The great eBay purge of my storage closet continues on and with it goes on of my prized possessions. Shining Force III for Sega Saturn, one of the system’s rarest games, is available for auction now. Though I am sad to depart with this gem I am even more depressed at what it reminds me of.
The death knell was pretty much sealed in 1995 with the release of the Sony Playstation. By late 1997 the Sega Saturn was sputtering, but Sega didn’t let their system go without a fight. Three of the system’s greatest games were final releases. Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Shining Force III. There I stood in the videogame aisle of Toys R Us with $20 dollars in my pocket on that cold December day. Panzer Dragoon Saga in my left hand and Shining Force III in the other. I knew that both titles were extremely rare, but had no conception of how rare. I was a big fan of Panzer Dragoon I and II, but for some reason I chose Shining Force III.
It was only later that I found out the horrible truth about both of those titles. Panzer Dragoon Saga had only 2000 copies released stateside while Shining Force III was only chapter one of a trilogy. The latter two chapters would only be released in Japan. Now Panzer Dragoon Saga sells on eBay for $150-200. I had it in my hand and if I had purchased it, I would have never EVER sold it. Shining Force III was an amazing RPG, but every single time I think about it Panzer Dragoon Saga comes to mind. I cry a little bit knowing that I held perhaps the most sought after RPG by collectors in my naïve hands.