Xenosaga 3 lenticular/hologram cover info wanted!

[michaeljae]

I'm hoping someone can shed some light on this US version of Xenosaga 3 for PS2. I bought this years ago at GameStop for $20 because I've never seen it and thought it might be collectable. I did some research and know it was a Best Buy exclusive and may have even been pre-order exclusive as well. I've contacted Best Buy but after 3 attempts, I received a "your question cannot be answered" when I emailed them in reference to how many they may have sold or bought all together. I cannot find but 1 for sale on a little gaming site where I believe they are asking $180 for it used but complete and in decent condition 8 out of 10. I use a video game pricing website that says only 1 copy has been sold in the last 9 years on the 3 big selling sites since its release and that one sold for $50 "loose" not even complete back in 2011. I've gone thru several thread and forums where others have the same questions but no one answers and if someone did respond, the forum is so outdated that any opinionated price is not relevant anymore (exmp. 2007 and 2009 found a forum that one guy says he would pay $50 and another said its worth $60 back when Xenosaga 3 regular US edition was worth about $20). I'm looking for any info about this version of the game. I'm a serious collector with over 10,000 games, I owned a video game store at one point so I know my games pretty damn well, and used to go to 50-100 different game stores a week back in the peak of the PS2 and I've only seen 1 copy... Ever... Any price points, rarity info or anything would help a lot! Has anyone seen this lenticular cover in the wild for sale or seen one sold online and for how much? Please help! This is making me crazy!

[Purkeynator]

It definitely was not pre-order only as I remember seeing it on my Best Buy's shelf in Riverdale UT years ago. Everytime I saw it I wanted it but didn't want to pay full $50 for it. I can't remember how many they had, probably 1-2. I do know this game has it's own entry on videogamepricecharts.com. It says its worth about $50 used and complete.

[michaeljae]

That price from videogamepricecharts is from 2011 or older and there is only 1 to reference from eBay and 2 other big sites so that price is old and only one sold making it the "market" price for that site which I believe is inaccurate. Plus if u delve further into that you'll find it was actually a "loose" copy and they have separate prices for complete and new copies of games which makes me believe that the price listed at that site is even further from the actual current market price. Seeing a complete regular complete copy of that game sells for $48 according to that site, it doesn't make sense that that particular version is only worth $2 more. Actually I just looked at the graph for the "hologram" Xenosaga 3 and the graph only does back to like July 2011 and the game was sold sometime before that bc it doesn't register on the graph making that price even more obsolete. I do believe I referenced this in my initial post with the video game pricing site, I just didn't want to get flagged for using real site names at the time. I've done extensive online research on this game and if u can find something new please let me know. Thanks for trying.

[michaeljae]

Just another fact, if it was a pre order exclusive and people preordered it and canceled it, then best buy would put them on the shelves for sale. Someone I know just emailed letting me know that there source says not all best buys carried the hologram/lenticular cover either. Only select best buys got copies and he goes on to say that each select best buy got 1-3 copies to sell with 3 being the absolute most. I'm not sure what his source is but he has given me accurate and great information in the past. He also thinks it may have been a preorder exclusive for stores that weren't selected to to carry the lenticular cover. This may or may not be true but again, I believe this has some accuracy seeing how rarely I see this (only once in my life physically and once online).

[xzeronature]

Sold on ebay for $60 last month
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Xenosaga-Episod ... 418f96eb50

[isiolia]

My guess is that it's not always recognized as special. The Price Charting one is a separate entry, but not everyone splits it off like that.

The copy I have has the lenticular cover (well, insert), and I paid $46 for it on Amazon in 2010. It was classified as collectible: very good, and claimed to have a holographic cover.

Another angle could be that it is just an insert, and slides right out, with the standard cover underneath. So, not every copy that might have been sold that way originally may still have it.

[SpoonyBard]

I don't believe that VGPC had a loose/CIB designation back in 2011. It was either 'loose' (maybe 'used' instead) or 'new' if I recall correctly.

My copy of Xenosaga 3 is the regular copy, but my roommate has a hologram version that he purchased used from a Gamestop about 2-3 years ago. I believe it was priced the same as a regular copy. Much like me, he never takes the time to remove price stickers from his games either. I can check and see what he paid for it when I get home.

[CRTGAMER]

A neat story, never knew about the unusual cover. The trick is knowledge and demand of the obscure cover game.

I am running into a similar situation with Wii Sonic Colors. The game I got has reflective foil on parts of the cover. I have seen only one copy in the wild in all the Gamestop and BookOff stores I have come across. For me its not the resale value, but just the story behind it.

[michaeljae]

Other rare covers include a blue hued Tetris worlds for PS2 which had another cover with pieces floating unconnected that is much more rare than the common art insert. Dragon Age 2 had a signature edition silver foil art insert for the PS3, maybe 360 too. Dead Island had a special edition all red cover for PS3 and maybe 360 as well although I wouldn't class them into the lenticular cover of Xenosaga 3. Apparently rayman 3 had a lenticular cover as well that's considered rare and final fantasy 7 black label had a slew of misprinted back covers where the word "masterpiece" has some letters not in line with the other words (some letters are off set) which a collector pointed out to me one day. He claims less than 10,000 got out before square pulled them back to reissue others. Different guy tho and idk how good that info is. There are 2 different backs to black label final fantasy 7 black label tho. I collected both.

[michaeljae]

Thanks for that info and link xzeronature. I wonder why price charts didn't catch that? Makes me wonder how many others they don't catch but to be fair, trying to find all those games sold would be hard. Didn't know that sonic colors foiled cover for Wii. I'll look out for that one too.