Limited Run Games

[avatar! | 1,807]

Update: June 7, 2020 -- Feb 25, 2021

Converting this first page to a list of small companies that produce physical games

1)Limited Run Games -- Founded 2015, Raleigh NC, USA

Arguably the most successful model for producing high-quality collectible games in small physical batches. 

https://limitedrungames.com/

 

2)Special Reserve Games -- Founded 2016, Dallas TX, USA

While they do not publish many titles, they focus on very special and highly-collectible products.

https://specialreservegames.com/

Update: All sales from the website have ended as of November 5th, 2023.

 

3)iam8bit -- Founded 2005, Los Angeles CA, USA

iam8bit is a production company that focuses on game-related merchandise. However, they do also produce limited edition games, many of which sell out.

https://www.iam8bit.com/

 

4)Fangamer -- Founded 2007, Tucson AZ, USA

Like iam8bit, they are more into gaming merchandise than games. However, they do produce some physical editions you can not find anywhere else.

https://www.fangamer.com/

 

5)Strictly Limited Games -- Founded 2017, Germany

Their motto is "Every month we want to bring a great console game from the realm of digital downloads into the physical world".

https://www.strictlylimitedgames.com/

 

6)Pix'n Love -- Founded 2007, France

They mostly produce books, but have also been producing special editions of games (the games themselves are not exclusive).

https://www.pixnlovepublishing.com/

 

7)Super Rare Games -- Founded 2018, London England

"At Super Rare Games, we strive to bring collectors the very best physical content for the Nintendo Switch."

https://superraregames.com/   ? problems

 

8)Signature Edition Games -- Founded ??, France

They sell nice collector's editions of games, although the games are not exclusive.

https://signatureeditiongames.com/

 

9)Play-Asia -- Founded 2002, Hong Kong

Play-Asia sells lots of entertainment products such as movies, soundtracks, and of course video games, including limited editions you won't find elsewhere.

https://www.play-asia.com/exclusives

 

10)Red Art Games -- Founded 2018, France

They note that they are "specialized in limited editions and retro gaming."

https://www.redartgames.com/

11)Nicalis -- Founded 2007, Santa Ana CA, USA

They publish and develop games, some of which are quite acclaimed. Note that the CEO has been accused of "unprofessionalism" in a lengthy 2019 Kotaku article.

https://store.nicalis.com/

 

12)PixelHeart -- Founded ??, Somewhere, France

"PixelHeart is a company that distributes and publishes independent video games on multiple platforms..."

https://www.pixelheart.eu/shop/
 

13)Forever Limited -- Founded circa 2020, Somewhere, Poland

Publisher of physical copies in three states -- unlimited, "Limited", and "Exclusive".

https://forever-limited.com/

 

14)VGNYsoft -- Founded 2021, New York, USA

"VGNYsoft is an independent video game publisher/distributor based out of New York City. We're working on preserving the legacy of games through the distribution of physical media. We specialize in publishing unique and interesting titles that haven't had the opportunity to receive a physical printing."

https://www.vgnysoft.com/

 

15)Premium Edition -- Founded 2021, Somewhere

"Our goal is to not only preserve video games, but make all of our hand-selected releases truly memorable. We are the hipster artist of publishers and focus on creating the coolest releases on the planet!"

https://premiumeditiongames.com/

Edited March 7 by avatar!

[Skorp | 383]

Yeah, got that thread in the Switch club. Will update it this weekend since it hasn't been updated since April on NA, so lots of work! Hope Brock comes back.

Edited November 7, 2019 by Skorp

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,055]

I was getting all the Switch releases up until Ms. Splosion Man. It finally just became too much. Between their numbered and side published games it's just a ridiculous money sink.

[avatar! | 1,807]

25 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

I was getting all the Switch releases up until Ms. Splosion Man. It finally just became too much. Between their numbered and side published games it's just a ridiculous money sink.

Somewhere out there I'm sure a few people have complete sets. For most of us, I would recommend purchase what you will enjoy playing!

Also, for those that remember the very start of LRG, whenever they had a new release, it was a bloodbath getting it. Glad they adopted the model they are using now. 

[Darth Vader | 154]

Has anyone ordered and received the first wave of Star Wars carded games? I thought it said they would ship out in October!?

I know they state that if you order more stuff they usually bundle the shipment but I've ordered every wave of Star Wars stuff, with plenty of buffer in between. Do I have to stop ordering stuff for a while for them to ship it or has the first wave not shipped yet?

[ZBomber | 54]

1 minute ago, Darth Vader said:

Has anyone ordered and received the first wave of Star Wars carded games? I thought it said they would ship out in October!?

I know they state that if you order more stuff they usually bundle the shipment but I've ordered every wave of Star Wars stuff, with plenty of buffer in between. Do I have to stop ordering stuff for a while for them to ship it or has the first wave not shipped yet?

All the retro Star Wars carded games/collector editions are currently scheduled to ship in December.

[Darth Vader | 154]

1 minute ago, ZBomber said:

All the retro Star Wars carded games/collector editions are currently scheduled to ship in December.

Ah, I see it now on a link for the first release. They must have pushed it back because in the description it still says they originally planned to start shipping in late September.

[m308gunner | 352]

I am, of course, looking forward to their release of Metal Storm. Got myself a Collector's Edition. It won't truly replace the original CIB I had years ago, but all the merch that comes with it may bury the feels for a while.

[ZBomber | 54]

10 minutes ago, Darth Vader said:

Ah, I see it now on a link for the first release. They must have pushed it back because in the description it still says they originally planned to start shipping in late September.

Yeah unfortunately that tends to be pretty common for LRG titles. I'm just hoping they ship them out before xmas (and put up the Jedi Knight titles soon)

[acomicbookguyc | 9]

Does anyone have a Celeste Collector's Edition box protector yet?

[bag | 58]

Definitely recommend rogue legacy. Fun game with some challenge

[Dragonwarrior83 | 16]

2 hours ago, bag said:

Definitely recommend rogue legacy. Fun game with some challenge

I haven't opened mine up yet. I just got celeste earlier this week and put an hour into that and that is really fun and brutal at the same time. I have almost all of the switch games, I think I'm missing 6. I dont buy many digital games so they are usually new to me. I would definitely recommend Mercenary Kings, it reminds me of metal slug.

[Galdius | 1,507]

11 hours ago, avatar! said:

Somewhere out there I'm sure a few people have complete sets. For most of us, I would recommend purchase what you will enjoy playing!

Also, for those that remember the very start of LRG, whenever they had a new release, it was a bloodbath getting it. Glad they adopted the model they are using now. 

Vita customers still have to deal with the bloodbath. The last releases have sold out in 1-2 minutes and there is a 2 per customer limit (I still think it should be 1 per customer).
Now there are less than 5 Vita games to be released by LRG so thankfully it's ending.
I've been there since Breach & Clear and got every single Vita release. I can't wait for it to end.
There were a lot of crappy games released for it and since I was going for the set, I kept buying them.
 

[bag | 58]

5 hours ago, Dragonwarrior83 said:

I haven't opened mine up yet. I just got celeste earlier this week and put an hour into that and that is really fun and brutal at the same time. I have almost all of the switch games, I think I'm missing 6. I dont buy many digital games so they are usually new to me. I would definitely recommend Mercenary Kings, it reminds me of metal slug.

Have to check it out. Loved playing metal slug at the arcades with my brothers.

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

I'm not a fan of the artificial scarcity business model, so I'm not a fan of LRG. That being said, it seems like their stuff is quality, even if their turnaround is sometimes horrible.

[Dragonwarrior83 | 16]

1 hour ago, DoctorEncore said:

I'm not a fan of the artificial scarcity business model, so I'm not a fan of LRG. That being said, it seems like their stuff is quality, even if their turnaround is sometimes horrible.

Sometimes their turnaround is horrendous. It seems they have a wide gap in shipping times in between orders of the same game lots. I can read of people on here and the old site talking about a game they just got and I would get excited because I ordered that game so I should be receiving it soon.  Wrong, 2 to 4 weeks later I'll finally get it. I dont know if it's because I order my game later, I don't normally hop on there at the first email notification and start buying.

[avatar! | 1,807]

3 hours ago, DoctorEncore said:

I'm not a fan of the artificial scarcity business model, so I'm not a fan of LRG. That being said, it seems like their stuff is quality, even if their turnaround is sometimes horrible.

I don't see any other way they could stay in business. A game like Zelda, Super Mario Bros. etc. will sell millions. Most if not all of the LRG are available in digital format, and how many people want physical copies? I do like their current business model, which for the most part is produce an open order regular edition, and for those that want all kinds of extra "goodies", they release collector's editions. I think this is a win-win situation. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

1 hour ago, avatar! said:

I don't see any other way they could stay in business. A game like Zelda, Super Mario Bros. etc. will sell millions. Most if not all of the LRG are available in digital format, and how many people want physical copies? I do like their current business model, which for the most part is produce an open order regular edition, and for those that want all kinds of extra "goodies", they release collector's editions. I think this is a win-win situation. 

Yeah, I'm always a little torn with this argument. In the end, they don't create the demand, they meet the demand. But at the same time, they are not what I would consider "consumer-friendly." They seem to believe that they are doing some righteous work and that paying customers should be grateful for the opportunity to make a purchase. As far as I can tell, they they are more than happy to let people buy up supply and artificially inflate prices. This is good for their business as it artificially increases demand. And then there are the wait times and inconsistencies, which are unacceptable.

Bottom line: I think they have bad customer service, shady business practices, and only pretend to care about collectors to make money.

[avatar! | 1,807]

1 minute ago, DoctorEncore said:

Yeah, I'm always a little torn with this argument. In the end, they don't create the demand, they meet the demand. But at the same time, they are not what I would consider "consumer-friendly." They seem to believe that they are doing some righteous work and that paying customers should be grateful for the opportunity to make a purchase. As far as I can tell, they they are more than happy to let people buy up supply and artificially inflate prices. This is good for their business as it artificially increases demand. And then there are the wait times and inconsistencies, which are unacceptable.

Bottom line: I think they have bad customer service, shady business practices, and only pretend to care about collectors to make money.

I really don't see anything shady here. Shady would be when they're trying to hide something, and as far as I know LRG has always been 100% forthcoming about what they are selling. 

As for "bad customer service" - well I've had a few things arrive damaged and LRG has always replaced them. Granted, sometimes it takes time and sometimes they are not great about communicating how long it will take, but they do follow through. I guess we live in an age where we think everything should be exactly like a multi-billion dollar enterprise such as amazon, which of course can instantly replace/refund you on a whim. I don't know how much LRG has in terms of assets, but I would be surprised if they are worth more than a few million dollars, and according to Wikipedia their number of employees grew from 2 in 2016 to 10 in 2017, so what is it now? 30 or so? Patience is not a virtue for today's age I think

As for letting people purchase supply, this is a touchy issue. Again, they are a small business, they can't afford to keep things on shelves. Are they "happy" when people purchase their games and the value goes up? I would hope so! I sure would be. Certainly better than when the game becomes worthless. Also, people "artificially" inflate the prices on everything. Nintendo is notorious for this! At least LRG tells you a game is coming out, and how many copies will be available. When Nintendo announces something like Zelda Dreamer Edition by the time you hear of it it's sold out everywhere. So, I would argue it's simply people that drive up the price of games - or anything remotely collectible. 

All in all, I have to respectfully disagree with just about everything you said. I can't say whether they feel they are doing something "righteous", but I certainly appreciate what LRG does and I will keep supporting them. Also, yes, honestly I do feel grateful for them and other small publishers that release physical copies of games that would otherwise only be available digitally. As LRG says "Physical Forever" and I agree! 

 

[avatar! | 1,807]

22 hours ago, m308gunner said:

I am, of course, looking forward to their release of Metal Storm. Got myself a Collector's Edition. It won't truly replace the original CIB I had years ago, but all the merch that comes with it may bury the feels for a while.

That looks sweet. Considering the price of the original Metal Storm, I think with all the goodies the new release is going to be pretty fab. Now, it wasn't actually a LRG release, although I believe they sold an exclusive version of the LE. By the way, will you open your CE?

Edited November 9, 2019 by avatar!

[m308gunner | 352]

59 minutes ago, avatar! said:

That looks sweet. Considering the price of the original Metal Storm, I think with all the goodies the new release is going to be pretty fab. Now, it wasn't actually a LRG release, although I believe they sold an exclusive version of the LE. By the way, will you open your CE?

 

I will wait for the kids and wife to go to bed, pour myself some Glenlivet whiskey, find the Metal Storm soundtrack on Youtube, and ever so gently pop the seal on that box. 

Giggity.

[avatar! | 1,807]

On 11/8/2019 at 9:41 PM, m308gunner said:

I will wait for the kids and wife to go to bed, pour myself some Glenlivet whiskey, find the Metal Storm soundtrack on Youtube, and ever so gently pop the seal on that box. 

Giggity.

Classy! 

I do hope iam8bit publishes more rare or unreleased NES games. Would be pretty great if they included a soundtrack CD too

[GreenKoopa | 15]

On 11/9/2019 at 1:41 PM, m308gunner said:

I will wait for the kids and wife to go to bed, pour myself some Glenlivet whiskey, find the Metal Storm soundtrack on Youtube, and ever so gently pop the seal on that box. 

Giggity.

Glenlivet is one of my favourite whiskies. Managed to get an 18 and 21 year old bottles years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. Long gone now unfortunately. 

 

On the bright side, going to Japan tomorrow, I have researched a few good whiskies to get. 

[m308gunner | 352]

8 hours ago, avatar! said:

Classy! 

I do hope iam8bit publishes more rare or unreleased NES games. Would be pretty great if they included a soundtrack CD too

Yeah, with prices for CIBs as they are I can think of a few Taito titles I would drop some coin on just to have a physical artifact or two.

[m308gunner | 352]

6 hours ago, GreenKoopa said:

Glenlivet is one of my favourite whiskies. Managed to get an 18 and 21 year old bottles years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. Long gone now unfortunately. 

 

On the bright side, going to Japan tomorrow, I have researched a few good whiskies to get. 

  I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I am. Just got into whiskies this past year after some conversations at work. Still kind of think it's the alcoholic equivalent of putting water in a used Sprite bottle and enjoying the hint of soda, but I'm developing a taste for it.