The Science of Rarity: A Look at Suikoden 2

The number one rule of rarity is the amount of available product or commodity.

From Game Collecting with Rick

Suikoden had large shipments sent to America, but the sales were rather small in comparison. I started seeing cases of these games pop up in super markets being sold for 10 bucks, and this was before our super markets started carrying anything that wasn't from the rental area. Enough RPG-starved, early buying PS1 pioneers bought the game to warrant a sequel being localized. The sequel arrived, but gamers found that little had changed since Suikoden. In a world of RPG's with 3D fighting and long CGI cutscenes of important events, Suikoden 2 looked 5 years old upon release. A few people did not mind and they bought the game anyway. These people become important later...

From Game Collecting with Rick

Suikoden 2 sold badly. Well under what was expected when compared to its competition. If there was even a 2nd shipment of more copies of this game, it was a trickle. Not that it mattered, the internet was just getting started on word of mouth. Suikoden 2's success is pulled from those few people that loved the game making lots of noise about it over the internet. Soon everyone wanted to try it, and copies that were left over were snatched up. These were not collectors, these were people that wanted to play a hidden gem of a game. I remember when Suikoden 3 came out, a rumor came about that there would be no more shipped here... and players not wanting to be left in the dust like with Suikoden 2 stormed the stores and bought up every copy they could find. This proved to not be the truth, there was plenty to go around at that time. Either way, this tipped off Ebay. Ebay speculators ran up the price of Suikoden 2 to above $100 over night.

From Game Collecting with Rick

The price briefly dipped when it was announced Suikoden 1 and 2 were coming to the PSP. Only later we found out that it was not coming to America... price shot up again. Repeat this with Suikoden coming to the PS3's PSN network for download, there has yet to be a rating given to Suikoden 2, meaning we are no where near it coming to PSN. So let's look at the rarity checklist:

Small print run due to poor sales: Check

Players buying up unopened copies so they can PLAY them. Check.

Ebay speculators buying up remaining stock. Check

No additional versions of the game. Check.

Look at the other valuable RPG's on the PS1. Lunar came out on the GBA and Sega CD. Final Fantasy 7 sold MILLIONS and is on the PSN. Even Valkerye Profile has a re-release on the PSP. The only legal way to play Suikoden 2 in English is to buy a copy from the original pressings. That makes it rare.