Insane nerds bid war for a sealed Chrono Trigger

[r_benchley]

Anyone who pays a premium for a "sealed" copy of a game is a fool.  It is very, very easy to shrinkwrap a used game, and ta-da!  Brand new game! 

[nodtveidt]

I have a couple of unopened TG games (R-Type and Fantasy Zone) that I will never unwrap, but only because I've got duplicates on the way. I sure as hell didn't pay anywhere NEAR that price for either of them though. I also know that Aaron didn't pay anywhere near that price for his unopened, minty fresh copy of Magical Chase US.

[Black Tiger]

I don't see anything wrong with paying a premium price to get to open a brand new game yourself, that will only ever be marred by your own grubby hands. There are still lots of mint complete games for all the non-"idiots".

$1200 to me today is about what $120 meant to me when I bought Chrono Trigger back in the day.

Of course, sealed game prices are jacked up by collectors who plan on never opening the games.

[nodtveidt]

Well, there's a difference in paying $1200 for an unopened copy of, let's say, Pepsi Invaders or Atlantis II, and paying $1200 for an incredibly common game like Chrono Trigger.

[Dark Fact]

These guys could've just had downloaded ZSNES and the Chrono Trigger ROM and saved themselves $1,200 right there.

By the way, I saw one store sell just the cartridge for Chrono Trigger for $40.  The thing is, the game is rare and it is incredibly beloved by RPG gamers everywhere.  I played the game and it is a personal favorite of mine but I wouldn't pay $1,200 for it.

I guess when you're dealing with games that are beloved by gamers everywhere, they'll do just about anything to get their grubby little hands on it.

[nodtveidt]

But the game ISN'T rare. That's the thing.

[Black Tiger]

But the game ISN'T rare. That's the thing.

There may be a decent number of copies out there, but there's also a large demand for the SNES version(apparently). Where as most people haven't even heard of Magical Chase or Dynastic Hero.

[nectarsis]

Yea, but the ones that know aboutthose 2...USUALY know that they are rare

[GUTS]

Man, Nintendo fans truly are the stupidest mother f*ckers on earth.

[nodtveidt]

There may be a decent number of copies out there, but there's also a large demand for the SNES version(apparently). Where as most people haven't even heard of Magical Chase or Dynastic Hero.

Large demand doesn't equal rarity though. I'm sure you saw the whole FF7 fiasco...it wasn't because it was rare, it was because Advent Children was coming out in the West and people drove up the price of the game as a result. But even now, it's being touted as "RARE!" despite the fact that not only was it mass-produced on its first run, but had a SECOND RUN as a Greatest Hits release.

[rainbow_bright]

Maybe this nintendo fanboy is a millionaire, it may be peanuts to him

or..maybe not. It's too much, I could spend that money a lot more wisely!

[Kitsunexus]

I myself had always wondered about the "FF7 is rare" thing. Aren't RARE games something that only a few like, thus a few were produced? Or having a lot produced and all but a few destroyed?

Nothing like that happened to FF7.

Man, Nintendo Squaresoft fans truly are the stupidest mother f*ckers on earth.

Arguably fixed.

[Dark Fact]

It's rare where I live.  I can't even find that game without going to specialty stores or the occasional flea market.  If Mistwalker and Square-Enix weren't in such a rights dispute, we could've seen this game re-released for the Game Boy Advance or the Nintendo DS years ago.

[r_benchley]

The problem with games like FF 7, isn't that they're rare, but that most of the copies are in the hands of people that actually want them and have no intention of selling them.  Same thing with Symphony of the Night on the Playstation.  Contra for the NES is common as crabgrass, but back when I used to work at Funcoland, it was far more expensive than just about every other NES game because very few people were willing to sell their copies.  

[Black Tiger]

There may be a decent number of copies out there, but there's also a large demand for the SNES version(apparently). Where as most people haven't even heard of Magical Chase or Dynastic Hero.

Large demand doesn't equal rarity though. I'm sure you saw the whole FF7 fiasco...it wasn't because it was rare, it was because Advent Children was coming out in the West and people drove up the price of the game as a result. But even now, it's being touted as "RARE!" despite the fact that not only was it mass-produced on its first run, but had a SECOND RUN as a Greatest Hits release.

Although sellers are awful for advertising their games as RARE!!!, however common or not loose Chrono Triggers are, I'm guessing that there aren't too many sealed copies for sale regularly.

People buying pristine copies of collectible retro games aren't just buying them to play, otherwise they'd stick to rereleases like Chrono Trigger PSX or non-mint bare carts.