Rarest PS3 games worth their weight in gold, ranked

The PlayStation 3 console has brought us several gems over the years. With titles like the Uncharted and God of War series once being exclusive to the PlayStation 3, we’ve also seen a few underappreciated gems fly under the radar. Whether it was because the titles weren’t as popular or if the game was a buggy mess, these games did not perform as well as the developers intended at the time but became cult classics as time wore on.

Because of this, all of the games on this list are now deemed collector’s items, with most of them now selling for many times more than what they were worth upon launch. If you are a collector of these games and are interested to own a copy, it would help to know which games are the most valuable.

On that note, here are the top 10 most coveted PlayStation 3 games of today.

The toughest PS3 to get your hands on, from 10 to one

10) Demon’s Souls: Deluxe Edition

Demon’s Souls is the original Soulsborne title and the game that inspired the Dark Souls series created by FromSoftware. Known for being one of the most mechanically-challenging games of its time, Demon’s Souls was super popular among hardcore fans of the series. So popular, in fact, that the game got a full remake from the ground up on the PlayStation 5.

While it is not very hard to get your hands on a copy of the original PS3 version of Demon’s Souls, what is rare is the deluxe edition of the game. This edition includes the full game along with a 150-page copy of a strategy guide for the game. This strategy guide covers all the features of the game including stat explanations and tips for certain boss battles.

Getting a mint condition copy of the Deluxe Edition of Demon’s Souls will cost you a pretty penny compared to most AAA games of today. The lowest listing going now is around $100 USD with some costlier listings hitting as high as $250.

9) Lollipop Chainsaw (Alternate Cover)

Lollipop Chainsaw is another PlayStation 3 game that is quite well-known and not too hard to acquire, especially since games are still being manufactured for the aging console. This 2012 action hack-and-slash game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture involves playing as Juliet Starling, an 18-year-old zombie slayer, who attempts to stop an undead horde with the decapitated head of her boyfriend.

While that premise might sound a little strange today, it was considered quite outrageous back in 2012. So much so that the seemingly excessive graphic themes of the game warranted an alternate cover edition of Lollipop Chainsaw. This alternate edition removed all the mentions of Juliet and the zombies, leaving only the image of a chainsaw cutting through a white background.

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The alternate cover edition of Lollipop Chainsaw is extremely rare since only a few copies were ever released. These copies can go from anywhere between $100 all the way up to $500 depending on just how desperate a buyer is at getting their hands on this.

8) JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a highly popular anime series that was first created in the late 80s. With the popularity of other entries like Dragon Ball, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure became an underrated gem that started to gain more appreciation in the last couple of decades. This has led to several underrated JoJo games, especially the PlayStation 3’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle.

This 2013 title published by Bandai Namco is a fighting game that would pit players using characters from the JoJo anime against each other. The fighting is quite straightforward and resembles other titles such as Tekken, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. While it is not as difficult to get a copy of the game on other platforms like the PC, getting it for the PS3 is a different matter.

When the game was first released, it was simple enough to buy a copy for about $20 but as the popularity of the anime shot up, so did the price. And when the number of copies started to dwindle, the prices went up even further, starting at around $150 and peaking after 2020 at $400.

7) Afrika

Afrika is a PlayStation 3 title developed by Rhino Studios that puts you in the shoes of a photographer in Africa taking pictures of the exotic wildlife there. The game is based on missions that you receive via email, which have you travel to different locations to find the animals required to photograph.

The game is different from most others on this list because it is a relaxing game similar to the likes of Eastshade and its painting vibes. Because of this, the game did not perform very well in terms of sales and is a rare one to get your hands on. Any copies currently being sold go up to $350 at most.

6) Rock Band: Special Edition

For all you music fans out there, Rock Band is the perfect collector’s item game to get. If you plan on playing it, the game is as realistic as it gets for its era especially since the special edition of the game came with an entire drum set, a guitar, and two microphones to start your rock band with. You play several classic songs with your instruments and friends that can be your band members.

Rock Band is the original game in the series that was released in the earliest days of the PlayStation 3 back in 2007. Because of this, finding a fresh copy is almost impossible, especially the ones included with the original instruments. Finding one of these copies will cost you at least $400 to $500.

5) The Last Guy

The Last Guy is a PlayStation 3 exclusive title that will have you fight off hordes of zombies to survive. As the name suggests, you are the last guy that is capable of fending off these zombies while you rescue stragglers that are separated all over the place. The game used photorealistic locations via Google Earth to render each location, making it quite unique.

This unique presentation by Japan Studio was one factor behind its price skyrocketing over time. Initial copies weren’t too expensive but as time passed, their value increased and if you want to get a new copy now, it is going to cost you no less than $350 to $400.

4) Syberia Complete Collection

The Adventure Company’s Syberia series was quite well-known for its time. It is a series of graphic adventure games set in an alternate universe. There are four games in the mainline Syberia series but the one that holds the most value is Syberia Complete Collection, which includes a few games from the series.

While the base game wasn’t too hard to acquire, copies of the Syberia Complete Collection are hard to obtain. This is because the complete collection only includes two of the four games in the series. Since most of them were recalled, copies are now hard to find. The only ones available online cost upward of $500, sometimes going all the way up to $600.

3) Aquanaut’s Holiday: Hidden Memories

Aquanaut’s Holiday: Hidden Memories is an underwater exploration game that will take you through the dangerous areas of the undersea. Players play as a journalist looking for an oceanographer named William Graber who went missing in Kisira Atoll, Polynesia. This journey will take you through the depths of the sea where you have to brave the marine wildlife that will get in your way.

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The reason this game is counted as a collector’s item is because it was untranslated and released only in Japanese. Aquanaut’s Holiday: Hidden Memories was later released in English and Chinese but the game didn’t perform too well. The few untranslated copies now go for a hefty sum, starting from a minimum of $500.

2) Painkiller: Hell and Damnation (Uncut)

Painkiller: Hell and Damnation is the 2012 sequel to the original Painkiller created in 2004 and developed by Nordic Games. The game has you playing as Daniel Garner once again, holding off the forces of Hell and Purgatory. Painkiller: Hell and Damnation brings out every evil entity that resides in the depths of hell, including the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Due to the graphic depictions of evil, the game did not get past German censorship laws without releasing a toned-down version. As a result of having two versions, the original uncut version of the game became a rare collector’s item that only a few players currently possess. Getting your hands on a copy of the uncut version will cost you anywhere from $300 to $500.

1) NBA Elite 11

The rarest game on our list is leagues more expensive than any other game mentioned here. NBA Elite 11 was the first and only game in the series to bear the NBA Elite title, which already makes it a unique game. What is even more remarkable about the game is that it was only launched on mobile platforms and never officially released on the PlayStation 3.

When EA decided to release NBA Elite 11 on PlayStation 3, they planned to make some variations between the mobile version and the console version. Variations such as changing the core control system and upgrading the graphics with only 18 months of production time left the game in a terrible state. The rushed development led to several glitches that made the game completely unplayable.

The few early copies of the PlayStation 3 version were pushed out in its unplayable state. After initial fan backlash, future production for the console version completely stopped. This left a tiny handful of copies in the hands of some players and the game was deemed as a collector’s item. Acquiring one of these ultra-rare copies will cost you anywhere between $3,000 to $5,000—a huge leap compared to the bulk of this list.