Konami rereleases / reissues rare PAL PS2 games?

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Browsing through eBay, I suddenly noticed that at least two sellers seem to be offering brand new and sealed PAL copies of Zone Of The Enders: 2nd Runner for the PS2:

eBay - ZOE: 2nd Runner (Gowingstore)



eBay - ZOE: 2nd Runner (The Game Xchange Ltd)

Now one thing instantly stands out to me - The orange PEGI logo. Both sellers seem to be displaying stock pictures of this game with the newly announced 2009 coloured PEGI logo, when in fact back in 2003 when this game was released it would have been black - These new coloured logo's were only introduced recently

This leads me to deduce that either the game has had a silent rerelease, featuring these new coloured PEGI logo's; Or, the sellers are manipulating the images or at least using faked images, in which case what they are actually selling isn't what they are advertising in the pictures as game cover will not match

Has anyone seen or heard anything about the game getting a PAL rerelease?

[mfnick]

Ive been after this for a looooooong time. Unfortunately Im saving my money at the moment or else id order one & let you know.

[Mr Marvellous]

Maybe someone just came across a case of it, happens sometimes

[OnThinIce]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_th ... 2nd_Runner

Wikipedia has it listed in PAL regions and on the same PEGI rating as your pic

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Maybe someone just came across a case of it, happens sometimes

Indeed, although the coloured PEGI logo's are a 2009 thing, so these are literally fresh off of the press games, not some six year old games which have been discovered. Zone Of The Enders (Like many Konami games) had a low print run back in 2003, and has long since been hard to find / OOP hence why it is considered quite a rarity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_the_Enders:_The_2nd_Runner

Wikipedia has it listed in PAL regions and on the same PEGI rating as your pic

The original release had a black PEGI logo. This has the 2009 orange logo. It now seems as if it has had a reissue recently, and now features the newer coloured PEGI logo's, although none of the major retailers seem to have it - Only a selected few eBay traders...

This is perhaps as big a deal as Ico getting a standard edition pressing many years after the game was originally released, or the American Rhapsody / Persona II reissues!

[benbonney]

you may also find that some items get released in aussie land but not here, a classic example of this was manhunt 2 which i bought from there and they se different rating logos

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I received an answer from one of the sellers - I had originally asked about the origin of this stock and whether or not they were indeed sealed (As I found it hard to believe they would be, being Konami):

"Hi
The games are not sealed, they are a new re-print from Konami, which is why they have the new logo on.
Regards
Customer Service
The Game Xchange"

So, apparently they are indeed a reprint. Other collector's have also reported that they have bought some and they come in the newer, thinner, cheaper PS2 cases with no memory card slot, as per all new releases

Konami certainly kept that quiet! I would have thought a reprint of a reasonably rare game like ZOE: 2nd Runner would have received quite a bit of public press, but actually seems as if it was a stealth reissue

[Cutty]

I can't find any official source that says it was re-released, are you sure it's not a fake? This thread title got my hopes up so it better bloody be real.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I'm really not sure. Some people have commented on other forums and stated that they have bought a copy of this and it has ccome in the newer style case with no memory card slot. I suppose there could be grounds to cry 'Fake' due to the fact that the seller clearly states that these aren't sealed, so could just be repackaged used copies, or indeed actual knock-off's

It does seem quite weird that none of the major retailers have heard of, nor got stock of these at all, and I haven't found any such doccumantation online regarding a reissue of this or any other Konami titles for the PS2. Which brings me to a follow-up eMail I received from the seller:

"Hi
They have also done re-prints of Suikoden Tactics with the new age rating logo, and Silent hill 2,3,4 the room, MGS 2 Substance, MGS 3 Snake Eater all with the old style age rating logo.
Regards
Customer Service
The Game Xchange"

So according to them, there have been countless other rereleases recently, although I have yet to see evidence of these popping up. It could be that Konami have had a stock of these games in a warehouse and decided to release them into the wild, but just to be safe they've repackaged them in newer cases and with the new PEGI logo on the front...

Ideally I would like to eMail Konami directly and gain an official statement from them, but past efforts to get a reply from them have proven futile, and I really doubt they would give away such information to the public anyway, although I may try and give it a shot

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Contacted Konami Support with the following message, as well as an attachment of the cover artwork:

"Dear Konami, it has recently come to my attention that Zone Of The Enders: 2nd Runner (PS2) may have recently been reissued. Reasons for thinking this are that some eBay sellers are currently selling copies of this game which feature the new coloured PEGI logo's. Now as you may already be aware, this particular game is quite sought after and in demand, and has been quite hard to get hold of for some time since its release in 2003. I am suspicious of these copies being sold mainly because A) None of the big retailers such as Amazon, PLAY.com, GAME, GameStation, or HMV seem to have these copies in stock; And B) Because I have not seen or heard anything in the gaming press of a rerelease or reissue of this title. Would it be possible for you to clarify whether or not this game has actually been reissued with the new orange PEGI logo, or whether the copies I have seen advertised for sale are indeed fakes. Many thanks"

We'll have to see whether I receive a response, but i'm not getting my hopes up...

[Triggerhappytel]

It does seem odd that Konami would bother with a re-print so long after the game's original release when the PS2 is a fading light. I would be suspicious of this until you hear back from them (alternatively if you don't hear back, how about contacting Eurogamer or TheSixthAxis, say, asking if they know anything about it or if they could contact Konami as they're more likely to receive a response).

[Gemini-Phoenix]

"Hi
They have also done re-prints of Suikoden Tactics with the new age rating logo, and Silent hill 2,3,4 the room, MGS 2 Substance, MGS 3 Snake Eater all with the old style age rating logo.
Regards
Customer Service
The Game Xchange"

I just discovered this whilst searching:

eBay ~ Suikoden Tactics (New PEGI logo)



Funny enough, it's from one of the same sellers on eBay, and still no sign of any of the big retailers having them...

[Cutty]

Okay, keep us updated if you get a reply.

Trig, you sexy thing.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

It does seem odd that Konami would bother with a re-print so long after the game's original release when the PS2 is a fading light. I would be suspicious of this until you hear back from them (alternatively if you don't hear back, how about contacting Eurogamer or TheSixthAxis, say, asking if they know anything about it or if they could contact Konami as they're more likely to receive a response).

I've eMailed Kotaku as well as EuroGamer.net, so hopefully one of those will be able to find out something

[Triggerhappytel]

Okay, keep us updated if you get a reply.

Trig, you sexy thing.

Hi babe

I still can't access Thunderbolt