Nintendo games with short print runs?

Why does this happen, exactly?

For example, the DS has plenty of first-party games that had pathetic Atlus style print runs. Why? I hate that there are so many appealing first-party games for the console and they're so damn hard to come by, and getting more expensive as a result. If you own a DS, you can probably think of several right off.

Why do I have to track down a $50 complete copy of Partners in Time, when Bowser's Inside Story remains in continuous production? Why is Canvas Curse so damn hard to find, but Superstar Ultra can still be found in every Walmart across the country?

We know that third-party publishers re-print titles that are in high demand. I think it's safe to say *every* Nintendo published title remains in high demand. So would it kill them to do some re-prints on some of those pointlessly super-obscure releases? I figure the point of being in business is to make money. Right?

:daze:

I think they discontinue them if they don't sell well/get good reviews. Early titles are also on the chopping block, and then some they just lost the rights to. And then there's the promos. These are the ones to look out for:

Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt
Tetris DS
Star Fox Command
DK Jungle Climber
Electroplankton
Clubhouse Games
Nintendogs Best Friends
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
Kirby Canvas Curse
Super Princess Peach
Warioware Touched
Yoshi's Island DS

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Baloo

I think they discontinue them if they don't sell well/get good reviews. Early titles are also on the chopping block, and then some they just lost the rights to. And then there's the promos. These are the ones to look out for:

Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt
Tetris DS
Star Fox Command
DK Jungle Climber
Electroplankton
Clubhouse Games
Nintendogs Best Friends
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
Kirby Canvas Curse
Super Princess Peach
Warioware Touched
Yoshi's Island DS

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I don't know if any of that really applies to first-party Nintendo games. Taking a quick look on Metacritic, I see that most of those titles scored in the 70s and 80s out of 100. Pretty good, but not perfect.

Early titles such as Mario 64 DS and Mario Kart of course, never got chopped. I don't know much about the publishing process, but I don't really understand how the rights to games published a few years ago could be already "lost".

It seems either they have some very high standards, or they're trying to appeal to the collector's market. Either way, I'm sure they're aware of the growing demand for these titles, and it makes no sense from a business perspective, not to do more print runs on them. Obviously not as new releases, but to fill bargain bins in discount stores and such. You see other publishers do that a lot.

Kinda happy to see Partners in Time on that list. It was one of the most disappointing Nintendo games I bought around the mid 2000s.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Baloo

I think they discontinue them if they don't sell well/get good reviews. Early titles are also on the chopping block, and then some they just lost the rights to. And then there's the promos. These are the ones to look out for:

Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt
Star Fox Command
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time
Yoshi's Island DS

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These are worth something? Damn I have them just sitting on the shelf. I should really get around to playing them.

This is ironic... happened last month.

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=137279

A chance to grab them at a reasonable price, brand new. MOAR Toys R Us.

We had several of those but they got stolen (along with most of our GBA and DS games in general) at an airport 4 years back. :( (granted most we'd completed and/or didn't care TOO much about, but some we do miss a fair bit... meh there's emulation :p)

Star Fox Command was severely disappointing, especially since it was a generally well made and compelling game: the control system ruined it though: I mean WTF, all touch screen controls with every button (and the d-pad) firing and no alternate controls... that's like if a Wii Star Fox game only allowed pointer/motion controls (knock on wood :lol: ).
I wonder if someone might eventually hack it to have normal controls...