10 most expensive games for the PS2
The PS2 is considered by many to the best console ever made, so it’s no surprise that there is a huge collector’s market for old PS2 games.
When the PS2 was in its prime, there was no reason not to have one. Not only was it the best console on the market when it launched with a huge library of games, but it could play DVDs while being cheaper than most DVD players. Even if you weren’t a gamer, the PS2 was an essential part of any home entertainment setup. Of course, if you were a gamer, you had access to some of the most beloved games ever made.
The beloved games are not what we’re here to talk about, though. We’re here to talk about the oddities. Not necessarily because of their content, but because of how ludicrously expensive they are now. Thanks to their rarity, be it because of commercial failure or a lack of printing, these games now cost far more than what the game is truly worth.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army – $277
With a name so long and stupid that we refuse to type it out a second time, the Devil Summoner games are one of the many sub-series of Shin Megami Tensei. This game released towards the end of the PS2’s lifespan, and it was nothing special by the standards of the day, even among JRPG fans. Still, as this list will come to show you, expensive games don’t need to be good, they just need to be rare.
Michigan: Report from Hell – $374
This game was never released in America, which explains why it’s such a valuable collector’s item these days. It’s a very odd survival horror game set in the US, and that’s about all that’s worth saying about it. It was poorly received and doesn’t deserve to cost as much as it currently does.
.hack: Quarantine – $375
Next up in the weird JRPG collection, .hack: Quarantine is a single-player action game about an MMORPG. Think Sword Art Online, but based on what the early 2000s thought the future would look like. All four games released in the US within the space of a year, so it’s not surprising that this, the fourth game in the series didn’t sell very well and is now a rarity.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – $390
It may surprise you to see a game like this on this list because Silent Hill: Shattered Memories did pretty well in the grand scheme of things. The thing is, most of its sales success was thanks to the Wii version, with it not launching on the PS2 for another month. Combine that with the PS2 dying out in 2009 and you’ve got a rare game on your hands.
Xenosaga 3 – $452
It took a while for the Xeno games to get the recognition they deserved. Xenogears and Xenosaga have both achieved cult classic status now, but didn’t do very well in at the time, but thankfully the modern Xenoblade Chronicles series finally helped them get the recognition they deserved. However, if you want a PS2 version of Xenosaga 3, you’re going to need to fork over a hefty amount of cash.
Haunting Ground – $487
Capcom were virtually untouchable in the PS2 era, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 4, and Okami were all released under their watch through the mid-2000s, but no one has a perfect record, which is why you probably don’t remember Haunting Ground. Fear not though, as games that received middling reviews in this era are exactly the kind worth a small fortune today.
Blood Will Tell – $585
A game based on a manga series, Blood Will Tell reviewed better than it really deserved. That didn’t do it much good, unfortunately, as copies today are rare enough to be worth more than $500, something only the most dedicated of Dororo manga fans would want.
Rule of Rose – $877
You may have noticed that the majority of these rare games are Japanese titles that underperformed in English-speaking regions, and this is one of the most high-profile cases. Despite being published by Sony in Japan, the EU and US branches didn’t want to touch Rule of Rose, so the responsibility fell to smaller studios, dooming it to failure.
Kuon – $1,072
Just managing to break the $1,000 barrier, Kuon’s value is almost entirely thanks to another little game you may have heard of, Dark Souls. Kuon is one of FromSoftware’s old games that failed to make an impact at the time. However, now that FromSoftware is a beloved studio thanks to Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, collectors have been fervently seeking out copies of their old games, bumping up their price significantly.
Sengoku Anthology – $2,023
Four figures is a ludicrous amount to pay for even the greatest video games of all time, let alone something forgotten by time like this. For context, you can buy a new-in-box PS2 for just under $800 on eBay right now. It’s a rare collector’s item and yet you could buy two and still have change for the price of this game.
So why is it so expensive? Well, it wasn’t released in PAL regions until 2009, and by that point, no one cared about retro fighting games anymore, so there aren’t that many copies out there.
Written by Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
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