History KeepCirculatingTheTapes / VideoGames

* The official downloads for ''[=BoxxyQuest=]: The Shifted Spires'' were taken down at the start of 2019, a few months after the release of its [[VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm much-improved sequel]]. A few torrents of the original still exist though, if you’re willing to search for them.

* For a long time it was impossible to get ports of the ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster'' series of Japanese arcade games by Creator/Arika. The first two TGM games were released before the Guideline was established in 2001, and took a very different tact for making a super-challenging single-player game. ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3'' got by despite the Guideline being in place when it was released in 2005 as Arika included both the official ''Tetris'' Guideline rotation system as a player-chosen option alongside the TGM rotation system instead of replacing it, so no big loss there. However, ''Tetris: The Grand Master ACE'', which was released the same year as a Japan-exclusive Xbox 360 launch title twisted so much for the sake of complying with the Guideline that [[GaidenGame most players do not consider it a proper TGM game]]. For a long time, the only way to legally play TGM, especially [[NoExportForYou outside of Japan]], was to purchase the actual arcade hardware, which is difficult to find especially if you don't know how to navigate Japanese auction sites, and expensive (see the arcade example near the top of the page). This was eventually averted in late 2022 when the first game was released on the Nintendo Switch and [=PlayStation=] 4 as an Arcade Archives title, with the second also released the following spring. Note that these are the first official releases outside Japan of the series. The relationship between the Tetris Company and Arika has notably improved after Arika developed the Guideline-compliant ''Tetris 99'' for the Switch.

* Although EA bought the rights to the ''VideoGame/NFLBlitz'' series from Midway when they went bankrupt in 2009, the sale ''didn't'' include ''Blitz'' games that were already developed and released (including the non-NFL branded ''VideoGame/BlitzTheLeague''), as those were sold to Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment along with the rest of Midway's library. As a result, do not expect any of those games to be re-released as it would require ''three'' parties (EA, WB and the NFL) to cooperate in a re-release.

* A handful of Konami's ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' video games are unavailable legally due to Konami having dropped the ''TMNT'' license in 2007. [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1989 The first NES game]] was available on the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole for around five years before it was dropped from the store after the license expired. This is averted with ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' and ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'': the former is available in Xbox Live Arcade and in 2019 (the franchise's [[MilestoneCelebration 35th anniversary year]]), [=Arcade1Up=] got the OK from both Konami and Nickelodeon to rerelease the two arcade games on home arcade cabinets. This was finally averted thanks to ''The Cowabunga Collection'' which includees all of the console and arcade games up to the UsefulNotes/The16BitEraOfConsoleVideoGames (the only game from the era not included is the fairly obscure PC-exclusive ''Manhattan Missions'', which should not be confused with the similarly titled third [=NES=] game.)

* Various Nintendo games that use the ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' branding but aren't actually ''Tetris'' games (such as ''[[VideoGame/PanelDePon Tetris Attack]]''), due to the '''''extremely''''' strict 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 UsefulNotes/GameBoy installment (and for some reason, unlike ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', it's the original version and not the ''DX'' UpdatedRerelease for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor), released on the Nintendo 3DS. It got this treatment when the Wii was very late in its life, and there never was 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''/''[[VideoGame/PanelDePon Puzzle League]]'' series, sequels dropped the ''Tetris'' branding, which allowed the ''Pokémon''-based games to get released on the Virtual Console. Additionally, the Super NES Online service on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch added the original Japanese version of ''Panel de Pon'' in 2020, so the game itself without the ''Tetris'' branding is available.
** The Game Boy installment itself was only made available for three years before it was delisted from the 3DS Virtual Console. The lack of availability of this game is an extreme case, as the Game Boy installment [[FirstInstallmentWins is by all accounts]] '''[[FirstInstallmentWins the]]''' ''Tetris'' game for many people--it is the one that introduced the iconic melody that has basically become the de facto theme, stands as the Game Boy's original KillerApp, and remains one of the best-selling single-platform videogames of all time. It is also notable for being the ''only'' pre-Tetris Company ''Tetris'' game re-released; with its removal rendering all games made before the company's establishment legally unavailable for good.
*** However, with the introduction of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to Nintendo Switch Online, the original Game Boy version of Tetris is once again available to players, averting this trope at least for the timebeing.

* Don't expect to see any ports of the ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster'' series, ever. Games carrying the ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' name are required to adhere to the [[http://tetrisconcept.net/wiki/Tetris_Guideline Tetris Guideline]], a series of stringent rules for ''Tetris'' games. The TGM series clearly violates many of these guidelines, so barring emulation and clones, the series is stuck in arcades for as long as the TTC holds the rights to ''Tetris''.[[note]]The first two TGM games get a pass because they were released before any serious efforts to standardize ''Tetris'' games. ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3'' got by despite the Guideline being in place, but when it was released in 2005, the only requirement was that it have the official ''Tetris'' rotation system, which was put alongside the TGM rotation system instead of replacing it, so no big loss there. ''Tetris: The Grand Master ACE'' was released on 360 twisted so much for the sake of complying with the Guideline that [[GaidenGame most players do not consider it a proper TGM game]].[[/note]] The only way to legally play TGM, especially [[NoExportForYou outside of Japan]], is to purchase the actual arcade hardware, which is difficult to find especially if you don't know how to navigate Japanese auction sites, and expensive (see the arcade example near the top of the page). Arika vice president and TGM designer Ichiro Mihara doesn't seem to understand nor care, as he still asserts a "no piracy, no clones" stance over his games, a stance that [[https://twitter.com/miharasan/statuses/460852633209561088 he has stated in English]] [[TakeThatAudience to Westerners]]. The first game eventually subverted this in late 2022 when it was released on the Nintendo Switch and [=PlayStation=] 4 as an Arcade Archives title, but the later entries are still stuck in limbo for the time being.
* For that matter, any ''Tetris'' game made before ''VideoGame/TetrisWorlds'', which is used as the base for the Tetris Guideline, a series of requirements that games carrying the ''Tetris'' name must have. Since there is no GrandfatherClause, this means that unless The Tetris Company undergoes a radical shift in philosophy, you will never see rereleases of older ''Tetris'' versions, such as Nintendo's UsefulNotes/GameBoy[[note]]Which actually ''was'' released, but was later pulled; see the Nintendo section[[/note]] and UsefulNotes/{{NES}} versions, SEGA's arcade versions, or Jaleco's ''Tetris Plus''.
* For a pre-Tetris Guidelines example, the unlicensed Tengen port of ''Tetris'' for the UsefulNotes/{{NES}} was only available for a brief period of time before it was pulled by shelves due to a court order ruling that Nintendo had the exclusive home console rights to the game at the time and infringed on their trademark. Since the Tengen version has multiple differences from Nintendo's own [=NES=] port and is often considered [[PolishedPort the superior port]], the Tengen version has become a rare and highly sought-after collector's item.
* Creator/{{Sega}}'s [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] port of their arcade version of Tetris was slated for released and had a mere 10 copies produced before [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment being cancelled and shelved]] [[ScrewedByTheLawyers as a consequence of Nintendo's successful legal battle with Tengen]]. Due to the Genesis version never seeing an official release, the only way to play the game was to be lucky enough to own one of the very few legitimate cartridges of the game, obtain a Chinese bootleg cartridge, or track down a ROM on the Internet. In 2004, the game was finally officially released when it was included as part of the Sega Ages Tetris Collection on UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, but that was never released outside Japan. The Sega Genesis Mini, released in 2019, has a new port of the arcade ''Tetris'' that is different from the planned Genesis release.

* A handful of Konami's ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' video games are unavailable legally due to Konami having dropped the ''TMNT'' license in 2007. [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1989 The first NES game]] was available on the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole for around five years before it was dropped from the store after the license expired. This is averted with ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' and ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'': the former is available in Xbox Live Arcade and in 2019 (the franchise's [[MilestoneCelebration 35th anniversary year]]), [=Arcade1Up=] got the OK from both Konami and Nickelodeon to rerelease the two arcade games on home arcade cabinets. This was finally averted thanks to ''The Cowabunga Collection'' which includees all of the console and arcade games up to the UsefulNotes/The16BitEraOfConsoleVideoGames.

* A handful of Konami's ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' video games are unavailable legally due to Konami having dropped the ''TMNT'' license in 2007. [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1989 The first NES game]] was available on the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole for around five years before it was dropped from the store after the license expired. This is averted with ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' and ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'': the former is available in Xbox Live Arcade and in 2019 (the franchise's [[MilestoneCelebration 35th anniversary year]]), [=Arcade1Up=] got the OK from both Konami and Nickelodeon to rerelease the two arcade games on home arcade cabinets. This was finally averted thanks to ''The Cowabunga Collection'' which is set to releases all of the console and arcade games up to the UsefulNotes/The16BitEraOfConsoleVideoGames.

** Only after eight months since its release, ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles: Mutants in Manhattan'' was taken off from digital storefronts due to a expired license from Nickelodeon, leaving the existing number of unsold/used copies as the only way to obtain the game.

* A handful of Konami's ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' video games are unavailable legally due to Konami having dropped the ''TMNT'' license in 2007. [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles The first NES game]] was available on the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole for around five years before it was dropped from the store after the license expired. This is averted with ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' and ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'': the former is available in Xbox Live Arcade and in 2019 (the franchise's [[MilestoneCelebration 35th anniversary year]]), [=Arcade1Up=] got the OK from both Konami and Nickelodeon to rerelease the two arcade games on home arcade cabinets. This was finally averted thanks to ''The Cowabunga Collection'' which is set to releases all of the console and arcade games up to the UsefulNotes/The16BitEraOfConsoleVideoGames.

* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'''s PC version was digitally delisted on June 19, 2019 due to the expiration of Sega's publishing rights, forcing would-be players to track down increasingly expensive physical copies, and neither the PS3 nor the Xbox 360 version has received backwards compatibility with the consoles' later-generation counterparts.

* [[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} The Tetris Company]] is notorious for refusing to rerelease past games in the franchise and being highly restrictive with the license, to the extent of where even relatively recent games often get pulled and delisted after only a few years due to another company gaining the license. In addition to the examples in the Nintendo section:
** Don't expect to see any ports of the ''VideoGame/TetrisTheGrandMaster'' series, ever. Games carrying the ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' name are required to adhere to the [[http://tetrisconcept.net/wiki/Tetris_Guideline Tetris Guideline]], a series of stringent rules for ''Tetris'' games. The TGM series clearly violates many of these guidelines, so barring emulation and clones, the series is stuck in arcades for as long as the TTC holds the rights to ''Tetris''.[[note]]The first two TGM games get a pass because they were released before any serious efforts to standardize ''Tetris'' games. ''Tetris: The Grand Master 3'' got by despite the Guideline being in place, but when it was released in 2005, the only requirement was that it have the official ''Tetris'' rotation system, which was put alongside the TGM rotation system instead of replacing it, so no big loss there. ''Tetris: The Grand Master ACE'' was released on 360 twisted so much for the sake of complying with the Guideline that [[GaidenGame most players do not consider it a proper TGM game]].[[/note]] The only way to legally play TGM, especially [[NoExportForYou outside of Japan]], is to purchase the actual arcade hardware, which is difficult to find especially if you don't know how to navigate Japanese auction sites, and expensive (see the arcade example near the top of the page). Arika vice president and TGM designer Ichiro Mihara doesn't seem to understand nor care, as he still asserts a "no piracy, no clones" stance over his games, a stance that [[https://twitter.com/miharasan/statuses/460852633209561088 he has stated in English]] [[TakeThatAudience to Westerners]]. The first game eventually subverted this in late 2022 when it was released on the Nintendo Switch and [=PlayStation=] 4 as an Arcade Archives title, but the later entries are still stuck in limbo for the time being.
** For that matter, any ''Tetris'' game made before ''VideoGame/TetrisWorlds'', which is used as the base for the Tetris Guideline, a series of requirements that games carrying the ''Tetris'' name must have. Since there is no GrandfatherClause, this means that unless The Tetris Company undergoes a radical shift in philosophy, you will never see rereleases of older ''Tetris'' versions, such as Nintendo's UsefulNotes/GameBoy[[note]]Which actually ''was'' released, but was later pulled; see the Nintendo section[[/note]] and UsefulNotes/{{NES}} versions, SEGA's arcade versions, or Jaleco's ''Tetris Plus''.
** For a pre-Tetris Guidelines example, the unlicensed Tengen port of ''Tetris'' for the UsefulNotes/{{NES}} was only available for a brief period of time before it was pulled by shelves due to a court order ruling that Nintendo had the exclusive home console rights to the game at the time and infringed on their trademark. Since the Tengen version has multiple differences from Nintendo's own [=NES=] port and is often considered [[PolishedPort the superior port]], the Tengen version has become a rare and highly sought-after collector's item.
** Creator/{{Sega}}'s [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis/Mega Drive]] port of their arcade version of Tetris was slated for released and had a mere 10 copies produced before [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment being cancelled and shelved]] [[ScrewedByTheLawyers as a consequence of Nintendo's successful legal battle with Tengen]]. Due to the Genesis version never seeing an official release, the only way to play the game was to be lucky enough to own one of the very few legitimate cartridges of the game, obtain a Chinese bootleg cartridge, or track down a ROM on the Internet. In 2004, the game was finally officially released when it was included as part of the Sega Ages Tetris Collection on UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, but that was never released outside Japan. The Sega Genesis Mini, released in 2019, has a new port of the arcade ''Tetris'' that is different from the planned Genesis release.

** Of the three Sonic games that made it to the Saturn, the absolute rarest of them all is the CompilationRerelease ''VideoGame/SonicJam'', which has never left the platform (the [[InNameOnly very superficially related]] UsefulNotes/GameCom release of the same name notwithstanding). This normally wouldn't be too eyebrow-raising, as compilation games are rarely, if ever, re-released; however, ''Jam'' is notable for being the only ''Sonic'' compilation to have actual ''ports'' of the Genesis games (rather than emulations, as has been the case for most re-releases), complete with various difficulty modes. ''Jam'' also featured various bonus content that hasn't been brought back in future compilations, the most important of which being ''Sonic World''--a 3D hubworld with missions that was effectively the closest thing Sonic ever got to a 3D platforming game on the console[[note]]and according to two sources, served as a prototype to [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure his actual 3D platforming debut]] on the succeeding console[[/note]].

* The NES cult classic ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfRadGravity'' has not been rereleased, likely due to the rights being split between Activision and Creator/{{Interplay}}.

** As of August 10, 2019, ''[=DuckTales=]: Remastered'' is no longer available on digital download services due to Capcom not renewing the ''[=DuckTales=]'' license with Disney. Physical copies however are fetching for at least $30 on [=eBay=], but some are going upwards of up to $50 or even $100 depending on completeness. It did however get brought back to digital download services on March 3, 2020, allowing the game to be purchased through their respective platforms again.

* With the release of the Pixel Remasters of the first six ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games on Steam, Android, and iOS, all previous versions of those games were removed from those digital storefronts except the 3D remakes of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV IV]]''. Notably, the Pixel Remasters lack any bonus content from the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance and later versions.

* With the announcement of the [=PS2=]-era trilogy remasters (which, like the ''Silent Hill HD Collection'', ended up being an unmitigated PortingDisaster), the original versions of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'' were promptly delisted from digital distribution platforms for consoles, PC, and mobile. Those with the PC version on Steam can still redownload the original version of the game if it was purchased prior to the game's delisting, however, console players will have to track down a secondhand copy elsewhere. Copies of the original [=PS2=], PC, and Xbox versions can be found for relatively affordable prices, but due to the issue surrounding the licensed soundtrack for the latter two games, some brand new copies can cost upwards of $100. After the abysmal reception and negative backlash towards the ''Definitive Edition'', the original PC versions of ''III'', ''Vice City'', ''San Andreas'' were reinstated-but only on the Rockstar Games Launcher.

* Finding physical copies of [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]'s ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'' games for cheap prices is pretty much impossible. Besides the first game's Wii remake, the only re-releases were the UsefulNotes/WiiU Virtual Console re-releases of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance games, and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation Network downloads of Door to Phantomile[[note]]at least until the [=PlayStation=] store for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita closes in July and August of 2021, respectively[[/note]]. Don't have those? You're out of luck. There's a reason most playthroughs are done on emulators.
** Thankfully, this situation will likely improve with the release of ''Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series'' for Nintendo Switch, featuring remasters of the Wii version of ''Klonoa'' and the original ''Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil''.

* ''VideoGame/RuneFactoryFrontier'' games stopped being produced in America after a year or so, so this is the only way to obtain any of the early titles.

* Creator/CyberConnect2's ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'' and ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' are seen as the holy grails of the [=PlayStation=] and DS libraries respectively because of their notorious rarity (''Solatorobo'' even has the honor of being one of the rarest DS games of all time), ''especially'' their US releases. While critically they were modest hits, they failed to break any kind of sales expectations. Loose copies will usually set you back around $150 ''[[CrackIsCheaper at least.]]''

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpongeBob_SquarePants:_Underpants_Slam Underpants Slam]]'' is no longer available on the UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade due to the developer, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_Arcade Blitz Arcade]], going bankrupt.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger'': A set of three games that were all released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. Getting used copies isn't difficult, and they would see re-release through the Wii U Virtual Console, but brand-new, factory sealed copies have something those don't: the Mythical Pokémon Manaphy, which can only be found and obtained to transfer to the mainline games once per cart. Yes, cart, not save file. Being a [[TemporaryOnlineContent Mythical Pokémon]], the only other way to get Manaphy without someone else trading theirs to you would be to wait for The Pokémon Company to give one away during a special event. How often are these events? Before the year-long global 20th anniversary events in 2016 that doled out every Mythical Pokémon created up to that point, the last Manaphy event in the West was ''a decade prior''.

** This is being averted however, as many companies have started to localize the games to the west, such as ''Cotton Reboot'' by BEEP[[note]]a remake of the original game with the X68000 version included as a bonus[[/note]], ''Panorama Cotton'' and ''Cotton 100%'' by ININ Games, and ''Cotton 2'' and ''Boomerang'' by City Connection. This leaves ''Rainbow Cotton'' on Dreamcast as the exception, considering that it still hasn't had a release westside yet.

* The fan game ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosX'' thanks to creator Redigit getting a cease and desist from Nintendo.

* ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and its sequel, mainly because, as explained [[http://kotaku.com/the-sad-story-behind-a-dead-pc-game-that-cant-come-back-1688358811 here,]] nobody quite knows just who owns the rights to the game, and the three companies that can sort it out -- Activision (the successor in interest to Fox Interactive), Disney (which owns 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios), which prior to the Disney acquisition sold Fox Interactive to Creator/VivendiUniversalGames), and Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment (which owns developer Monolith Productions) -- aren't that interested in going through all the legal battles to find out. A small company called Night Dive Studios (which specializes in rereleasing classic games) applied for a trademark on the games in May 2014 with the intention of rereleasing them, but they eventually ran into a brick wall from the aforementioned three companies (all of which basically admitted they had no idea who owned the copyright, they don't care/have the money to look through their pre-digital archives to confirm, but if Night Dive did anything with the property they would sue regardless) and gave up.

** This is being averted however, as many companies have started to localize the games to the west, such as ''Cotton Reboot'' by BEEP[[note]]a remake of the original game with the X68000 version included as a bonus[[/note]], ''Panorama Cotton'' and ''Cotton 100%'' by ININ Games, and ''Cotton 2'' and ''Boomerang'' by City Connection. This leaves ''Rainbow Cotton'' as the exception, considering that it still hasn't had a release westside yet.

* Something about the VideoGame/FantasticNightDreamsCotton series eludes availability. All of the games sell for high prices in secondhand markets and none of the original Cotton games have been ported to any digital storefront. Not helping is majority of the games in the series [[NoExportForYou being stuck in Japan.]] Panorama Cotton on the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis and Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams on the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 CD (which did get North American release) are probably the most infamous in this regard. The former had small production numbers in Japan (said to be around 5000 units, there's even a tea cup which is even harder to find!), and the latter had even less numbers due to the Turbo CD not being a high selling console in North America. The lone exception to this is the arcade original, which got a nice port by M2 for the Sega Astro City Mini console.

* ''VideoGame/Fridaythe13thKillerPuzzle'' and its DLC were delisted from digital stores on January 23, 2023 because Blue Wizard Digital could not renew the movie franchise license.

** ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}} II'' is out of print for the same reasons as ''Wolfenstein'' (2009). Creator/{{Activision}} (which published ''Heretic II'') owns the developer Raven Software , while Bethesda owns Creator/IdSoftware, who developed all the games in the series except ''Heretic II''.

* ''[[VideoGame/ChuTeng Chu-Teng]]'' is a very obscure sequel to the already-obscure ''VideoGame/EasternMindTheLostSoulsOfTongNou'' from Osamu Sato, the creator of ''VideoGame/LSDDreamEmulator''. When Website/FourChan intervened and made a collective effort to find a copy of ''Chu-Teng'' on the Internet, it was so insanely hard that they actually had to enter in touch with Osamu Sato himself--and ''he said he didn't had a copy either''. Practically ''nothing'' was known about ''Chu-Teng'' aside from the fact that it existed, until, at last, one copy was found, just because [[ContrivedCoincidence some guy who had it around his attic happened to be browsing /v/ at the right time]]!
** Even after ''Chu-Teng'' was rescued from this state, many of the games by Creator/OsamuSato were left in this state. A notorious offender are the Rolypolys games, which are almost unheard of, despite being as lost as ''Chu-Teng'' once was. Recently, people are attempting to find the game, if [[http://easternmindtongnou.tumblr.com/post/102374719079 this]] is any evidence to it.

** ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', developed by an American team, has never received a re-release in any form. Neither have ''[[VideoGame/ActRaiser ActRaiser 2]]'', ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'', ''VideoGame/{{Robotrek}}, or ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia''.

* ''VideoGame/UnrealI Gold'' was pulled by Epic Games off of both Steam and Website/GoodOldGames on December 14th, 2022. As such, outside of auction sites, ''Unreal'' can no longer be purchased legally and is essentially {{abandonware}}.

* ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and its sequel, mainly because, as explained [[http://kotaku.com/the-sad-story-behind-a-dead-pc-game-that-cant-come-back-1688358811 here,]] nobody quite knows just who owns the rights to the game, and the three companies that can sort it out -- Activision (the successor in interest to Fox Interactive), 20th Century Fox (which sold Fox Interactive to Creator/VivendiUniversalGames), and Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment (which owns developer Monolith Productions) -- aren't that interested in going through all the legal battles to find out. A small company called Night Dive Studios (which specializes in rereleasing classic games) applied for a trademark on the games in May 2014 with the intention of rereleasing them, but they eventually ran into a brick wall from the aforementioned three companies (all of which basically admitted they had no idea who owned the copyright, they don't care/have the money to look through their pre-digital archives to confirm, but if Night Dive did anything with the property they would sue regardless) and gave up.
** ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator2'', another Fox game developed by Monolith, is also out of print for the same reasons as ''No One Lives Forever''. Unlike ''NOLF'', Fox owns the ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' IP outright.

** Several ''Franchise/JamesBond'' titles, including ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', ''007: Blood Stone'', [[VideoGame/GoldenEyeWii the 2010 remake]] of ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye 007]]'' (which was made specifically because of the original game's lack of availability -- see the Nintendo folder) and the then-recently released ''[[VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenLegends 007 Legends]]'', as well as several briefly sold (and now nigh-impossible to find) pieces of DownloadableContent for the latter.

* Just about any UnlicensedGame is this, mostly due to either [[ScrewedByTheLawyers copyright issues (in most cases, being based off a property they didn't get the rights to make a game out of)]], [[OvershadowedbyControversy being based off controversial material]], the bankruptcy of a company, or simply [[OldShame because they aren't interested, or hate it]].

* ''Space Tunnel'', or as it was released in English by ZiMAG, [[CompletelyDifferentTitle ''Cosmic Corridors'']] has taken this leap somewhat when it comes to finding the original European/Australian version. That's not mentioning the fact that [[OldShame ZiMAG doesn't even mention it]].

* The UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy and UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube libraries. The former has been left completely untouched due to being an OldShame, while the latter has seen very little in terms of re-releases or remakes of its first-party library. A particular note that highlights this was the Wii U's Virtual Console, which offered games from every major Nintendo home and handheld system going back to the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem... with the exception of these two systems, despite it also having Wii and even Nintendo DS games. This isn't helped by some games being financial failures (e.g. ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo''), having small print runs (e.g. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance''), or both (e.g. ''[[VideoGame/{{Cubivore}} Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest]]''), which makes buying even secondhand copies a case of CrackIsCheaper. [=GameCube=] titles that sold well, such as ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', have become victim to high prices on the used market as time has gone on.

* ''VideoGame/TheHunterPrimal'' is basically an early access hunting simulator, but with dinosaurs instead of deer, turkey, or other typical game. It has been completely abandoned and delisted from Steam's store, almost certainly due to quality issues and being an OldShame for the developers. Among [[ObviousBeta numerous other issues]], the save system is bugged and many players lose their inventory and all progress after exiting out of the game. A fix for this bug was never released, so players often resort to essentially hacking their inventory to get their items back. Despite its poor quality and unfinished state, some people want to try it because they think the premise is interesting, but unfortunately, the only legit way to get it is by obtaining a steam key from someone else.