"Play on Wii" Lamentations

[Grey Acumen]

Garcian Smith said:

Oyvoyvoyv said:

Garcian Smith said:
Need I point out that used copies of Pikmin and Pikmin 2 are going for about $30 and $50, respectively?

I'll gladly pay $30 new for each with improved controls and 480p widescreen.

Problem is, at once Play on Wii comes out, they won't cost 30 and 50. They'll drop in price.

 

Not necessarily. Re-releases of games generally don't drop the prices of the original versions. See: Castlevania SotN on the 360, PS3, and PSP; Super Mario RPG and Secret of Mana on the Virtual Console.

 

Those are terrible examples. With the Play on Wii titles, you're talking about a physical game being released on the latest console by the same company. People who haven't gotten the game before are more likely to get the Wii version, thus decreasing demand for the old version and the people who already have the Gamecube version that also pick up the Wii version are just as likely to sell the Gamecube version, thus increasing supply. when supply goes up and demand goes down, the price is going to drop.

The only time this isn't the case is when you are talking about collectors, which usually requires a New or Mint condition, which not that many of the used games are going to fall into, and when you are talking about games in which the newer version is a software only release, as there is still a higher perceived value attached to owning and possessing a physical copy of the game than merely owning the program for it.
This later case is what all the examples you've mentioned fall into, while the Play on Wii games are actual Wii game discs, not Wii Ware or Virtual Console titles.