Video: We Take A Look At Limited Run Games' Brand New Store

I’m genuinely amazed Limited Run actually invested their own money in something, I’m surprised people didn’t have to buy an entry ticket 6-12 months in advance!

I'm not a fan of this company. I ordered one game from them, and it took them 8 months to deliver it.

I've seen the Shantae plushie, included with Half-Genie Hero for about $70 at some retailers.

I wish folks could do like Jack White did for music by starting up his own record manufacturing plant. Like, if Limited Run could have a plant that does these limited runs themselves of all the formats- it could be more agile in turning around these small batch orders. And maybe even help MORE smaller companies get products out physically.

Pardon my ignorance and laziness, but how does LRG work? Do they have an exclusive contract with the big 3, particularly Nintendo? Do they take existing stock and just add more to it? Example, river city girls, were they the only ones with access to physical stock, for the switch? They create the carts themselves?

@RareFan I waited 16 months for my KO Edition of Scott Pilgrim.

@PhhhCough I don't know all the ins and outs, but LRG's shtick is that they produce games in limited quantities that probably wouldn't see physical releases otherwise. They take a game with little demand for a physical version--often an indie--and state up front how many copies they'll produce. When the orders are in, that's it; no more orders taken, no more copies made.

There are a couple of downsides to this model. First, the games tend to be higher in price. Economics of scale dictate that if you expect a game to sell past a certain threshold at a given price, you can often reduce that price, sell even more copies, and make more money in the long run. The games LRG makes don't have the kind of mass appeal to sell in the hundreds of thousands or millions physically, so they have to keep the price relatively high to remain profitable.

The other downside is the wait time for orders to be fulfilled. Like I said, I don't know the ins and outs, but my guess is that since LRG produces games in small quantities, it's essential to have every order nailed down ahead of time, which takes time. That's in addition to the regular wait between a game's announcement and release that exists for every game, but that we either take for granted or just don't think about because we haven't ordered the game in advance.

Store looks amazing. Wish we had something like this where I live.

Maybe I do! googles

Seeing how cautionary tales are up - I ordered Axiom Verge 1/2 god only knows how many months ago...the desire to play it is gone - now I just want the thing for the experience to be over.

Limited Run broke my desire for physical games. I know now that if I want something - the cheaper, faster digital option is ALWAYS better. To live is to learn.

@PortuGuy

Easier said than done, when you're dealing with proprietary formats like the Switch game cards.

Lol, pretty awesome you got to interview Mega 64 for one segment of the video. Those guys got me laughing pretty hard. When he mentioned he was excited for Scrunt and that the new Kirby is rated M 😂

Can’t wait. Gonna check it out this Sunday when I’m off.
“For the last time sir, the Shantae standee is NOT for sale.” Is what I expect to hear when I get there. 😂

@Captain-N Hell, Layers of Fear: Legacy runs for $300 on eBay, lol

I wonder if LRG paid for this article.

I bet the answer is no even it was true.

Sorry for me sounding hostile, but damn it would be nice if sites like NL also did show the dark side of companies like LRG (there are more like them) instead of only showing the "good parts"

@Dr_Corndog "They take a game with little demand for a physical version--often an indie--and state up front how many copies they'll produce. When the orders are in, that's it; no more orders taken, no more copies made."

I get this part. Scott pilgrim, river city girls, etc. Limited prints, etc.

But im wondering does nintendo give them access to the code and carts, do LRG produce these themselves(I imagine nintendo wouldn't be too happy about that)? It isn't as if gamestop or amazon have access to these physical games, just LRG. So how do they get access to putting games on carts, etc.

@RareFan
They let it produce after they got all the Orders.
They let People order in a specific Time Frame.

• First you have to wait until the Order Period is over
• Than you have to wait until the Products are fabricated
• Than until they're shipped from Asia to the US
• Than from there to your Destination

8 Months is a short Time Period considering that.

I've been critical of LRG's business before, but I would be willing to give their retail operation a look-over. Alas that it's so far away! Then again, perhaps one could organize a cross-border raid aggressive shopping expedition to this Carytown. I see that the place is vulnerable accessible to canoes via the River Noose...

OTOH, perhaps more people would be willing to join in if someone organized a bus trip, say from Ottawa.

But will it be licensed for public dancing?
https://youtu.be/Hz1JWzyvv8A

LRG: "Yes, sir, what would you like?"
You: "Well, how about a little Shantae?"
LRG: "I'm afraid we're fresh out of Shantae, sir."
You: "Never mind; how are you on Unpacking?"
LRG: "Never at the end of the week, sir; always get it fresh first thing on Monday."
You: "Tish tish. No matter. Well, four ounces of Axiom Verge if you please, stout yeoman."
LRG: "Ah. Well, it's been on order for two weeks, sir, was expecting it this morning."
[...]
You: "Well let's keep it simple: how about DOOM?"
LRG: "Certainly, sir; that'll be one cartridge of DOOM, then."
You: "Yes, that's right."
LRG: "Ah, no sir, I mean the price for your order of DOOM will be one cartridge of DOOM; disabled or otherwise destroyed, if you please."
You: bang

This is like 5 min from Epic Games HQ. Are they related?

@PhhhCough Nintendo's just a console manufacturer like Sony or Microsoft in this sort of arrangement; they don't own the code for games published on their system any more than the others would.

The cartridges might(?) need to be purchased directly from them, being a bespoke media format, and the game itself has to go through quality control and approval like any other, but aside from that, whatever publisher to hire, if any, to crank out physical copies, is the decision of the developer.

I went recently. The store is a bit small. The grand opening was abysmal, albeit technically a good turnout; so many people they had to do a grand opening part 2 on Sunday. They’re only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They were out of Unpacking (which I wanted), and there was a ton of Shantae stuff on the shelves. Retro stuff existed and was fairly affordable, which was cool.

I don't get all the complaining about wait times
They tell you upfront that it will take 8 months.
It used to be shorter but with the global shipping being a mess thanks to that pandemic that hit they added 2 more months.
I have no problem waiting if it means I get a Limited Edition that I would never had the opportunity to buy in the first place.
Yes I wish the wait time was shorter and I hope it does get shorter but in the meantime I have a huge backlog to get through so I can wait.

@Freek I agree. I don't understand the surprise people display at the time frame. My first order from them was many years ago (Skullgirls on PS4) and turnaround length was well documented, even then.

The dichotomy between people who are collecting (en masse or just a few favourite titles) and impulse buyers is probably to blame.

All resellers immediately booked trips

Wait 8+ months for a game to arrive so I can say "look at this piece of plastic I own!!" or download now at 1/5th (or less) the price..hmm such a hard decision.

@Zochmenos @Freek It wouldn't be so bad if it were just a limited piece of game memorabilia that you're waiting and competing for, and maybe that's all this generation of digital kids views a cartridge/disc as - a quaintly retro piece of branded plastic that just happens to have the game you're big on digitally inscribed onto it.

For the gamers who actually grew up on physical media, though, whose fundamental conception of a video game is a tangible, physical cart or whatever that they could hold in their hands and pop into their system instead of a digital unlock key saved to their account, LRG's modus operandi is manifestly terrible for a proper game publisher. Missing official release dates for months at a time, printing so few copies that it's intentionally difficult to even buy one online, much less find it on store shelves, and not even getting around to publishing some games until years after their release dates - that would've never flown back in the days when games were expected to physically release as a matter of course.

As a subscription merch company, Limited Run Games is going gangbusters. As a publisher, though, they're achieving nothing less than wrecking the fundamental model of physical game releases itself.

@RareFan Because your money goes into the actual production. Like a Kickstarter. They need the money from pre-orders for the production to actually start. I don't understand how this is a big secret or no one understands this.

I LOVE LRG. I have many pre-orders even pending now and the wait is worth it. The money you spend goes into the actual production like a Kickstarter and these are done in small quantities. It's not that hard to comprehend. They are a small company. If they produced stuff en masse and just had it sitting around there's no telling how it would sell and they would go bankrupt. People rag on LRG, but there are plenty of others who do this. Super Rare Games, Strictly Limited Games and many more. Once the pre-order window is over the money gets used to produce that exact amount of copies. They don't benefit AT ALL from scalpers or limiting their games to small windows. They get no profit from that.

@Freek I feel the impatient or broke people rag on LRG. Their collector's editions are incredibly unique and cool. They warn you ahead of time that production can take 6+months. If I'm super desperate to play the game I'll buy the digital version while I'm waiting. Clearly with how big they are the complainers are not the majority.

@Rayquaza2510 What dark side? I feel this is a boogie-man impatient or broke gamers came up with. It's like a Kickstarter. They aren't EA who can produce 2 million units and have hundreds of different stores by them up and make a profit whether they sell or not.

There are also figure companies that do this. First4Figures production runs can take over a year. They have to use the money from the pre-orders to make the products. JUST THOSE. That's it. The products are then molded, cast, and hand painted in China then shipped elsewhere. There's also a line for these things too. Many companies use these plants in China.

@Fath I think your first paragraph hits the nail on the head. In 2022, physical games are quickly becoming vinyl records. That some people collect them and others prefer them for emotional reasons is baked into the LRG business model.

I'm not sure the rest of what you write is as compelling. Judging LRG against a romanticized version of past game publishing is irrelevant, and I'm not really convinced it would be all that different from how publishing actually used to be.

Time and progress is what's changing the market here, not LRG.

@Zochmenos Fair enough; with how divisive differences of opinion can be on the internet, I'll celebrate finding at least one paragraph of common ground any day of the week .

@Fath Ha ha, cheers to that.

@Fath I'm pretty sure each publisher has to order the carts/dics from whatever manufacturer the platform holders employ to produce the media. It's possible those orders go through the platform holder first. I think LRG is treated like any other publisher in that regard.

@BinaryMessiah

I started using these guys when their second game, Saturday Morning RPG came out on the Vita, and for the longest time I kept buying games from them, mostly Vita but later Switch.

It is short sighted to say "impatient or broke gamers came up with" without seeing the real issue, at start these guys were a great company, but later on that changed a lot.

But I guess explaining that whole story doesn't change much, your comment already gives the vibe of "it doesn't matter what you say, my opinion stays the same", no idea if you could tell that yourself.

Mother. Epic. the game and soundtrack.

@Orokosaki Ha! Good one.

It's totally awesome and I highly recommend all to check out! Really gives me the vibes of old game stores that I've missed so much. Bought Golden Sun 1&2 for GBA last time I visited. I'm super lucky to actually live nearby and I'm gonna be there a lot from now on.

Cool. But glad this is of no appeal to me.

@CANOEberry Raleigh is a pretty okay town. There are quite a few software outfits there. Funcom has their NA office just outside of Raleigh. Go a bit West from Raleigh to see the truly beautiful parts of NC - the Appalachians. Or East to see some of the most beautiful raw coast in the world - the Outer Banks.

NC is one of the prettiest states with some tip-top people and worth the long trip in my opinion.

Can't say im sold on LRG or such company's business model, but i do understand that they exist cuz there is a market for what they do: people willing to pay upfront money for a fisical version of a game otherwise would never be available on that fisical form. In a time when not even game giants such as Nintendo or Sony make game manuals to include with their own games, I guess this is a cause that should be supported.
Ps. The store looks cool and seem like a nice place to visit.
Kudos to @zion for the good review (even if it was paid advertising)