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The story
About a week after launch, the Nintendo Switch remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has become a hot topic on the gaming (geha) board for flooding the flea-market app Mercari with listings. The thread kicked off with a report that search results showed 120 items per page across 20 pages, putting the simple count at over 2,400 listings. Reactions split between worry that this would hurt new-copy sales and cooler takes noting that “if it sold 520,000 copies, 2,400 is actually on the low side.” Adding fuel to the fire, suspicions emerged that the newly discovered “Master Quest” mode found in the game’s code shortly after launch might be paid DLC.
What people said
And apparently there are 20 pages of this
There's also a feature to hide sold items, so the real number is probably even higher
And that's just on Mercari, too
It is showing sold items, though
That just means you *can* hide them — you can also leave them showing
Being able to offload this much means the demand is insane
This reeks of wholesalers feeding stock straight to resellers
Hint: the buyback chain Rudeya
How much does Rudeya actually pay for it?
It's either clear it fast and flip it fast, or wait for the price to drop
Comparing it to Western games probably won't land, so think back to the golden age of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy instead
It wasn't about end-game content — people just enjoyed keeping the game around and playing it
This isn't about price, is it?
The point is it's getting flooded with used copies
At this rate nobody's going to buy it new
It topped half a million at launch — 'nobody's buying it new' makes no sense
Both BotW and TotK sold over 3 million and their used prices haven't dropped. Highly-rated games are seen as worth owning, so people don't let them go
There are rumor quests in the Zelda Notes app, you know
And if you actually want a challenge, there's always a 3-heart clear
B-U-T. It's. Almost. Certainly. Paid. DLC.
https://gamecolumn.jp/blog-entry-119582.html
Data miner MrCheeze found references to Master Quest in the remake's code just two days after launch, on November 7. The strings included "HasMQ," "IsMQModeExist," "NewGameMQ," and "ReleaseMQ"
OatmealDome discovered that the mode isn't unlocked by downloading an update, but by owning the DLC — suggesting this is paid additional content rather than a free patch.
An incomplete remake, lol
Nintendo's being rough about this
The 3DS remake had a post-game Master Quest built right in, though…
I really hope it's not ¥4,400 like Fire Emblem's DLC. The base game's already pricey, so I think it should be free — but if it's paid, ¥980 at most
Master Quest
• Damage taken doubled
• Dungeon layouts (puzzles) changed
• The world mirrored left-right
Hyrule and the dungeons are flipped left-right (same as the GameCube version's Master Quest)
• Enemies appear in different spots than the normal version, and tougher enemies show up earlier
Geo and Yodobashi have stacks of new copies sitting there — this isn't selling
Nintendo fans are great customers who love buying new, huh
Maybe Zelda just… sucks?
It doesn't suck
It's popular worldwide
Does that even count as a challenge run?
Even a no-damage clear isn't exactly hard
Then don't pick up hearts on your first playthrough, lol
Or clear it with just one bottle, too
This probably isn't actually selling, is it?
Making stuff up is a no-go
Is this your first time looking at Mercari?
I've never seen a game get resold this much just one week after launch
Out of 520,000 sold, what percentage is actually used by now?
The more new copies sell, the more used copies there'll be
But new copies are selling just as well, so it's not really worth worrying about
It's only about ¥700 cheaper than Amazon, so at this price more people will just buy new anyway
Meanwhile a brand-new game like GTA6 only costs about ¥8,000?
That's because it's a masterpiece
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The original claim — “120 items per page × 20 pages” — only reflects Mercari’s search-results display count, and since there’s also a setting to hide sold items, this alone can’t confirm the actual number of listings or completed sales. The thread’s figure of “520,000 copies sold” also has no cited source, so a high volume of used listings doesn’t necessarily mean poor sales. Meanwhile, the report that strings referencing an additional “Master Quest” mode were found in the game’s code just two days after launch is based on analysis by overseas data miners — it is not an official Nintendo announcement. Whether it will be paid DLC or a free update remains unconfirmed as of this writing, and it’s worth noting that the thread’s view that “paid DLC is highly likely” is still speculation.
※ This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] Ocarina of Time Remake Gets Mass-Listed on Mercari lol“.
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