It's no secret that
Xenoblade Chronicles is one of the most sought-after collectors items in the Wii library. The game is barely more than a year old and it's so scarce that it regularly pushes $100 on secondhand auction sites. The game was originally a Gamestop exclusive, and is now listed at a whopping $90 for a used copy on Gamestop's website.
But here's the fishy thing. The game has been mysteriously showing up again very recently, ostensibly used, at Gamestop. Nintendo Everything
is reporting on a story where an anonymous tipster claims that Gamestop ran off a couple thousand more copies, but without shrinkwrap, so they could sell them at the ridiculously inflated used price.
Considering Gamestop gets every last cent of used sales, I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled something shady like this. Back in 2012 Nintendo localized the game, but Gamestop handled distribution entirely. It makes me feel a little sick but I wouldn't put it past Gamestop to take advantage of desperate gamers like this.
Curiously enough, a buddy of mine has been using Gamestop's availability map to track a copy they tried to sell him a couple weeks back, right when supposedly "used" copies were magically appearing on Gamestop shelves again. Amusingly, it was a UK region copy--useless to anyone who doesn't have a European, region-unlocked, hacked or otherwise illicitly modified Wii console. It would be funny if Gamestop accidentally mixed a European copy of the game in with the supply of new "used" copies. In any case this is just one more reason why I'll continue my longstanding policy of never giving Gamestop my business.
