Unopened copy of the Serial Experiments Lain game estimated at over $3000 in Japan
![Visual from the Serial Experiments Lain video game](https://automaton-media.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240227-27725-header.jpg)
A retro video game retailer in Japan recently caused a stir among collector and retro video game enthusiasts by revealing a rare item in their possession – a sealed physical copy of Serial Experiments Lain for the PlayStation. With used copies of the game regularly selling for prices between $500 and $700, users are estimating that the unopened copy could easily be sold for anywhere between $3k and $6k.
Serial Experiments Lain is a video game based on the anime series of the same name. It was published as a Japan-exclusive title in 1998 for the PlayStation by Pioneer LDC. The unorthodox video game does not feature typical gameplay – described as a “network simulator,” it puts the player in the role of a therapist exploring the mental state of the protagonist Iwakura Lain by unlocking various textual/visual/aural pieces of media. Due to its complex system, the game was not a commercial success, and its rarity, paired with the Serial Experiments Lain anime’s status as a cult classic, have caused it to become a very valuable collector’s item throughout the years.
![](https://automaton-media.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/image_2024-02-27_151452125.png)
On February 26, video game reseller Beep Shop revealed via X (formerly Twitter) that they have acquired a sealed copy of the game. The post has since garnered over 26k likes and 9.6k reposts, with users marveling at the rarity and pristine condition of the packaging, which even includes a nostalgic sticker that warns buyers of “grotesque content.” Although commenting that the item “could cause a war,” the shop has yet to put a price on the game.
On the other hand, users have been estimating the game’s value, and taking into consideration that used/unsealed copies of Lain are regularly being sold on online markets for prices between 80k yen and 100k yen (between $500 and $700), many users believe that the unused copy could easily sell for 500k yen (about $3.4k) or even a million yen if something like an auction were to take place.
Thank you for the article, this is nostalgic to me as Serial Experiments Lain is one of the most cult classic Anime’s next to Cowboy Bebop and Ghost In The Shell growing up. It’s sad that the game was too complex for it’s time, maybe even overly ambitious.
But that is what makes the Video Games industry amazing as a whole. Games are an interactive artform like movies, music, and are not constrained to the genres that we would think they should be. With smaller studios they are counter culture to what we think games should be. Giving it your all and having a vision that is outside the boundaries of creation can be fascinating to watch because it can change the future as we know it and how we view everything. Maybe even genre defining in of itself.
Also it makes me melancholy that Lain even had a chance to be made into Anime, including a game by studios that liked to take risks and to try new things for the game. Especially Gungrave and Shadow Hearts, and Eva games that never came West. Something I wish was more of a thing today than it was 20-30 years ago. But I do have hope that soon enough it will happen again for Indies and AA within Japan.
Let’s all love Lain.