Volke29 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) I certainly did not see this coming. The 3DS FE Bundle is selling for a small fortune on eBay brand new. Here is a link to just one auction: http://www.ebay.com/...=item3a7e21eb3e At time of writing this, it is $285 plus $15 shipping with a little over an hour left of bidding. It does not come with the art book and has eight bidders at the moment. From my understanding, this bundle was $199.99 brand new. I'm sorry, and to each their own, but $300 for this is a ripoff. I'm honestly shocked people are willing to dish out this kind of dough for the bundle. I collect games and LEs. I know the trade and can spot a future game that will go up in price in the future. I understand the delayed release and the game just coming out has built up *a lot* of hype around this game and the FE LE bundle. But $300 for a handheld? And you don't even get a physical copy of the game? If you got the bundle at $199, then you got a great deal. I personally would have bought it myself if I didn't already own a 3DS. The XL itself is $200 and the regular 3DS is $149. So that makes sense. (Still would have been a little salty not owning a physical copy, though). I've seen this so many times with games, and the hype is driving up the price for sure. Within a few months you'll be able to purchase a used version of this unit for well under $200. If I knew this was going to happen I would have snagged a few of these bundles during pre order. Think about it: It is a 50% markup. Nuts if you ask me. edit: grammatical stuff Edited February 11, 2013 by Volke29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aizen07 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 In the end, its just business. haha supply and demand sometimes make people loony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Othin Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Money worth is relative. There are people who really want the symbol on their system, don't care about having a physical copy (digital is honestly more convenient), and have the cash to not really have to worry about a $300 purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comet Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Look at the Zelda bundle prices. Or the Japanese bundle prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheels Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I paid $300 AUD/USD for my bundle, $200 for the cost, and $100 for shipping from Canada to Australia, which...isn't all that expensive here. Both the regular and the XL here are $250, so even if it came out here, and I ordered it here from an online retailer...the cost would be about the same, most likely. Also, even if they did release it over here, then it might be Zelda 'bundle' 2.0 where Nintendo charged the same price ($250) and sent out to Aussie retailers the European box, but with the 'Game Included' area covered over by an obvious big black box. Turns out, Australia wasn't getting the game bundled in like the rest of the world, but we were still gonna pay the most for it! Like the guys have said above, the value of money is different to different people. I hear about Americans blanching at how a PS3 game costs $60, and I go to my local store, and see the same game for $100+, and that's the RRP. Australia's expensive to live in, and as our dollar is worth more than the US dollar, what would be considered an exhuberant price in the US could easily be a bargain, or on par, for us Aussies. Also of note is we get screwed over for games quite massively, and in this climate, where importing a 3DS from the US costs about the same as buying a local one, and with the added bonus of being able to play those games we got screwed over for a little extra cost for the console ends up balancing itself out as soon as you start importing games, and the savings you get on them (Our 3DS games are about double the price of US ones, so by importing 3 games, I've actually saved money compared to buying locally) tl;dr $300's not that expensive for where I live, so I'm happy to pay that for my bundle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinderSkye Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) I don't really get the fascination with physical. You know why I like digital? When I have a game I want to play in my 3DS while I'm out on a trip, I have it. I can be walking in the middle of downtown, whip it out, and I have my full library available to me with no extra hassle. It's been really awesome and I'm going to upgrade SD cards sometime so I can fit more. Tales of the Abyss will probably never leave the physical cartridge slot ever again now that Pokemon's moving to the 3DS. Edited February 11, 2013 by CinderSkye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowofchaos Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 The Japanese bundle was going for 600 last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 It's still available on Gamestop. What are people thinking? Unless they're buying from overseas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruity Insanity Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 The Japanese bundle was going for 600 last year. Still is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Othin Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I don't really get the fascination with physical. You know why I like digital? When I have a game I want to play in my 3DS while I'm out on a trip, I have it. I can be walking in the middle of downtown, whip it out, and I have my full library available to me with no extra hassle. It's been really awesome and I'm going to upgrade SD cards sometime so I can fit more. Tales of the Abyss will probably never leave the physical cartridge slot ever again now that Pokemon's moving to the 3DS. Exactly. I have Kid Icarus: Uprising as the one physical game I need always plugged into the system, with FE13, NSMB2, Crashmo, and a whole bunch of awesome retro games installed into the system. Don't need any other items ever like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constable Reggie Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) Digital has a lot of restrictions that physical doesn't have, plus it's just greedy to charge digital games the same amount as physical. For those reasons I'll always stick with physical copies on non-pc consoles. It was also the reason I decided against the bundle. Edited February 11, 2013 by Constable Reggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Digital has a lot of restrictions that physical doesn't have, plus it's just greedy to charge digital games the same amount as physical. For those reasons I'll always stick with physical copies on non-pc consoles. It was also the reason I decided against the bundle. What restrictions? And how is charging the same greedy? I doubt the box costs more than a few dollars. Also, perhaps the vid gaming industries are trying to become more Eco-friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Othin Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Well, it cuts out the money which would go to physical retailers, so Nintendo would make more money from the digital downloads even if the physical games were free to produce. The thing is, lowering the price for digital downloads would really hurt physical game sales, which could cause problems for physical distribution in general if any physical copies are inevitably an unnecessarily expensive option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constable Reggie Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) What restrictions? And how is charging the same greedy? I doubt the box costs more than a few dollars. Also, perhaps the vid gaming industries are trying to become more Eco-friendly. You seriously don't know how having to produce physical copies and everything that goes with that costs more money than just putting it up for download? As for restrictions, please explain to me how I can lend my friend a digital copy of a game, if I have shitty/no internet, how I can access these digital games, and how I can sell my digital copy of a game if I don't want it anymore. The thing is, lowering the price for digital downloads would really hurt physical game sales, which could cause problems for physical distribution in general if any physical copies are inevitably an unnecessarily expensive option. Most companies are pushing for digital sales anyway. They're not going to get anywhere pricing digital the same as physical copies, especially when after a few weeks/months the price of physical copies go down when digital stays the same.Making FE:A digital in the bundle was a dick move, especially considering the japanese version had a physical copy. Edited February 11, 2013 by Constable Reggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volke29 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 My whole point of collecting physical copies of games is because collecting retro games is my hobby. Sometimes, I see current generation video games that have potential to be collectible down the line. Suikoden II for the PS1, for example, is a rare collectible because it was a cult RPG that released toward the end of a system's life cycle. Thus, not that many copies were produced or sold. When I look at games like Xenoblade, or Last Story (which only ran a limited print) for the Wii, I snag them up because I see them being very valuable down the line. Plus, I like the manuals, artwork, etc that come along with a game. I also like having a physical copy of something in my hands. To each their own. This new age of gaming has me pretty ticked off, to be honest. For example - I buy Starhawk, take it to my friend's house to play, but we can't play online because of online passes. Ugh. (Thanks EA [they started the whole online pass thing].) Also, what if I want to sell my game? How am I going to do that with a digital copy? I'm 29, and back when I was a kid, I would just pop a game in and it worked. No online passes, no patches, no codes to enter like a little puppet. The video game industry makes more money than Hollywood. And Hollywood makes a lot of cheese. So why is it that a digital copy cost just as much as a physical copy? I don't get it. You're paying for less, IMO. And on a side note, there are rare occasions that I buy a game digitally via steam, but that's the extent of it. Just my two bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constable Reggie Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) Steam works because most of the games on Steam go on huge percentage sales that greatly lower the prices of the games. People will overlook digital gaming restrictions because it's so cheap. It's something most other big video game companies don't realize. Even EA, who proudly declared that they're not going to go the way of the Steam Sale, now has Steamlike Sales. Nintendo needs to realize this, and stop pushing digital games for the same price as physical (unless they want to go the way of lolsony and their shitty vita psn). Also, what other collector edition of a console, if any, has the promoted game preinstalled? I can't think of any other. Edited February 11, 2013 by Constable Reggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiilere Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 The bundled 3DS is really beautiful. Absolutely worth 200 (and 300, since actually finding one is crazy). I love having the physical. My husband and I have hundreds of games, boxes, strategy guides, CE's, figurines, etc, etc. We're also avid steam users. Being able to get stuff we wouldn't normally buy for cheap is really cool. Both are great and have their purposes. Also, while distributors take a cut of game sales, I doubt it's much of anything. I remember reading for movie theaters, they get tiered percentages from movie releases. First weekend, 5%, next weekend 10% and so on. Which, if you think about it, is nothing. Most people go to the movies within the first week. Which is why soda is 4 bucks for a cup and popcorn is your firstborn child. So if digital sales were cheaper, it would murder physical copies into the ground. Gamestop and it's ilk are already sweating it big time because of all the new console rumors. ...however, I do agree that digital SHOULD be cheaper. There's nothing physically made so no manufacturing, no shipping, no third party. But how to work that out? I guess preorder bonuses for physical copies are one way, but those really suck. I remember when FF13-2 came out and one place had DLC, another had a novel, and the other had something else. If I had actually cared about the game, I would have been pissed. Because I'd want at least the novel AND the DLC. The entire situation is lose-lose right now, especially for the consumer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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