Collectors buying all the games?

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VideoGameCritic
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Collectors buying all the games?

Postby VideoGameCritic » September 18th, 2015, 4:25 pm

I just read this article about how the classic games in Japan are getting sparse because collectors are snatching them all up
http://www.wired.com/2015/09/akihabara-4/

I've seen this happen in the states over the last 15 years. Games are getting harder to find and demanding higher prices. Although the industry is pushing for digital distribution, there is clearly long-term value for physical copies of games.

I have mixed feelings about this. Of course it's sad that we can no longer get classic games at bargain prices.
On the other hand, our games are probably a pretty good investment.

Your thoughts?

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noah98
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby noah98 » September 18th, 2015, 5:35 pm

I think it proves that Cartridges are a valued commodity. I don't like it when common games like Contra go sky high though! Still, it proves that these games stand the test of time.

I'm a strange collector because I collect to be able to play my games in their original form, not to just put on a shelf. I don't care about complete sets fro a system, but I do want every game that I feel is enjoyable. For example, I'll never buy Stadium Events unless I got an insane deal on it.

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Rookie1
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Rookie1 » September 18th, 2015, 8:05 pm

It happens with every generation gap. I collect action figures and see this trend a lot. Once a generation is old enough to have disposable income, they buy things they had as a kid. Games are no different. Kind of why the pop culture trend is in a 80s/90s swing right about now.

Hardcore Sadism
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Hardcore Sadism » September 18th, 2015, 11:53 pm

From where I live the prime time to collect retro gaming consoles is pretty much at a decline, I found quite a few good conditioned Atari systems as well as a near-perfectly clean Lynx Mark II. I'm really glad I didn't put off getting the most recent additions, these handheld NES/Genesis systems that keep coming out are getting worse in quality from my experience.

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Rookie1
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Rookie1 » September 21st, 2015, 8:06 am

Hardcore Sadism wrote:From where I live the prime time to collect retro gaming consoles is pretty much at a decline, I found quite a few good conditioned Atari systems as well as a near-perfectly clean Lynx Mark II. I'm really glad I didn't put off getting the most recent additions, these handheld NES/Genesis systems that keep coming out are getting worse in quality from my experience.


Atari is one generation removed now. NES, Sega, and SNES are the super sellers. Atari had a big collectors market in the early 2000's, now all the shops that stocked up on Atari games have piles of them sitting in the bargain bins.

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Rev
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Rev » September 21st, 2015, 4:24 pm

I think Atari games being old is one of the factors on why the games are no longer that collectible. I think another thing is that Atari games have aged really poorly. Because of that most modern gamers really don't have much of a desire to own those games because they are so primitive. I think the nes and snes will hold their value more (although I think it'll eventually go down) because 16 bit games have aged really well for the most part. I think the ps1 and n64 will become really cheap in the future (for the 3d games) due to the same reason as Atari.

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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby jon » September 21st, 2015, 10:17 pm

I think the PS1 games will be cheaper in the future or at least should be because of how ugly the system's graphics are. But there's no way N64 games are going to go down in value, and if they do it'll be way less than the PS1. The PS1 gets more irrelevant every year. It will be interesting to see if NES game prices go up or down in the future. Will there be so few people that grew up on it and remember playing it that it will become irrelevant? That's a good question.

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Rev
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Rev » September 21st, 2015, 11:21 pm

I think as long as Nintendo stays relevant the NES will continue to be deemed a collectors item. If Nintendo fails it will probably continue to stay high for a while but would probably drop over time.

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Rookie1
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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Rookie1 » September 22nd, 2015, 12:48 pm

I have a feeling PS1 and N64 games are going to get pretty crazy in the next few years. Kids that were born in say 1990, that grew up playing PS1/N64 are going to be hitting the disposable income market and try to relive their childhood.

NES/SNES/Sega are probably going to level out, but the prices (if I had to guess) will stay fairly high.

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Re: Collectors buying all the games?

Postby Tron » September 22nd, 2015, 11:08 pm

Rookie1 wrote:I have a feeling PS1 and N64 games are going to get pretty crazy in the next few years. Kids that were born in say 1990, that grew up playing PS1/N64 are going to be hitting the disposable income market and try to relive their childhood.

NES/SNES/Sega are probably going to level out, but the prices (if I had to guess) will stay fairly high.


Although I agree w/ Jon that the PS1 hasn't aged well I think Rookie's point is even more important. Nintendo brand name is important & the quality of their work helps the N-64. So I think 64 games will have that going for them. The other issue for the PS1 is that they are CDs which are quite fragile. Let's consider that video games are still "kids stuff", even more so back then. Kids don't take care of their stuff. Finding PS 1 games that aren't all scratched to hell are getting harder & harder to find. Chances are if you find a 64 game in a box of junk it will work. Chances are if you find a PS1 game in a box of junk it won't.


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