Indie/Limited/Obscure Physical Release Deals and Discussion Thread

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The Indie/Limited/Obscure Physical Release Thread​
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Physical media may not be as popular as it was in years past, but that has not stopped it from finding success in more niche areas of the market. In fact, we're seeing so many physical releases, these days, that it has become difficult for even dedicated collectors to keep up with all of them. Many games, usually indie titles, are seeing releases with highly limited prints, regional exclusivity, retailer exclusivity or are simply appearing with little notification. The purpose of this thread is to identify, catalogue, discuss and post deals for these releases, in hopes of making information more accessible and supporting the medium.​
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FAQ

Q: tl;dr

A: There are probably games that were released physically that you don't know about. Find them here.

Q: What is the "master list"?

A: The master list is a catalogue of all the games that have been identified here that meet certain criteria that differentiates them from standard, mainstream releases. It offers information regarding regional exclusivity, retailer exclusivity, print quantities and more.

Q: What are the criteria? How do you decide which games make the list?

A: For the most part, these will be "smaller" titles that were originally released as digital-only but have been given a physical release. Some exceptions may apply, like if an indie game launches with a physical release, it will likely be listed. Another exception would see a larger title that was only released digitally, for whatever reason, get a limited physical release (example: if Limited Run Games did a print of Fatal Frame V.)

Generally if a game is, as the title says, indie, limited or obscure and has a physical release, you'll see in on the "master list."

Also, the game must be region-free or NTSC-U and in English (subtitles are valid).

Q: Region free or NTSC-U? Doesn't that mean the list is only valid for North American users?

A: This means that every game on the list will be playable on North American consoles, though a few games may have versions that are region-locked on a certain console (this will be noted). Most games are now region free, so if you aren't from the NTSC-U region, it's very likely that the game will work for you. Knowledge of which systems do and don't have region-locking should allow anyone to make use of this list.

Q: What about games for collectors who aren't in the NTSC-U (North American) region or own consoles that can play region-locked games?

A: There may be a separate tab for you guys down the line. One step at a time.

Pre-Orders/Upcoming Releases


Notable Publishers/Distributors

iam8bit

A retailer, located in California, that sells all sorts of limited edition video game merchandise. They occasionally publish physical, indie titles for the PS4.

Limited Run Games

Based in California, Limited Run Games is generally accepted as the company that started the modern trend of releasing physical games in limited quantities. Currently, they publish several games a month but have stated they intend to ramp down. Their games come with collectible, trading cards and are sometimes offered alongside soundtracks, collector's editions and other related merchandise. The two heads of the company are very active on different forums and regularly engage with the community. They currently publish games for the PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch and occasionally the PC.

Play-Asia

Play-Asia is an established retailer located in Hong Kong. They are well known for offering a large variety of imported merchandise, including many games that have not seen western releases but have English subtitles. They've recently partnered with eastasiasoft to distribute exclusive and limited, physical releases. These games are often offered with collector's editions which are highly praised for their presentation, content and low prices.

Special Reserve Games

A company based in Texas, Special Reserve Games currently publishes games in limited quantities with no discernible schedule. Their games are frequently offered alongside collector's editions. They also collaborate with Limited Run Games to create variant covers for some of their titles, which are then sold via Limited Run Games' website. They currently publish for the PS4, PS Vita and PC.

Strictly Limited Games

Based in Germany, Strictly Limited Games seems to publish one title a month with varied but highly limited quantities. Collector's editions and soundtracks are sometimes offered alongside game releases. They've published games for the PS4 and PS Vita.

Super Rare Games

Located in London, these guys are relatively new to the limited game market. Similar to Limited Run Games, they include trading cards and stickers with their games. They publish only for the Nintendo Switch and intend to release one game a month.

 
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Upvote 1 Downvote
Daniel_Shadow170 said:
My point is after joking there's almost no such thing as a rare game just artificial copies that we can flood a market at anytime.
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The most recent genuinely rare game is NBA Elite 11 and it's the only game that qualifies from the Blu-ray era of games. The only other game might be Saint Seiya Brave Soldiers ESRB version for PS3 but that could end up being a warehouse find like you said. There are only about 50-60 genuinely rare games (out of something like 20,000) and a good portion are for the Atari 2600.

It's foolish to overspend on any games for a console until all new old stock trickles out. A good example is the Barbie game for 3ds. Idiots are paying comical prices for it and you know for sure there is a pallette of them out there waiting to flood the market. But said idiots will cry "rare" not understanding how any of this works. The divide between collector knowledge and knowledge of how game manufacturing works is gigantic.

Poopslinger (as is all over collector targeted games) is hard to justify as actually rare, since copies are available any day of the week, just for insane prices. Anyone paying over MSRP for a limited title is a sucker.
 
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There's a reason why people are paying premium prices for Pokemon and Castlevania games. They actually want them! Imagine that. It's called demand and it's really all that matters. I could take a shit in a game case and it's technically one of a kind but no one is paying. If you want Earthbound in your collection, though, like most people do, then you have to pony up. I know I'd personally rather have all the Pokemon games than all the Latin America only ESRB variant anime PS3 games, even though the latter set is more "rare."

 
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falsedichotomies said:
There's a reason why people are paying premium prices for Pokemon and Castlevania games. They actually want them! Imagine that. It's called demand and it's really all that matters. I could take a shit in a game case and it's technically one of a kind but no one is paying. If you want Earthbound in your collection, though, like most people do, then you have to pony up. I know I'd personally rather have all the Pokemon games than all the Latin America only ESRB variant anime PS3 games, even though the latter set is more "rare."
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Bingo. People especially on reddit speculate like they stand a chance in hell of getting ahead of the curve getting a game before it is expensive but it's just wheel spinning.

Rarity doesn't matter. Rare is a dead term without production run data and no one will ever get that. Price does matter, and as you said, that's fueled by demand.

The vast majority of limited print games that are worth above MSRP are actually good games.

The funny thing is... Poopslinger is pretty close to taking a shit in a case. The idiots paying $3k for it are really stupid.
 
And the funny thing about poop slinger is we also don't know how many were made. It's interesting how Japanese games are almost worthless but NA games are shooting through the roof.

I'm collecting a full Japanese n64 set and for Mario story/paper Mario I paid $8 vs $80.
 
portnoyd said:
The funny thing is... Poopslinger is pretty close to taking a shit in a case. The idiots paying $3k for it are really stupid.
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I would genuinely love to know who's spending that much money on a game- is it someone who's super rich/bored with having too much money? Or is it like someone who's spending their savings hoping it pays off?

 
I want a Poop Slinger for the novelty of it. I see it as kind of an art piece shitting on the limited print market and fomo collectors if anything.

That said, I'm not a fan of Limited Rare or how they conduct themselves. The joke is maybe compelling for a few days, but letting it go on for years while people pay obscene money just feels wrong. Their point has long been proven. Trolling collectors in an already aggressive sellers market is not cute to me. It feels more like bullying at this point. Plus their twitter has become quasi-racist with all the intentional broken English. Wish someone would expose these people so we could publicly shame them into releasing the 900+ copies of Poop Slinger they're sitting on as a joke. I also really hope it's not Josh and Doug because I already have a low opinion of them.

Luckily, it seems like everyone and their mother bought two copies of Demon Pit to sell, ebay is already getting flooded, so the joke has basically run its course. 

 
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Anyone know the SKU at Walmart for the ESRB physical copy of Unravel Two for Swtich?

(They have digital and a third party seller that sells PEGI version)
 
litepink said:
Anyone know the SKU at Walmart for the ESRB physical copy of Unravel Two for Swtich?

(They have digital and a third party seller that sells PEGI version)
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This might be the SKU? Not sure, I got it from Brickseek:

249607470

I've only ever seen the physical version for sale on Best Buy's website, though maybe it will hit other stores too eventually.

Best Buy link (currently in stock for shipping):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/unravel-2-nintendo-switch/6510244.p?skuId=6510244

 
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I may be late to realize this, but Special Reserve Games has really gone downhill.  I just got around to checking out Death's Door for the Switch (the one that they gave a cheaper wide release along with a CE better than anything they provided directly) and noticed the front of the case had been slashed with a box cutter that went through to the cover art.  I figured it would be no big deal.  I ordered something once before that came with a box that just had a stress crease on it and they had no problem replacing it.  In fact, their FAQ on their website even mentions they'll replace stuff that arrives damaged!

I received a response pretty quickly telling me to file a claim with the USPS and the "evidence" I presented (the cut case and line across the front cover) showed them that the damage did not happen before it left them, so they would not replace it.   See, Nintendo and SRG have high quality control, so it is just not possible.  What is possible, though, is that the USPS opened the box, cut the game, then taped the box back up.   And as if I could even file a claim!  They used either UPS Surepost or UPS Mail Innovations to send it!  Their high shipping rates get the absolute cheapest shipping method..... I don't think either come with "insurance".  

I probably wasn't going to order from them again anyway since it seems almost everything gets a wide release (and possibly a superior wide release) later.  But, they made sure I'm done with them over a piece of paper. 

I remember when they sent out an e-mail trying to explain what makes their direct sales so unqiue.  The only thing they can sell is their cover art and a number printed on the back!  I can only imagine that the wide release won't use the heavier paper stock and will be missing the number on the back....

 
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BrandonJF said:
I probably wasn't going to order from them again anyway since it seems almost everything gets a wide release (and possibly a superior wide release) later. But, they made sure I'm done with them over a piece of paper.

I remember when they sent out an e-mail trying to explain what makes their direct sales so unqiue. The only thing they can sell is their cover art and a number printed on the back!
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I gave up on ordering from them for a while for that reason too (all the games I was interested in ended up at retail) but they suckered me back in with their 'ONLY PHYSICAL, NEVER DIGITAL' release of Demon Throttle for Switch. I assumed it'd be the only opportunity to get/play the game and didn't want to miss out.

The game hasn't shipped yet (estimated ship date was July 2022) and now they've announced that it's getting a wide retail release!

What's even more irritating is this bit on the Amazon product listing:
"Pre-orders will receive a DLC code for Gato Roboto, the other acclaimed title from Doinksoft – available at participating retailers."

Sure enough, this offer doesn't apply to anyone who ordered from SRG directly but hey, we get a number printed on the back of our game's cases so it's all good! :roll:

 
Yeah, it's awful.  I still have Broforce, Samurai Warrior, Weird West, and Trek to Yomi on order and so want to get out of them.  It's terrible.  Trek To Yomi has an "Ultimate Edition" wide release that is vastly superior to SRG's "Reserve" and now I'm stuck with the more expensive and inferior SRG version?  Even LRG would've allowed cancellations.

Their support person is really something.  The e-mails I had with him this morning had to be the the strangest e-mails I've had with a customer service person.  It was all over the place.  He somehow wanted to act like maybe the games were transferred out of their SRG box and into something else?  And then they were damaged?  He wanted me to contact the carrier due to someone tampering with the package, but he wasn't going to send me a replacement case/cover since it wasn't damaged during shipping.  What?  Even his ridiculous scenario (and I had never even remotely claimed it didn't arrive in an SRG box) has it still getting damaged during the shipping process.

Of course, it was damaged before it ever left their warehouse.  This SRG rep just states that as an impossibility.  So, when you're discounting the obvious answer, you're only left with some pretty mind-blowing mental gymnastics.  It was really kind of disturbing if he actually believed anything he was writing.

At one point, he thought he was pretty clever and saw I had a PS5 game in the same order.  So, the switch game had to be on top of the PS5 game, therefore it was impossible for the back of the switch game to get sliced during shipping!  First, it wasn't the back of the game that was cut, it was the front.  Second, I was saying the entire time it wasn't damaged during shipping.  

And he was responding fast, too.  It's like he must enjoy the back and forth.  I wasted so much time on this today.  I wasn't even replying trying to convince him to send the cover - his responses were so devoid of any logic that it just baited me into trying to point that out to him.  I was not successful and eventually just gave up and blocked him so I wouldn't be tempted to reply to whatever he came up with next.

The closest to something this "off" with a customer service rep was when LRG wouldn't allow me the option to return a damaged Streets of Rage CE because they sent me that Steam code for the PC version that I never used nor asked for.  A digital add-on disqualifies refunds, even if you didn't want it and never used it. Still, even there it never got this weird.

And SRG decided to lose a customer over the cost of mailing a piece of paper.

I started looking around and see I'm not alone in my experiences with this SRG rep.

 
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I personally haven't had any bad experiences with Special Reserve, but that CSR sounds like a nightmare.  I wonder if that cocky arrogance comes from them thinking they are getting big now, with a whole monthly tshirt line being issued, and their games showing up in retail.   With all of their recent games showing up in retail I may be done with them too. 

This whole limited print market is due for a crash soon.  Maybe if we are truly in a recession people will realize they've been wasting money on a bunch of nonsense and pull the plug.

 
BrandonJF said:
Yeah, it's awful. I still have Broforce, Samurai Warrior, Weird West, and Trek to Yomi on order and so want to get out of them. It's terrible. Trek To Yomi has an "Ultimate Edition" wide release that is vastly superior to SRG's "Reserve" and now I'm stuck with the more expensive and inferior SRG version? Even LRG would've allowed cancellations.
Their support person is really something. The e-mails I had with him this morning had to be the the strangest e-mails I've had with a customer service person. It was all over the place. He somehow wanted to act like maybe the games were transferred out of their SRG box and into something else? And then they were damaged? He wanted me to contact the carrier due to someone tampering with the package, but he wasn't going to send me a replacement case/cover since it wasn't damaged during shipping. What? Even his ridiculous scenario (and I had never even remotely claimed it didn't arrive in an SRG box) has it still getting damaged during the shipping process.

Of course, it was damaged before it ever left their warehouse. This SRG rep just states that as an impossibility. So, when you're discounting the obvious answer, you're only left with some pretty mind-blowing mental gymnastics. It was really kind of disturbing if he actually believed anything he was writing.

At one point, he thought he was pretty clever and saw I had a PS5 game in the same order. So, the switch game had to be on top of the PS5 game, therefore it was impossible for the back of the switch game to get sliced during shipping! First, it wasn't the back of the game that was cut, it was the front. Second, I was saying the entire time it wasn't damaged during shipping.

And he was responding fast, too. It's like he must enjoy the back and forth. I wasted so much time on this today. I wasn't even replying trying to convince him to send the cover - his responses were so devoid of any logic that it just baited me into trying to point that out to him. I was not successful and eventually just gave up and blocked him so I wouldn't be tempted to reply to whatever he came up with next.
The closest to something this "off" with a customer service rep was when LRG wouldn't allow me the option to return a damaged Streets of Rage CE because they sent me that Steam code for the PC version that I never used nor asked for. A digital add-on disqualifies refunds, even if you didn't want it and never used it. Still, even there it never got this weird.

And SRG decided to lose a customer over the cost of mailing a piece of paper.
I started looking around and see I'm not alone in my experiences with this SRG rep.
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SRG Erik?
 
Damn. I didn’t realize Trek to Yomi was getting a mass release. I even bought the separate art book. Hopefully it’s not identical to the ultimate edition one 😒
 
I'm done with SRG. They seriously misrepresented Demon Throttle as being their physical exclusive, and in my weakness they got me with a last minute FOMO order. After several delays, the game is supposedly "shipping in July!" My copy still hasn't shipped. At this rate the retail version will be out before I get my copy. If I had just waited I could have bought a retail copy cheaper, probably had it sooner AND got the free digital copy of Gato Roboto as a bonus. All i get is an SRG logo on my game. Thanks.

 
While I dislike every limited company in some capacity, Special Reserve at least has a small catalog which as I type this isn't really a positive when they are throwing games at anyone who will sell them.

I have this feeling that all these companies do not have sustainable business models so they need retailers to survive. Between LRG needing Best Buy and the leaked sales numbers, it doesn't bode well for them. Hopefully that'll fuel the aforementioned crash that is needed.

 
portnoyd said:
While I dislike every limited company in some capacity, Special Reserve at least has a small catalog which as I type this isn't really a positive when they are throwing games at anyone who will sell them.

I have this feeling that all these companies do not have sustainable business models so they need retailers to survive. Between LRG needing Best Buy and the leaked sales numbers, it doesn't bode well for them. Hopefully that'll fuel the aforementioned crash that is needed.
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Where's the leaked sales numbers? I wanna see those.

 
It's still there. They clear out the sales numbers at the end of the pre-order period so it's not great for looking up old stuff, but if you were to look at like 11:00 PM on the night when pre-orders end that'd be pretty close. Also keep in mind that this likely doesn't include what they send to partner stores, BestBuy, or their retail store, so it's not a perfect representation.

But if you want to see the numbers:

  • Go to the page for whichever item you're wanting info for
  • Right click, hit view page source
  • Ctrl+F, search for "inventory_quantity"
  • If the game is an open pre-order, the negative number next to that is how many copies they've sold.
  • If the game is a limited quantity, the positive number next to that is how many copies are left.
 
Tothoro said:
It's still there. They clear out the sales numbers at the end of the pre-order period so it's not great for looking up old stuff, but if you were to look at like 11:00 PM on the night when pre-orders end that'd be pretty close. Also keep in mind that this likely doesn't include what they send to partner stores, BestBuy, or their retail store, so it's not a perfect representation.

But if you want to see the numbers:

  • Go to the page for whichever item you're wanting info for
  • Right click, hit view page source
  • Ctrl+F, search for "inventory_quantity"
  • If the game is an open pre-order, the negative number next to that is how many copies they've sold.
  • If the game is a limited quantity, the positive number next to that is how many copies are left.
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Neat trick. I was curious how their latest XBox title sold (Tetris Effect) and its really low: 526 copies so far with sales ending tonight. So if Microsoft truly has a high minimum order quantity per title, they are going to be stuck with a ton of extra XBox copies.

 
Josef said:
Neat trick. I was curious how their latest XBox title sold (Tetris Effect) and its really low: 526 copies so far with sales ending tonight. So if Microsoft truly has a high minimum order quantity per title, they are going to be stuck with a ton of extra XBox copies.
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Going after Xbox made no sense. The people supporting that brand have largely moved to a service-based mindset toward their games and gamepass.

If you even look at their disc-based first party releases lately there’s no regard toward having a playable product ship on the disc, the attitude toward Xbox isn’t focused on collecting the same way it is toward Nintendo and PlayStation (to a lesser extent). Even before gamepass started taking over the Xbox brand, it was rare to find Xbox collectors.

All that and then there’s the rumors of their minimum order quantity being much higher than the others? Like I said, made no sense.

Selling 500 titles as your new introduction to a system, even with the boost of it being a popular title and brand (Tetris)? Oof, imagine as it goes on how something like a Kemco title would sell on Xbox. They’ve gotta be absolutely beside themselves this morning. I’m betting there’s going to be some “ufnforseen issue” with this title getting quietly canceled and refunded, if not all future xbox titles being cancelled as well. It’s definitely not going to be an upfront reason though, something like “our Microsoft partners weren’t up front with us” or “Microsoft changed their terms on us so we are backing out.”
 
SephirothWF said:
SRG Erik?
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Yep. I had seen that others have witnessed this guy's really weird notion of "customer service".

And the thing with SRG is their whole justification for existence is "quality". The cover sheets will be printed on the highest quality paper allowed (which is true for this Switch cover sheet - it reminds me of the old days before there was paper thin covers combined with eco-cases). Ooooh - embossed boxes. High quality art books that justify paying $50 for what would otherwise have been Gamestop promo items a decade ago. You would think that when they stress how important "quality" is to them and that they target the collector market (especially when there will be wide releases that may have the same or superior additional content), that they'd really want to make sure those collector's are happy with the condition of those items. They even sent out an e-mail in response to wide releases where they compare their version to book "first editions" and wide releases give the aftermarket of their releases a "bump". This has to be written by "SRG Erik", because it makes zero sense. See, their logic is if there weren't additional printings, the first printing wouldn't be valuable. Just incredible. That "logic" is similar to what permeated my e-mail exchange.

For those who haven't see it, they actually sent this in an e-mail:

A first edition of The Great Gatsby is valuable precisely because it has been reprinted so many times. If the book had not been reprinted, it would not be valuable. You see this all the time when you go to a used bookstore and find hundred-year-old books you never heard of selling for less than a dollar.
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So, the content or popularity of the book is irrelevant. The only reason a first edition of anything becomes valuable is if there is at least one reprint. haha..... It has nothing to do with the book being popular enough to demand a reprint.

But, the wide release actually made your SRG copy of "Death's Door" worth more on the aftermarket! Cool!

SRG Erik was cool with losing all of my future purchases over a cover sheet. I wasn't even asking for a sealed replacement, which I'm sure many would have preferred.

While "SRG Erik" wanted to come up with some non-sensical and hypocritical justification for the difference between my positive customer service experience in 2021 and my horrific experience a year later, the real difference was that in 2021 I didn't get stuck with him.

 
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I've only made two purchases with SRG: Demon Throttle, which was delivered last week, and Card Shark with the deck of cards.

After the whole thing with Demon Throttle, which was after my copy shipped, I emailed to cancel my preorder of Card Sharks. I knew their policy, but even LRG allows one cancellation. SRG did not. I explained my reasoning, including the high shipping I wouldn't pay at Best Buy, and the response was they have "no plans" to make Card Sharks available widely. I saved the email because, you know, plans change.

Needless to say, if I ever have the slightest interest in any of their releases going forward, I'll wait and see if Best Buy gets it. If not, they've lost a customer as quickly as they gained one.

 
I wouldn't blame the customer base, even those attracted to the platform by Game Pass. MS has been a digital-focused brand since the Xbone, even after the 180 on the E3 plans. Long-term Xbox customers have just learned to accept it and collect games elsewhere. The fact that MS still has these high minimums, even after making concessions after being badgered about it for years, is proof enough that it's not about what their customers want.
 
BobbyTastic said:
I wouldn't blame the customer base, even those attracted to the platform by Game Pass. MS has been a digital-focused brand since the Xbone, even after the 180 on the E3 plans. Long-term Xbox customers have just learned to accept it and collect games elsewhere. The fact that MS still has these high minimums, even after making concessions after being badgered about it for years, is proof enough that it's not about what their customers want.
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yes I agree but this was Tetris Effect lol

Im not saying Tetris is a bad game but......its not EXCLUSIVE or even DIGITAL ONLY. No one was gonna run out and get this game when its available on other consoles as physicals

Now if get something more in line of what people really want.....like lets say CUPHEAD were to be made physical,

now that is worth running out and getting it(and yes i know cuphead is no longer exclusive but i would bet people would go out and get it, at least more than Tetris Effect)

If Tetris was a test to gauge interest on Xbox physical, we are fuck

they should have started with something people want like Cuphead

End Rant

 
RedvsBlue said:
Going after Xbox made no sense. The people supporting that brand have largely moved to a service-based mindset toward their games and gamepass.

If you even look at their disc-based first party releases lately there’s no regard toward having a playable product ship on the disc, the attitude toward Xbox isn’t focused on collecting the same way it is toward Nintendo and PlayStation (to a lesser extent). Even before gamepass started taking over the Xbox brand, it was rare to find Xbox collectors.

All that and then there’s the rumors of their minimum order quantity being much higher than the others? Like I said, made no sense.

Selling 500 titles as your new introduction to a system, even with the boost of it being a popular title and brand (Tetris)? Oof, imagine as it goes on how something like a Kemco title would sell on Xbox. They’ve gotta be absolutely beside themselves this morning. I’m betting there’s going to be some “ufnforseen issue” with this title getting quietly canceled and refunded, if not all future xbox titles being cancelled as well. It’s definitely not going to be an upfront reason though, something like “our Microsoft partners weren’t up front with us” or “Microsoft changed their terms on us so we are backing out.”
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Agreed. As you say, most Xbox gamers are sold on the idea of a service-based game subscription. It's no surprise given MS has pushed Gamepass in every aspect of its marketing, and was the first major console publisher to put out an all-digital system.

As I've said in other posts, no videogame publisher/maker has done more to "normalize" an all-digital video game landscape than Microsoft.

You can probably point to Microsoft for being among the reasons (if not THE reason) that physical video games are in the state they are in today. Even as far back as the launch of the 360, MS was trying to shift consumer sentiment away from discs/cartridges. While other services like Netflix, along with the global pandemic, certainly hastened the digital transition for the video game industry, one could make a good case that without a multi-billion dollar company like MS willing to take losses to establish a platform like Gamepass, Sony and Nintendo would not have bothered to go even as far as they have.

I presume every limited-game publishers putting Xbox discs out are likely to reverse course on those decisions this generation.

With Sony's recent sales figures showing essentially an 80/20 split between digital/physical sales, one has to think that the writing is also on the wall for seeing far, far (far!) less discs being printed and sold at retailers. It just doesn't make sense for the vast majority of publishers out there to bother to print games anymore.

Nintendo is the outlier, but even so, one has to think that you'll see more and more publishers go the route of half-baked cartridges like those we've seen from Capcom and Rockstar. Like everything else, Nintendo will pull up the rear on transitioning to digital, but it'll eventually have to move over entirely like others. Again, not so much because of the competition, but because it also makes monetary sense.

I do wonder how much longer the middle/small tier publishers who specialize in putting out physical games have left. We always knew the business model was inevitably capped, but that cap does seem to be coming faster than some thought.

I think there is no question now that this is the LAST generation with physical media in video games. It's sad to see the trend finally come close to final reality, but in some ways, it's also welcoming as many who buy physical games will soon either see that "hobby" close (at least for most newer titles) and/or get priced out as publishers keep testing how high they can charge to stay in business.

 
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It's an interesting conversation.   Think about it this way;  this was Microsoft's plan since conception all the way back with the release of the original Xbox back in 2001.   It took them 21 years which is pretty unbelievable.  Lots of projects and studios failed in the process; they succeeded only due to their golden coffers of cash reserves.  I personally believe that their master plan has finally come to fruition.   MS has finally taken over people's living rooms with a mostly all-digital console program.  Unfortunately they aren't the strongest player in the market.  Sitting at likely 3rd or worse behind Nintendo, Playstation, and probably even PC.

But the key point here is that they have fully converted millions of customers through an all-digital access subscription program with a monthly fee.   Their endgame has finally arrived.  

The trick now is staying relevant in people's minds, during the dwindling of their retail presence. 

 
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I don't think anyone else is jumping on Xbox physical games other than iam8bit.  Looking at the numbers LRG sold for Tetris and Day of the Tentacle, it is not sustainable.  

 
Nothing- said:
It's an interesting conversation. Think about it this way; this was Microsoft's plan since conception all the way back with the release of the original Xbox back in 2001. It took them 21 years which is pretty unbelievable. Lots of projects and studios failed in the process; they succeeded only due to their golden coffers of cash reserves. I personally believe that their master plan has finally come to fruition. MS has finally taken over people's living rooms with a mostly all-digital console program. Unfortunately they aren't the strongest player in the market. Sitting at likely 3rd or worse behind Nintendo, Playstation, and probably even PC.

But the key point here is that they have fully converted millions of customers through an all-digital access subscription program with a monthly fee. Their endgame has finally arrived.

The trick now is staying relevant in people's minds, during the dwindling of their retail presence.
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Indeed. It's astonishing to think just how much money MS poured into this venture to get us here. Guessing that was one of the big reasons that convinced the higher-ups at Microsoft to go "all in" with buying Bethesda and Activision. After the flogging Xbox One took from PlayStation 4, there had been some media coverage about talks at Microsoft to sell off the Xbox division entirely, so it was at least surprising to later see Microsoft switch gears and start swallowing so many studios, and the biggest ones earlier this year.

May be gaming would have gotten to something like Gamepass, anyways, but no doubt Microsoft essentially willed the industry to this endgame much, much faster by spending (and losing) a whole lot of money along the way.

I do think digital subscription services takes something away from games, as it has from movies - and I don't mean technically. There is something just less special when even the biggest movie or game is plopped there aside thousands of other releases/games waiting to be played/asking for your attention.

I can't put my finger on it, but it almost "cheapens" the whole industry. Makes the product feel more disposable and transitory, which they always were, but perhaps highlights those qualities when it's all just online.

This is the sort of talk that some industry vets warned when mobile gaming took off. That there would be an increasing sense that games don't need to cost $60 or $70, and that there would be increasing pressure to create business models that drive initial game prices lower because - well - the gaming industry is a luxury good that is very price sensitive, meaning that the idea of everyone moving towards practices that trend towards the "lowest common denominator" is the expectation.

One could say we're already there. The biggest publishers/holdouts all seem to be engaging in the same practices many do in the mobile space.

This is way too much for this thread, but it's an interesting conversation.

 
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Yeah it's been like a hostile takeover in the games arena.

But that Activision acquisition was a HUUUUGE misstep. That would easily sink anyone but MS. That valuation was 4 to 10x higher than I ever would have guessed. It's all based on customer-gouging profits from predatory service-based games. That's not going to last forever. Activision doesn't even put out good games anymore. Nor relevant, pantheon ones.

They have chosen the way of Zynga. No one cares about their meaningless stuff.

Mattiful-Joe said:
I can't put my finger on it, but it almost "cheapens" the whole industry. Makes the product feel more disposable and transitory, which they always were, but perhaps highlights those qualities when it's all just online.
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It absolutely does cheapen the whole industry. Everything that falls under their Gamepass umbrella anyways. Developers are greatly concerned.

The smart ones will steer clear from Gamepass agreements unless their properties and brand are tiny and fledgling.

 
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Like why are people going to pay for Doom, Prey, Gears, and Halo anymore? 

They aren't.  They are no longer sixty-dollar titles.  MS has cannibalized their values.  We see them as $20 discs.  On sale three weeks after the game comes out. 

(Smart) People are also not going to buy new Elder Scrolls either if theres any type of subscription requirement tied to the 'new release' price.  We're going to choose the stand-alone game; so that we can own it.  People aren't going to want to tie their new game save file to Gamepass.  I'm actually dreading the way they are going to monetize this one.  You know that it's coming. 

 
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Nothing- said:
Like why are people going to pay for Doom, Prey, Gears, and Halo anymore?

They aren't. They are no longer sixty-dollar titles. MS has cannibalized their values. We see them as $20 discs. On sale three weeks after the game comes out.

(Smart) People are also not going to buy new Elder Scrolls either if theres any type of subscription requirement tied to the 'new release' price. We're going to choose the stand-alone game; so that we can own it. People aren't going to want to tie their new game save file to Gamepass. I'm actually dreading the way they are going to monetize this one. You know that it's coming.
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This is an excellent point and one I've not even heard mentioned on podcasts by the alleged gaming pundits.

Talk about training your customers to devalue your own properties. It certainly explains one reason why Sony still chooses to charge full price for the games they migrate over to the PCs.

Nintendo is all about this. The company is one of the staunchest proponents in legal cases that have given more control to companies to manage sales/discounts by retailers from MSRP. May also explain why Nintendo has largely abandoned doing mobile games after the big fuss it created with that Mario runner title.

 
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Based Microsoft got Sony fans scared.

Love Activision when I played pro for triple AAA gaming and was number #1 on the leaderboards they took care of me. Controllers, events even ideas with the dev team. Nothing but love.
 
I agree with everything said, but the switch to slowly read, large storage discs, (first pushed by Sony) did not help.
A big appeal of physical was being able to just plop in the disc and play, with the disc tech used now, that is no longer the case. Patches becoming a crutch, particularly day 1 patches, has exacerbated this and in MS' defense their original patch fees were meant to keep that from happening.
 
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Daniel_Shadow170 said:
Based Microsoft got Sony fans scared.

Love Activision when I played pro for triple AAA gaming and was number #1 on the leaderboards they took care of me. Controllers, events even ideas with the dev team. Nothing but love.
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To be clear, for me, this has nothing to do with taking sides with any game publisher. All corporations are out to make more money and couldn't care less about the people they sell to, so taking sides is just stupid.

Companies are just pretending to care when they send out product to evangelize folks to cheer their brand. It's all marketing bull to sow their bottomlines. Mouthpieces are just that - disposable mouthpieces.

In my view, regardless who the publisher is, I think the loss of physical media as a viable alternative to digital games is bad for consumers. Everything that needs to be said about this has been said, so won't rehash here.

Digital games just cede more control to the corporation, which as a general matter, is always bad for customers.

It's ironic that at least through part of the PS4/Xbone generation, the big reason physical media stuck around is because of Gamestop - yeah, that most hated, reviled retailer that is mismanaged on every level.

 
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Nothing- said:
Like why are people going to pay for Doom, Prey, Gears, and Halo anymore?

They aren't. They are no longer sixty-dollar titles. MS has cannibalized their values. We see them as $20 discs. On sale three weeks after the game comes out.

(Smart) People are also not going to buy new Elder Scrolls either if theres any type of subscription requirement tied to the 'new release' price. We're going to choose the stand-alone game; so that we can own it. People aren't going to want to tie their new game save file to Gamepass. I'm actually dreading the way they are going to monetize this one. You know that it's coming.
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This is similar to what’s already happened to the movie industry. Mid-tier budget movies are already gone, big budget movies are getting to be fewer and farther between.

Even the streaming companies themselves that brought this about are hurting from a lack of loyalty, look at the massive number of users Netflix is hemorrhaging every quarter. I’d be fascinated to know what their numbers on re-watches are for something like Bird Box or Extraction.
 
Mattiful-Joe said:
This is an excellent point and one I've not even heard mentioned on podcasts by the alleged gaming pundits.
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I've heard it on some podcasts, so it just depends on which ones you listen to. I know Sacred Symbols has been commenting on this trend for awhile. When fans are conditioned to wait for everything to come to Game Pass, what's the incentive to buy anything on Xbox?

I just upgraded my PS Plus to Essential. I was planning to pick up Stray anyway ($30), so what's an extra $10 to test out some other games for the year. Maybe this will finally help break my habit of buying new games and shoving them in the backlog, though it seems like Sony won't be putting first party releases on there day one :booty:

 
HaloGX said:
I've only made two purchases with SRG: Demon Throttle, which was delivered last week, and Card Shark with the deck of cards.

After the whole thing with Demon Throttle, which was after my copy shipped, I emailed to cancel my preorder of Card Sharks. I knew their policy, but even LRG allows one cancellation. SRG did not. I explained my reasoning, including the high shipping I wouldn't pay at Best Buy, and the response was they have "no plans" to make Card Sharks available widely. I saved the email because, you know, plans change.

Needless to say, if I ever have the slightest interest in any of their releases going forward, I'll wait and see if Best Buy gets it. If not, they've lost a customer as quickly as they gained one.
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There was a post on the Switch Game collector subreddit which was questioning something with Demon Throttle. A mod locked it...and sounds like that mod works at SRG. Which is a yikes on abuse of power.

 
I think the Xbox Physical crowd has always been a vocal minority but I also think LRG has been awful about listening to feedback and gauging interest over the past several years because everything's been selling - they just got complacent.

Doug mentioned on the Discord a few times that whatever Xbox's MOQ used to be got lowered. I heard 50k for the old number but I don't know if that's speculation or if it was ever verified, so take it with a grain of salt.

As far as testing the water with Tetris Effect, it's straight out of their playbook. Every time they branch to a new console they do it with one of their former/trusted partners first. That's why we got the Oddworld PS3 game, Atooi on the 3DS, etc.I also think that when/if Cuphead is physical it'd come through IAm8Bit since they do a lot of Cuphead merch, but LRG has swooped in on stuff IAm8Bit's worked on previously so who knows?

It's a bit of a tangent, but it's also sad to see how quickly SRG has fallen. I've had pretty positive interactions with them previously, but some of the stuff from these past weeks (retroactively editing their website when called out in a ticket) really doesn't make me want to give them my money. It's a shame they're so closely coupled with Devlolver on physicals because Devolver publishes a lot of quality stuff. At least subsequent retail is becoming almost a given on things they publish.

 
Mattiful-Joe said:
To be clear, for me, this has nothing to do with taking sides with any game publisher. All corporations are out to make more money and couldn't care less about the people they sell to, so taking sides is just stupid.

Companies are just pretending to care when they send out product to evangelize folks to cheer their brand. It's all marketing bull to sow their bottomlines. Mouthpieces are just that - disposable mouthpieces.

In my view, regardless who the publisher is, I think the loss of physical media as a viable alternative to digital games is bad for consumers. Everything that needs to be said about this has been said, so won't rehash here.

Digital games just cede more control to the corporation, which as a general matter, is always bad for customers.

It's ironic that at least through part of the PS4/Xbone generation, the big reason physical media stuck around is because of Gamestop - yeah, that most hated, reviled retailer that is mismanaged on every level.
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You're right but Sony treated me terribly compared to Microsoft and Activision when they were partners. I'm still physical most of the way but digital has it's place

And I love GameStop and all the problems it has. I don't think the average gamer exactly understands what will happen once GS kicks the bucket. You think prices are bad now? It'll be much worse.
 
Tothoro said:
It's a bit of a tangent, but it's also sad to see how quickly SRG has fallen. I've had pretty positive interactions with them previously, but some of the stuff from these past weeks (retroactively editing their website when called out in a ticket) really doesn't make me want to give them my money. It's a shame they're so closely coupled with Devlolver on physicals because Devolver publishes a lot of quality stuff. At least subsequent retail is becoming almost a given on things they publish.
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I had at least one positive interaction with them in the past. I guess I wouldn't have known they've gone downhill if I hadn't ran into an issue. And it was the most minor of issues possible for them.

A big warning was that e-mail with their non-sensical defense of wide releases of the games they sell direct. I glanced through it and, at the time, didn't really even know what was making them so defensive. I hadn't been looking too closely at these Devolver Digital wide releases. But, it is incredibly dumb and should have been a red flag that something was not right. Really, it insults the intelligence of anyone reading that e-mail. The exact same extreme idiocy was present in my e-mail interactions with this "Erik".

What is really odd is that while they are on the defense due to all of these wide releases (some of which are arguably superior to their own releases), they still act like they don't really need customers. Or they are doing so poorly that handling defective product issues would just cripple them.

I would think between "Death's Door" and "Trek to Yomi", serious damage would have been done. Their horrible customer service is just the nail in the coffin. But, I could be wrong. As much crap as LRG gets, I haven't seen anything from them like what's now going on with SRG.

 
I wonder if some of it is just how the contracts are written. Maybe LRG specifies new versions cannot be published until the LRG release is sent to customers? At which point, over a year will have passed and the original hype for the game will be gone.

Or it could just be indicative of SRG only going after "better" games which increases the odds of them getting additional releases

 
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