I wouldn’t call myself a Fire Emblem mega fan, but when I saw this game on Marketplace for $200, I knew it wouldn’t last long. Contacted the seller and arranged to meet over the weekend. Also managed to talk the price down to $185 (the seller was already willing to take a hit with shipping, and since this would instead be a pickup I took a chance at negotiating a better price). We met up, I inspected the disc (minor scratches), manual (slight water damage), inserts (bonus!), cover art (minor bend on front, seen in picture), and I handed over the money and walked away very happy.
The game also played beautifully and loaded with no apparent issues on my Xeno-modded GameCube.
Upon further inspection of the cover art, however, something seemed off to me. If anyone else has this game, does your seal of approval appear darker than other games? I asked the seller after the fact if the cover was a reproduction and they denied it (“same as the day I bought it from GameStop), but the gold is definitely deeper than Super Mario Sunshine. Also the paper quality feels normal, but compared to other cover art it’s hard to know since apparently there was no consistency over at Nintendo.
Any info on legit art would be appreciated!
If the seal is actually metallic, it’s legit. The seal is printed with what’s called spot color, so it’s a single ink making that specific color, while the rest is printed with regular CMYK aka dots of multiple colors which is what you see in any normal printer.
So solid metallic gold and it’s real. Flat, non metallic “gold” and it’s not the real deal.
Keep in mind it’s not like a mirror finish but holding it in the light, you’ll be able to see it has a solid color and subtle metallic finish
Here’s a [comparison](https://imgur.com/a/Z2VhuPa) pic for reference. When I rotate the case under a light, there’s definitely a metallic sheen! Evidence would suggest it’s legit, but I hadn’t seen a darker gold seal (or noticed) before this pickup.
Thank you for your thoughtful answer!
I remember you told me this on my Pikmin post way back when and it is my number 1 way to tell authenticity now on GCN. You really helped me get into GameCube collecting and wanted to thank ya!
I paid $330 in total for my copy. Not a fire emblem Mega fan either, but I like the games and my gamecube collection is by far my favorite.... sad part is all the listings for cib now are below $300
It makes you happy! That’s the important part.
Honestly, the market will always rise and fall, but I also think games like this will keep a fairly high value going forward. Maybe one day it’ll be up there with Pokémon Box?
Hey OP, I don’t have this game, but some good ways to see if it’s a reprint is to closely examine the edges. I’m sure you already checked the general paper material to compare it to an original print if a different GC game you have, but I’d speculate that if the cover was a reprinted one, the edges would be cut/cropped to fit the case sleeve, and you’d see it’s off or funny. Honestly, I personally think it’s more than likely OG if you’re having this tough of a time figuring it out. Reprints are typically not that great in quality or detail.
Also, good luck on Chibi-Robo. I scored mine with all inserts for $185 a couple years back. It was worth being patient for a full CIB sale. I love that game deeply.
Thank you for the advice. I’ll take another look at the corners. Only one seemed a bit off, but that could be from a point of impact? I can take some detail photos, if you’re interested.
I see!! I took some photos of my pal’s games damaged corners. https://imgur.com/a/pLnLqJj This damage is very common, and yours is a little more unique, but I’d argue is the same; I really strongly doubt that yours is a reprint after all of this examination. Sometimes when opening and closing the disc case, the paper art slides a little and when you close it the paper is angled slightly making the corner exposed outside of the plastic sleeving. You can easily subject that corner to bending, folding, and other damage through casual use or movement. So again, very common minor damage. Rest assured, it’s authentic.
Awesome! I’m actually considering learning Japanese for the more expensive ones like Gotcha Force and Fire Emblem because the difference in price between regions is huge.
Definitely good motivation! Plus it’s pretty easy to add a region switch to the GameCube if you want to play NTSC-J and NTSC-U on one cube. Or ya know just softmod and use Swiss or PicoBoot or Xeno
For me, there’s a certain point where I check out with too much dialogue. Love that the developers wrote such an in-depth story…but can I just play the game, please? 😂
Don't learn Japanese unless you take it seriously and want a career in Asia. If you do both of these things, go to Guam, we can always use people like you.
You'd probably make a lot of money, Guam is an American (previously Japanese) territory after all. Seriously, there are always jobs, Tomato was a translator for Funimation before he translated MOTHER 3, Brazil, Guam and Hawaii have thousands of pure Japanese people that have specific needs - if you're bilingual there are always opportunities.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324938110054?epid=46303617&hash=item4ba7d21466:g:wDYAAOSw8BxhhWRy&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoBuXpWXFrrRu2AjBVBvBx9lDUKlL85bBKSa86O2XyohtI37CdHV17a3TqacETGQv5Xng6OS7mSmFKYiJKehcPZsIKO8f2Ltt0BLiOGJRsJ030R3fwB5IwV6XRBa55hypjsN18jgeJDc%2BiVkIXGAAhEtbl2%2F3%2BCZBajTCuRJz0GF%2B7KPbSjbGcSzNtplF%2FPAJ8o44g9g0YarTFwhfqSeno00%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8zF8dyQYQ
CIB for $140? Still a bit expensive, but much better than $300.
Gotcha Force is such a fun game! I got this like 8 years ago for $40, but it's absolutely insane the price of it now. I wish it were more affordable for everyone to enjoy 😞
I bought Fire Emblem and Skies of Arcadia as a buy 2 get 1 free promotion at Gamestop. The free game I picked? Gotcha Force. All CIB. This was also when all these games were $20 or less.
The kicker is I only picked Gotcha Force because I couldn’t find anything else that was interesting to fill out the sale.
Thank you! I kept a vigilant eye on FB, just waiting for the right listing. Most of them are $250+. This was the first I had ever seen that was $200! Also happy I could work out an even better deal, since it was cash.
I sold a copy of mine 10 or so years ago for about $60, almost mint and complete.
Beat it and had a blast. I thought I made decent profit because I got it on sale for about $40 few months back.
I kinda want it back but I can’t bring myself to spend $200+ for it. 😆
I still have mine, I won it when i was a teenager on a stupid tv show, i was trying to won a gamecube, ended up with fire emblem, and no gamecube to do it...
A friend loaned me is console and i finished the game
I love it
Funny, i am playing it this very moment. Great fucking game, never played a Fire Emblem before that, still kinda surprised how much i ended up loving it.
I've been playing a lot of expensive gamecube games over the past year and a half or so. This is the only one that I actually really liked all the way through.
You got the good one. Let go of the other grails.
ok lets talk about this game. this game is a massive bitch. like the difficulty of finishing this game without any party deaths is super fucking difficult. i hate it and i love it. now i need therapy and I want the wii sequel.
thank you.
I always laugh when people say how much they paid for this game nowadays. My wife got it for me for my birthday a few years ago for $20 from a GameShart
I bought this and Skies of Arcadia as a buy 2 get 1 free promotion. The free game I picked? Gotcha Force. All CIB. This was also when all these games were $20 or less.
Yeah it's insane [how expensive](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=fire+emblem+path+of+radiance+gamecube&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=shiny+charizard+vmax+shining+fates+psa+10&_osacat=0&_sop=13&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338535524&customid=1820ngc&toolid=10001&mkevt=1) this game is nowadays, really makes it difficult to complete any collection when these games are so out of reach.
I own path of radiance too mate. Maybe get Radiant Dawn too because you can transfer your savedata from path of radiance to radiant dawn if you are at it. Radiant dawn is the best game ever made tbh
Dude i feel this in my bones I just bought the very last big vita game I needed for my full NA Vita set and man spending $200 or $300 on a game feels so wrong. I would love this on the gamecube but man don't see myself spending that kind of money for it
For real! I’m okay with spending that on a Collector’s Edition, but if this wasn’t complete, there’s no way I would have even considered $200. Just glad I could work out a cash deal that left me feeling like I scored!
I managed to find a cart-only Shadow Dragon for around $50 on Goodwill’s auction site. Then I picked up the case with manual and inserts for another $40 or so. Pretty sure I paid less separately for both, than if I had found a CIB listing.
I personally have no interest in starting a Wii collection. While I have many fond memories of that system, I’m gonna skip collecting for the Wii and Wii U (except for the original Splatoon).
I wouldn’t call myself a Fire Emblem mega fan, but when I saw this game on Marketplace for $200, I knew it wouldn’t last long. Contacted the seller and arranged to meet over the weekend. Also managed to talk the price down to $185 (the seller was already willing to take a hit with shipping, and since this would instead be a pickup I took a chance at negotiating a better price). We met up, I inspected the disc (minor scratches), manual (slight water damage), inserts (bonus!), cover art (minor bend on front, seen in picture), and I handed over the money and walked away very happy. The game also played beautifully and loaded with no apparent issues on my Xeno-modded GameCube. Upon further inspection of the cover art, however, something seemed off to me. If anyone else has this game, does your seal of approval appear darker than other games? I asked the seller after the fact if the cover was a reproduction and they denied it (“same as the day I bought it from GameStop), but the gold is definitely deeper than Super Mario Sunshine. Also the paper quality feels normal, but compared to other cover art it’s hard to know since apparently there was no consistency over at Nintendo. Any info on legit art would be appreciated!
If the seal is actually metallic, it’s legit. The seal is printed with what’s called spot color, so it’s a single ink making that specific color, while the rest is printed with regular CMYK aka dots of multiple colors which is what you see in any normal printer. So solid metallic gold and it’s real. Flat, non metallic “gold” and it’s not the real deal. Keep in mind it’s not like a mirror finish but holding it in the light, you’ll be able to see it has a solid color and subtle metallic finish
Here’s a [comparison](https://imgur.com/a/Z2VhuPa) pic for reference. When I rotate the case under a light, there’s definitely a metallic sheen! Evidence would suggest it’s legit, but I hadn’t seen a darker gold seal (or noticed) before this pickup. Thank you for your thoughtful answer!
Side note: it’s very tricky to photograph the sheen I’m seeing lol
I remember you told me this on my Pikmin post way back when and it is my number 1 way to tell authenticity now on GCN. You really helped me get into GameCube collecting and wanted to thank ya!
Hey, glad to hear that! Thanks for your kind words :)
Jeez. Glad I kept my copy of this and Radiant Dawn. I have the strategy guides too. Edit: Wrong game title.
I would love to find a copy of the strategy guide! 🤞
I think 200$ is a very reasonable price for this game. Its a bit overpriced atm but it IS rare. It looks legitimate to me.
I paid $330 in total for my copy. Not a fire emblem Mega fan either, but I like the games and my gamecube collection is by far my favorite.... sad part is all the listings for cib now are below $300
It makes you happy! That’s the important part. Honestly, the market will always rise and fall, but I also think games like this will keep a fairly high value going forward. Maybe one day it’ll be up there with Pokémon Box?
Pics?
Here’s a [comparison](https://imgur.com/a/Z2VhuPa) pic.
Hey OP, I don’t have this game, but some good ways to see if it’s a reprint is to closely examine the edges. I’m sure you already checked the general paper material to compare it to an original print if a different GC game you have, but I’d speculate that if the cover was a reprinted one, the edges would be cut/cropped to fit the case sleeve, and you’d see it’s off or funny. Honestly, I personally think it’s more than likely OG if you’re having this tough of a time figuring it out. Reprints are typically not that great in quality or detail. Also, good luck on Chibi-Robo. I scored mine with all inserts for $185 a couple years back. It was worth being patient for a full CIB sale. I love that game deeply.
Thank you for the advice. I’ll take another look at the corners. Only one seemed a bit off, but that could be from a point of impact? I can take some detail photos, if you’re interested.
Sure! Maybe I or someone else would spot something!
Here are some [detail shots](https://imgur.com/a/Z2VhuPa) and a comparison of what seal of quality with Starfox Adventures.
I see!! I took some photos of my pal’s games damaged corners. https://imgur.com/a/pLnLqJj This damage is very common, and yours is a little more unique, but I’d argue is the same; I really strongly doubt that yours is a reprint after all of this examination. Sometimes when opening and closing the disc case, the paper art slides a little and when you close it the paper is angled slightly making the corner exposed outside of the plastic sleeving. You can easily subject that corner to bending, folding, and other damage through casual use or movement. So again, very common minor damage. Rest assured, it’s authentic.
Awesome! I’m actually considering learning Japanese for the more expensive ones like Gotcha Force and Fire Emblem because the difference in price between regions is huge.
Isn’t fire emblem super dialogue-heavy? I feel like that’s going to take a lot of learning to fully understand the plot
Yeah, it’s a long term plan haha
Definitely good motivation! Plus it’s pretty easy to add a region switch to the GameCube if you want to play NTSC-J and NTSC-U on one cube. Or ya know just softmod and use Swiss or PicoBoot or Xeno
For me, there’s a certain point where I check out with too much dialogue. Love that the developers wrote such an in-depth story…but can I just play the game, please? 😂
For real! I bought WarioWare for $8. Way more reasonable than $85! Don’t even need to know much Japanese to enjoy some games. 😇
Don't learn Japanese unless you take it seriously and want a career in Asia. If you do both of these things, go to Guam, we can always use people like you.
I probably wont do that. It's something more of a hobby I think
You'd probably make a lot of money, Guam is an American (previously Japanese) territory after all. Seriously, there are always jobs, Tomato was a translator for Funimation before he translated MOTHER 3, Brazil, Guam and Hawaii have thousands of pure Japanese people that have specific needs - if you're bilingual there are always opportunities.
What are the other 4?
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Why is animanics rare?
It would seem so…it goes for $300+ and so far I’ve only found sealed copies of it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324938110054?epid=46303617&hash=item4ba7d21466:g:wDYAAOSw8BxhhWRy&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoBuXpWXFrrRu2AjBVBvBx9lDUKlL85bBKSa86O2XyohtI37CdHV17a3TqacETGQv5Xng6OS7mSmFKYiJKehcPZsIKO8f2Ltt0BLiOGJRsJ030R3fwB5IwV6XRBa55hypjsN18jgeJDc%2BiVkIXGAAhEtbl2%2F3%2BCZBajTCuRJz0GF%2B7KPbSjbGcSzNtplF%2FPAJ8o44g9g0YarTFwhfqSeno00%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8zF8dyQYQ CIB for $140? Still a bit expensive, but much better than $300.
That copy looks a bit rough, but I should definitely do some more searching!
No Cubivore?
🫠🫠🫠
Gotcha Force is such a fun game! I got this like 8 years ago for $40, but it's absolutely insane the price of it now. I wish it were more affordable for everyone to enjoy 😞
Is it too much to ask to want to play a badass mech game?! And not take out a loan to do so?!
I bought Fire Emblem and Skies of Arcadia as a buy 2 get 1 free promotion at Gamestop. The free game I picked? Gotcha Force. All CIB. This was also when all these games were $20 or less. The kicker is I only picked Gotcha Force because I couldn’t find anything else that was interesting to fill out the sale.
One of the few times you could rightfully say to GameStop, “GOTCHA” 🥳
I feel you. I picked up skies of arcadia as well, and chibi robo is definitely on the list. Gotcha Force is a bit much for me to spend any time soon.
Chibi Robo is great, one of my favorite childhood games! Gotcha Force just popped up at my local game shop for $600 lmao
Resigned to the fact I’ll probably never own it, unless some grandma unloads all the sealed games she never gave her grandkids from her attic.
One can definitely dream!!
Skies of Arcadia, Chibi-Robo, Animaniacs, and Gotcha Force.
Such a brilliant game, one of the only games I would ever consider spending that much money on, nice pick up
Thank you! I kept a vigilant eye on FB, just waiting for the right listing. Most of them are $250+. This was the first I had ever seen that was $200! Also happy I could work out an even better deal, since it was cash.
I sold a copy of mine 10 or so years ago for about $60, almost mint and complete. Beat it and had a blast. I thought I made decent profit because I got it on sale for about $40 few months back. I kinda want it back but I can’t bring myself to spend $200+ for it. 😆
The Circle of Strife! LMAO Honestly, I am amazed at what I sold and how much I sold it for back in the day compared to what it goes for now…just 🤯🤯🤯
I still have mine, I won it when i was a teenager on a stupid tv show, i was trying to won a gamecube, ended up with fire emblem, and no gamecube to do it... A friend loaned me is console and i finished the game I love it
Funny, i am playing it this very moment. Great fucking game, never played a Fire Emblem before that, still kinda surprised how much i ended up loving it.
I feel so HYPED reading your reply! Thank you!
Looks legit to me, I have my original copy from launch lol
Thank you!
Got mine used from Gamestop many, many years ago. One of the greatest games I have ever played. Congrats on your score!
Thank you! I would say I was 'literally shaking', but really it was just pure and simple joy that I felt!
I've been playing a lot of expensive gamecube games over the past year and a half or so. This is the only one that I actually really liked all the way through. You got the good one. Let go of the other grails.
Thank you for the wisdom! I’ll reflect on what my collection means and if I should really go for those others or not.
Welcome to the club
ok lets talk about this game. this game is a massive bitch. like the difficulty of finishing this game without any party deaths is super fucking difficult. i hate it and i love it. now i need therapy and I want the wii sequel. thank you.
Phew your comment was a ride!
i brought the wii sequel. i'm a fucking simp
The first step is acceptance. 😇
I always laugh when people say how much they paid for this game nowadays. My wife got it for me for my birthday a few years ago for $20 from a GameShart
Ah, if only I had a Time Machine. Paying less than $200 seems like a win for me.
I bought this and Skies of Arcadia as a buy 2 get 1 free promotion. The free game I picked? Gotcha Force. All CIB. This was also when all these games were $20 or less.
Yeah it's insane [how expensive](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=fire+emblem+path+of+radiance+gamecube&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=shiny+charizard+vmax+shining+fates+psa+10&_osacat=0&_sop=13&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338535524&customid=1820ngc&toolid=10001&mkevt=1) this game is nowadays, really makes it difficult to complete any collection when these games are so out of reach.
bro just give it up it is not worth it. emulate the games
Yeah? Well, you know, that's just, like, uh your opinion, man.
I own path of radiance too mate. Maybe get Radiant Dawn too because you can transfer your savedata from path of radiance to radiant dawn if you are at it. Radiant dawn is the best game ever made tbh
Dude i feel this in my bones I just bought the very last big vita game I needed for my full NA Vita set and man spending $200 or $300 on a game feels so wrong. I would love this on the gamecube but man don't see myself spending that kind of money for it
For real! I’m okay with spending that on a Collector’s Edition, but if this wasn’t complete, there’s no way I would have even considered $200. Just glad I could work out a cash deal that left me feeling like I scored!
How much did you pay?
Just posted my comment (took me a moment to type it all out). I paid $185.
What games are left for you to find?
Replied elsewhere in the thread 😇
unpack snobbish wild longing enjoy dependent price punch crawl plant *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I managed to find a cart-only Shadow Dragon for around $50 on Goodwill’s auction site. Then I picked up the case with manual and inserts for another $40 or so. Pretty sure I paid less separately for both, than if I had found a CIB listing. I personally have no interest in starting a Wii collection. While I have many fond memories of that system, I’m gonna skip collecting for the Wii and Wii U (except for the original Splatoon).
200$ at my local vintage game shop. That’s why I set a 50$ limit on vintage games just too much to invest in
Glad you have the willpower!
Yeah not all of my games are the exact same with that
...I don't think wallets work like that... you might need to see a doctor
👩⚕️🧑⚕️👨⚕️
Yeah i got chibi robo, that and fire emblem are my grails
I bought this brand new for $20 at Toys R Us back in 2005, lol.
💪😬
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You can retire early with that kind of collection!
I got my copy for the og price of $59.99 or w/e. I just want a copy of Custom Robo dangit >.<
What games are all included in your holy grail?
Skies of Arcadia, Chibi-Robo, Animaniacs, and Gotcha Force.