Topic: The elusive Ocarina of Time and how I got a decent priced copy.

I recently got my 3DS and hadn't had a Nintendo handheld since my GBA SP. Sacrilege I know.
In any event by backlog is huge.
One such game I wanted was Ocarina of Time for the 3DS, which as it turns out is out of print. Seems people jumped on that fact real fast.
On Amazon they are asking 80 dollars for a cartridge only copy. Sold auctions on ebay are hitting in between 60 to over 100 bucks.

I just got a copy for less than 46 dollars at Gamestop. I wanted to share this story in hopes that it might help others with the game or even help them finding other games as I have done this through gamestop before.

First, gamestop will ship from store to store with no charge to you. So if your store has a copy of something somebody wants from anywhere else, gamestop will ship that game to the store of their choice. Just have to give them their store number, which you just have to ask the store you want it shipped to what their number is.

So what I wanted was a boxed copy with manual and all. Complete if you will.
My local store had a cartridge only copy.
On the gamestop website you can search for a copy near you via a link on the games page. Usually it checks where you are and then tells you which if any stores have a copy. If none within 100 miles have a copy it lets you know.
So what you need to do is go to a website that has a map of all the zipcodes in the states. Once there just start picking major cities outside your home town. Plug those numbers into the search and start searching across the country.

I started close to home and worked my way outside. I was looking for a complete boxed copy. It took me around 5 zip code searches and maybe 14 or so phone calls and I found one just outside of St. Louis and I live in Michigan.
The employee told me it was complete and it looked like a nice copy.
Three days later it showed up at my local store.
FYI, the game is hot right now as after my gamestop checked it in they said they received 8 phone calls prior to me picking it up. lol

I hope this helps others get a copy of games they are looking for at a decent price. I don't usually buy used games but I really didn't want to spend hundreds on a new copy of the game if I could find a decent enough used copy.
If you got any questions let me know. I will throw a pic up later when I get home.

The TL;DR version.

If you live in Michigan and want a copy of Ocarina of Time 3d...

I heard theres an online store on the 3ds...

I don't buy digital. All my games are physical copies. I collect.
Unless its a digital only game.

Sounds like you're the only thing holding you back then.

Buy a loss copy, then find a loss case and manual on eBay to complete it.

I still have a shrink wrapped copy, due to the fact that I received it as a gift twice.

Let's see how scalping goes for me a few years from now. Maybe a reprint will happen and I'll be SOL.

I got a great deal on my Zelda games. I got that oldschool discount.

>complains about scalping
>scalps
Nintendo Life at it worst.

I don't complain about scalping tf are you talking about. For effs sake I once said it was okay to scalp Flipnote Studio codes. Where do you get off?

Nice greentext, bro.

There's a very big difference between when someone happens to come across one and buys it to sell it, and when someone goes and buys 50 to make it more rare so they can sell them for more.

Plenty of honest people make a decent living off of buying unwanted junk at garage sales, estate sales, clearance racks, etc. and selling it for profit. I do it because it's the only thing I really can do with my awful health. Resellers are the only reason I was able to get a good grip for my New 3DS XL at a decent price. Invalidating the efforts of resellers by calling them all scalpers just because they, like every other working person on the planet, want to make some money, is doing a great disservice to what they do.

Please, think twice before you demonize an entire profession because you can't get a Shulk Amiibo or a Majora's Mask N3DS.

People have been misusing that word a lot lately.

Keep it on topic gentlepeople, there is other threads to discuss the ethics of scalping.

Well my sarcasm wasn't very detectable. I thought that greentexting would help people detect that. That comment was made just to mock the people that about complained about people "scalping" Metroid Prime Trilogy and how miss used the word is. No hard feelings man , but I digress. I don't really find it useful to sell sealed copies of OOT3D because most collectors probably already have it. Not to mention that most everybody that don't have it by now that not a collector is going to buy it digital.