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{{trope}}
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
* Every ''[[Fire Emblem (Video Game)|Fire Emblem]]'' game before [[Fire Emblem Elibe|the seventh]] is virtually impossible to get outside of Japan, being that the entire franchise before the seventh instalment was a case of [[No Export for You]]. Unsurprisingly, the series is very frequently pirated and subjected to [[Fan Translation]].▼
* In July 2023, an academic study by the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network estimated that 87 percent of all video games released before 2010 are "critically endangered". Which means that those video games are no longer availble on digital platforms.
** Only the most popular video games get remakes and/or re-releases.
▲* Every ''[[
* [[Doug Ten Napel]]'s [[The Neverhood]], an ingenious point-and-click adventure game made entirely in claymation, has been MIA since the mid-Ninties and copies are quite scarce. When it's easier to get the soundtrack CD to a computer game than the game itself, there is no hope for humanity. Or so it seemed, but [http://www.facebook.com/NeverhoodMobile this statement] has mentioned that a rerelease on mobile platforms is in the works.
* After its unfortunate initial performance in 1995, ''[[
** Similarly, the sequel ''[[
* Virtually every [[Licensed Game]], due to the publishers and/or developers either no longer existing or no longer having the licenses. Thankfully, there's been some aversions to this in recent years, in particular when it comes to still-existing major publishers:
** [[Ubisoft]] rereleased (and in [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time
** [[Konami]] wrangled with [[Activision]] for a deal to port the ''[[X-Men (
** [[Capcom]] ported their [[
** [[
* The ''[[Lunar]]'' games, remakes, and extra [[Feelies]]. The first two games were released on the [[Sega CD]], which made them tough to come by in the first place. ''[[Lunar:
* ''[[
* Past-generation ''[[Pokémon]]'' titles. Finding used copies isn't difficult at all, given ''Pokémon'''s [[Cash Cow Franchise|status]], but Nintendo has unusually never shown any inclination to rerelease any past game. This is probably one of the rare cases where no-one minds this at all - ease of finding secondhand copies notwithstanding, given how more Pokémon are added with each generation, and the constant fixes and revisions to the game mechanics with each new generation, rereleasing the games ''in their original form'' would have been somewhat unfeasible. Instead, [[Video Game Remake|remakes]] ensued.
** Note that if one does obtain a copy of ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver
** It is possible to replace the batteries in at least ''Gold'' and ''Silver'' versions without destroying the cartridge, so the playability can be restored... for another six years at a time.
** The straightest examples in ''Pokémon'' are ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue|Pokémon Yellow]]'' (unlike Crystal, none of Yellow's differences were incorporated into FireRed/LeafGreen) and quite a few of the spinoffs, most noticeably ''[[Hey You, Pikachu!]]'' and the ''[[Pokémon Stadium]]'' games, the former of which uses a peripheral exclusive to the Nintendo64 and the latter of which have both that problem as well as the gameplay of both games highly depend on connectivity with [[Game Boy]] and [[Game Boy Color]] games.
*** This led to a bizaare situation in which Yellow's most famous feature, Pikachu following the Player, was added into [[Pokémon Gold and Silver|HeartGold and SoulSilver]], along with Crystal's additions to the game's plot. It was expanded- now any Pokémon could follow the Player, not just Pikachu.
* Much of Rare's game library predating the Microsoft buyout, such as ''[[
** This also entangles Nintendo's ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]''; the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series and characters are owned by Nintendo, but the game contains Rare's own ''Jetpac'', which is now a Microsoft property and has an [[Video Game Remake]] on [[Xbox Live Arcade]]; the latter is the reason holding the game back, for it can't be simply axed. Why? Because it's a '''mandatory''' [[Embedded Precursor]]; completion of it is necessary to fight the final boss!
** Speaking of ''Jetpac'', the home computer games produced by Rare's original (1983-1987) incarnation, Ashby Computer Graphics / Ultimate Play the Game, have their distribution denied as well. This means titles that revolutionized the European videogame industry such as ''Jetpac'' itself, ''Atic Atac'', ''Sabre Wulf'', and ''Knight Lore''.
* The full version of ''[[
** Technically it seems to be FormGen Corporation -> GT Interactive Software Corporation -> Infogrames Entertainment -> Atari. And it seems they aren't using the game, nor can Apogee/3D Realms buy it back.
* Many of the games up to the fifth generation of home video games (PSX, N64, Sega Saturn) are now available with ROMs and emulators downloadable from the internet with even cursory searching.
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**** Patents do not, however. Nintendo has already lost exclusive patent on NES hardware in most countries, meaning anyone can manufacture equipment for it now.
*** The problem here is that such games, with the exception of some N64 titles on Virtual Console or PSX titles on the [[Playstation Network]], are rather slow in becoming available for those who may wish to acquire them legally, but never had the chance to get one or more of the 5th-gen systems (or a copy of the game for the one(s) they had).
**** And some can be downloaded... but aren't playable in an emulator (such as ''[[
* This actually seem to be a ''contributing factor'' to a generalized decrease in [[No Export for You]] in RPGs, especially in the last few years. [[Square Enix]] is a good example; previously, they allowed many of their major releases in Japan in the 1990s, such as ''[[Seiken Densetsu 3]]'', ''[[Dragon Quest]] V'' and ''VI'', ''[[Front Mission]] 1'' and others to go unreleased even once ports were made to newer consoles. Around 2003, though, ''SD3'' was translated by fans...and thus played by ''hundreds of thousands'' of people. ''DQV'' and ''VI'', ''FM1'', and a raft of other "back-catalog" titles then got similar treatment and all exploded all over the Internet. This seems to have led to a number of [[Updated Rerelease|Updated Rereleases]] of many of the aforementioned games, which then got translated and sold officially in the US market. SE guys have even acknowledged that fan translation played a part in proving that fans wanted certain games. Of the games listed in this example, only ''SD3'' hasn't gotten a release in the States at this point.
** Sadly, the DS update of V has become a scarcity due to a limited print run that resulted from disappointing sales of the preceding IV rerelease. The worst part of it is that V is considered the [[Magnum Opus|highlight of the series]] by diehard fans, and is already hard to find and increasing in value on the aftermarket. Neither the overseas success of ''[[Dragon Quest IX]]'' nor the finally released in the west remake of the sixth game will have much effect; those two were published overseas by Nintendo, while the fifth is still under the grip of SE, which doesn't seem interested in doing non-GH reprints.
*** Occasionally, though, V will go on sale on Amazon (usually around the holidays).
* ''[[Star Trek Starfleet Command]] III''. Shortly after its release, Activision filed a lawsuit against Viacom claiming that the studio had allowed the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise to "Stagnate And Decay", and that this had negatively affected Activision's stocks (or something of that nature). The debacle ended with Activision splitting, and production of the ''Starfleet Command III'' discs (as well as the other ''Star Trek'' titles made by Activision) halted, just a short time after the game's release. In fact, there are so few copies of ''Starfleet Command III'' that they generally sell online for anything from $85 to $144! Activision should have just held off until [[Star Trek (
* ''[[Transport Tycoon]]'' and its [[Transport Tycoon Deluxe|Deluxe]] version. Designer Chris Sawyer doesn't own the rights. Original publisher Microprose sold the rights to Atari, and they claim not to own the rights and they don't feel like trying to resolve the issue. Chris Sawyer eventually released a spiritual sequel, ''Locomotion'', which didn't do very well. Fortunately, the fan community has rallied around the open-source ''[[Open TTD]]''.
** Unfortunately, until recently a copy of ''Transport Tycoon Deluxe'' was required to play ''[[Open TTD]]''. As of Version 1.0.0, open-source replacement graphics/sound sets are supported.
* [[Doujinshi]] games are exceedingly difficult to find outside of Japan (or even in Japan, unless you know where to go); while doujin manga usually only has a niche market, doujin ''games'' are usually quite popular. Pressing CDs, however, is expensive, so not very many copies are made at a time. While the games usually only sell for about 1,000 Yen (a little over $10), the limited print run means it can be difficult to find any copies after the fact. ''[[
* Emulators and clones of the classic economics game ''[[MULE]]'' have always been around, but the original game itself has long been out-of-print. Noises are semi-currently being made about a reissue of some sort.
** Noise no longer - thanks to hard work by Blue Systems and the Bunten estate, you can now play an updated version of ''MULE'' (complete with online multiplayer!) for free at [http://www.planetmule.com/ Planet MULE].
* The [[Game Boy]] ''[[Mega Man (
** Currently, the first installment is on the [[Nintendo 3DS]] [[Virtual Console]]. No word on the others yet, though.
** To be fair, the Japanese versions are easy to find and aren't expensive either. Thank God for the Game Boy being region free.
** The ''[[Sega Saturn]]'' games aren't a walk-in-the-park to find. They can race anywhere from $40 to $80 at minimum, if you manage to find them.
*
* The VHS promotional tapes given out to [[Nintendo Power]] subscribers in the mid-1990s. The tapes promoted the Nintendo 64 and games like ''Donkey Kong Country'', ''Star Fox 64'', ''Diddy Kong Racing'', ''Banjo-Kazooie'', and early ''Pokémon'' games, as well as gave interesting behind-the-scenes looks at the making of these games. With the advent of DVD, the practice simply stopped after one release advertising the [[Game Cube]], and the tapes are now highly valued by collectors and traders.
* The ''[[Breath of Fire]]'' games are an example of an entire ''franchise'' (right down to [[Comic Book Adaptation]] treatments and artbooks) that is a victim of this due to a variety of reasons:
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** The second game of the franchise is, despite [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]] to a truly historic degree, considered more than a bit of a translation trainwreck and also neutered multiple abilities of characters. Even worse, the GBA version ''changed nothing''. The only way to play the game with a ''readable'' English text (versus [[Engrish]]) is via a [[Fan Translation]] of the Japanese Super Nintendo ROM — again, of dubious legality, especially with Square planning a possible re-release and possible re-translation.
** The third game ''was'' planned to be re-released in North America for the PSP but ran into a serious roadblock — Sony Entertainment US has a rule requiring 20% new content for re-releases, and the re-release of ''[[Breath of Fire]] III'' was seen to not meet this requirement despite new bonus art and features unlocked in the game. (Of note, Sony Entertainment US is the ''sole'' territory where the PSP is sold to have a "New Content Rule". It apparently even hits games never released in the US, as it was one of the factors in Atlus USA not translating the PSP port of ''[[Devil Summoner]]''.) The only way to obtain ''III'' at this point in North America is either via grey-market imports from Europe for the region free system (where the PSP re-release was sold, with English text!), finding the game on Ebay, or the use of copied [[IS Os]] (of extremely dubious legality). The game also has never been re-released on Playstation Network, either.
** The fourth game has been rereleased on PSN, but only in North America. The Windows version and all international versions were subject to severe [[Bowdlerisation]] (in one case ending up in a frank [[Aborted Arc]]); in addition, a character's special ability was neutered from the game. The ''only'' way to play the game in un-bowdlerised fashion is to either find someone selling a Japanese version (quite rare now) or use an ISO of dubious legality — ''and'' there is no [[Fan Translation]] so far. The only way to play the Windows port in North America is via import from Europe (hard to find nowadays) or via downloads of ''very'' dubious legality; the only way to find the game as released in the US is to find someone reselling it (Ebay is probably the best bet nowadays, as the game was released in 2001) or to download an ISO of dubious legality.
** The fifth game (''Dragon Quarter'') is out-of-print, has been out-of-print for over seven years, is now (thanks to the [[Broken Base]] it caused) apparently not really acknowledged by Capcom as having existed, has never been re-released in any format including Playstation Network, and one's only real hope of obtaining it at this point is via used game stores or (again) [[IS Os]] of dubious legality.
** Literally all artbooks, with the sole exception of the compilation ''[[Breath of Fire]] Complete Works'', are out-of-print and have been for years; the only sources are online import companies selling them at high expense (and of dubious authenticity), or via scans of the artbook done by fans.
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* The arcade version of ''[[Double Dragon]]'' was rereleased on [[Xbox Live Arcade]] for a while, until Empire Interactive went bankrupt, also erasing hopes of a rerelease of the second game. Good luck finding the arcade machines, or you can illegally play them on MAME. Similarly, all of Midway's XBLA rereleases were delisted when they folded and were purchased by Warner Bros.
** This applies to many other old-school arcade games, especially those that were equipped with [[Copy Protection|suicide batteries]] or [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup|whose source code has been lost]] (i.e., no chance of a legal downloadable rerelease).
* Kojima [http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176763 half-admitted]{{Dead link}} that the reason why any version of ''[[Snatcher]]'' hasn't been released on the [[Virtual Console]] yet (even though stuff like ''[[Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake]]'' and ''[[Castlevania: Rondo of Blood]]'' had been released already) is due to the fact that the game's imagery and its numerous visual nods to ''[[Blade Runner]]'' and ''[[Terminator]]'' almost border on copyright infringement, making it hard to re-release without heavy alterations. It's not much of an issue in Japan, where the [[
* If you're a fan of old-style text adventures (from Infocom and other companies), you're pretty much limited to downloading it from the internet these days, as most games (especially less-popular ones) haven't been available for sale for at least 10-15 years. Worse yet, many of Infocom's games (such as Zork Zero) included "feelies" to prevent piracy (extra material, such as a guidebook, that was needed to solve the game's puzzles) — even if you could find a rare used copy, it's doubtful you could find the "feelies" (although we suggest looking around eBay). Hence, internet downloads. The legality of this is questionable (it depends on whether you accept "abandonware" as a valid excuse), but it's pretty much the only way to get them anymore. This goes double for even older games. Luckily, most new games are released for free, as there really aren't any companies commercially producing text adventures anymore.
* Now that Sega has released ''[[Thunder Force]] VI'', it's exceedingly hard to find the opening movie from Tecnosoft's [[What Could Have Been|original Dreamcast version]], or the promotional movie from Factory Noise + AG's [[Doujin Game|doujin]] attempt ''[[Broken Thunder]]''. There's only '''one''' site on the Internet [
* The ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series of video games, due to their [[Mega Crossover]] plots involving dozens of different [[Humongous Mecha|mecha anime]] franchises, will likely never see release outside of Japan. The only exceptions have been the two Original Generation games, which — [[Exactly What It Says
* ''[[Harvest Moon]] 64'' is this as of now. It is a [[Cult Classic]] and considered the best Harvest Moon game by many however it has yet to have a Virtual Console release, an enhanced remake (a la the [[PS 1]] games to GBA), or a port release (like the [[PS 1]] games). Only the original SNES game has had a Virtual Console release. It's an expensive game, too — compared to other games from the same time period, you'll usually find it for $35 at cheapest.
** [http://www.destructoid.com/harvest-moon-64-not-coming-to-the-virtual-console-181459.phtml A recent interview with a Natsume executive] reveals that problems with the source code has prevented any possible remake or port, even sadder by the fact that this game was supposedly one of the first they planned for a Virtual Console release.
*** Which makes no sense, as the VC is simply an emulator, so they'd just need a game ROM.
*** Tell that to SEGA. ''[[
** All ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' games before ''Friends of Mineral Town'' generally count as this, especially the ''Game Boy'' and ''Color'' ones. As said the original SNES game is one of the rarest titles for the console (it rivals ''[[
* ''[[Shantae]],'' a very-late-release (2001!) [[Game Boy Color]] game by [[Way Forward Technologies]]. It sold less than 100k copies during its release (only about 77k, if numbers are to be believed), but word of mouth (and reviews) spread stories of the game's excellent quality. Copies routinely go for ''over $100'' on eBay! To add insult to injury, if you attempt to play the game through [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|slightly cheaper methods,]] the most common Game Boy emulator doesn't even ''run'' it correctly.
** Lampshaded on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STfLWs6XGkM official Risky's Revenge soundtrack release video]. WFT has apparently been working on getting the game on [[
* Pretty much the entire Commodore 64 software library falls into this category. Other than a handful of games released for various virtual consoles, the entire rest of the catalog is available almost exclusively on the internet as disk images that can be played using a C64 emulator. Thankfully, rights holders are either nonexistent, having disappeared decades ago, or simply don't care that the images are available, so they're very easy to find.
* The entire ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' series. You can probably find ''From the New World'', and maybe ''Covenant'' somewhere in a used game store, but the first ''Shadow Hearts'' game, as well as ''Koudelka''? Good luck!
* The ''[[Ogre Battle]]'' games ''The Knight of Lodis'' and ''Legend of the Zenobia Prince'' for [[Game Boy]] Advance and Neo Geo Pocket Color can't be had on current consoles.
* ''Albion'' is a good example of this as well, given that copies show up on Ebay only rarely and in small numbers. When they do appear, they fetch prices of $100, at the very least.
* ''[[Castlevania]] Chronicles'', the [[
* Good luck finding ''[[The Red Star]]'' for the [[
* Ever heard of the game ''Oddballz'' by P.F. Magic? It's a virtual pet game with weird and wacky pets, and it's fun. REALLY fun. Good luck finding it! Okay, there's a demo out there, but you can't use all the toys or turn out the lights. What? Someone found out how to turn the demo into the full game? Well, you still don't get the Web Fun Pack... what? Someone posted that online? Oh, but...you still can't get the full version legally!
** There was a LEGAL reprint of the game, BUT it comes without a serial number. FAIL! Granted, you could Google the game and find one, but still, it would save people a lot of work if they bothered to include the serial number.
* Any [[Data East]] game that wasn't rereleased on ''Data East Arcade Classics'', including ''Night Slashers'', ''Midnight Resistance'', ''Vapor Trail'', and ''Thunder Zone'' (aka ''Desert Assault'', the spiritual successor to ''Bloody Wolf''). Many of these weren't ported to consoles either, so they can only be played through illegal emulation.
* It's nigh impossible to get a physical copy of ''[[LSD Dream Emulator]]'' as it was only released in Japan and even there a copy goes for the Yen equivalent of about $500. It ''did'' get released as a [[PS One]] Classic on the Japanese [[
** The dream journal the game was based on (''Lovely Sweet Dream'') and the soundtrack (''LSD & Remixes'') that came with the special edition of the game are even harder to get since only about 50 copies were made. There was another CD, ''Lucy in the Sky with Dynamites'', which was basically like supplemental soundtrack featuring different mixes of the songs that was also released only in Japan.
** Of course, as you can guess, you can download the game's ISO, both CDs, and scans of the dream journal online for free. The developer, Asmik Ace, doesn't seem to care about it since the game isn't even listed on their website.
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* The fan game ''[[Super Mario Bros X]]'' thanks to creator Redigit "getting a cease and desist from Nintendo", a story which many are pretty sure is fabricated because Redigit [[Artist Disillusionment|"didn't like the community"]].
* ''[[Panzer Dragoon Saga]]'' was not only released in limited quantities during its short life on the Sega Saturn, Team Andromeda no longer exists, and the original source code is lost.
* Apparently, Nintendo ran into problems emulating the SNES's Super FX chip on [[Wii]] [[Virtual Console]] releases, which would explain the lack of ''[[
* The original monochrome release of ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* They stopped producing ''[[Rune Factory]] Frontier'' games in America after a year or so, so this is the only way to buy a title.
* The original, unpatched version of ''[[Ultima VIII]]: Pagan''.
* Want to find the Eyewitness series of educational video games from the '90s and early '00s? Well, you can't go to the store and buy it. You can order them from places like Amazon and eBay, or find a torrent. Otherwise, you're doomed.
* This seems to be the case with various Nintendo games that use the ''Tetris'' branding but aren't actually ''Tetris'' games (such as ''Tetris Attack''), due to the stricter trademark licensing from The Tetris Company, because so far the only Nintendo game with "''Tetris''" in the title to be released on the Virtual Console service is the [[Game Boy]] installment (and for some reason, unlike ''[[Links Awakening]]'' above, it's the original version and not the ''DX'' release for the [[Game Boy Color]]), released on the [[Nintendo 3DS]]. It got this treatment when the Wii was very late in its life, which never got a VC release for ''Tetris Attack''. (Note that the Japanese release does not have this issue; the Japanese release doesn't hide the series it's in and calls it ''Yoshi's Panepon''.) Fortunately, in the case of the ''Tetris Attack''/''[[Puzzle League]]'' series, sequels dropped the ''Tetris'' branding and ''Pokémon Puzzle League'' did not have this problem and got a VC release, which means there wouldn't be a problem doing the same with the portable ''Pokémon''-based game in the series, ''Pokémon Puzzle Challenge''.
* PC games in general fall into this, especially pre-2000s games. Games are known to quickly become incompatible with newer systems and can be rare to find.
** As of May 2020, Microsoft Windows only supports 64-bit, which is also backwards compatible with 32-bit. 16-bit software, which includes most games released on Windows 95 or earlier, will not work on 64-bit operating systems.
* ''[[Sonic Shuffle]]'' is one of the few Sonic games to not be rereleased.▼
** MacOS is not as lucky, as PowerPC support was retired in 2009, while 32-bit support was retired in November 2020. Unlike Windows, MacOS is not backwards compatible, except for a few "universal" apps that could run on both PowerPC and Intel processors.
* The ''[[Living Books]]'' series has unfortunately fallen under this for a long time. Firstly, they have not been known to age well when it comes to compatibility with modern computers. The three [[Dr. Seuss]] titles are the only ones that have had an update to combat this, and even then, they're Mac-exclusive. Then there's also the fact that four of the games have long gone out-of-print mysteriously (what's more, they're still included as demos in the still in-print games). If you want ''The New Kid on the Block'', ''Sheila Rae the Brave'', or either ''[[Berenstain Bears]]'' title, you better grab a tank load of money. Especially with ''New Kid''.
* Not technically a video game example, but ''[[
* Matayan has released exclusive characters for ''[[Kinnikuman: Muscle Fight]]'' that are available only to those the developer trusts. Basically, these characters are hard to find on the Internet.
* Due to an issue with its shadow mapping system (which was ported straight off the Xbox release and thus no longer works properly on newer hardware as well as those running on ATI/AMD GPUs), the Windows release of ''[[Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell|Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow]]'' remains the only ''Splinter Cell'' game to be pulled out of circulation. As ''Splinter Cell''{{'}}s extensive use of light and shadow is integral to its gameplay, the shadow mapping issue makes ''Pandora Tomorrow'' extremely difficult if not impossible to play on modern hardware.
* The spy-adventure parody game ''[[No One Lives Forever]]'' remains in copyright limbo for the foreseeable future due to the convoluted rights situation it got caught up in -- a situation so complicated that [https://web.archive.org/web/20181202010348/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123151-No-One-Lives-Forever-Rights-Vanish-Into-The-Night ''no one actually knows who owns the rights to it anymore'']. [[Nightdive Studios]] tried to sort out the rights situation in 2015, but 20th Century Fox (who originally published the first game and was later acquired by Disney), Activision (who inherited the Fox Interactive assets through a series of mergers) and Monolith's parent company Warner Bros. Interactive sent different letters to Nightdive saying they think they do have the rights but they couldn't be bothered to go through the effort of sorting it out, leading Nightdive to abandon their plans to re-release the game.
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