Limited Run Games Is Opening Its First Physical Store In Spring

The mecca for those physical media nuts

That's a shame, I was hoping they were going to go bust and stop doing what they do.

so what are they gonna sell? new pressings and prints of previously limited games?
and they'll only be available at one location??
jeez.

@CharlieGirl
Consider it to be like the Nintendo store. There's no real relevance if you could just go on their website to buy physical games, but it's a nice touch in case the websites are in bad shape.

I imagine going to buy something and them saying they'll ship it at a later date, just for continuity.

Looks like they're setting up shop in a synthwave album cover. I'm not going to complain about someone having a go at physical retail though, even if it is the kings of collector's edition silliness, so good luck to them.

@dew12333 fingers crossed that’ll still happen.

I hope they'll have some sort of reseller policy in place, like limit 2 per customer or something.

If this means that we can get reprints of collectors editions I'm all for it( still the waiting for the KO edition)

@HamatoYoshi @dew12333 Why do you dislike them? This is a real question as I’m all digital pretty much and have never patronized them before.

Hopefully this will stop their international delivery costs being half the cost of the games

@RandomNerds I buy digital too apart from 1st party Nintendo titles. I just don’t agree with their business model, they’ve been established for a long time now yet still want all the cash up front for games that don’t ship for months and months.

@HamatoYoshi That is to avoid dead stock. A lot of companies do this because niche products can be hard to sell and costly if you order too many. A lot of YouTuber products have to do this as well for similar reasons for larger items like plushes. They collect your order and payment before manufacturing to make sure they know the exact amount that needs to be made. Sometimes it can take a while to get the item in your hands because manufacturing is time-consuming. That and because they get the order upfront they don't end up with people pre-ordering the game on mass for $10 then cancel at the last minute and they get stuck with stock and holding the bag. It is to limit pre-orders to people who are absolutely sure they want the game.

It sucks for those who really want to have the flexibility to get the game whenever physically, but without this model, a lot of these games would never get a physical edition.

do you walk in and then wait in a que for 12 hours only be told its another 6 months and you can come collect the game. amazes me some companys can develope a game from scratch print it ship it too stores in half time it takes them to take a existing game and put it on a cart.

@Anguspuss I've never really had a hard time with them and I think about half my Switch physical games at this point are Limited Run releases. They are rather upfront that if you order a collectors edition it will take a while for you to get it. When it comes to single standard editions I've gotten them within a few months. This is fine as I know it is ordered before manufacturing starts and they are not an overly large publisher. I can understand it is frustrating, but maybe I'm just a reincarnated Buddhist monk and I have more patience than most people.

Also, due to how flexible their contracts are they allow developers to go to other manufacturers or publishers if they want to do a 2nd print. This has happened with Streets of Rage IV and the Shante games. So they do offer a good service and are apparently very pleasant to work with from a developer/publisher standpoint. I'm not a huge fan of companies like Bethesda or Konami going to them to do physical editions of the classic Dooms or Castlevania games... but, I mean it's easier to go through LR for me than Konami's store and dealing with their nonsense...

@Wexter what amazes me they appear for sale randomly in electronic stores in switzerland.

@Anguspuss I think they do offer the chance for chain stores and 'mom and pop' shops to do bulk orders. I know they have an agreement with Best Buy in the US to order an amount for their local stores. Probably a similar situation in Switzerland. Or they could be used copies of people who are cleaning out their collections or need some cash. :/ I dunno. I think I've only ever seen a LR game once in the wild at a local game store so I've been less lucky.

I knew it was going to be in North Carolina. Too far for me to drive for a game, so I'll just keep preordering from the site. I'm happy to see this. All the people crabbing about it above me is hilarious. No sense in it at all imo. At least LRG, and other companies, are helping to keep physical games alive.

"surprisingly low number of game stores"

If they're ACTUALLY surprised by that, they might have a poor understanding of the market.

@ModdedInkling Yeah that's kind of what I'm expecting. A kitschy destination store, not really a "game" store.

I certainly hope one eventually pops up in the Houston area. I've done seven orders with them since last year and have been very satisfied with the service. Just currently waiting on Dusk and Quake.

I miss Funcoland...you could get all kinds of rare NES and Genesis game...also had a friend that worked at Software Etc that used to...hook me up...on good deals...😏

Limited Run has definitely come up with the help of the Switch. Hopefully they can improve their order-to-ship method and not take 7+months to ship orders

@Wexter you’re doing gods work, my friend. I’m not even this huge advocate for them, I’ve only ever used their service twice (Yooka-Laylee and Bug Fables) but I knew exactly what I was getting in to and it came when expected with no dodgy business or hidden costs.

I think people have this misconception, I see a lot people talking about ‘you have to be there at the first second and if you miss out, that’s it’ but that’s just not how the business works on a fundamental level. As you know, there are order windows.

I just find it difficult to understand what exactly it is that rubs people up the wrong way about the company cos I knew this comment section would be a negative one before I even clicked. They do exactly what they say they’ll do and they get games out that otherwise wouldn’t have physical. “But they offer collectors editions that are ridiculously priced and offer little!” Buy the regular edition. “You say some games wouldn’t get a chance at physical but they’ve published some pretty high profile games that could’ve been otherwise funded!” Hey, if you were them and a big name came to you to publish their game, wouldn’t you?

Anyway, I didn’t realise it bugged me this much til I started writing this. I’ve yet to see a good reason why anybody would wish for their collapse

Prices better be far better than what they have on their website or they will be shutting down inside of two years!

That’s neat. Wish them the best of luck. I like seeing the physical stores have at least some local competition. I know iam8bit also has a store, that I regret not going to, during my time in Pasadena.

That image is what the store will look like when it opens as their stock is usually sold out.

@MajorasLapdog : You’ve echoed most of my sentiments. I really don’t understand the sheer contempt that is often shown for LRG (and similar companies). As a physical collector, they are a godsend this generation, and I have so many physical releases that would never have seen the light of day otherwise.

Yes, I could be waiting 6 or so months for my order to arrive, and sadly, shipping is also expensive, but I know that going in, and I have resisted downloading a game for several months (if not years, like Double Dragon IV), so what’s a few more months for a hard copy? I am happy to wait for a good product.

My only real complaint is that I wish I knew ahead of time in some instances that certain games were planned for release, and I also don’t like the practice of withholding certain items in overpriced and oversized collector’s boxes, as I would be inclined to buy goodies such as soundtracks and steelbooks, but I have no interest in the rest of the tat.

I also get frustrated when games still require software updates after the fact. Again, I am willing to wait however long it takes if it means we get the best possible product.

And while this perhaps isn’t LRG’s fault, but when indie developers collaborate with LRG and later issue paid DLC, I think that shows profound contempt for their customers and defies the preservationist ideals of LRG.

@MajorasLapdog I think very early on when they were doing PSP games, they had about 5000-10,000 copies available. And to be honest, in the beginning, they were a start-up and doing a trailblazing idea. And while their service is now an order window, people still believe that if you do not swoop in early on, you miss out. This is very unfair as that is not how LRG operates at all.

I do not know why it rubs me so much when I see comments wishing for LRG to shut down. I think it has to do because while I've been shifting more to digital purchases my partner gets annoyed with me when I use an entire bookshelf for games in the living room, I do see the need for physical editions. This is especially for games like Scott Pilgram, where due to it being a tie-in game, the game can get removed at any time from the eShop. So, releases like LRG might be the only way to play the game in 10 years.

I feel a lot of this hate for the company comes from either ignorance or being ill-informed about their products. Which is fine. I will also respect that my experience is not reflective of everyone as some might have had a worse experience than me.

@Silly_G good comment, I guess my lack of empathy with regards to the hate people hold for the company made me swing the complete other way and resulted in me omitting a lot of the less-than-great factors.

Yeah, I don’t think they’re perfect and I think you brought up a lot of good points in a way that I wish was more common in these dialogues.

Anyway, that’s about it. I’m not going to be changing my name to Limited Run James anytime soon (my name’s Alex, besides) but I also just don’t get the rampant loathing the company garners. I mean the following in utter sincerity and in no way trying to provoke: can anybody give me some good reasons why people hate these guys so much?

@RandomNerds Hi, Sorry but I don't see any good in limited runs, all this will do is fuel ebay, now and in the future, people are more buying them to make money on them.

@HamatoYoshi With the extra costs for the shop we may get lucky!

My local Best Buy often has games from Limited Run, same price as the LR web site, and even after the web site is sold out. So I'm good.

@dew12333 That is speculators, and they do that in every industry. However, it is infrequent for a specific Limited Run game to explode in value. For every Bloodstained Curse of the Moon, there is a Panzer Dragoon (switch) or even a Curse of the Moon 2. And you have to hold onto these games for a LONG time and hope they never get re-released to hold their value.

Just a quick peek over at Comics "Death of Superman" one of the most landmark stories in all of comics is... $20 at most... Action Comics #1000 you can still get for a few cups of coffee. However, Secret Wars #8 sells for $100. But, X.O. Man of War, one of the most fondly remembered comics of the 1990s, is not all that expensive to collect for $10 an issue, and Turok Dinasour Hunter goes for dollars... despite the N64 games coming back in vogue, the comics are super cheap!

It is super hard to predict what items will be valuable later. Think of the game that has increased in value over the past 20 years. And think will most of these LRG releases actually hold this value? I predict very few.

@dew12333 Or those games could...you know, not exist at all, physically.

Sweet, I live two hours away from Cary so I’ll have to check it out sometime!

@HamatoYoshi What the heck do you expect from a service that’s essentially “pay to order?”

That’s like saying “this woodworker just took my money up front and then took months and months to make this table for my dining room.” Of course. BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO MAKE THE THING. Just like LRG.

What sort of fantasy world do you live in, seriously? lol

This is great news for collectors, especially since the company has the long term goal of growing. All the nay sayers and negative Nancy’s have no idea what they’re talking about.

Hilariously, some of you that have commented on other articles, like Charlie Girl, have hoped for physical releases when certain digital-only games are announced ffs!

@The_BAAD_Man It’s the same when you walk into a wood working gallery and order a custom piece. They have may have a store with limited stock, but they won’t be able to process the order until they, you know, make the darn thing.

shoot! I was hoping the store would be located in a big market city (Los Angeles specifically).

anyhow, I’ve been a download only kind of person with my 3DS and Switch. it’s a great feeling to have your entire library at your disposal at anytime. now, I’m thinking of investing more in physical copies for three reasons…I have many family members that now own a Switch so it’s nice to recommend a title and lend it to them, I own two Switches now thanks to the OLED model, and I just ran out of memory on my 400GB micro SD card

Is there enough demand for their games to sustain operating a physical location? I wish them well but won't be investing.

The store is doomed, and I have no interest in their product. But darnit that store space is the way a store space is supposed to look! Blue and pink neon wave. I want to live in that room.

I don't think I'd care about limited run if all they did was making physical games for games that under no circumstances would get a physical release otherwise but they have barely done that for a while now lol

@BloodNinja: Limited Run made it difficult for people to get physical versions of games like Scott Pilgrim or No More Heroes (especially the latter) so I don't see how that's good for collectors - especially not good for collectors outside the US. That's maybe an argument you can make about places like Super Rare Games

I've used LRG a lot in the last 2 years.
As a physical collector I'm glad these guys are around.
They release physical copies of Indie games that would otherwise never be released.
They're making on them on demand so that we, the physical collector can get a copy of our favourite indie game with all the bells and whistles.
Games like Dread got a CE which was harder to get than most games from LRG.
LRG also changed to a timed window which is way better than the limited quantities they used to do, like Strictly Limited and Super Rare still do.
How can you be mad at that?
Seriously, I'd rather pay a bit more for a CE if I know that it helps out the indie scene.
I've bought way more indie physical games than supposed AAA titles for my Switch and if it wasn't for them I would've sold my Switch a long time ago.

@BloodNinja when they were new their business practice was understandable, but now, how established they are, no! Do you pay when you pre-order from Amazon etc? No ………and your woodwork analogy is beyond poor!

$20 entrance fee applies.

@HamatoYoshi You don't have to agree with it, since you are stuck on being negative.

"West Coast, preferably in the Bay Area"

Death sentence for your dreams. East coast. Maybe in Florida. That's the gold.

@BloodNinja Poor analogy. A custom piece is one of a kind.

@The_BAAD_Man Jesus Christ. Wood workers make multiples of their popular pieces, similar to how LRG does. There are wood working companies that specialize in making specific pieces, which is very similar to the business model LRG presents. Is the new generation so caught up in semantics that analogies just bounce off their foreheads? The users on this site are so prone to pointing out irrelevant details, and arguing about them as if their lives depend on it ffs.

It’s like most of the users here are brow-beating others into specific ways of speaking, instead of listening to points of view outside their own minds.

Why did you even need to log in and tell me that? Go waste your typing on someone else LOL

@BloodNinja Haha, it's hilarious how you say I'm wasting my time yet here you are writing lengthy paragraphs.

Allow me to elaborate. I don't like LRG for a few reasons - their shipping costs are extortionate and they often have massive, massive delays. I've purchased three times from them, with Celeste being the last game. That game arrived eight months after they said it would.

@Wexter That was funny you replied to my comment because I had read a couple of your previous comments and wanted to mention something, but for a random reason I scrolled and saw your message to me lol. And you pretty much answered it too.

"Games were being increasingly released as digital-only affairs and that concerned me. As digital platforms like PlayStation Mobile shut down, games were being lost forever. It was only a matter of time, I thought, before we'd see similar shutdowns for other platforms. I knew there had to be others who would value physical ownership"
The above statement is from their CEO and was very much the way they advertised themselves, but that is just not true and I do not see what they do is anyway a solution to that problem. maybe if they do a release for all games?. In my opinion they sat in a room and thought if people see something as exclusive / rare then they will feel that this is something that maybe, and I do understand that some will and some won't, that they will be able to make money on it in the future. I didn't like that and put them into 'I won't buy from there', but I always appreciate my fickle ideas don't align with all so always happy to see a different opinion to mine.

@Bizzyb Obviously that wouldn't bother me if none of them did, I get that others may feel different.
.

@dew12333 I agree to an extent. But at the same time, Limited Run cannot release everything at all times. They'd go bankrupt if they did, as there might not be enough interest to sustain multiple print runs, or even some digital games might not attract enough of an audience for a licensing deal. Remember they have to licence these games out in the first place, which costs money, then manufacture the games. This means the profit they get off the latter might not cover the cost of the former.

It does suck, and I wish they could find a way to keep these games available for as long as possible. I think their mission statement is relatively honest. Sure the collectable to exclusive is marketing jargon, but I think they try to keep their hearts in the right place. Take Axium Verge on Wii U; that was a game that they really could have given up on. Instead, they were so annoyed with the publisher for screwing the developer and audience they fought tooth and nail to get a physical version out there.

Both can be true! They could be using marketing like limited, exclusive or rare to attract audiences. While also wanting to produce more physical products. I mean, do they have to re-re-release actual Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games on cartridges? No. Is it awesome they are because it makes the games more available? Yes, it does! I mean, look on eBay; not all Limited Run releases increase in value. A lot decrease, especially more obscure titles.