FFXIII Sells Out on Amazon Japan; Profiteers Charge $150 for Spare Copies

[moogling]

It looks like FF13 could be heading for some severe shortages in Japan and those who ordered early are set to profit from it.

A day before the game releases in Japan, Amazon Japan have closed down orders for Final Fantasy XIII, stopping anyone who hasn't already preordered from obtaining the game through them.

Already profiteers who ordered multiple copies of the game have seen their chance to sell the game for extra - and copies are selling for 13,500 Yen online. That's 4250 yen more than the standard retail price with tax.

That's 47 dollars more than the regular asking price and 150 US dollars! You can see the Amazon Japan listing here - those who speak the lingo will be able to see the game has been removed from further sale.

If you're looking to get hold of the game this week, Play Asia are still taking orders for the Region-Free PS3 title with a promise to ship it on the 17th, release day.

Square Enix is unlikely to have printed few copies of its biggest blockbuster, so it's likely demand for FF13 is far more than seen - meaning that FF13 could see PS3 sales rocket in Japan. Play-Asia recently told us it was their most preordered import title this generation.

Alternatively, we'd advise preordering the Western version from Amazon now, in case we face similar shortages. Here it'll be available on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Source: uffsite

 

[Fusionist]

Didn't they say they'd be shipping more copies by next week or something? I remembering reading a thread here on the forums about that or something :/

So I think people could possibly just wait until the next shipment

But yeah, that's pretty darn amazing. I don't pay attention to gaming beyond my interests, but has this ever happened before with other games? O.O

 

[moogling]

Yes, the thread is here but people have been saying that it was a mis-translation. Although the person who is making these claims has not been approved by the news site I go to, so who knows.

I mean, with all the stores that want it, the online companies, AND Play Asia's international pre-orders, it's going to be extremely hard to keep up with the copies.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

See, this is what happens when stores sell the copies early! Bastards.

I can see SquareEnix raging in a few days, stores doing this is becoming a trend at the moment, first Modern Warfare 2 then Assassins Creed II, now FFXIII. What's next!?

Hopefully if stores in the west leak it early Micro$oft won't ban them too!

 

[Linnaete]

Shops selling the game before the official launch? That's quite common nowadays, especially if the game is extremely anticipated and will cause massive shockwaves.

Hopefully the local game shop near my house might "accidentally" release FFXIII early when it comes it. It happened with Halo 3.

The problem is, March will be a heavily scheduled month with many games coming out at the same time. How well FFXIII will do in the sales chart here may also be determined by what other games are also coming out at the similar time and whether or not the Modern Warfare 2 mania will die down yet.

 

[Rorolina Frixell]

My local GAME shop sticks to the rules, unfortunately

Hopefully I can squeeze it out if I offer money upfront... Who knows

With it coming out on 360 and PS3 both, it's likely to bring in a lot of buying, hopefully it's not gone by the time I has moneys