Support NeoGAF

[Anth0ny]

Even loose stuff is starting to get crazy expensive from the SNES/Genesis era.

Only a matter of time before it hits the N64 gen. Conker is already there.

No garage sales sell games near me. So either I deal with resellers that sell their shit for double the lowest eBay prices, or ebay itself. Sucks.

 

[Corronchilejano]

NO, this place is bad. BAD.

How come?

 

[AwShucks]

Complete in box will be your downfall. Otherwise games are plentiful and generally cheap.

Basically was going to say this. I bought most of my NES carts for around $6-10. And most SNES titles I was looking for were around $25. I think the few Genesis titles I've gotten were in the $10-15 range.

All from Ebay

 

[PumpkinSpice]

Oh dear god, I need them to have an online store.

Why do I not live in the US?!

If you're in Canada, I feel your pain. I've taken to just ordering games from Japan when I can't find what I want in Canada. The games themselves are way cheaper and the shipping is way cheaper (plus you don't get ripped off on ebay with import charges). Only problem is the games are in Japanese... which is fine for most things except RPGs.

 

[terrisus]

They're popping up like mushrooms now that there's a big interest and subculture, like comics in the '90s.

How many of those comics stores are still around?

Well, sure, not everything's going to be around forever.

But, for right now, there are some great places out there for people who take the time to find them.

Thanks to this thread I just discovered a new indie game shop specializing in old school here in Davie, South Fl.

I know where Ill be heading this weekend.

Like that!

Huzzah, and congrats!

 

[galvatron]

Radiant Silvergun's price hasn't moved much in like 20 years. It's not even that high.

and it's downloadable for $10...similarly, bootlegs wouldn't move the prices in the Neo Geo AES scene, either. Instead, it would give more cred to the amateur curators who would find ways to identify new bootlegs from originals. We already have a site for this purpose on the MVS side, (I'm sure you know all of that, but for others): http://mvs.gotwalls.com/index.php/Main_Page

 

[sixteen-bit]

NO, this place is bad. BAD.

Pay average going rate for games except it goes to charity instead of an individual reseller's pocket. Not that bad.

 

[DryvBy]

Pawn Shops if you dare. They sometimes have boxed games for nothing.

 

[Kevtones]

How much for 5x sealed new copies of Conker's on N64?

Bought them for like $3 apiece at tru about 10 years ago lol

 

[Hamburgler]

Pay average going rate for games except it goes to charity instead of an individual reseller's pocket. Not that bad.

This is false.

 

[entremet]

How much for 5x sealed new copies of Conker's on N64?

Bought them for like $3 apiece at tru about 10 years ago lol

I would wait until the N64 scene is as crazy as the SNES scene is now.

Looks like 500 a piece for sealed. Or ranging from 300 to 500.

 

[Krejlooc]

Pay average going rate for games except it goes to charity instead of an individual reseller's pocket. Not that bad.

It doesn't go to charity.

 

[chaosblade]

I'm really glad I don't do physical copies for games prior to the GC/PS2. I still have some of my old games, but I won't bother buying carts. VC/PS1 classics are the way to go as long as the games are available, especially since I can get Nintendo games "free" via Club Nintendo.

GC stuff has started going up. I think I've about got my collection complete though. Rogue Squadron 3 is one I've been considering buying.

Same with PS2. There are a few games I'm kind of sort of interested in, but for the most part I've bought everything I care to (either on PS2, or a remaster).

 

[Mzo]

Pay average going rate for games except it goes to charity instead of an individual reseller's pocket. Not that bad.

This is part of why it's bad.

 

[emb]

NO, this place is bad. BAD.

Is the store itself bad (as far as selection, prices, quality), or you just mean Goodwill as a corporation?

If it's just like an average retro game store I'll probably go by there sometime. I saw these images a few weeks ago and thought it looked cool enough.

 

[wrowa]

It doesn't go to charity.

Where does it go to? The imgur link says: "90% of profit is charity."

And even if it goes completely into the pockets of some for-profit organization... what's worse about that than, say, buying games at a GameStop?

 

[Petrae]

So, that's at least 3 places within a 1-hour radius in western Massachusetts.
Most places are going to have a couple if you take the time to look around.

Yes, the retro scene here isn't bad. I have a "home store" that I visit in Holyoke, MA called Game Depot that I've bought a lot of cart-based games from over the last year or so. The staff is pretty great, too. I dearly miss the days of Fantasy Realms, though.

I know that retro-based franchises are expanding, too. Retro Games Plus is gradually moving northward and Game Xchange has a store on the way to the casinos in SE CT.

Thrift stores, like Savers, can also surprise you. I found a couple of CIB Genesis games there during one visit. If you make regular visits to a few thrift stores, you can possibly find some decent stuff. Even at a Goodwill near my house, I found several black label PlayStation games (Road Rash, Bogey Dead 6) for just $2 complete.

 

[Mzo]

Is the store itself bad (as far as selection, prices, quality), or you just mean Goodwill as a corporation?

If it's just like an average retro game store I'll probably go by there sometime. I saw these images a few weeks ago and thought it looked cool enough.

If anyone goes, I'd love to know if they pay for trade ins or if their entire stock consists entirely of FREE DONATIONS from people who don't know what they have.

 

[Kevtones]

I would wait until the N64 scene is as crazy as the SNES scene is now.

Looks like 500 a piece for sealed. Or ranging from 300 to 500.

Yoooooo. Putting it towards student loans.

 

[Plinko]

I built my N64 collection this summer because I remembered the patent on the system expires soon, meaning we'll see an HDMI Retron-style hitting next year some time.

 

[Koren]

Another tactic is getting Japanese stuff. It's cheaper and in better condition, and for many games, knowing the language is not needed.

This is the deal-breaker for me... You can often find games like mint, spine card included and not a dent in the manual. I don't like buying second-hand, but japanese stuff can be great.

But there's still some insanely high prices (the last two SNES games I would really like to get are Umihara Kawase and Thracia 776, but their prices is usually very high for mint condition... unfortunately, someone lent me those games back in the 90s, so I haven't bought them early enough)

 

[terrisus]

Yes, the retro scene here isn't bad. I have a "home store" that I visit in Holyoke, MA called Game Depot that I've bought a lot of cart-based games from over the last year or so. The staff is pretty great, too. I dearly miss the days of Fantasy Realms, though.

I know that retro-based franchises are expanding, too. Retro Games Plus is gradually moving northward and Game Xchange has a store on the way to the casinos in SE CT.

Thrift stores, like Savers, can also surprise you. I found a couple of CIB Genesis games there during one visit. If you make regular visits to a few thrift stores, you can possibly find some decent stuff. Even at a Goodwill near my house, I found several black label PlayStation games (Road Rash, Bogey Dead 6) for just $2 complete.

Hadn't heard of Game Depot before, nifty.

Where I am now in central CT, there's a Game Xchange nearby, but I've only been there once or twice.

Been to Savers once or twice, and as you said, stores like that or Goodwill or such can have some surprises, but I don't really like the fact that you could also go and find nothing.
Last time we went to a Savers, the most interesting thing there was one of those Muzzy language learning cassette sets :þ

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Because the Internet indeed changed the game. I used to collect in the late 90's early 2000's (me old), back then at a flea market people would only want to get rid of their old stuff and possibly get some money back.

I used to buy game cartridges between 1 and 2 € at the time, regardless of the title. Complete system for between 10 and 30 €.

But at some point the prices began to rise and one common argument became: "that's the price you pay on Internet".

That's the moment I stopped collecting retro games.

I still don't see how it follows that it's actually the internet's fault. It sounds like a correlation between the rise of the internet and the time passed since the games were published.

 

[IrishNinja]

shame we can't talk about the magic of everdrives in here, but i'm glad the 90s comic book bubble analogy has been made

Complete in box will be your downfall. Otherwise games are plentiful and generally cheap.

i take it you do not mess much with SNES, Saturn, Turbografx, or MVS lately

Shoutouts to youtube

in one

It's always some impatient idiot that ruins it for everyone. We've seen it happen on this board. I saw it happen in real time to US Dragon Slayer on the Turbo. Just one idiot.

The inflation started with an increase in popularity and interest. Then outsiders get a whiff of potential profit and start influencing the market. There are people right now whose source of income is trolling the places where people used to get good deals, getting those deals, and then reselling at eBay prices.

Even Goodwill (which is NOT a charity, but a for-profit business) is opening up a brick and mortar video game store, charging eBay prices for games that people donated to the not-charity FOR FREE. That makes me beyond angry.

First thing that has to happen for the bubble to burst is interest has to drop. I see new people talking about the hobby every day, so that hasn't happened yet. The ridiculous prices will help in bringing that around, though. Once resellers aren't making enough money to continue to do what they do, they'll dump their stock and move on to the next fad. That'll bring prices down. At that point, all the fly-by-nighters will get rid of their games while they still have some value, and the rest of us can go back to normal.

Actually rare games will probably remain expensive, though.

excellent post from an otherwise questionable gaffer

http://imgur.com/a/YEMPF

WARNING: May induce uncontrollable vomiting

jesus, i read the headline but hadn't seen the pics....ugh

 

[Cucurbitacée]

The nostalgia trip was short, my Duo-R has almost no sound output anymore. I hadn't plugged it for almost 2 years... From what I read it's a capacitor issue. I know what I'll do this week-end.

Another thing that can make retro gaming expensive!

 

[terrisus]

The nostalgia trip was short, my Duo-R has almost no sound output anymore. I hadn't plugged it for almost 2 years... From what I read it's a capacitor issue. I know what I'll do this week-end.

Another thing that can make retro gaming expensive!

On the flip side, buying things for cheap that people think are "broken" when they just need a simple fix is a good way to save money.

I'm looking forward to when the market gets flooded with cheap "Save battery no longer working" games, which I can just swap out easily.

 

[entremet]

Seeing Youtube videos of people with massive collections and obviously never play them is sad.

One thing I never understood is the obsession with getting complete libraries. You're buying an awful lot of crap--licensed garbage, shovel ware, etc.

I'd rather just have the best core titles per platform.

 

[Mihos]

Seeing Youtube videos of people with massive collections and obviously never play them is sad.

One thing I never understood is the obsession with getting complete libraries. You're buying an awful lot of crap--licensed garbage, shovel ware, etc.

I'd rather just have the best core titles per platform.

People value things different ways.

 

[Sectorseven]

Seeing Youtube videos of people with massive collections and obviously never play them is sad.

I don't see how one could play many games from collections of that size. There just aren't enough hours in a day.

 

[terrisus]

Seeing Youtube videos of people with massive collections and obviously never play them is sad.

One thing I never understood is the obsession with getting complete libraries. You're buying an awful lot of crap--licensed garbage, shovel ware, etc.

I'd rather just have the best core titles per platform.

Some people buy to play, other people buy to collect.

From the point of view of the person collecting, how is buying games to collect any different than buying Baseball cards, stamps, old currency, or any number of other things that one could buy to collect that one can't play with?

Sure, to people who want to buy it to play it, it sucks since it means there's one less copy available to buy to play, but nonetheless.

 

[entremet]

People value things different ways.

I don't see how one could play many games from collections of that size. There just aren't enough hours in a day.

Oh definitely.

I'm just saying there is a segment that collects just to collects, which is fine. But it sucks for those who just want to play certain games.

 

[terrisus]

I don't see how one could play many games from collections of that size. There just aren't enough hours in a day.

It's not necessarily about being able to play all of them regularly.
It's about having a broad selection from which to pick when wanting to play a game.

 

[Mareg]

I was looking for a copy of Mega Man 8 for Saturn--Complete in Box (CIB) and prices were around 300 bucks for the US version. Mega Man stuff is insane in the retro market.

What !? I have a copy of Mega Man 8 on the PSX that I tried a couple of years ago to get rid of. Nobody would buy it at bottom price of 5$. Maybe I should try to sell it now

 

[terrisus]

I was looking for a copy of Mega Man 8 for Saturn--Complete in Box (CIB) and prices were around 300 bucks for the US version. Mega Man stuff is insane in the retro market.

What !? I have a copy of Mega Man 8 on the PSX that I tried a couple of years ago to get rid of. Nobody would buy it at bottom price of 5$. Maybe I should try to sell it now

PSX != Saturn
You'll get around $10 for it.

 

[entremet]

What !? I have a copy of Mega Man 8 on the PSX that I tried a couple of years ago to get rid of. Nobody would buy it at bottom price of 5$. Maybe I should try to sell it now

Saturn SKU is way more valuable. You'll probably get 20 bucks for your PSX version.

Here's a MM6 CIB. It's at 31 bucks now.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=Mega Man 6 CIB NES 1994 NO RESERVE&_itemId=141393466675

Doubt it will stay that low, or could be a repro bootleg.

 

[t26]

What !? I have a copy of Mega Man 8 on the PSX that I tried a couple of years ago to get rid of. Nobody would buy it at bottom price of 5$. Maybe I should try to sell it now

The ps1 version isn't worth that much

 

[Sectorseven]

Some people buy to play, other people buy to collect.

From the point of view of the person collecting, how is buying games to collect any different than buying Baseball cards, stamps, old currency, or any number of other things that one could buy to collect that one can't play with?

Sure, to people who want to buy it to play it, it sucks since it means there's one less copy available to buy to play, but nonetheless.

Games are meant to be played. The time investment for looking through pages of cards or coins versus playing a game is no comparison. Those things are also pieces of art to some extent and can be displayed more easily.

 

[Eiolon]

Glad I saved all of mine. I sell a couple each month to make my car payment that way I don't have to touch any income.

 

[terrisus]

Games are meant to be played. The time investment for looking through pages of cards or coins versus playing a game is no comparison. Those things are also pieces of art to some extent and can be displayed more easily.

People can view a game as a piece of art of a simple collectable. There's nothing stopping them from doing so.

I'm not saying it's how I feel (I definitely don't), but the process is the same.

 

[Mihos]

Oh definitely.

I'm just saying there is a segment that collects just to collects, which is fine. But it sucks for those who just want to play certain games.

You would think that, but usually I have about 10 - 20 games borrowed out at any one time and usually a few people over every weekend just to play with the old systems (and some beer). Other friends I have that collect are pretty much the same way. They aren't locked away in a vault (in our case at least), they are just well taken care of. You just need to find one of those guys and find out what kind of beer they like.

 

[emb]

What !? I have a copy of Mega Man 8 on the PSX that I tried a couple of years ago to get rid of. Nobody would buy it at bottom price of 5$. Maybe I should try to sell it now

Mega Man 8 on Saturn and PSX have different prices. I haven't checked recently, but PSX version is probably still not that expensive. Same for X4.

Saturn stuff in general is just kinda pricey.

 

[C-Sword]

Now is not the right time to start collecting retro games in my opinion. With shows on youtube like Game Chasers and Pat The Nes Punk, all the prices had gone up, sellers go on ebay and try to price their games the same.. I recently sold my PS2 collection, cause the games with 3D polygons don't look as good as those 16-bit ones.

Btw, I got my Retron 5 yesterday and picked up a copy of TMNT:Tournament Fighters, I was surprised by the quality of the image.

 

[terrisus]

sellers go on ebay and try to price their games the same

This is nothing new...
This has been the case for the past 15 years...

I recently sold my PS2 collection, cause the games with 3D polygons don't look as good as those 16-bit ones.

This has also always been true, PS2 games have always paled in comparison to SNES games.

 

[Petrae]

I still don't see how it follows that it's actually the internet's fault. It sounds like a correlation between the rise of the internet and the time passed since the games were published.

Cinemassacre's Mike Matei published a video in July 2012 talking about hidden SNES gems. Rock and Roll Racing was one of those gems. At the time of the video, the PriceCharting value for the game was $23. Within three months after the video was released, the value spiked to $31. Knights of the Round doubled in value during the same period after Matei talked about it. Magic Sword took a bit longer to double in value, but accomplished the same feat.

These are just a few examples. When YouTube personalities feature certain games in their videos, the value increases as demand soars. People want to play these games for themselves, to have the games in their libraries. Heck, I'm guilty of this; I've bought several games after seeing them featured by a YT personality I like.

"Fault" isn't a term I like to use. There are multiple factors that, in my opinion, contribute to retro game pricing inflation. The Internet is but one of those factors. A larger pool of buyers, opportunistic resellers, and some buyers with a "money is no object" outlook also factor in.

 

[Cucurbitacée]

I still don't see how it follows that it's actually the internet's fault. It sounds like a correlation between the rise of the internet and the time passed since the games were published.

Maybe I should have be more precise and said that the price change was brutal and really fast. In less than a year, the whole scene changed.
To be fair eBay is probably more to blame than the Internet. But eBay like every other online sellers use the Internet, that's why I think it's fair to say that the rise of the Internet rose the prices of retro gaming material.

 

[terrisus]

The phrase "Youtube personality" is so incredibly comical to me.

But, I suppose that's a topic for another thread.

 

[Zeyphersan]

I just bought a bootleg Infinite Space DS cart off eBay. Obviously that wasn't my intention. Guy was pretty understanding, offering a full refund and compensation for shipping back to him. That's the second time that's happened, the first being with Fire Emblem on the GBA

But other than that, I've had nothing but luck buying GBA and DS games. Once you learn how to spot the fakes, it gets pretty easy. The only problem is no one on eBay takes enough pictures to verify, even the legit ones

I also don't care about boxes, so that helps

 

[entremet]

The phrase "Youtube personality" is so incredibly comical to me.

But, I suppose that's a topic for another thread.

What else would you call them? Youtuber is another name for them.

 

[terrisus]

Once you learn how to spot the fakes, it gets pretty easy. The only problem is no one on eBay takes enough pictures to verify, even the legit ones

Especially with GBA and DS games, if it doesn't have enough pictures to tell, I'm just going to assume it's fake and pass on it.

What else would you call them? Youtuber is another name for them.

That entire website just seems so absurd to me. The fact that someone can claim to be "a personality" on it just seems downright bizarre.

 

[-KRS-]

I've occasionally paid ebay BIN prices for some games because as someone living in Sweden, ebay prices are frankly quite cheap in comparison when you take currency rates into account. Even with the added shipping cost. The local prices over here are truly insane. I think things like that, foreigners buying from ebay, contribute to raising the average ebay price of games.

And these days I've decided to only buy NTSC copies of games going forward, so I also don't have many options besides ebay. I try not to buy BIN listings though. But when there is an auction listed without import charges and with reasonable shipping costs, the price goes up a LOT because all the international bidders have their eyes on it.