might be able to keep these high prices in the years to come.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Sudoku Ball Detective

New Price: $NA Used Price: $37
Sudoku Ball Detective is a Sudoku puzzle game wrapped around a sphere. Each sphere has six different Sudoku's on it and you use the Wii remote to rotate the sphere and solve the puzzles.

Sudoku Ball Detective is very elusive and its very existence has been questioned. The Sudoku Ball website claims the game was released for the Wii and the developers confirmed in an interview that the game was released. More importantly the game did sell on eBay one time for $37 used. The current new price is unknown but would be quite a bit higher.

See Most Recent Price & Historic Prices

Expensive Wii Game & Controller Bundles

• Rock Band 2 Bundle - Used Price: $195
• Beatles Rock Band: Special Value Edition - Used Price: $187
• Beatles Rock Band: Limited Edition - Used Price: $160
• Rock Band Special Edition - Used Price: $140
• Band Hero Super Bundle - Used Price: $120
• Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Super Bundle - Used Price: $110
• Zelda Skyward Sword: Gold Remote Bundle - Used Price: $99
• Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board - Used Price: $64
• Guitar Hero 5 with Guitar - Used Price: $60
• Guitar Hero World Tour: Guitar Kit - Used Price: $55

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Super Mario All-Stars Is Being Re-Released March 13th

Super Mario All-Stars is being re-released March 13th! Everyone who couldn't find the game the first time are in luck.

As we discussed several times on this blog, Nintendo has decided to re-release the game. Amazon and Gamestop have the game available for pre-order with a shipping date of March 13th.

The price of the original release is already dropping less than 24 hours after the announcement. Yesterday prices were over $50 and now used copies can be found for around $40.

Monster Hunter Tri Review | Wii

Monster Hunter Tri (MH3) is set to launch in North America on April 20, just a few short weeks away. Capcom promises to have free online play (the Japanese release is Pay-to-Play) and include Wii Speak (another feature the Japanese release was lacking). The Monster Hunter series is pretty massive in Japan but has yet to catch on here in North America, something both Nintendo and Capcom hope to remedy with MH3.

Well we got our copy of the Monster Hunter Tri demo this morning and we can tell you the game has some serious potential, under the right circumstances. Read on below to find out what those circumstances are.

My History

Knowing the person who's giving you their opinion is important so you know if I like the same things you like. First off, I have only ever beaten one RPG in my life (Baten Kaitos for GCN) and I tend to lean more toward adventure, action games. I have also never played a Monster Hunter game in my life, before today. Now that's enough about me, onto the game.

Environments

First off, this game can be gorgeous. I say can because the game has some really good artistic direction. Some of the areas are very unique and have a sense of history to them. I really like that aspect, see section 9 to know what I mean. On the other side of the coin they also tend to be sort of empty at times. Locations without any monster creatures roaming around seem desolate, very uninteresting. A beautiful environment with nothing in it seems kind of pointless to me.

Graphics

Graphically the game can look really good. Again, I say can because the game has a very "soap opera" look to it in 480i. Everything gets a little blurry and there are some spots that are extremely dark, probably remedied with torches we didn't have in the demo. But if you have an HDTV with component cables (for 480p) the game seems to really clear up. This makes a substantial difference, almost rivaling Mario Galaxy in sheer beauty.


This is gorgeous in 480p.

Weapons

There are seven weapon classes to choose from: Sword and Shield, Great Sword, Hammer, Bowgun (Light, Medium and Heavy), Lance, Long Sword, and a Switch Axe which changes from Axe to Sword. I tried each of them and, for the most part, they play quite a bit differently. Sword and shield has a faster but weaker attack, the Lance was slower but had a longer reach and the Bowgun classes have great range but require reloading. By the end, I seemed to find the Great Sword fit my play style best (see it in the screen above). It had large swings with great damage and the B-dodge worked pretty well with it.

Experience

We only got to try single player but it was neat to try our hand at some of the monsters in the game. If you had any fear this game would be easy let me tell you, one of the monsters was a real pain. After a good 30 minutes of slicing this guy, and his enormous dragon looking friend, I still never beat him. And that was only one attempt that lasted that long.

Another thing to note, another can moment, are the controls. There's no lock-on (ala Zelda) so you will constantly be arranging the camera as you run and fight. Let me just sum this up, if you have a Classic Controller, play it with that. Or if you are already decided you're buying MH3, get the $59.99 bundle that comes with the Classic Controller. It's really that big of a difference.

One last thing to note, this game has some humor in it too. The characters really seem alive and there are some neat animations that bring the world to life. Just to point out a few, there's the nap animation and the character cooking a BBQ that both had me cracking a smile.

Summary

Get excited for MH3 if you:

• Like hack-n-slash games
• Like RPG games
• Have component cables for 480p
• Have Wii Speak and friends getting the game

If none of the above apply to you, then you might just wanna wait for something else.

Nintendo Media Summit 2010

Nintendo had a Media Summit today to announce their release schedule for the first half of 2010. Nintendo is one of the top publishers when it comes to their games maintaining resale value.

Here are some of the games announced:

• Monster Hunter Tri (April 20)
  
  • Bundle w/ Classic Controller - $59.99
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 (May 23) - See trailer below
• Sin and Punishment 2 (June 7)
• Metroid: Other M (June 27)

Nintendo also announced a new piece of hardware in the Nintendo DSi XL. It will be priced at $189.99 and feature screens that are 93% larger than the DS Lite.

Though this is hardly new considering it's been out in Japan for a few months, it's nice to know when it's coming to North America.

Welcome to Violence - Sega Wii Bundle

Sega is releasing a mature games bundle for Australian Wii's. It's called "Welcome to Violence" and includes "The Conduit", "House of the Dead Overkill", and "MadWorld".

The price is right too. Only $110 Australian dollars which is about what a new Xbox 360 or PS3 game costs in the land down under.

I played all three of these games when they released stateside but any Australian readers out there should definitely pick this up if they haven't tried these games yet.

If Sega does release this in the US I might be tempted to buy it because of the cool name and box art. Plus bundles make great collectibles.

From Kotaku

Nintendo Discontinues Games, Makes Them Collectible

News has been released that Nintendo may have discontinued production on some of their games. The fifteen games that will be discontinued are:

Battalion Wars II
Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
Endless Ocean
Excitebots: Trick Racing
Excite Truck
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Mario Strikers Charged
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Metroid Prime Trilogy
New Play Control! Pikmin
Wario Land: Shake It!
Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Wii Fit
Wii Music

You can see from the charts on most of these games that the used prices have steadily decreased over time and people are probably buying used copies instead of new ones at this point.

A few of these are ripe to become collectors items though if Nintendo stops making them.

Metroid Prime Trilogy is still selling for about $40 in the resale market. Other compilation games have kept their value very well like Grand Theft Auto Trilogy and Halo Trilogy both for Xbox.

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn sells for almost $60 when it is sealed, which is above the original MSRP. Plus its an RPG, which tend to keep their value better than other genres.

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is another game that could definitely become of the most expensive Wii games. No more supply coming to market, a popular franchise character, and a steady price already bode well for its chances to increase in value.

We will check back in a few weeks and see how this news from Nintendo changes the prices for these games in the short term.

Virtual Console's Effect On Game Resale Values

What effect does the Wii's Virtual Console service have on the resale price of the original games? Does the price drop because people can buy the game on the Virtual Console (VC) instead? Or do more people hear about the game because of the new release which increases the demand for the original too?

We found there is no statistical change in resale prices after Virtual Console games are released.

The games dropped in price an average of 9.6% (see table below) but there was so much variation in the 60 different games we analyzed that statistically speaking it wasn't significant. Here is a chart showing the percentage change for each game.
You can see in the chart above that there is no obvious pattern to the changes in price. Some games increased in price, others decreased in price.

Below is a chart that shows the distribution of the price changes. The largest number of games decreased between 0% and -20%.

Price Changes For Virtual Console Releases Compared To All Games

We also compared the change in price that we saw for games released on the virtual console to all games during the same time period. The chart below shows the average resale price change for every game (the VC release chart is shown again for easy comparison).


We ran a statistical test to see if the difference between the average change for these two sets of numbers was significant. The test showed no statistically significant difference between the average price change for games with VC releases and all other games. Meaning Virtual Console releases don't change resale price.

Why Don't Virtual Console Games Change Resale Prices

For the Virtual Console to significantly change the resale price of the original games, it needs to change the supply or demand for the original game. It needs to cause more people to buy, more to sell, fewer to buy, or fewer to sell. Here are several reasons why the Virtual Console MIGHT NOT change resale prices.

1. The overlap among Wii and retro console owners isn't very big
I'm sure there are some Wii owners who own an NES, SNES, or Genesis (probably many readers of VGPC), but I don't think the average Wii owner does. Because of this Virtual Console games coming out won't stop these owners from buying the original game or encourage them to sell a copy they already own.

2. The Virtual Console isn't that popular
Nintendo has never released solid numbers showing how many downloads the Virtual Console has for a particular title. Super Mario Bros for NES sold about 40 million copies world wide. If the game was only downloaded 50,000 times, it won't have much effect on the resale price because it is such a small number by comparison.

3. Gamers want to have physical copies of their games
The people who buy the old game cartridges might not want to own a "virtual" copy of a game. If they are only interested in the original cartridge for nostalgia, collecting, or some other reason; the VC release won't effect their decision at all.

Charts Showing Prices Before And After Virtual Console Release

Below are a few charts showing the prices for the original games before and after the same game was released on the Virtual Console. The prices shown are a seven day moving average to reduce daily price swings and make the trends easier to see.
Super Mario Bros 3 for NES
Shining Force II for Genesis
Super Mario RPG for Super Nintendo
Mario Golf for Nintendo 64
Earthworm Jim for Genesis
Donkey Kong Country 3 for Super Nintendo
1080 Snowboarding for Nintendo 64
Ninja Gaiden 3 for NES

Table of Changes In Resale Price After Virtual Console Release

Game	System	Before	After	Change
Super Mario Bros. 3	NES	7.13	10.23	43%
Axelay	SNES	7.19	10.98	53%
Sonic 3D Blast	Genesis	2.52	1.04	-59%
Vegas Stakes	SNES	0.38	0.38	0%
Ecco Jr.	Genesis	2.97	2.12	-29%
Pokémon Snap	N64	2.21	3.47	57%
Cybernator	SNES	8.43	6.84	-19%
Alien Storm	Genesis	1.87	1.75	-6%
Blades of Steel	NES	0.80	1.35	69%
Donkey Kong Country 3	SNES	18.25	19.95	9%
Rolling Thunder 2	Genesis	7.72	7.47	-3%
StarTropics	NES	1.20	0.86	-28%
Pac-Attack	SNES	3.42	5.41	58%
Super Street Fighter II	SNES	13.95	11.15	-20%
1080° Snowboarding	N64	3.39	1.85	-45%
Harvest Moon	SNES	59.99	84.04	40%
Ninja Gaiden III	NES	14.00	19.54	40%
Phantasy Star II	Genesis	7.98	5.84	-27%
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards	N64	13.37	10.91	-18%
Super Turrican	SNES	10.94	2.44	-78%
Spelunker	NES	2.85	2.13	-25%
Super R-Type	SNES	1.45	2.23	54%
King's Knight	NES	1.95	1.47	-25%
Cruis'n USA	N64	3.70	3.92	6%
Bases Loaded	NES	0.32	0.78	144%
Yoshi's Cookie	NES	3.42	3.35	-2%
Mega Turrican	Genesis	5.46	5.4	-1%
River City Ransom	NES	20.35	15.12	-26%
Phantasy Star III	Genesis	6.73	9.37	39%
Double Dragon	NES	4.42	4.09	-8%
Renegade	NES	0.85	1.45	70%
Pokémon Puzzle League	N64	5.28	4.77	-10%
Sky Kid	NES	3.25	2.73	-16%
City Connection	NES	1.00	0.99	-1%
Dig Dug	NES	8.00	8.00	0%
Donkey Kong 3	NES	5.27	5.58	6%
Splatterhouse 2	Genesis	26.81	22.31	-17%
Mega Man	NES	16.98	31.93	88%
Clu Clu Land	NES	1.57	1.99	27%
Super Mario RPG	SNES	38.32	33.32	-13%
Mega Man 2	NES	5.98	7.5	25%
Super Dodge Ball	NES	10.48	9.98	-5%
Vectorman	Genesis	1.34	2.45	83%
Super Turrican 2	SNES	40.62	14.62	-64%
Mario Golf	N64	8.77	9.91	13%
Shining Force II	Genesis	28.31	29.32	4%
Secret of Mana	SNES	50.64	28.8	-43%
Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition	Genesis	1.33	1.33	0%
Earthworm Jim	Genesis	4.34	8.11	87%
Mega Man 3	NES	6.49	8.46	30%
Space Invaders	SNES	2.19	3.04	39%
Forgotten Worlds	Genesis	4.37	3.66	-16%
Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure	Genesis	5.07	5.63	11%
Phantasy Star IV	Genesis	13.97	13.15	-6%
Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II	NES	4.05	6.00	48%
Kirby's Dream Land 3	SNES	31.43	34.69	10%
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse	NES	14.48	5.68	-61%
M.U.S.H.A.	Genesis	107.12	59.33	-45%
Mercs	Genesis	3.70	3.66	-1%
Life Force	NES	3.07	3.25	6%
OVERALL AVERAGE		11.56	10.45	-9.6%

Data Notes: This study includes all Virtual Console games released after October 2007 for NES, SNES, N64, and Genesis. Games released prior to October 2007 are left out because we don't have prices before that date. We also excluded a few other titles released after that date because we didn't start tracking their resale prices before they were launched on the VC.

The "Start Prices" are the 7 Day average price 30 days before the game launched on Virtual Console. The "End Prices" are the 7 Day average price 60 days after launch.

Mario Kart Wii - When Will The Shortage End?

Yesterday I went into Best Buy to try and buy Mario Kart Wii. Five or more of my Wii friends have the game and I wanted to play online with them. Unfortunately the game was sold out. They checked all the Best Buy's in the Denver area and not one had the game in stock. Mario Kart Wii continues to sell for more than retail price in the resale market too. I don't understand how Mario Kart Wii can still be in such short supply nearly a year after release.

According to NPD, Mario Kart sold 292,000 games in January 2009. That makes it the 3rd best selling game of the month, but Wii Fit, which comes with a much more complicated peripheral, sold 777,000 units. Nintendo should be able to make a lot more than 292,000 Mario Kart's in one month if they can make nearly 800,000 Wii Fit's.

Prediction Wrong: Wii Reselling for $250

Back in January 2008 I wrote an article predicting the Wii would sell for $400 during Christmas 2008. I got the overall prediction wrong because Wii prices are only about $250 this holiday season. As you can see in the chart below the prices on the Wii are much lower than they were in 2007.

In December 2007 the average Wii was selling for $469. December 2008 the average Wii price is $250.

Although I got the main prediction wrong I did get all the smaller predictions correct, except for one big one. Nintendo supplied a lot more Wii's than expected. WiiFit did turn help make the Wii the must have gift 3 years in a row as I predicted, but I had no idea Nintendo was able to sell 2 million Wii's in November, which is the most consoles ever sold in November (PS2 sold 1.3 million in 2002).

Historically December sales are twice November's, which would put the Wii at 4 million consoles sold. Normally resale prices are below the retail price though, so the Wii is still a bit supply constrained and probably won't be able to double November sales. Because of this I think December's NPD sales data will show the Wii at about 3.3-3.5 million units.

8 Bit Games Recreated Using Boom Blox

This is a bit different than my usual posts about video game prices and collecting, but somewhat related and I think gamers and collectors will appreciate it as much as I did. Travis Hendricks, one of the loyal readers of this blog, has recreated some classic video games using the level editor in Boom Blox. Enjoy the video below.

How To Recreate Galaga Level Using Boom Blox

The levels might appear to be really straight forward but each one took quite a bit of behind the scenes action to make them actually work. Here's Travis's video tutorial and write up showing how he created the Galaga level in Boom Blox.



This was actually my very first stage in this series of Classics Recreated and let me tell you, it was not an easy first mission trying to figure out how to get everything to move correctly. So here's how I made it all work.

The ship itself, and the "extra life" ships, are nothing more than a few white and red Blox in the shape of a Galaga ship. The main ship has a dog character on it, the one who throws balls at everyone, so it gives the impression that the ship is firing.

The alien ships are set in a phalanx of little Deaths, little Skeletons, big Deaths, and big Skeletons to make them all appear a little different, much like the alien ships in Galaga. The "swooping" ships that come down the left side of the Galaga ship are the little Racoon characters that run after Gem Blox and bring them back to their fiery pit.

So to get all the characters (Dog, Deaths, Skeletons, Racoons) to move in the manner that I wanted I simply placed the things they desire slightly off screen and in an immovable Blox box. So for the Racoon guys I placed some Gem Blox behind, and slightly to the side of, the Galaga ship so they would move down the screen. For the Death and Skeleton characters I placed a few Kittens behind the Galaga ship. And for the Dog character, well, he just throws balls at any thing that moves.

From there, everything else just sort of takes care of itself.

Guitar Hero World Tour In Short Supply

Guitar Hero World Tour came out a couple of weeks ago and it doesn't look like the economy is hurting sales at all. The full band package with the guitar, drums, and game is selling so well it is hard find at retailers even though it is an almost $200 item.

The Wii and 360 versions are selling for more than MSRP. The Wii Guitar Hero World Tour is selling for $277 on average and the 360 version is selling for about $200 (just slightly over retail price). The Playstation 3 version is the only one where resale prices are below the suggested retail price. It's selling for $163 on average.

If you already own a Guitar and just want to buy the World Tour game or Guitar Bundle you don't have to worry about trying to find the games, they are plentiful and resale prices are below MSRP. Following the trend for most games without supply issues.

The prices appear to be coming down from October to November so Activision must be shipping more of these to stores.

Wii Might Repeat Last Year's Sell-Outs

The CEO of GameStop said as part of an interview with Gamedaily

"I've never seen this type of demand before. I know they're making more, but we're still short like everybody else. I think we'll have a continued shortage this Christmas. I don't see a near-term end in sight for Wii shortages, not unless they really ramp up supply. I think they've ramped it up 20 percent or so, but Nintendo is fairly cautious by nature. They ramped it up 20 and it's still evaporating."

I predicted this same thing back on January 31st of this year. I said Wii resale prices will be above $400 this Christmas season. I stand by my prediction but I don't think the price spike will be as bad as last year's. See the chart below for the 2007 Wii prices.


Wii prices increased almost $200 during November 2007. Right now Wii Console's are selling for $250, the retail price. If the GameStop CEO is right, this is probably the lowest price the Wii Console will be the rest of 2008.

Mario Kart Wii Is Selling Over Retail Price

Mario Kart Wii has now entered the company of WiiFit and the Wii Console and is selling for more than retail price online. Mario Kart prices on ebay are over $60. Overall the game is selling for about $65 on ebay, amazon, and half.com.


It seems Nintendo has problems keeping any games in stock that include hardware. Even Wii Play is selling for just at retail price or slightly over and its been out for well over a year. It is much harder to increase supply for these games because they aren't just printing discs. They actually have to make something with electronic components. Which takes a lot longer to make.

Wii Game Prices | Xbox 360 Game Prices | PS3 Game Prices

Collecting 101: Review Score Is Important Factor In Video Game Resale Prices

Just like new cars drop in price when you drive them off the lot, the resale prices of video games drop in price the day you buy them. In fact the resale price of video games released in 2007 dropped 0.24% per day. But do well reviewed games drop as much as poorly reviewed ones? We set off to find out.

For our analysis we looked at every game released in 2007 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii. A total of 322 games. We then gathered resale price data from VGPC.com and review scores from metacritic.com for each game. We then charted the review score vs the price change per day for every game to see if there is a trend (Every trendline show below is statistically significant with 99% confidence. See discussion below for more details). The chart below shows all the data points:

Click Chart For Larger Image

There is an obvious trend with the lower the review score the bigger the price drop per day. Based upon the data, a game with a review score of 90 points would be predicted to drop in price 0.19% per day, while a game with a 50 review score would drop 0.24% per day. This might not seem like a huge difference but after a year the great game would sell for $16.70 and the bad game would sell for $7.38. The same basic trend holds true for each console too:

Xbox 360 Games: Review Score vs Resale Price

Click Chart For Larger Image
Xbox 360 games had an average review score of 68.7 and dropped in price 0.24% per day. A game with a 90 metacritic score drops 0.21%/Day and a 50 reviewed game drops 0.27%/Day. Also worth noting, in 2007 the 360 had the highest average review score of the three main consoles.

PS3 Games: Review Score vs Resale Price

Click Chart For Larger Image
PS3 games had an average review score of 61.6 and dropped in price 0.24% per day also. A Playstation 3 game with a 90 metacritic score drops 0.18%/Day and a 50 reviewed game drops 0.27%/Day. The PS3 is statistically the same as the 360 in terms of the price drop per day, which makes sense because many games on the 360 are also available on the Playstation 3.

Wii Games: Review Score vs Resale Price

Click Chart For Larger Image
The average Wii game had a review score of 45.7 and dropped in price 0.22% per day. A Wii game with a 90 metacritic score drops 0.16%/Day and a 50 reviewed game drops 0.22%/Day. The average Wii review score is below 50 so companies are making quite a few bad games for the Wii. But at the same time the Wii has the lowest percentage drop per day. Maybe all those casual gamers keep the resale prices up.

Why does this matter to the average gamer though? The video games you buy are a depreciating asset. If you are the sort who trades your games in to buy new ones or sells them online after you beat them, be sure you don't procrastinate selling your games.

Now developers and publishers take note too. If you make a game with a good review score it will sell at a higher price for longer. We only analyzed resale prices but it makes sense that the bigger the difference is between used prices and new prices, the more people are going to buy the used game. You will have to keep lowering prices to sell the game. Another good reason to STOP MAKING BAD GAMES.

Nerd Discussion Below. Warning! Here is some more info for math/stats people out there who want to know all the details about the regression. For the complete dataset (the top chart) the r-squared is 0.0539, so only about 5.4% of the price variation is predicted by the review score. The trend is statistically significant though with a p-value of 0.000025, way below the .01 needed for a 99% confidence level. Here are the other r-squared and p-value numbers:


With this type of data we wouldn't expect one variable to predict a very large portion of the price changes so we think 5.4% is pretty good. In the future we would like to run an analysis with more variables in hopes of improving the r-squared. We are considering using these variables in future analysis:

• Days since released - price drops usually slow down the longer a game has been available
• Publisher - certain publishers like Atlus tend to publish games that keep their value
• Serial game or not - games that come out every year like sports titles drop in price faster
• Is it the last year of the console's life - games released in the last year of a console's support tend to become rare and don't drop in price

Hopefully with more variables we can increase the r-squared and be able to predict the changes in resale prices with more accuracy.

This is part of our video game collecting 101 series.