NCSX states that Phoenix Wright is available in the U.S. once again.

http://www.ncsx.com/2006/031306/ncs0313m.htm

This probably means the high secondary market price will go down. Goddammit! I payed the heightened premium for my copy! If I had known this was gonna happen, I'd have waited.

Sons a bitches!

I'm not really surprised they reprinted it, it did sell out afterall!  Some other DS games are getting hard to find.  "Lost in Blue" and "Trauma Center" are two such examples.  Perhaps the DS will end up with quite the collectible pieces of software?  Hmmm...

cheers,

-avatar!

I dunno, it's kind of hit or miss whether they'll reprint a game, even if it sells out. Well, okay, so the only example I can think of right now is this one particular DBZ fighting game for the PS that apparently went OOP fast and is now selling for big bucks on the secondary market...

"Trauma Center"? Never heard of that. It sounds *almost* interesting, but if I end up doing realistic operations or something like that, then nevermind. ^_~

Capcom thought the original sales were bad, so I'm surprised they issued more.  It appeared they wouldn't translate any more in the series.

That DBZ game you're referring to was Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout. Only thing was that they re-issued that game, too. Prices for Final Bout: Original Print seem to have gone down drastically (at least up here). I don't know how it is in the States.

And also, Trauma Center is friggin' awesome. Almost on par with Phoenix Wright! Lost in Blue is becoming rare, huh? I saw a copy for sale a while back. Think I might pick it up. I already have Trace Memory (the main character reminds me of a girl I like).

Speaking of DS and such, Schala, I remember you saying a long time ago that you thought that DS and the philosophy behind it was an intensely stupid gimmick. I don't suppose you've changed your mind since then? It really is an awesome system (beats the tar out of the lame PSP, at any rate, although with the recent release of Initial D: Street Stage, I might look into getting one of those, too), and well worth the money if you're into portable gaming.

Gamespot also reports on the re-issue.  I wonder if it'll get stocked in more than just specialized stores like Gamestop and EB and online vendors this time around?  In any case, Idolores, you have my sympathies on the bad timing; but at least you were able to snag the game either way, right?  And that's what counts.  ^^

Anyone who still continues on this train of thought really has to pick up Ouendan.  I'd go so far as to say that it feels like the *DS* was created with Ouendan in mind.  That's how intuitive and so well put-to-use the game is.

Hmm, did I say that about the DS? I remember saying that about the Revolution's controller, and whining about the annoying dual-screen controls of Nanostray. ^_~ In any case, I can't give an answer to this yet because the main reason that pushed me to get a DS was the fact that it can play GBA games. And Phoenix Wright. ^_~ I haven't played PW yet -- I'm focusing on slowly cutting down my GBA stash. I finished Minish Cap some time ago and am attempting to start up Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and I have Sword of Mana and possibly FF4 after that.

As for DS games, I'm not sure whether I have time anymore to explore new titles. I'm mostly sticking to my tried-and-true series (hence why I have SoM and FF10, heh), although I do ocassionally get games that manage to grab me in some way. The last several games to do so were, hmm, PW, God of War, We Love Katamari, and Shadow of the Colossus. But even that's kind of iffy because I don't research these things, and my nearly only source of game info is EGM. And this board. ^_~

So yeah, my DS is turning out to be my mode of playing GBA games. I doubt I'll be able to fully appreciate it on its own merits. Kinda funny considering I used to be a pretty big GB fan and even wrote a preview article when the GBA first came out. No, wait, I have Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and I want to get that Peach game. So I guess I'll eventually get to it. ^_~

Ze evidence is overwhelming!

I was waiting for someone to come up with a link. ^_~

Angela beat me to it. DAMN YOU, ANGELA! ;P

Also, it's a shame I don't have Wi-Fi, otherwise I'd totally challenge you to throw down on Mario Kart. There is no Initial D for the system, so I have to play that to get my racing fix. So sad, so sad . . .

I totally recommend you get Lost in Blue before it starts getting really expensive!  Also, both the upcoming Tetris and Metroid titles look like they have high potential!  Definitely, the DS is the best system released in a LONG time...

(Although I still think the 360 has potential, it just hasn't been tapped.) 

cheers,

-avatar!

Well, me being the ardent Metroid fan that I am, I am totally snagging Hunters. Same for Lost in Blue. Tetris? I've never been much a fan, but I'll look into it. I still have that used copy of Parasite Eve 2 I wanna pick up. Not to mention Suiko V and Kingdom Hearts 2 . . . My, God.

Sometimes if you wait, prices go down.  However, you are taking a risk, since the game can go OOP (although I still think that most popular games get reprinted at least once).  Out of curiosity, if you don't mind saying, how much did you fork over for Phoenix Wright?  If it makes you feel better, I once saw an original NES Legend of Zelda go for $400   heh, it may be a collector's thing, but personally there's no way I'd pay money for the original Zelda!!  Which reminds me, it looks like Twilight Princess has been pushed back to *no sooner* than the start of September!!  What's up with that?  Sheesh...

cheers,

-avatar!

The price for Phoenix Wright that I paid was about $85. I live in Canada, so the price would be different down there.

The weird thing about the Phoenix Wright game in terms of price is that the JP version, which is freely available, has a full English option. On top of that, it's getting a release in Europe at the end of this month. It shouldn't have been going for a high price and, even though it was, it was unlikely to hold that value, reprint or not.

Why was it unlikely to hold that value?  I see no reason why the price should not escalate.  It's simple supply and demand after all.  When a game becomes rare and high priced, often more and more people are attracted to it.  Even if the JP version has full English, many people want the official US release (that's just how it is)!

cheers,

-avatar!

Because at the moment, a large portion of people looking for the game are people who actually want to play it. With an EU release and the fact that the JP version is perfectly playable, a shortage of the US version becomes far less of a problem. Why should people pay a premium for the US version when it is available cheaper (indeed, why did you?).

I think part of the reason for the escalation in price was simply that many people didn't know that the JP version had an English language option and, even without a reprint, the price would have dropped when the EU version became available.

I'm skipping Hunters, but I have to say that I am absolutely dying to get my hands on Tetris DS.  I watched the new movies IGN posted and I think I'm in love.  I haven't bought an actual regular Tetris game since I first got my GB in 1991 and I'm pumped to kill time with this.

I got the game at retail price, so that's not an issue for me.  Still, I can see why people prefer the US version.  If ALL you want to do is play the game, then you can certainly play the JP version (which brings up the question, is the text EXACTLY the same as in the US version? because I think that often US releases have various localization differences) but if you actually want to keep the game, it's nice to have a case and manual which are in English.  Yes, it might sound silly, but that's how it is.  Also, do European DS games work in the North American DS?

cheers,

-avatar!

I think Nintendo wants to use Zelda to promote the Revolution, so the two releases will probably be fairly close.  Remember that Pokemon came out in the U.S. about two months before the GBC and the two Zelda GBC games came out in the U.S. about one month before the GBA.  The GBC had firmware that recognized the two Pokemon games and colorized them appropriately while the GBC Zeldas had a secret room that was only accessible on the GBA.  I would expect Twilight Princess to follow this pattern (a fishing mini game that works with the Revolution controller seems to be the most likely scenario).

AFAIK, there are no regional lockouts on any video game for any major portable game system.  The PSP does lock out movie and music UMDs, however.

Yep, the DS is entirely region free so that is never an issue with DS games. And with the JP version, to my knowledge, the text is exactly the same. In a game with that much text it would be bizarre to translate it completely to English for the Japanese market (who would play it in Japanese) and then retranslate it for a US version. I can't think why that would ever happen.