Rare Xbox Games

[mailman187666]

there are some raritys listed in the online rarity guide here on DP. The raritys go as follows:

Air Force Delta Storm R4
Sneakers R3
Steel Battalion w/controller R3
Kakuto Chojin R3
Steel Battalion: Line of Contact R2
DDR Ultramix R2
The Guy Game R2
Mortal Kombat Deception: collector's edition R2
Metal Slug 3 R2
Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness R2
Chronicles of Riddick R2
Phantasy Star Online Episode 1&2 R2
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance R2
Battle Engine Aquila R2
Spikeout Battle Street R2
Robotech: Battlecry R2


The rest are all listed as R1 or R0. I'm sure there could be some games that are a little more rare than whats on this list, but it hasn't been compiled yet.

[norkusa]

I pretty much agree with all those except Battle Engine Aquila. More like an R3 going by my experiences of trying to track a copy down.


DDR Ultramix is an R2 by itself but if you're talking about the game + pad bundle, it's definitely higher that that. I think I saw one at TRU once and that was it. Ended up getting my bundle from an online trade and haven't seen any others since.

[ProgrammingAce]

there are some raritys listed in the online rarity guide here on DP. The raritys go as follows:

Air Force Delta Storm R4
Sneakers R3
Steel Battalion w/controller R3
Kakuto Chojin R3
Steel Battalion: Line of Contact R2
DDR Ultramix R2
The Guy Game R2
Mortal Kombat Deception: collector's edition R2
Metal Slug 3 R2
Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness R2
Chronicles of Riddick R2
Phantasy Star Online Episode 1&2 R2
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance R2
Battle Engine Aquila R2
Spikeout Battle Street R2
Robotech: Battlecry R2


The rest are all listed as R1 or R0. I'm sure there could be some games that are a little more rare than whats on this list, but it hasn't been compiled yet.

Airforce Delta Storm should be lower, it's been reprinted several times already, and probably will be again if the price goes back up.

The guy game should be lower too, there were a ton of copies that were held in a wharehouse until just reciently.

Steel Battalion should be higher because it's the only Xbox game i can think of that was allowed to print less copies then microsoft's minimum requirement.

Which brings up another issue, MS has a minimum print requirement which pretty much guarantees no xbox game will ever be "rare". I'm still trying to find out what happened with outrun 2, that might be rare if it wasn't just some sort of missed ship date kind of thing.

The only real rare games i can think of are Lambourghini, Crash (which i'm still not sure if it was ever released under a different name), Red Star, 100 Bullets, and Revolt. None of which were released, but all are out there.

[Damaramu]

Well my hunt for Airforce Delta Storm is finally over. A Half Price Books on the north side of town had one for about $20, so of course I snatched it up.

Ahhh...I enjoyed the hunt but finding the game feels so much better!

[GM80]

I don't think it [OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast] ever got a release in retail stores and if it did it was in really low numbers. I remember seeing it for both PS2 and PSP in stores (well, Toy's R Us) but i never saw it for Xbox.

There's a brand new OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast for Xbox sitting in the game case at my local Hasting's store. It's not on the 360's compatible list so I can't play it, but is it worth picking up just for rarity's sake? Or is it not that rare?

BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed OutRun 2 on the original Xbox when I still had one.

[s1lence]

There's a brand new OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast for Xbox sitting in the game case at my local Hasting's store. It's not on the 360's compatible list so I can't play it, but is it worth picking up just for rarity's sake? Or is it not that rare?

BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed OutRun 2 on the original Xbox when I still had one.

If you get it I'm sure you'll find alot of people here on DP that would love to buy it from you.

[roushimsx]

Finally broke down and picked up Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast today. The store had two copies, but the second was in pretty crummy shape for a new/sealed game (torn cellophane and whatnot). The place has had 'em since it came out and they never really sold, I guess. Shame The PS2 and PSP versions at least moved around here, which is always a good thing.

The more people that play the goodness of Outrun 2, the better.

[Spartacus]

Heck, I'll take a stab at this. You might think I'm off a little one way or the other for any particular title, but what's an R level among friends.

R2's:
Aliens Vs. Predator: Extinction
Arctic Thunder
Army Men: Major Malfunction
Arx Fatalis
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
Battle Engine Aquila
Battlestar Galactica
Bionicle: The Game
Black Stone: Magic & Steel
Colin McRae Rally 2005
Crusty Demons
Dakar 2: The World's Ultimate Rally
Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics
Deathrow
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Dungeons & Dragons Heroes
Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness
Fireblade
Gladius
Grooverider: Slot Car Thunder
The Guy Game
IndyCar Series 2005
Intellivision Lives
Jedi Knight-Jedi Academy
Kakuto Chojin
Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Metal Slug 3
MX 2002 Featuring Ricky Carmichael
Myst III: Exile
Myst IV: Revelation
Operation Flashpoint: Elite
Otogi: Myth of Demons
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
Outlaw Golf & SeaBlade Bundle
Pro Cast Sports Fishing
Pure Pinball
Samurai Shodown V
Silent Scope Complete
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Spikeout Battle Street
Spy vs. Spy
Still Life
Strike Force Bowling
Syberia II
ToeJam & Earl III:Mission to Earth
Tork: Prehistoric Punk
TransWorld Snowboarding
UFC: Tapout
Virtual Pool: Tournament Edition
V-Rally 3
Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray
Whiteout
Wings of War
World Championship Pool 2004
Worms 4: Mayhem
WTA Tour Tennis
Yourself! Fitness

Personally I'm not convinced that Kakuto Chojin was ever recalled, edited and re-released. I think if you come across any copy of the game and play track 23 from the sound options menu you will hear what sounds like Koranic verses. But there was one other bit of controversy about the game that I thought I would share. This is an excerpt from Dean Takahashi's book 'The Xbox 360 Uncloaked'.
"Ed Fries had sent Redmer to Japan to relieve Toshiyuki Miyata, the former Sony game studio chief whose big fighting game, Kakuto Chojin, wasn't in good shape. The staff was staging a mutiny and Miyata was leaving. Redmer had to undertake the controversial job of laying off many of the game developers in the office in a country where it is illegal to conduct a mass layoff. The job took him months to accomplish, and it was remembered as a big shock among the game developers in Japan."

R3's:
Air Force Delta Storm
Barbie Horse Adventures
Dragons Lair 3D: Return to the Lair
Frogger Beyond
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
Loons: The Fight for Fame
Pro Fishing Challenge
Steel Battalion w/controller
Steel Battalion: Line of Contact
Totaled!

Logically, I would have reasoned that Steel Battalion would easily have been the rarest Xbox game. How many chuckleheads would have ponied up $200 for a game? But from the figures I've read about, Otagi 2 actually sold fewer copies. Not that it matters much, as neither is particularly hard to find. But something that may interest those contemplating picking up Steel Battalion is that it was collaborated on by Atsushi Inaba of Clover Studios who seems to be the current cause celeb among game reviewers.

R4's:
F1 2001
Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Tom and Jerry: War of the Wiskers

I've noticed that Ebay won't list The Guy Game and EBGames/Gamestop won't carry the 1st edtion GTA:SA. Not sure how much that affects their rarity, but it does hinder access and should be accounted for.

The Blockbuster exclusives:
Outlaw Golf: 9 Holes of X-Mas -R1
Outlaw Golf: 9 More Holes of X-Mas -R1
Outlaw Golf Holiday Golf -R3
Outlaw Volleyball: Red Hot -R1
Streetstyle Street Soccer -R1

The Toys-R-Us exclusive:
Sneakers -R2


I'm usually derisive of Platinum Hits versions, but at least these particular combo packs were exclusive to the Xbox and not trip over common.
Crash Super Pack -Wrath of Cortex & Nitro Kart -R2
Sonic Mega Collection Plus and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe -R2
Sonic Heroes and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe -R2
Shrek 2 and Shark Tale 2-in-1 Pack -R2

The Xbox never had a Platinum edition Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, so you get the regular version disc in the combo packs.




What follows has less to do with discussing rarity and more to do with things that might be of interest to Xbox collectors. You might like to keep an eye out for the ToCA Race Driver 2/Colin McRae Rally 04 bundle, Mace Griffon Bounty Hunter with bonus music sampler and World Championship Poker with the bonus Fundamentals of Poker Book. They're probably R2's at best, but they are variations from the regular versions.

Grand Theft Auto and Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind games both came with large fold out maps. These were the only Xbox game that I've come across that had anything extra inside, bonus DVD's, movie tickets, music CD's, collector cards, ect., that isn't clearly noted on the case.



Xbox Demo discs in DVD cases:
LucasArts Xbox Experience Vol. 1 Demo Disc -R3
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Companion Demo Disc -R3
Volvo: Drive for Life 2005 -R2
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 1 -R1
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 2 -R1
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 3 -R1
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 4 -R1
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 5 -R1
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 6 -R3
Xbox Exhibition Vol. 7 -R2

EBGames/Gamestop Fable Limited Edition Bonus DVD. -R1
It's not a demo, but rather the exact same bonus DVD included with the Limited Edition Fable. Don't know if they were sold or given away, but they do have thier own unique case artwork and paperwork.



Xbox Live Starter Kit's cardboard sleeved Xbox games:
Xbox Music Mixer
Tetris Worlds Online
MechAssault
Project Gotham Racing 2
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Xbox Live Arcade’s launch disc with Ms. Pac Man

The Xbox Live Arcade launch disc was originaly sold by Microsoft for $4.99 in 2004, but I'm pretty sure it was later included in one of the 3 month Xbox Live Starter Kit's. The games were all sealed and though they are common now, I wonder how those cardboard sleeves will fare over time. There were also some demo's included in the Starter Kits for Whacked!/MotoGP, MechAssault/MotoGP, and MechAssault 2/OutRun 2.



Limited Editions, Collectors Editions, Special Editions, and GOTY's

These are in standard DVD cases:
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One Collectors Edition -R1
Fable Limited Edition -R1
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter Limited Special Edition -R1
Jade Empire Limited Edition -R1
MechAssualt 2: Lone Wolf Limited Edition -R1
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition -R1
Robocop Collectors Edition -R1
Star Wars Starfighter: Special Edition -R1

Robocop and Star Wars Starfighter never had regular Xbox editions. The collector/special edition titles were merely marketing ploy's.

These are in DVD cases with cardboard slip covers:
Godfather Limited Edition -R1
Mortal Kombat: Deception Collectors Edition -R2
Need for Speed: Most Wanted Black Edition -R2

These are in metal cases with plastic slip covers:
Doom 3 Limited Collectors Edition -R1
Halo 2 Limited Collectors Edition -R1
Marc Ecko's Getting Up Limited Edition -R2
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Limited Collectors Edition -R2
True Crime: New York City Collector's Edition -R1

These are in cardboard box's:
Driver: Parallel Lines Limited Edition -R2
Robotech: Battlecry Collectors Edition -R4



Not for Resale: Limited Edition Packages (pack-in)
Sega GT 2002 & JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future (2002)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars & Tetris Worlds (2003)
NCAA Football 2005/Top Spin (2004)

Each came with a green bar on the cover identifying them as "Not for Resale: Limited Edition" packages. Each came with two seperate game manuals but both games were on a single disc. The disc's do not say "Not for Resale: Limited Edition" on them.

The 2002 Sega GT 2002 & JSRF Holiday Bundle included Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding. It came with a green bar on the cover identifying it as "Not for Resale: Limited Edition". The disc does not say "Not for Resale: Limited Edition"

The 2003 Star Wars: The Clone Wars & Tetris Worlds Holiday Bundle included Grabbed by the Ghoulies. It was the regular version of the game with a white sticker on the back of the case cover identifying it as "Not for Individual Sale". The disc does not say "Not for Individual Sale"

Not for Resale Editions (pack-in)
Halo: Combat Evolved (2004)
Came with a green bar on the cover identifying it as "Not for Resale". The disc also had a green bar identifying it as "Not for Resale".

Not for Resale Revente Interdite Package (pack-in)
Project Gotham Racing 2/Xbox Arcade (2005)
This came with a green bar on the cover identifying it as "Not for Resale Revente Interdite". It came with one game manual and two seperate discs. The disc's do not say "Not for Resale Revente Interdite".

Forza Motorsport/Xbox Arcade (pack-in) 2005
This came with a with a box on the cover stating "Includes Xbox Live Arcade". The disc itself is marked identically as the case cover.

I believe the Canadian's recieved some different pack-in games, such as Oddworld Munch's Oddysee/NFL Fever and Gotham Racing 2/Crimson Skies 2.
I haven't seen any of those first hand to verify though.



That's about it from me! From my personal Xbox data lists:
873 unique NTSC games
221 were games not found on the Gamecube or PS2
18 were, but received different titles
100 Platinum Hits versions


Lastly, I'd like to put in a good word for both of Dean Takahashi's books - 'Opening the Xbox' and 'The Xbox 360 Uncloaked'. To anyone even mildly interested in the Xbox, they are WELL worth your time. I bought the first book used to save some pennies and after I had finished it I made damn sure to buy his second book new because I WANTED to pay the man for his work! That's about the highest compliment I can give anyone.

Here's some street cred. You know I spent hours stacking them up like that and still I managed to get some upside down. Oh, poop!

[xtremegamer]

Wow! Thats a lot of usefull information. Thanks for posting that Spartacus. I have just starting collection Xbox stuff fall/2006. I am up to about 135 games now. But I collect it all, varients, promos, games, extras, ect. I am going to have to check out those books you mentioned as well.

[heybtbm]

Thanks for the great post, Spartacus.

[maxlords]

I've had a HELL of a time finding Futurama and Battlestar Galactica in the wild.

[ProgrammingAce]

The Xbox Live Arcade launch disc was originaly sold by Microsoft for $4.99 in 2004, but I'm pretty sure it was later included in one of the 3 month Xbox Live Starter Kit's. The games were all sealed and though they are common now, I wonder how those cardboard sleeves will fare over time. There were also some demo's included in the Starter Kits for Whacked!/MotoGP, MechAssault/MotoGP, and MechAssault 2/OutRun 2.

Methinks you meant Project Gotham Racing 2 instead of OutRun 2 in the last sentence. There are a few "R" ratings i'd debate with you, but looks good overall.

And just to throw fuel on the variant fire, nearly all of the xbox games have a NFR version for sale to microsoft employees:

[Push Upstairs]

I've had a HELL of a time finding Futurama and Battlestar Galactica in the wild.

You and me both (regarding "Futurama").

[lendelin]

spartacus, thanks for the comprehensive list, great job!

Two notes:

"Outlaw Golf Holiday Golf" listed under 'Blockbuster exclusives' is actually a ToysRUs exclusive (it is the same game as the Blockbuster "9 Holes of X-Mas")

There is also the "Ultimate Halo Companion DVD Set" which includes the separate Exhibition Vol. 2 Demo Disc (!) besides the DVD disc with Halo movies and screenshots etc. on it. (Heads-up: Got it from Amazon a couple of weeks ago for $ 0.99; don't know if it is still available)

[samuraiX]

How about:


it's not expensive, but it is kinda rare.

[Push Upstairs]

Is that Volvo game any good?

[samuraiX]

no. it's like a bad driving sim with volvos. there are only like 3 cars and maybe a couple tracks, I don't remember. they had them at volvo car dealers for a while.

[Spartacus]

no. it's like a bad driving sim with volvos. there are only like 3 cars and maybe a couple tracks, I don't remember. they had them at volvo car dealers for a while.

The Volvo dealerships gave them away for free. It's like a demo advertisement for Volvo products. There usually always some sealed ones for sale on ebay.

Methinks you meant Project Gotham Racing 2 instead of OutRun 2 in the last sentence.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x...rterkit3month/

And just to throw fuel on the variant fire, nearly all of the xbox games have a NFR version for sale to microsoft employees:

I'm curious about these. Did they just reprint the covers or did they go the extra mile and reprint the DVD labels as being NFR?

spartacus, thanks for the comprehensive list, great job!

Two notes:

"Outlaw Golf Holiday Golf" listed under 'Blockbuster exclusives' is actually a ToysRUs exclusive (it is the same game as the Blockbuster "9 Holes of X-Mas")

I've always wondered about Outlaw Holiday Golf because doesn't actually say anywhere on the case, manual or disc who's exclusive it was. It just seemed to fit as being a Blockbuster exclusive because of all the other Outlaw Golf exclusives they had. It may indeed be a TRUS exclusive, even though the other TRUS exclusive, Sneakers, is clearly identified as such on it's cover. As for Outlaw Holiday Golf being the same game as 9 Holes of X-Mas, I'd like to point out some differences.

From the main menu of Holiday Golf your options are:
9 Holes of X-mas - interactive demo
Seablade trailer - non-interactive demo

From the main menu of 9 More of X-Mas your options are:
9 Holes of X-Mas Holiday Mini Game
Outlaw Golf demo - interactive demo
Outlaw Golf on G4 - courtesy of G4 Network
Seablade trailer - non-interactive Movie

It looks like we have:
9 Holes of X-mas - identified as Blockbuster exclusive on the case, manual and disc.
9 More Holes of X-Mas - identified as Blockbuster exclusive on the case and manual, but not the disc.
Outlaw Volleyball Red Hot - identified as Blockbuster exclusive on the case, manual, but not the disc.
Freestyle Street Soccer - identified as Blockbuster exclusive on the case, but not on the manual or disc.
Sneakers - identified as TRUS exclusive on the case, but not on the manual or disc.
Holiday Golf - unidentified on the case, manual or disc!

[ubersaurus]

I know that a special version of Full Spectrum Warrior was sold on US army bases that had a different mission and different methods of commanding your troops. You can unlock it all in the retail version with a code, but on this it's the default.

[lendelin]

Holiday Golf - unidentified on the case, manual or disc!

It is a bit blurry. While there is no "XY Exclusive"-Label to be found in this version, the manual ("Quick Start Guide") says: ""Purchase at Toys 'R' Us and, get $5 off Outlaw Golf for Xbox with this coupon," followed by the mail-in form with the instruction to provide the original sales receipt from Toys R Us for Outlaw Golf.

You are right that neither on the cover, in the manual, nor on the disc the exclusivity is stated; however, the manual clearly links it to Toys R Us; and since the sticker-like imprint on the cover refers to the TysRUs mail-in rebate reading "9 Holes for the Holidays! Plus $5 off the original Outlaw Golf," I assumed it is an exclusive.

If Toys R Us was the only company using this version, then it is an exclusive. Maybe others used it as well, a four page "manual" is easily reprinted, then this game isn't an exclusive for sure. I bought both versions used so I wouldn't know.

It just seemed to fit as being a Blockbuster exclusive because of all the other Outlaw Golf exclusives they had.

This is highly unlikely. Why would Blockbuster release two different versions (manual, cover, disc, even content) of the same game at one particular time? I assume it is actually aTRus exclusive; as you pointed out, often the exclusivity-statement is missing on the disc and/or manual, why not have one case missing it on the cover as well? The manual points clearly to ToysRUs, Blockbuster as a possibility is very unlikely.

Thanks for pointing out the minor differences between the two versions -- to be honest I haven't plugged them in yet.

[roushimsx]

I know that a special version of Full Spectrum Warrior was sold on US army bases that had a different mission and different methods of commanding your troops.

Weird, I didn't think AAFES routed stuff around like that; you'd think that you'd be able to find it in pretty much any PX/NX/BX, but all of the ones I've seen were identical to the normal retail version. Maybe I just wound up visiting the Army bases with the shitty PXs.

Do they show up on eBay very often? I'd love to score a copy

AAFES is totally the place to buy game systems from (or anything expensive, for that matter). You can't beat not having to pay sales tax

[ProgrammingAce]

I'm curious about these. Did they just reprint the covers or did they go the extra mile and reprint the DVD labels as being NFR?

You got me on the XBL starter kit... didn't realize they had outrun.

As for the NFR games, they only reprinted the DVD case insert, not the manual or disc.They also stopped doing that after a while and just threw the giant sticker on the front.

Sneakers had kind of an odd development cycle... Microsoft Studios made it, but was going to can it. Somehow they reached an agreement with TRU to pick it up, i don't know if they took on some of the costs or what, but it's kind of weird.

[xtremegamer]

So does anyone here have a complete list of Xbox games, variants, special releases (like the volvo game), ect. ? I would really like to have one as a checklist. Thanks.

[erehwon]

Do you think Futurama has a chance of becoming rare? I noticed that one of my local EBgames had two copies and was tempted to pick one up. It's $20 though, which is a little more than I'd like to spend. If it was $10, I wouldn't hesitate. Also, what do you think of Raze's Hell?

[GrandAmChandler]

If you see Whiteout or Predator: Concrete Jungle, pick them up. Both VERY tough to find.....