History KeepCirculatingTheTapes / VideoGames

* In an extreme case, ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame'', a tie-in game for both the [[ComicBook/ScottPilgrim comic book series]] and the then-recent [[Film/ScottPilgrim film adaptation of the same name]], was taken off of both PSN and XBLA on December 30th, 2014 without explanation, and many of the game codes stopped working as well. (This was likely a result of Ubisoft's contract from Universal expiring, as it was a tie in to the 2010 movie.) Some websites like Best Buy and [=GameStop=] still sold codes for the game on their online stores, but they too had unfortunately ran dry by 2016. We're talking about a download-only console-exclusive game here, not to mention a movie/comic book tie-in game that [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames doesn't suck]]. ''Scott Pilgrim'' creator Bryan Lee O'Malley has expressed interest in [[http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2016/08/11/scott-pilgrim-creator-working-to-re-release-video-game/220739/ getting the game re-licensed in late 2016]], but [[https://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/11/03/scott-pilgrim-creator-vents-video-games-delisting-psn-x-box-live-2-years-ago/ later comments he made about the situation]] by the year's end indicate he might had ran into a brick wall [[ScrewedByTheLawyers with lawyers]]. However, a re-release was later announced by Ubisoft for September 10th, 2020, albeit only on digital fronts initially until it was announced that Creator/LimitedRunGames would be producing physical editions for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4.

* The leaked 0.05 release of the fangame ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' (containing the BonusBoss fight with [[spoiler:Shadow Man]]) was taken down at the request of [=PureSabe=], dooming it to this fate.

** 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 the Sega Saturn versions of ''Cotton 2'' and ''Boomerang'' by City Connection as part of their ''Saturn Tribute'' line. This leaves ''Rainbow Cotton'' on Dreamcast as the exception, considering that it still hasn't had a release westside yet.

** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Players who want to keep playing specific older expansions with the gameplay as it was and not overlayed by the most recent expansion often turn to private "Blizzard-like" servers (though the more recent an expansion is the harder it is to have good coding/scripting on them). The ''Classic'' re-releases are happening partly as a response to this. More recently, ''Burning Crusade Classic'' servers were all updated to ''Wrath of the Lich King Classic'' upon the latter's launch due to a lack of players, meaning if one wants to play that ExpansionPack again, one will have to turn to private servers.

** In December 2013, most Creator/MarvelComics games were purged from all distribution services by Disney, forcing Activision to remove various titles. This included all of their ''X-Men'' products (including ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'', which was ''already'' struck down with this trope by Creator/EpicGames before Disney came knocking -- see the Creator/SiliconKnights entry), the non-[[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan movie-based]] ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' games (''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'', ''VideoGame/SpiderManEdgeOfTime'', ''Spider-Man: Friend or Foe'' and ''Spider-Man: Web of Shadows''), and Creator/{{Capcom}}'s ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series and DLC (including content that only concerns Capcom [=IPs=]). The move was so surprising that a Steam Community Choice poll during its Christmas 2013 sale had to be hastily switched when ''VideoGame/{{Deadpool}}'' was pulled.

* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' is out of print for licensing reasons between Disney (which owns ''Franchise/{{The Simpsons}}''), Electronic Arts (which holds the license to make ''Simpsons'' video game), and Activision (the successor to both the publisher Vivendi Universal, and the developer Radical Entertainment).

* Creator/CyberConnect2's ''VideoGame/TailConcerto'' and ''{{VideoGame/Solatorobo}}'' 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.]]''

* The third and last game in the ''VisualNovel/FamicomDetectiveClub'' series, ''Lost Memories in the Snow'', where the main character of the game is recurring character Ayumi Tachibana, became unavailable to play following the end of the (with the game having already been subjected to limited play times during the lifespan of the service). While footage of the game's chapters has been found and made available on Website/NicoNicoDouga, all audio has been lost, and the game cannot be played.

** The ''Animal Crossing'' Amiibo cards that released alongside the ''Happy Home Paradise'' spin-off, a later update to ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'', has villagers that can only move to the player's town if their amiibo card is scanned (which, in case you only have the original 3DS, 3DS XL, or 2DS, needs an additional amiibo scanner peripheral. By the time ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' was released, many of those amiibo cards had been out of print for many years, and managing to get your hands on one was very difficult both due to their rarity and because the cards of [[EnsembleDarkHorse the more popular villagers]] were always guaranteed to be expensive. Nintendo did eventually restock the amiibo cards during late 2020... in Japan only. Fortunately, the release of a new set of amiibo cards was accompanied by a worldwide restock of the previous cards. Unfortunately, the ''Welcome Amiibo'' series was never given a worldwide reprint, meaning your best bet for legitimate copies is buying the Japanese copies.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series almost never sees re-releases of any of it's games, always being stuck on the system they were produced for. The lone exception is ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' for the Wii's UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole in 2009, but with the shop closing down in 2019 and never being released on the Wii U or (as of now) Switch's online service, it makes it impossible to play without tracking down a UsefulNotes/Nintendo64.

* The UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy and UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube libraries. The former has been left completely untouched due the Nintendo hating the console and its failure, 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.

* ''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 [[CreatorBacklash ZiMAG doesn't even mention it]].

* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'''s PC version was digitally delisted on June 19, 2019 due to the expiration of its music licenses, forcing would-be players to track down physical copies (which luckily can still be found for a low price), and neither the PS3 nor the Xbox 360 version has received backwards compatibility with the consoles' later-generation counterparts.

** The company was ordered to cease production of ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' and ''VideoGame/XMenDestiny'' and destroy their game code (under the ruling in the Silicon Knights vs. Creator/EpicGames lawsuit that the former's use of the Unreal Engine was unauthorized). While ''Too Human'' eventually reappeared on the Xbox store and became part of the Xbox One's backwards compatibility program, ''X-Men: Destiny'' will likely remain missing in action due to the X-Men license and having to through Disney.

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

* The ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' series has been out of print for years, likely because the pros have long since retired. However, [=ROMs=] of the old games are still easy to find.

* The ''Stickynotes Cart'' is quite a rare value to look for, so try to find one in a flea market.

* ''Gamma-Attack''. In fact, [[OvershadowedbyControversy it's what most people know it for]]!
* Spectravision sure is hitting hard with this trope because ''Gas Hog'' also fits!
* ''Gauntlet'', not to be confused with the arcade game, is this as well.
* ''Glacier Patrol'' has become this for quite some time.
* The word puzzle game, ''Glib'' has become this, which sadly also adds it in [[JunkRare another category of rarity]].
* The original print run of ''Gravitar'' was exclusive to Atari Club members.

* Several prints of ''Pac-Kong'' have become this. [[WidgetSeries Maybe this is why]]?

* Have the original copies of ''Time Warp'' by Funvision? If not, then it's going to be many tough searches to find one of the original copies.

* Exus released two of these called ''Video Jogger'' and ''Video Reflex''. Both of these came with a jogging controller you plug in to the system. [[JunkRare Yeah, they suck]].

* ''VideoGame/TonyHawkProSkater HD'' was pulled from Steam in 2017, making it unavailable for PC players (console ones can seek used [=PS3=] and 360 copies). Not that they would want to try it, as three years later ''HD'' was effectively supplanted by a better VideoGameRemake, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2''.
** The [=iOS=] port of ''Pro Skater 2'', which replaced most of the licensed music, was also delisted in the late 2010's.

* Originally released to iOS for Apple devices, ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion]]'' was removed from the App Store in 2015. Reportedly the game had issues running in iOS 7 that prevented Apple from permitting Xi from being sold any further. The only way to play ''Xi'' is to buy a pre-iOS 7 apple device that had the game preloaded.

* Due to a lack of advertising and low sales from the get-go, the cult hit ''VideoGame/GotchaForce'' was pulled from the shelves rather quickly and is now one of the hardest [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] games to find. The game was [[https://www.siliconera.com/gotcha-force-reprint-brings-capcoms-borg-battling-game-back-on-the-market/ briefly reprinted alongside a special edition]] in Japan in 2012, but beyond that, it hasn't been seen in a official capacity since.
* ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'', due to its very limited printing, is one of the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 PS2]]'s most sought-after games, with loose copies starting at $90, and sealed copies fetching up to $300. There was a PSN Classics re-release, [[NoExportForYou but only in Japan]].
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' is an interesting case in that it is a specific version that falls into this, which is the Sega Saturn version. The [=PlayStation=] version has seen ports to quite a few systems, yet the Saturn version, which has exclusive content not found in the [=Playstation=] version, is left hanging on the Saturn and runs at over $200.

* ''VideoGame/InfiniteSpace''. Due to Sega's treatment of Platinum Games, they shipped it out to stores without ''any'' announcement beforehand, and non-existent advertising. Because of this, the Nintendo DS game's sales were awful, it was pulled from circulation, and now the cartridge alone goes for $40 on eBay.

* ''Malagai'' is certainly one most likely thanks to it being [[WidgetSeries a little strange]].
* ''Mangia'' is also this.

* the NTSC version of ''Nightmare''. [[JunkRare Just, wow]].

* Salu released ''Pick & Pile'' only to be surprised by its rarity to go this far.
* ''Pressure Gauge'' is another homebrew in this category.

* ''Nuts'' by Technovision has become this too.
* Avalon Hill has done it again with ''Out of Control''!

* ''Seamonster'' by Bit Corp. is this too.

* ''Ski Run'' by Suntek is this as well.
* Bit Corp. released ''Snail Against Squirrel'' in 1983, and has since then rarely got re-releases.

* Video Gems made their own ''Steeplechase'' which has since become this later on.

* Commavid again with the now very rare ''Video Life''.

* ''Wall Defender'' by Bomb is a good example of this as well.

* ''X-Man'' is this too, for some good reasons (see ''Custer's Revenge'' for that).

* ''Zoo Fun'' is making its way towards this trope, too.

* ''Beany Bopper'' is in this trope as well, though this most likely may be due to [[WidgetSeries a certain little trope]].

* While the original releases can be found easily, the Atari release of ''BMX Airmaster'' is in this trope to an extent. [[OvershadowedbyControversy That is what it's most known for]].

* ''Birthday Mania'' is this, so much that there's no ROM of it anywhere. It was only a mail-in order game, so finding it is going to be a HUGE search.

* ''Bobby Is Going Home'' has this too, though it thankfully hasn't taken full effect just yet for some releases.
* ''Boing!'' by First Star Software is becoming this too.
* ''Bumper Bash'' by Spectravision is scoring this as well. You ''could'' put this in the pinball section, but it's still a video game.
* ''Cakewalk'' certainly isn't a cakewalk to find physically. This puzzle game is going to be giving you a tougher search than what the title suggests.

* Oh boy, ''Chase the Chuck Wagon''. Not to mention [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames It's one of these]]. You could only get this through mail order from the food company Ralston Purina.

* Videosoft released a ''Color Bar Generator'' cartridge for the Atari 2600 that has now become this.

* ''Custer's Revenge'', among other Mystique titles, for [[AudienceAlienatingPremise very]] [[PornWithPlot good]] [[DudeNotFunny reasons]].

* ''Death Trap'' by Avalon Hill has become this too. [[SoOkayItsAverage It's considered bland though, so it's nothing to really worry about]].
* ''Dice Puzzle'' is slowly, but surely getting there.
* ''Dragon Defender'' is going through this as well.

* Sparrow released a game called ''The Music Machine'' for this system, and it now goes for really high prices.

* ''Quadrun'', one of the few games on this system to have voice acting, has become this.
* Then comes ''Red Sea Crossing''. This one is worth a pretty penny online. An audio cassette apparently came with this game, but whether or not it actually exists is up to debate.

* ''VideoGame/TonyHawkProSkater HD'' was pulled from Steam in 2017, making it unavailable for PC players (console ones can seek used PS3 and 360 copies). Not that they would want to try it, as three years later ''HD'' was effectively supplanted by a better VideoGameRemake, ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2''.
* ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'' and the [[VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron Cybertron]] [[VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron games]] are no longer available for sale in digital stores since 2017 due to Hasbro's license on Activision expiring.