Atlus Re-Release of Persona 2 Sells Out in Under an Hour

Thu, Nov 13, 2008

For nearly a decade, Atlus's Megami Tensei spin-off series, Persona, was a franchise only the most hardcore of Atlus faithful played and owned. In an inexplicable series of events, after Persona 3 was released on the PlayStation 2 and new copies stopped being pressed, the rarity of the title caused a wave of gamers to go out and gobble up whatever copies they could find. The result? Rather than collect dust on shelves, Persona 3 was being played -- and people loved it. Overnight, Persona went from being cult classic to RPG staple.

With Persona 4's release just around the corner, Atlus decided to re-release Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, arguably the highlight of the Persona franchise. Available for pre-order exclusively at Amazon.com, the re-release is compatible with PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 consoles and comes bundled with a bonus disc.

Atlus releasing an out-of-print game due to fan demand is nothing shocking; they do it all the time. What is shocking, however, is how quickly Persona 2: Eternal Punishment sold out on Amazon, and how far it moved up the sales charts. In less than an hour, the game was already completely out of stock and moved into the top 10 for video game sales. For it to crack the top 10 on the largest Internet retailer during a period of so many high-profile game releases, there's little questioning that more than a few dozen copies got purchased.

Not bad for an old PlayStation title, huh? If anyone thought Persona 3's success in the United States was a fluke, this should change your mind. In the meantime, if you missed out on Persona 2 and refuse to pay $70 for a used copy, feel free to write to Atlus and ask for a re-re-release of the game. Once again, it wouldn't be the first time they did it.