Topic: Why is "Skies of Arcadia Legends" still so expensive?

[Clock Nova]

I've been waiting for the price of "Skies of Arcadia Legends" to drop a bit before buying it, and I've been waiting a while.  But the price just never seems to drop and I don't understand why.  Even blockbusters like Metroid and Zelda have come down in price since their release, but "Skies of Arcadia Legends" is still going for $49.  Some jackasses are even trying to sell used copies for $69.99 on Amazon.  What's the deal?  I know it's supposed to be a good game, but I also know its sales were less than stellar.  So how can they justify charging so much?  I'm willing to spend around $30 for this one.  Anyone have any idea when it's going to hit that?

[Infernal Monkey]

I recall somebody making a thread here quite a while back saying some electronic store was flogging off copies for like, $10 US or something. Plus it didn't really get a very good release. Much like Rez. Now it's getting harder and harder to find, and people who were greedy and purchased heaps of copies at $10 are making a killing on eBay.

Try local pawn shops or something.  

[Clock Nova]

So why aren't new copies selling for less than $49.99?  I was at an EBGames last week and they were selling a copy for that price.

[Bill Aurion]

There are a nice couple copies waiting to be bought at my local gaming store, so here I patiently wait for the price to go down...

[Clock Nova]

Hell.  If I have to wait for the release of Nintendo's next console to buy Arcadia, I will.  Surely it will be cheaper by then.  But why the heck isn't it cheaper now?

[SearanoX]

Why are the prices you're finding high?  Because the stores you're going to are greedy.  High prices on old software is no new story.  I've seen N64 games being sold many stores for $80 CDN, even though they're all years old, and nobody is going to buy them.  Even if it is going to be bought by the odd person, the high price will just convince them to pick it up elsewhere, possibly used.  I know it's what I would do.

Stupid Zellers.

[Clock Nova]

Then every place that sells games is greedy.  Even Wal-Mart wants $49 for it.

[Arbok]

"Then every place that sells games is greedy. Even Wal-Mart wants $49 for it. "

Wal-Mart? Greedy? ...surprise, surprise

Sorry, I just found your example funny. Anyway, if you have a Best Buy around you might try to hit them up and see if they have a copy, they always have good prices on older software, if they have em in stock.

[Armed]

I know the answer to this question that u all ask.....




IT IS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY DECENT RPG ON GAMECUBE AND THEY KNOW THAT IF U ARE A RPG FANATIC U WILL BUY IT EVEN IF IT IS $49.


*now me i got it for free because gamestop had a 2 for 1 deal on used games one weekend and i bought f-zero and soulcalibur used and got skies of arcadia used(no booklet, but i dont certainly care good game!!!) free!!!!

[Pale]

Here is the key from a retail perspective.

1.  Sega is the one ignoring the game, with no official price drop notice, stores will never lower the price.
2.  In large chain stores clearing inventory isn't near as important as make a profit.  Managers bonuses are decided based on how much money they make.  They "purchased" skies for a high price way back when, and selling it for lower than that will cause negative dollars on their bottom line.  Compare that to a "no change" by leaving it on the shelf and it makes perfect sense.  It isn't so much that they want to sell it for the high price as much as they don't want it to kill their chance at a bonus.
3.  The result is, the last few copies of the game will stay on the shelf for 50 bucks until they are sold.  The people selling it on amazon for 60 bucks used are hoping to pray off the rarity of the game because it is no longer "in print"

Do yourself a favor and go buy it now, even if its 50 bucks.

[DrForester]

Might not be in stock, but right now Skies is part of Circuit City's 50% off sale, so you can get the game for $25.  

Best Buy had it for $10 a few months ago, and that, plus price match policies led to lots of stores selling out (Got my copy for $6 with pricematch + 10% deals)

[Clock Nova]

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Do yourself a favor and go buy it now, even if its 50 bucks.

Nope.  If I can't get it for under $30, I'll never get it at all.  There are just too many other great games I can get for less money.  I'm sure I'll be missing out on a great game, but I can get two other great games for the price of that one.  And with the way my money's going these days, I gotta go for that.  I just picked up Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell for $49.99.  I think I got a better deal than just "Skies," good as it may be.

And when I really want to play a RPG, I can always fire up Neverwinter Nights on my computer.  For that matter, there's also Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Fallout 1 & 2, and any number of others.

[Ian Sane]

At my local EB they sell Skies for $75 Canadian.  That's pretty high considering the game's now a year old and brand new games in Canada typically don't cost more than $70.  They selled used copies for $65 which is how much most other stores sell it new.

I have found with games that don't sell well stores do one of two things.  If it's a game that was a crappy or was critically acclaimed and is easy to find (ED for example) they lower the price to try to get rid of the hundred or so copies they can't sell.  However if it's a critically acclaimed game that isn't found everywhere and they only have two or three copies of they keep the price high (or even raise it) because they know that the only person who is going to buy it is a hardcore nut that has been searching everywhere for it and will gladly pay full price for it.  My local EB has a brand new copy of Cubivore(!) and the price for it has been high since it came out.

[Armed]

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Originally posted by: Clock Nova

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Do yourself a favor and go buy it now, even if its 50 bucks.

Nope.  If I can't get it for under $30, I'll never get it at all.  There are just too many other great games I can get for less money.  I'm sure I'll be missing out on a great game, but I can get two other great games for the price of that one.  And with the way my money's going these days, I gotta go for that.  I just picked up Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell for $49.99.  I think I got a better deal than just "Skies," good as it may be.

And when I really want to play a RPG, I can always fire up Neverwinter Nights on my computer.  For that matter, there's also Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Fallout 1 & 2, and any number of others.

Ehh... I dont think Prince of Persia is worth it at all, i saw the video review on Gamespot and they said that it was easy and the only reason why they gave it such a high score was because of the graphics, but splinter cell is good.

[Clock Nova]

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Ehh... I dont think Prince of Persia is worth it at all, i saw the video review on Gamespot and they said that it was easy and the only reason why they gave it such a high score was because of the graphics, but splinter cell is good.

We'll see.  But I also picked up Beyond Good & Evil for $19.99.  An excellent price, I think, for a game that is so critically acclaimed.  The length of the game, though, is why I wouldn't pay the original price for it.

If anyone here wants to sell their copy of Skies of Arcadia Legends for $25, I'll buy it right now.

[VoodooMerlin]

I paid $79.99 for it and another $20 for the guide just before Christmas.

It's one of those situations. The price obviously wasn't budging (I waited too), I wanted the game in my collection and here was the choice. I could bite the bullet and own the game....or wait further and risk having the game sent back to a supplier, never to be seen again.

I'd rather own the game while I had the opportunity instead of "snooze and lose". No one ever said that video gaming was a cheap pastime.

[Clock Nova]

Yes.  But sometimes we have to make choices.  Yes, I'd like to own and play Skies, but on the other hand, I know I won't get as much enjoyment out of a Japanese-style RPG as I would out of, say, the latest Neverwinter Nights expansion (which is cheaper).  If I manage to find a copy of Skies for under $30, I'll buy it.  As it is, I feel that $50 is too much, and more than that is an outright ripoff.

[The Omen]

Well, i finally asked an EB game world drone why SOA:L is 44.99 used.  He said, very matter-of-factly,

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because they dont sell

...Ummm yeah, no kidding, ya dope.

[Clock Nova]

Quite funny.  And they will continue to "not sell" to me unless the price goes down.