Summary
- Rare European copies of the PS2 horror game Rule of Rose are seeing a huge price drop online.
- A group of sellers in Italy discovered a shipment of sealed copies of the controversial title.
- Released in the US and Japan in 2006, the game was banned in the United Kingdom based on rumors of alleged obscene content.
The ultra-rare PS2 horror game Rule of Rose recently saw a massive price decrease in certain regions after online sellers found hundreds of unopened copies and began to list them online. The notorious PlayStation 2 survival horror game sparked controversy when it first released due to a ban in the United Kingdom that turned Rule of Rose into a major collector's item.
Banned video games have always been a popular topic within the gaming community, as titles like Rockstar's infamous Manhunt games and many other releases have caused controversy due to their violent content. This was also the case for the niche survival horror game Rule of Rose, which was released in the United States and Japan in 2006 but faced a ban in the UK. This has made European copies extremely valuable, with the game often selling for upwards of $600.
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Now, however, the game is seeing a steep price drop after a group of sellers in Italy discovered a shipment of sealed copies of Rule of Rose, as confirmed in a recent Twitter post. A number of copies of the game are currently being sold on eBay for about €230, or a little over $250, less than half the price of its original listings.
Rule of Rose Copies Appear Online at Much Lower Prices
Of course, retro games and hardware, especially ultra-rare items like the Nintendo PlayStation controller prototype recently sold at an auction, tend to sell out quickly, so collectors looking to get their hands on the game may want to act fast. The newly-discovered Italian copies of Rule of Rose are already dwindling in stock, and the price is likely to increase further as supply continues to drop.
As for the game itself, Rule of Rose is a unique take on survival horror, with gameplay and visuals akin to the Silent Hill franchise and a similar focus on psychological horror. The plot follows a young woman named Jennifer who finds herself kidnapped by a group of aristocratic young girls and forced to relive her own trauma as she works to escape.
The game's historical setting also gives it a bit of kinship with the survival horror classic Alone in the Dark, as the story takes place in 1930s England, just before the onset of World War II. Despite being set within the United Kingdom, however, the European Union voted to ban the game from release in the country due to its content, with some officials claiming that it tasked players with abusing young women to advance the plot.
- Brand
- Sony
- Original Release Date
- October 26, 2000
- Hardware Versions
- PS2
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $299, £299
- Weight
- 4.85 lb
The PlayStation 2 was Sony's direct "sequel" to their original PlayStation and stands as one of the best-selling and most beloved consoles of all time. With a catalog of amazing games, it stood strong against the GameCube and Xbox in the sixth-generation of the console wars.
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