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double dipping fixes 

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Wouter Groeneveld 2021-07-05 08:54:30 +02:00
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content/post/2021/07/double-dipping-and-market-prices.md
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I'm a [metroidvania](https://jefklakscodex.com/tags/metroidvania) fanboy, but to my shame, I never really finished one of the granddaddies of the genre: Super Metroid, released in 1994. [Now that I finally have](https://jefklakscodex.com/games/super-metroid/) (spoiler: it was great), I'm keen to replay the Game Boy Advance Metroid games: Metroid Fusion (2002) and Metroid Zero Mission (2004). Slight problem: I sold my copies a long time ago.
Even bigger problem: Nintendo announced [Metroid Dread](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NjCICl7dDo) a month ago at E3, a brand new 2D Metroid adventure on the Switch---the first 2D metroidvania game in almost twenty years (not counting the (3)DS lackluster ones). Everybody is eagerly looking forward to the release in November: [Metroid games rise to the top of the Wii U Virtual Console charts](https://nintendoeverything.com/metroid-rises-to-the-top-on-the-wii-u-virtual-console-sales-charts/). Suddenly, everybody is craving Metroid. Guess what, the retro sharks have also noticed: eBay prices have gone through the roof. People are asking `€200` for a single cartridge. Yes, that's right, that's five times as much as the original price of the game. Ain't the second hand market great?
Even bigger problem: Nintendo announced [Metroid Dread](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NjCICl7dDo) a month ago at E3, a brand new 2D Metroid adventure on the Switch---the first 2D Metroid game in almost twenty years (not counting the (3)DS lackluster ones). Everybody is eagerly looking forward to the release in November: [Metroid games rise to the top of the Wii U Virtual Console charts](https://nintendoeverything.com/metroid-rises-to-the-top-on-the-wii-u-virtual-console-sales-charts/). Suddenly, everybody is craving Metroid. Guess what, the retro sharks have also noticed: eBay prices have gone through the roof. People are asking `€200` for a single cartridge. Yes, that's right, that's five times as much as the original price of the game. Ain't the second hand market great?
I was lamenting on these ridiculous situations with fellow retro enthusiast Peter (check out his awesome [Strifle Streams](https://www.strifestreams.com/) blog), and he said:
I was lamenting on this ridiculous situation with fellow retro enthusiast Peter (check out his awesome [Strife Streams](https://www.strifestreams.com/) blog), and he said:
> It's a shame the prices of games can exclude people from enjoying them. Games are meant to be enjoyed, not hoarded and used as an investment opportunity.
A few more interesting thoughts later, I felt I needed to think about this a bit more thorough. I have wasted quite a few words on [retro game collecting](/tags/collecting) before, and I'm in the mood for some more squandering, so here goes. Because I _really, really_ want to replay the GBA games...
A few more interesting thoughts later, I felt I needed to think about this a bit more thorough. I have wasted many words on [retro game collecting](/tags/collecting) before, and I'm in the mood for some more squandering, so here goes. Because I _really, really_ want to replay the GBA games...
## Double-dipping?
How many times have you bought a single game again and again? Re-releases are commonplace now, and if you want to play your favorite game on multiple consoles, you're going to have to _double-dip_: buy multiple versions of the same game. HD remasters aside, Nintendo's _Virtual Console_ service on the Wii was one of the first platforms that made me double-dip on too many classic games. NES, SNES and N64 games could be re-bought for `$5`, `$8`, and `$10` respectively. Congratulations, you now own an emulated version of your cartridge-based _A Link To The Past_! I must have spent hundreds of dollars---well, euro's to be exact, which makes it even worse.
![](../wii_channels.jpg "A screenshot I found from 2007: Castlevania I and Kirby's Adventure on NES, also available on your Wii, thanks to the Virtual Console system.")
![](../wii_channels.jpg "A screenshot I dug up from 2007: Castlevania and Kirby's Adventure on NES, playable on my Wii, thanks to the Virtual Console system.")
And then in 2012, the Wii U came along, Nintendo's next console. After a while, the Virtual Console service on its predecessor was shut down in favor of a disastrously more crappy version of emulation software. The Wii U was really, really bad at this. At everything, honestly. But the point is, if you own _A Link To the Past_ on SNES, and re-bought it on Wii, then no, your Nintendo account will not automatically unlock exactly the same game on the Wii U Virtual Console service. That's right, cough it up, weakling! Triple-dipping?
And then in 2012, the Wii U came along, Nintendo's next console. After a while, the Virtual Console service on its predecessor was shut down in favor of a disastrously more crappy version of emulation software. The Wii U was really, really bad at this. At everything, honestly. But the point is, if you own _A Link To the Past_ on SNES, and re-bought it on Wii, then no, your Nintendo account will not automatically unlock exactly the same game on the Wii U Virtual Console service. That's right, cough it up, weakling! Triple-dipping? Quadruple-dipping? I own four versions of the first Castlevania...
And then, the Switch came along, and the Virtual Console concept that once was much revered was abandoned in favor of monthly subscription payments where little to none of the great classics even made an appearance. Go figure. But hey, you also own a 3DS right? Of course you do! Did you know there's _yet another_ version of yet another Zelda classic just waiting to be unlocked for just `€10`? What are you waiting for?
## Here's my money.
Metroid GBA games appear in the top Wii U Virtual Console sale chart. But I do not own a Wii U, and I want to play it on my GBA, not on a console. Thus, what are my options, if I wanted to get hold of these games?
Metroid GBA games appear in the top Wii U Virtual Console sale chart. But I do not own a Wii U, and I want to play it on my GBA, not on a console. Thus, what are my options, if I wanted to get hold of these games, _again_?
1. I could buy a second hand Wii U for `€50` or so. Then I could hand over another `€8` for the [Wii U version of Metroid Zero Mission](https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/metroid-zero-mission-wii-u/).
2. I could let myself be ripped off on eBay and hand over even more money for an authentic cartridge, of which Nintendo R&D1, the developers behind the great games, do not see a single penny.
3. I could look for a reproduction cart that sells for less than `€15`. I wonder if this is even legal, but I spot more than ten Chinese resellers on eBay who have sold dozens of these things. It does clearly say in the description it's a fake, but still.
4. I could simply download the ROM and call it a day, as most "retro handheld enthusiasts" (the quotes are justified here) seem to be doing nowadays.
Option 1 sucks, I want the handheld version. Option 2 sucks even more, I absolutely do not want to fuel someones greed. Option 3 is very questionable. I would simply not feel well owning that. Option 4 is out of the question. So what now?
Option 1 sucks, I want the handheld version. Option 2 sucks even more, I absolutely do not want to fuel someones greed. Option 3 is very questionable. I would simply not feel well owning only that. Option 4 is out of the question. So what now?
I _want_ to give Nintendo my money---again. It's just that it's becoming difficult to do so for games that are out of print, but not really, as they're still readily available through the Virtual Console shop.