Pricefall

Pricefall
In this week’s Pricefall, Amazon may have finally made there on-again-off-again Ni No Kuni sale permanent (UPDATE: nope), grabbing a new copy of Okamiden is no longer quite so outrageous for the time being, and we take a look at price tracking classic life simulation games and some recent PSN releases. Lock away your wallets because you’re about to witness some tempting low prices for good games.

Active Sales

Okamiden
$24.90 USD – $10 off at Play-Asia
Average used price: $30.70 USD

Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom
$9.99 USD – PSP download on PSN
One of many PSN sales reported on oprainfall
Average used price: $19.50 USD

Final Fantasy XIV: Realm Reborn
$19.99 USD – $10 off pre-ordering at Newegg with coupon code PRE32166021 Expired

Raiden III
$5.99 USD – PS2 Classic on PSN
Average used price: $10.78 USD

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
$39.99 USD – price drop with free shipping from Amazon
Expired
Though the deal expired on Amazon, Gamestop still has the game at $39.99.
Average used price: $38.00 USD

Sonic Generations and Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed bundle
$14.99 USD – $44.99 off at GameFly (PC Download) Expired

Dead or Alive 5
$19.99 USD – $10 off at Amazon (Xbox 360) Expired
This deal also expired on Amazon, but yet again Gamestop is picking up the slack with the game still at $19.99.
Average used price: $19.49$19.95 USD (Xbox 360, PS3)

Star Wars Collection – 2013
$49.99 USD bundle – 50% off on Steam
Most games are 66% off on their own, including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
Ends Monday at 10:00am PDT Expired

Classic EA Convoy
Classic EA games are 60% off at GOG.com
Games include the Ultima series and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Expired

Firaxis Pack
Includes Sid Meier’s Civilization V and XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC)

$19.99 USD – $49.99 off at Gamefly (PC Download) Expired

Ninja Gaiden 3: Collector’s Edition
$19.89 USD – $10 off at Gamestop (PS3, Xbox 360)
Average used price: $30.00$50.00 USD (Xbox 360, PS3)

Nintendo 3DS
$134.99 USD – $20 off at BestBuy Expired
Flame Red is the cheapest. Other 3DS and 3DS XL models also $20 off. BestBuy is also selling an Animal Crossing 3DS XL bundle for $219.99 USD.
Average used price: $110.48 USD (3DS Cosmo Black), $166.51 USD (3DS XL)

Free on PlayStation Plus

The Cave
Closure
Gravity Rush
Mega Man 9 & 10 Bundle
SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny

Tekken 6
Vanquish

Reported Earlier

PSN Sale: Week of April 29th
Disgaea 4 Premium Edition On Sale For Limited Time Only
KEMCO Big Android Sale Starts Today
Aksys Games Holding Online Sale

Price Tracking

Lost in Shadow

The latest Games of the Past REVIEW here on oprainfall focused on this very unique and very niche platformer for the Wii. Like most reviews of the game, our review was mixed, but for those who enjoy this genre and art style, you can get Lost in Shadow at a pretty decent price used. While prices were high during launch, as most games are, they steadily fell to very consumer-friendly levels later in 2011. Since then the game has largely stayed at the $10 mark, not fluctuating much one way or another.

Lost in Shadow - Pricecharting.com
Lost in Shadow used prices – Pricecharting.com

Lowest recent completed listing on eBay: $6.99 USD

Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is coming out soon for the Nintendo 3DS, continuing a slew of 3DS releases in the first half of 2013. Compared to many Nintendo franchises, this is a relatively newer series, but the original Animal Crossing has a place in history for being a notable and unexpected highlight of the life simulation genre. This genre has long been defined by Harvest Moon and western efforts like The Sims, which spawned many imitators. Now with mobile and social games on the rise and capturing investors’ hearts everywhere, the accessibility of this genre has made it prime for reaching growing audiences. But what of the classics, the standard bearers for this once niche genre? You can get the original Animal Crossing fairly cheaply, and though it has been going up and down in price for a while, it generally tends to rest around the $10 mark these days.

Animal Crossing - Pricecharting.com
Animal Crossing used prices – Pricecharting.com

Lowest recent completed listing on eBay: $3.00 USD

Harvest Moon

Speaking of simulation games (and Harvest Moon), if you really want to go for an old classic that defined the genre, you can’t go wrong with the original Harvest Moon. However, I wouldn’t expect the price to be worth much beyond collection purposes, because the prices for this game almost reach the same realm as Earthbound as SNES games go. In contrast to Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon reached over $100 in average used price in late 2011, largely regressing back and forth at that price for a long time before spiking early this year.

Harvest Moon - Pricecharting.com
Harvest Moon used prices – Pricecharting.com

Lowest recent completed listing on eBay: $117.50 USD

Fatal Frame II

We reported earlier that Fatal Frame II is being released on PSN, with the original Fatal Frame having been recently released on Sony’s digital distribution platform as well. Sony and third parties usually post some pretty competitive prices for games on their network, but it may be useful to keep in mind the used prices you can get for this game before going digital with this staple of the survival horror genre. Like many niche games from the last generation, it’s not exactly outrageous in listing price, but does outpace many of the more mainstream PlayStation 2 games that saw wider distribution in its day. Though the PS2 version reaches just under $30, it should be noted that the Director’s Cut on Xbox is actually cheaper at an average price of $24.99.

Fatal Frame II - Pricecharting.com
Fatal Frame II used prices – Pricecharting.com

Lowest recent completed listing on eBay: $13.63 USD

Breath of Fire III

We recently hosted an independently written article at the campaign hub for raising interest in the Breath of Fire series by Capcom. The series has long been dormant, with the last release having been back in 2003, a decade ago this November. Still, despite the low number of releases for this JRPG series, the games are still something many gamers remember fondly, and in particular Breath of Fire III was well-liked among fans during the peak of the PlayStation-era RPG renaissance. Compared to similar original PlayStation games, the price for Breath of Fire III is not bad, and even the average price for complete packaging is only $26.49. If you’re looking to Capcom to finally continue this series, it might be worth picking up this classic to ease the wait.

Breath of Fire III - Pricecharting.com
Breath of Fire III used prices – Pricecharting.com

Lowest recent completed listing on eBay: $9.99 USD

Katamari Damacy

This is another game coming soon to PSN as a PlayStation 2 classic and definitely one that fans of niche games should experience, if nothing else for the uniqueness. Fortunately you can get this for cheap and Sony will likely be competitive when they release this to their digital distribution platform in the near future.

Katamari Damacy - Pricecharting.com
Katamari Damacy used prices – Pricecharting.com

Lowest recent completed listing on eBay: $5.99 USD

Want us to find low prices for another rare niche game? Find any other sales? Can’t find your wallet fast enough? Let us know in the comments.

SOURCES
PriceCharting.com
Cheap Ass Gamer
GamerDeals
Steam
Amazon.com
eBay.com
GameStop

Raymond Dwyer
Former Contributor--Raymond is an architect in Chicago who has been playing video games for as long as he can remember. For all that the city offers, he mostly prefers sitting down to a good game when he can spare the time. Buildings look better rendered than they do in real life anyway.
https://soundcloud.com/starstabbedmoon