DefaultGen

I'm interested to see how innovative this will be, or if it's just a 2.5D iteration on Super Metroid. We have a lot of Super Metroid-style games these days. Metroid, Super Metroid, and Metroid Prime were all game changers, something totally new. I love Nintendo's mold-breaking games (Mario Galaxy, BOTW, Metroid Prime, etc.). I mean, I'll play it and enjoy it either way, I just hope it's at least a little more than "New Super Metroid U". Also anyone else hate 2.5D? It just looks so cheap as an art style. I think the New Super Mario Bros games are the closest to pulling it off, but even those probably have the worst style of any Mario game. Some games use it alright like Shadow Complex or Inside, but those are never going to look as good as a Super Metroid, Cuphead, or The Messenger.

WD would be on fire if they still existed making collector-focused releases of their own translated games. They could be like a better-curated, more exclusive version of LRG.

I'm so sad the recent one got backdoored. (I don't need one though, godspeed guys)

I got a couple cool versions of Chrono Trigger recently. The V-Jump edition given away by the magazine (in the copper box) and the sample ROM, a demo of the game with pre-set save points.

I don't make it through many turn based JRPGs and FFX wasn't an exception. Got bored and stopped

There is a limit to the number of people dropping G's on sealed Nintendo tapes. But people aren't limited to buying one copy

Unless there's some kind of 1-off, this is the rarest game. Go find one. I see the GBA crowd posting weird rare variants all the time. There's definitely niche stuff rarer than the top tier expensive stuff like Ninja Five-O and Pocky & Rocky with Becky. Although Ice Nine and Sega Rally Championship are two hype games that genuinely seem pretty damn rare CIB.

Mario Zelda Nintendo 64

There was a rumor/exaggeration that made the rounds that only ~400 copies were stocked in the entire US. Obviously untrue with how many copies are out there (although it did receive reprints after people started actually buying them out of stock based on the rumor, lol) https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/rumor-only-420-copies-of-devils-third-sent-to-gamestop-nationwide/

Devil's Third is still propped up based on an incorrect print run rumor, crazy.

These little feet are going to catch against other games when you pull them off the shelf. The case design in general just doesn't look well designed from an aesthetic, security, or convenience sense.

I don't think exact copies exist anymore. Jewel cases were heavier in the 90s than they are now. If you weigh a modern case and find one that matches 1:1 to the gram, let me know. Still can't beat Goodwill CDs and dollar bin PS1 games to get 1:1 cases as far as I can tell.

PCE Works text on the back is wrong. Look at the "FOR SALE and USE IN JAPAN ONLY" text on the back, specifically the boldness and positioning. This is PCE Works: This is real: Here is a legit inner disc code: PCE Works discs may obviously say PCE Works on them where it should say Konami. There seem to be a few disc variants. There may be a "more legit" looking one which I why I posted the legit ring code. Above info courtesy of Gex and Hyrulevyse. There may be many other subtle differences, this is just what I have in my notes. Fuck PCE Works btw.

I need to stare and compare more codes to figure out the date code on the end. More of them seem to match (just look at how many Kieta Princesses are K17s). The digits can be a little offset sometimes, not sure if that can mean anything (like it was stamped twice?). The later date can be either before or after the first date. A mystery

Yeah the disk writer games would make things tricky, but good job! I gotta make a little converter for all these so I don't have to keep counting on my fingers.

Jeez, even the 3DS version is over $100. I didn't realize how far the Shantae madness had penetrated. It's kind of funny that a company that creates limited products is creating more limited products to meet the demand created by their own scarcity. LRG is a money printing machine baby.

Not 100% sure, but maybe Sonic 2 around Christmas 1993.

This list looks good. Just gotta add Shakedown Hawaii.

Did you end up figuring this out? There's a seller on YAJ who claims he has a real and fake Recca for sale and they've been up a while. I have both sets of pictures saved to compare, but whenever another Recca comes up I still usually can't tell 100% what is real and what is fake. I can sometimes easily tell fake ones, but I can't 100% call something real, especially since the reg cards and everything are repro'd. I just figure if I get one I'll need someone local or a trustworthy dealer to authenticate one for me.

I'm looking into the actual serial numbers on the disks. I didn't find anything with a quick search. I don't want to reinvent the wheel if someone already knows what these mean. Zelda has a lot of them, which makes sense since Zelda probably was in print for a very long time so that's a good place to start. At a glance I see Zeldas with serials starting with H, I, J, K, and L. The second letter seems to be I, J, or K from what I've seen. Looking at a late release like Time Twist, the serial isn't too far off from the average Zelda, so it might not be related to date. I'm hoping these can be used to help authenticate rare games or piece together correct inserts with certain disk variants, but I'll need a lot more information since I'm at square zero here. All the Charumera Zeldas I see at a glance are one digit off from each other so I doubt they're completely random. Some random Zelda 1 disk codes in case that helps anyone figure it out: K15J04 I296I04 J145I24 J316I22 J026I03 K215J29 K296K10 K155J11 K086J16 K135J11 (Charumera) K145J11 (Charumera) K195J11 (Charumera) L185K38 Time Twist, a game that wasn't released until 1991: Charumera Zelda:

If you want an answer besides "NES, first party Nintendo", I would guess that sealed prices put a cap on what carts and CIBs could sell for in the past because this game was $60 common as balls sealed. Those have either been bought up or prices hiked up to $100s.

There's certainly no inserts to document, don't worry.

This is amusing because some of these will likely have more copies that exist than people who have ever played the game. How many games can say that? Can any? No "player" market, no used market, no digital market, not some collectible rerelease. These are games no one has ever played going straight to shelves. If your game can't cut it for $5 in digital stores and has to be sold in a limited time window one-time before anyone can review it, I can't imagine you have a lot of faith in your game's performance. So who's gonna open them?

It's called a population report and grading people have all been mad for years that Wata doesn't release this information when every other grading company does. AFAIK Wata was only planning on initially releasing NES population, maybe that changed.

Had a snipe on an auction with a bid. The auction got taken down and the seller put it up as a BIN for half my max bid, which of course sold instantly. Then I had a hit on a different saved search for the first time ever and it was a $40 BIN, gone by the time I saw it. Both uncommon Commodore 64 games, really not the end of the world, but people putting random BINs on items with no price history, what motivates you! Just put up an auction! The worst that can happen is one person bids for your minimum bid price! I'm trying to give you money Side note, every seller who puts a random too-low BIN on an item that I nab in time, good on you. Keep up the good work.