Is that he is a huge boxing fanatic, to the point where he appears at local boxing gyms quite a bit, and apparently does some freelance interaction/training sort of things.
I only know this because my sister, who goes to UT, did a story on a female boxer (who is some sort of champion now, like featherweight or something) for photography class, and talked to Garriot every day, and even still maintains contact. And then one day she off handedly mentions his name, and my eyes popped. I attempted to explain to her the gravity of the situation, and just who she was dealing with, and then asked her to ask him if he had any job openings.:P You would too if you were in the same position. I had to resort to hyperbole, that he's probably within the top 25 people important to gaming for all time. She somewhat got the point at that time.
He's also really into photography as well. My sister tells me he sports the Rolls Royce of cameras. I'll have to take her word for it.
He should be visited by Reggie AND Miyamoto. The pure level of awesomeness radiating during such a meeting would cause the Earth to explode, leaving naught but those two titans to craft us worlds anew...
I believe Nintendo has already thought of such conclusions, hence no prize.
Why would Microsoft go on a cruise that is specifically designed to identify games as an education source, only to highlight and force-advertise their 360 lineup? It would be no less transparent if Sony showed off the latest version of GTA or if Nintendo showcased Mario 128. What do they have to gain other than a shallow attempt at advertising, and hopefully a few more consoles moved?
That said, the prof might be a little out of his element (I have a hard time finding a "silver-haired professor" being a gamer of any means, although that is a generalization and I could be wrong), but his question is at least somewhat valid. What is stopping someone from incorporating, say, chemistry elements into a crafting/spell casting system? Think Secret of Evermore (or World of Warcraft if you can't think back that far) where real-life elements and compounds create items and objects. True, it would be a transparent attempt (kind of like "The Bible Game" being nothing less than pure religion dressed up as a game), but would it really be all that bad? I can imagine at least a capable system involving some marginal knowledge, at which point someone *could* theoretically benefit and gain some knowledge.
This could be stretched further, but at that point it becomes difficult to pinpoint great examples. Describing true physics in a game using the Havok engine? Applying that mentality to space games in an attempt to teach some rudimentary physics, and possibly theoretical (string theory)? I dunno.
At the end of the day I'll admit I'm looking for my games to be fun, not giving me a lesson on something. Although I must admit, Civilization does a handy job of giving some background knowledge on key historical topics (if you take the time to read the blurbs, I mean, and I haven't played one since Civ2 so I don't know if the recent incarnations carry this data also).
You can get Sandisk MS cards much cheaper. Sandisk is a universally acceptable company AND their sticks outperform Sony's with better transfer speeds (which has been proven at various websites). I got 128 meg sticks for 98 cents from Toys R Us due to a sale. TRU is also a respectable retailer. So that's strike 3 for you - price, brand, and retailer. If you are that worried about it, you can get Sony cards for much cheaper as well. But I guess that wouldn't interest you, would it?
I mean, Sony brand sticks. That is just asking for trouble. Not only do their consumer electronics suck (DRE PS2s anyone?), but their prices are outrageous. It would be like purchasing Sony televisions to play your PS2 on.
As far as the crack about MP3s go, I purchase all my music either via iTunes or at stores. But please, try some more ad hominem attacks. They make you look so much more intelligent than me. I guess you can counter with NO YOU DON'T posts all you want, but there's no need. You could google my name and find that mentailty present in a thousand different posts I've made at different forums.
Oh, and that MP3 player got a 4.3 user rating. That speaks volumes about how much you know about, well, anything regarding entertainment electronics.
That has Gabe asking business tycoons to consider his wang a valid investment, saying it has "massive growth potential."
But PA's archival comic search is broken, and if you keep hitting the "back" button, sometimes it doesn't go to the previous comic, so I gave up on looking for it.
This is the GAMING market. If you want to do something else, DO SOMETHING ELSE. I don't know how many great games the PS3 is going to get anymore than I know if the Revolution is going to be implemented well, but if I goddamn want to play MGS4, I don't want to have to be subjected to paying a huge price for technology I don't have the capability to use.
All I want is the GAME and the system's GAME capabilities. I don't have the cash on me to get a huge HDTV, a killer surround sound system, a nice receiver, and hi-def signals. I DO NOT. And I'm a fresh college graduate male - I'm YOUR demographic. Living on my own in an apartment, paying off college loans, looking for a job in this miserable market, and attempting to think "gee, I can buy FOOD today."
What the fuck is up with everyone's "BIGGER IS BETTER" attitude? THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DVD. There is nothing wrong with even "low quality" inputs like S-video. Everyone struts around like "oh shit, you know they will have 3 billion resolution, I can't watch my old tv anymore." When the hell did the industry have to be dissolved between elitist fucks and those of us that just want to run Snake around oldmanstyle?
Shit, let's segment the industry further. It's bad enough we have Microsoft running around with HDless 360s, I can't wait to see Sony pushing for shit like "We feel you cannot enjoy this game unless you have a 55" HDTV," and subsequently make that a gaming requirement. SHIT, why not fuck us more and say it HAS to be a Sony brand? WITH A MEMORY STICK SLOT?
Make GAME machines for god's sake. PLEASE. I could not care less about useless graphics in a game, like dimples on a football or sweat on their fingers. How about optimize your power and make the system last twice as long? Then I might actually feel a little more justified by letting my poor wallet getting raped in the ass. We're all creating solutions for problems that don't exist and adding power in the form of increased costs, and for what?
Oh, right. Rendered cheerleaders on the sidelines. Fuck that.
You don't know why it happens? It's a self defeating industry with self perpetuated biases. It's the thought that simply because Xmen Legends was a good game based on a somewhat good movie, Fantastic Four is going to ride that gravy train on home as well. Hence, a kid goes to Blockbuster and finds 10 copies of F4, but zero-to-one copies of Psychonauts. It doesn't help, of course, than the general gaming public has become entrenched and mired in this sort of cycle - a shitty game with a big license will outsell an original game that is much better, EVEN if huge names are backing it (i.e. Shaefer).
The industry revolves around whatever big thing 14 year old boys think is cool. Right now it's guns, killing hookers, rap, cars, and abysmal gameplay. I saw a 7 year kid (or therabouts) talking about how Shadow the Hedgehog was the greatest game ever. Why? Because he had a gun. Nevermind that the game was universally rejected as enjoyable - it was marketed as cool and thus will at least generate respectable sales (whether or not they are respectable for Sega's princely franchise is another argument altogether).
That is the reason. That is why Halo, GTA, and any knockoff franchise - including all WW2 shooters, any "sandbox" game, etc - will be chart toppers. There's an entire group of games that go unsung and underrated, and it is mostly because the main hero isn't some generic rage filled smart mouth guy holding a big gun. We have a Scarface game coming out for god's sake. AND a Godfather game. Who in their goddamn mind thinks this is a good idea?
Answer: The industry, based on current trends.
I'm serious - the game indsutry crashing again can't come soon enough. Finally knock some goddamn sense into everyone, and weed out the useless people buying Madden Roster Upgrade 200X every year.
First off on the subject of ROMs, regardless of whether or not a company makes any profit on them, it's essentially illegal because you are getting something for nothing. Furthermore you are getting something that exists in the marketplace, and despite whatever exposure/amount it exists in (something that will be in flux at all times), the fact is that you can always secure a true, physical copy. Because that possibility exists, it essentially makes it illegal to own. I realize this argument has been done to death with the advent of P2P programs, and there are people on both sides of the fence, and I do NOT want to turn the argument in this direction or debate about it. I don't know when everyone thought it became okay to download media of any kind, but it happened within the last few years, and I'm not sure why.
Okay, to business at hand. First, where do you get your numbers, if you don't mind me asking? I find them quite interesting and I'd like to know where if you can divulge that information. If not, it's cool, I've just never seen someone with information that complete, and I like to be in the know, and it's obvious I've been looking in the wrong places. Quite intriguing. (I hope none of this sounds like baiting an argument or arrogant, I assure you it's not meant to sound so.)
Point taken about being a collector to different degrees, and I agree with it. What I'm getting at is that if you truly are going after a rare game, you have essentially two reasons to do so - to collect for the sole purpose of collecting, or to play it. If it's the former, then the point of owning a rare is to show it off and possibly to sell down the line, meaning you are looking for games that are scarce AND have demand. That brings me to your list - a rare game on there might be rare in terms of sales, but that doesn't mean it is sought after. You're right, though - maybe that won't happen for 20-30 years, and maybe Muppet Party Cruise will be a hot item. I question that solely on the fact that I don't really see it being traded around or anything. So I'm guessing no one really cares for it (again, as you said, right now, and that might change down the line).
Rez is wanted physically because it's considered a good game. Muppet Party Cruise I know nothing about, but it's a license, it sounds like a party game, I can make some conjecture on how "good" it might be, and I think that is what ultimately affects the rarity/value. If we're talking old-old school games, wouldn't ET be somewhat rare (note: I don't know anything about prior-NES game rarity, aside from the fact that demo cartridges and such fetch good prices) since no one owns it? But no one owns it because it's a terrible game, so no one is looking for it EXCEPT maybe a handful of collectors, but that WILL affect the price one is willing to pay for it.
In summation - the degree of value is probably somewhat directly influenced by how good a game is, how many were made, AND if people are looking for it. Generally if one or more of those conditions are not met, then the value won't really rise.
Now, looking at your list, I have a few questions. Primarily, I-Ninja and Bombastic. These games were part of the infamous mid-summer 2004 Circuit City clearance of $5 games, so I'm fairly sure a sufficient number of both titles were moved. My guess is a few other titles on that list were sold during the sale also (I want to say Rogue Ops), but I don't have a list on me and I don't really care to find one. I will say that I own a copy of I-Ninja and Bombastic, and at some point I had multiple copies for trading purposes, but they were going 1-1 game transactions, so you could trade Bombastic for, say, Devil May Cry 1, which was part of the list as well.
Final question: What about the rarity of lesser known PS2 games? I'm talking Guity Gear, Stretch Panic, Mr. Mosquito, Robotic Alchemic Drive, Grafitti Kingdom/Pengel (or whatever the first one is called), etc? Those + any Atlus or Nippon Ichi game + Wo
Ok, point taken on imports, but the point I was trying to make is that there are tons of games people won't get at all. You could replace Ouende and Daigasso with any number of USA releases, including but not limited to: Katamari Damacy, Culdcept, Chibi-Robo, Odama, Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, Persona, Rhapsody, Intelligent Cube, etc etc. Essentially any rare/sought-after game that is below the radar. I'd venture to say even some more mainstream games fall into this category - Beyond Good and Evil, Viewtiful Joe (though there is a cartoon now), Phoenix Wright. Using imports was a bad way to drive the point home, I should have used local releases. Essentially it's an X variable and there's dozens of candidates.
As for SSBM, I dunno, I still occassionally hear people saying "I want to be the guy with the sword." And when I say Link, sometimes hear "NO, the GUY WITH THE SWORD." Of course, hardly anyone knows where Shiek came from. And don't even try to explain Marth and Roy, let alone some of the other characters. I'd venture a good percentage don't know where Gannondorf comes from. Hardly anyone knows Ness.
Yea, SSBM isn't rare. At all. (Unless you want to argue Player's Choice versions versus original, but that's not the point here.) But that doesn't mean all the people who played it know all the characters. I can't imagine what will happen if some really obscure characters appear in the Rev version, including possibly Pit, Little Mac, etc. Wario had better be in there, thankfully he's known enough.
The whole point with SSB is to have "all star" Nintendo characters fight (hence why a number of decisions were made during development, including removing the ability to play as Master Hand, unless you hack the game with a device). But there are many people (moreso in places outside Japan, I'd suspect) who don't have a clue.
But there's a difference between a game selling a few copies and a game like Rez selling a few copies. A really obscure but very bad game is different from what is generally considered a good to great game that is obscure. I'm not here to say Rez is super amazing (it's definitely worth owning, that much I can say), but when it's in low quantity and is generally universally liked, THEN reprints become a bigger issue. No one cares if generic-zombie killing game with poor camera angles and terrible graphics becomes rare, but people will climb mountains to find something like Panzer Dragoon Saga.
Just because it is "rare" doesn't mean it is worth finding, ESPECIALLY if you are a gamer. I guess that's my point. I'd rather track down a copy of PDS to play it, not own it.
So I guess if you are purely collecting them, generic crappy zombie shooter is just as important as something like Rez. Meh.
Note: Feel free to replace "Rez" with your own weapon of choice. Might I suggest Phoenix Wright?
Well, when Gitaroo Man got reprinted and appeared on Gamestop, that *night* I placed an order. Thankfully it was listed as "Used," but given that there were hundreds of copies (checked by adding a large amount to my cart), I (and the CAG forum) knew they'd be brand new reprints. Additionally, at that time, GS.com was having a 25% off sale on used games.
I picked up a brand new copy of a game that repeatedly went over $150 on eBay for less than $40 bucks.
While I don't agree with GS's practice, I can at least give you one isolated incidence and anectodal story in which it benefitted me.
Slashdot Mirror
Only Kuntaragi himself can afford it!
No!
It will make your Wii hard to control!
Mmmmmm....sprinkles!
Have the boy lay out my formal shorts!
That picture for No. 3 is too goddamn cute. Mostly because that is precisely what my gf does when I go to her town.
She gets whacked with the bug net for such things.
This usually leads to other, more sensual things. Like bug catching. With sexy results.
I take it this thing is going to be bald, but try to convince me it isn't with its nice leather case, Converse shoes, and indie music.
What might happen if these people try to elect a president?
:)
Is that he is a huge boxing fanatic, to the point where he appears at local boxing gyms quite a bit, and apparently does some freelance interaction/training sort of things.
:P You would too if you were in the same position. I had to resort to hyperbole, that he's probably within the top 25 people important to gaming for all time. She somewhat got the point at that time.
I only know this because my sister, who goes to UT, did a story on a female boxer (who is some sort of champion now, like featherweight or something) for photography class, and talked to Garriot every day, and even still maintains contact. And then one day she off handedly mentions his name, and my eyes popped. I attempted to explain to her the gravity of the situation, and just who she was dealing with, and then asked her to ask him if he had any job openings.
He's also really into photography as well. My sister tells me he sports the Rolls Royce of cameras. I'll have to take her word for it.
He should be visited by Reggie AND Miyamoto. The pure level of awesomeness radiating during such a meeting would cause the Earth to explode, leaving naught but those two titans to craft us worlds anew...
I believe Nintendo has already thought of such conclusions, hence no prize.
....I'm attacking the darkness!
Hey now, don't you start agreeing with my girlfriend too. That only delays my gratification!
Dave Perry, I believe, said the Gameboy Advance was an astronomically bad idea, and I think it was because he wanted 3D gaming on the go.
At that point I basically tuned him out forever.
Why would Microsoft go on a cruise that is specifically designed to identify games as an education source, only to highlight and force-advertise their 360 lineup? It would be no less transparent if Sony showed off the latest version of GTA or if Nintendo showcased Mario 128. What do they have to gain other than a shallow attempt at advertising, and hopefully a few more consoles moved?
That said, the prof might be a little out of his element (I have a hard time finding a "silver-haired professor" being a gamer of any means, although that is a generalization and I could be wrong), but his question is at least somewhat valid. What is stopping someone from incorporating, say, chemistry elements into a crafting/spell casting system? Think Secret of Evermore (or World of Warcraft if you can't think back that far) where real-life elements and compounds create items and objects. True, it would be a transparent attempt (kind of like "The Bible Game" being nothing less than pure religion dressed up as a game), but would it really be all that bad? I can imagine at least a capable system involving some marginal knowledge, at which point someone *could* theoretically benefit and gain some knowledge.
This could be stretched further, but at that point it becomes difficult to pinpoint great examples. Describing true physics in a game using the Havok engine? Applying that mentality to space games in an attempt to teach some rudimentary physics, and possibly theoretical (string theory)? I dunno.
At the end of the day I'll admit I'm looking for my games to be fun, not giving me a lesson on something. Although I must admit, Civilization does a handy job of giving some background knowledge on key historical topics (if you take the time to read the blurbs, I mean, and I haven't played one since Civ2 so I don't know if the recent incarnations carry this data also).
Wow. This is a spectacularly bad post.
You can get Sandisk MS cards much cheaper. Sandisk is a universally acceptable company AND their sticks outperform Sony's with better transfer speeds (which has been proven at various websites). I got 128 meg sticks for 98 cents from Toys R Us due to a sale. TRU is also a respectable retailer. So that's strike 3 for you - price, brand, and retailer. If you are that worried about it, you can get Sony cards for much cheaper as well. But I guess that wouldn't interest you, would it?
I mean, Sony brand sticks. That is just asking for trouble. Not only do their consumer electronics suck (DRE PS2s anyone?), but their prices are outrageous. It would be like purchasing Sony televisions to play your PS2 on.
As far as the crack about MP3s go, I purchase all my music either via iTunes or at stores. But please, try some more ad hominem attacks. They make you look so much more intelligent than me. I guess you can counter with NO YOU DON'T posts all you want, but there's no need. You could google my name and find that mentailty present in a thousand different posts I've made at different forums.
Oh, and that MP3 player got a 4.3 user rating. That speaks volumes about how much you know about, well, anything regarding entertainment electronics.
Do they matter inside E3? Yes, although marginally at best.
Do they matter outside of E3? No, but us nerds will continue to find..."uses" for them, and so the answer is, again, yes.
You pay 20 bucks for a 32 meg card?
I need to introduce you to some sites that track deals. You're getting raped.
Ahh, very good. I was in 2002 and hitting back, it would have taken me a while to eventually get to the 2000s. I commend you, good sir!
That has Gabe asking business tycoons to consider his wang a valid investment, saying it has "massive growth potential."
But PA's archival comic search is broken, and if you keep hitting the "back" button, sometimes it doesn't go to the previous comic, so I gave up on looking for it.
This is the GAMING market. If you want to do something else, DO SOMETHING ELSE. I don't know how many great games the PS3 is going to get anymore than I know if the Revolution is going to be implemented well, but if I goddamn want to play MGS4, I don't want to have to be subjected to paying a huge price for technology I don't have the capability to use.
All I want is the GAME and the system's GAME capabilities. I don't have the cash on me to get a huge HDTV, a killer surround sound system, a nice receiver, and hi-def signals. I DO NOT. And I'm a fresh college graduate male - I'm YOUR demographic. Living on my own in an apartment, paying off college loans, looking for a job in this miserable market, and attempting to think "gee, I can buy FOOD today."
What the fuck is up with everyone's "BIGGER IS BETTER" attitude? THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DVD. There is nothing wrong with even "low quality" inputs like S-video. Everyone struts around like "oh shit, you know they will have 3 billion resolution, I can't watch my old tv anymore." When the hell did the industry have to be dissolved between elitist fucks and those of us that just want to run Snake around oldmanstyle?
Shit, let's segment the industry further. It's bad enough we have Microsoft running around with HDless 360s, I can't wait to see Sony pushing for shit like "We feel you cannot enjoy this game unless you have a 55" HDTV," and subsequently make that a gaming requirement. SHIT, why not fuck us more and say it HAS to be a Sony brand? WITH A MEMORY STICK SLOT?
Make GAME machines for god's sake. PLEASE. I could not care less about useless graphics in a game, like dimples on a football or sweat on their fingers. How about optimize your power and make the system last twice as long? Then I might actually feel a little more justified by letting my poor wallet getting raped in the ass. We're all creating solutions for problems that don't exist and adding power in the form of increased costs, and for what?
Oh, right. Rendered cheerleaders on the sidelines. Fuck that.
You don't know why it happens? It's a self defeating industry with self perpetuated biases. It's the thought that simply because Xmen Legends was a good game based on a somewhat good movie, Fantastic Four is going to ride that gravy train on home as well. Hence, a kid goes to Blockbuster and finds 10 copies of F4, but zero-to-one copies of Psychonauts. It doesn't help, of course, than the general gaming public has become entrenched and mired in this sort of cycle - a shitty game with a big license will outsell an original game that is much better, EVEN if huge names are backing it (i.e. Shaefer).
The industry revolves around whatever big thing 14 year old boys think is cool. Right now it's guns, killing hookers, rap, cars, and abysmal gameplay. I saw a 7 year kid (or therabouts) talking about how Shadow the Hedgehog was the greatest game ever. Why? Because he had a gun. Nevermind that the game was universally rejected as enjoyable - it was marketed as cool and thus will at least generate respectable sales (whether or not they are respectable for Sega's princely franchise is another argument altogether).
That is the reason. That is why Halo, GTA, and any knockoff franchise - including all WW2 shooters, any "sandbox" game, etc - will be chart toppers. There's an entire group of games that go unsung and underrated, and it is mostly because the main hero isn't some generic rage filled smart mouth guy holding a big gun. We have a Scarface game coming out for god's sake. AND a Godfather game. Who in their goddamn mind thinks this is a good idea?
Answer: The industry, based on current trends.
I'm serious - the game indsutry crashing again can't come soon enough. Finally knock some goddamn sense into everyone, and weed out the useless people buying Madden Roster Upgrade 200X every year.
*nt*
First off on the subject of ROMs, regardless of whether or not a company makes any profit on them, it's essentially illegal because you are getting something for nothing. Furthermore you are getting something that exists in the marketplace, and despite whatever exposure/amount it exists in (something that will be in flux at all times), the fact is that you can always secure a true, physical copy. Because that possibility exists, it essentially makes it illegal to own. I realize this argument has been done to death with the advent of P2P programs, and there are people on both sides of the fence, and I do NOT want to turn the argument in this direction or debate about it. I don't know when everyone thought it became okay to download media of any kind, but it happened within the last few years, and I'm not sure why.
Okay, to business at hand. First, where do you get your numbers, if you don't mind me asking? I find them quite interesting and I'd like to know where if you can divulge that information. If not, it's cool, I've just never seen someone with information that complete, and I like to be in the know, and it's obvious I've been looking in the wrong places. Quite intriguing. (I hope none of this sounds like baiting an argument or arrogant, I assure you it's not meant to sound so.)
Point taken about being a collector to different degrees, and I agree with it. What I'm getting at is that if you truly are going after a rare game, you have essentially two reasons to do so - to collect for the sole purpose of collecting, or to play it. If it's the former, then the point of owning a rare is to show it off and possibly to sell down the line, meaning you are looking for games that are scarce AND have demand. That brings me to your list - a rare game on there might be rare in terms of sales, but that doesn't mean it is sought after. You're right, though - maybe that won't happen for 20-30 years, and maybe Muppet Party Cruise will be a hot item. I question that solely on the fact that I don't really see it being traded around or anything. So I'm guessing no one really cares for it (again, as you said, right now, and that might change down the line).
Rez is wanted physically because it's considered a good game. Muppet Party Cruise I know nothing about, but it's a license, it sounds like a party game, I can make some conjecture on how "good" it might be, and I think that is what ultimately affects the rarity/value. If we're talking old-old school games, wouldn't ET be somewhat rare (note: I don't know anything about prior-NES game rarity, aside from the fact that demo cartridges and such fetch good prices) since no one owns it? But no one owns it because it's a terrible game, so no one is looking for it EXCEPT maybe a handful of collectors, but that WILL affect the price one is willing to pay for it.
In summation - the degree of value is probably somewhat directly influenced by how good a game is, how many were made, AND if people are looking for it. Generally if one or more of those conditions are not met, then the value won't really rise.
Now, looking at your list, I have a few questions. Primarily, I-Ninja and Bombastic. These games were part of the infamous mid-summer 2004 Circuit City clearance of $5 games, so I'm fairly sure a sufficient number of both titles were moved. My guess is a few other titles on that list were sold during the sale also (I want to say Rogue Ops), but I don't have a list on me and I don't really care to find one. I will say that I own a copy of I-Ninja and Bombastic, and at some point I had multiple copies for trading purposes, but they were going 1-1 game transactions, so you could trade Bombastic for, say, Devil May Cry 1, which was part of the list as well.
Final question: What about the rarity of lesser known PS2 games? I'm talking Guity Gear, Stretch Panic, Mr. Mosquito, Robotic Alchemic Drive, Grafitti Kingdom/Pengel (or whatever the first one is called), etc? Those + any Atlus or Nippon Ichi game + Wo
Ok, point taken on imports, but the point I was trying to make is that there are tons of games people won't get at all. You could replace Ouende and Daigasso with any number of USA releases, including but not limited to: Katamari Damacy, Culdcept, Chibi-Robo, Odama, Disgaea, Makai Kingdom, Persona, Rhapsody, Intelligent Cube, etc etc. Essentially any rare/sought-after game that is below the radar. I'd venture to say even some more mainstream games fall into this category - Beyond Good and Evil, Viewtiful Joe (though there is a cartoon now), Phoenix Wright. Using imports was a bad way to drive the point home, I should have used local releases. Essentially it's an X variable and there's dozens of candidates.
As for SSBM, I dunno, I still occassionally hear people saying "I want to be the guy with the sword." And when I say Link, sometimes hear "NO, the GUY WITH THE SWORD." Of course, hardly anyone knows where Shiek came from. And don't even try to explain Marth and Roy, let alone some of the other characters. I'd venture a good percentage don't know where Gannondorf comes from. Hardly anyone knows Ness.
Yea, SSBM isn't rare. At all. (Unless you want to argue Player's Choice versions versus original, but that's not the point here.) But that doesn't mean all the people who played it know all the characters. I can't imagine what will happen if some really obscure characters appear in the Rev version, including possibly Pit, Little Mac, etc. Wario had better be in there, thankfully he's known enough.
The whole point with SSB is to have "all star" Nintendo characters fight (hence why a number of decisions were made during development, including removing the ability to play as Master Hand, unless you hack the game with a device). But there are many people (moreso in places outside Japan, I'd suspect) who don't have a clue.
But there's a difference between a game selling a few copies and a game like Rez selling a few copies. A really obscure but very bad game is different from what is generally considered a good to great game that is obscure. I'm not here to say Rez is super amazing (it's definitely worth owning, that much I can say), but when it's in low quantity and is generally universally liked, THEN reprints become a bigger issue. No one cares if generic-zombie killing game with poor camera angles and terrible graphics becomes rare, but people will climb mountains to find something like Panzer Dragoon Saga.
Just because it is "rare" doesn't mean it is worth finding, ESPECIALLY if you are a gamer. I guess that's my point. I'd rather track down a copy of PDS to play it, not own it.
So I guess if you are purely collecting them, generic crappy zombie shooter is just as important as something like Rez. Meh.
Note: Feel free to replace "Rez" with your own weapon of choice. Might I suggest Phoenix Wright?
Well, when Gitaroo Man got reprinted and appeared on Gamestop, that *night* I placed an order. Thankfully it was listed as "Used," but given that there were hundreds of copies (checked by adding a large amount to my cart), I (and the CAG forum) knew they'd be brand new reprints. Additionally, at that time, GS.com was having a 25% off sale on used games.
I picked up a brand new copy of a game that repeatedly went over $150 on eBay for less than $40 bucks.
While I don't agree with GS's practice, I can at least give you one isolated incidence and anectodal story in which it benefitted me.