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Classic games are getting expensive


mbd30

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It does seem like there are a lot more resellers inflating prices nowadays. Back when I first started collecting in '09, you could still find old games at a flea market that were being sold cheap by the original owners. (Or at least not resellers that have an entire booth with all sorts of games and game consoles.) Then when that boxed Air Raid sold, back in 2010 I think, it was all over. Now everybody at the flea market is a reseller who always bases their asking price on the highest Buy-It-Now listing on eBay.

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The flea markets I go to have lots of game sellers so there is competition. I really only look for 2600 stuff so I cannot claim anything about prices of the overall market, but most of them were willing to haggle and prices I get are fair. I think the Nintendo stuff is a little pricey especially the handheld stuff. I've never had one mention Ebay. I think that is more a tactic of the non-gamer person who is just selling whatever they got. I always try to have cash in hand and I mean visible but not flashing too obvious. Cash is king.

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Here is a list of the PS4 launch titles and the media type:

 

http://ign.com/wikis/playstation-4/PlayStation_4_Launch_Titles

 

As you can see only 50% of the games are available retail. The other 50% are download only. At the end of the PS4 life span you can be sure that less than 25% of all games were available retail.

 

And the games available retail will never be rare. Only the major games are available retail and sell a few million times. And now have a look which Atari games are rare today, the crappy ones, the ones that sold in low quantities. And those games are available as download only today.

 

So there will never be a large PS4 collection with rare games. Only 100 commons. So collecting video games is vanishing right now.

I think thats flawed logic. Digital album releases are at an all time high yet used vinyl sales are over 2M a year. As long as video games are being played, they will be collected. Even w digial DLs you can get a HD filled w the games you want, put that HD in a cool case and slap some art on it.

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I think thats flawed logic. Digital album releases are at an all time high yet used vinyl sales are over 2M a year. As long as video games are being played, they will be collected. Even w digial DLs you can get a HD filled w the games you want, put that HD in a cool case and slap some art on it.

And I think your logic is flawed. Although more than ever digital DLs are being sold they have zero collectability.

 

You can download all the Atari 2600 or NES ROMs, but is this a collection? No, it isn't. A collection is something that is not readily available. Something you've built over the years, that is unique in the world.

 

In 15 years you can download all PS4 as a Torrent or whatever we use then. But that is no collection.

 

You can collect vinyl, but not MP3s.

 

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Do you know anyone w a couple Tera bites of storage? I know people who collect digital media. You saying someone can't collect mp3s is your opinion, because someone can and a lot of ppl do. My gfs brother in law has a collection of roms and he's always downloading more and weeding others out. Again your stance is very subjective to your own viewpoint. There are ppl on the digital side of the fence and consider themselves collectors of digital media.

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Pfft, collecting downloads. Now that's just plain silly.

 

However my collection is totally unaffected by changes to gaming distribution.

I simply collect the body parts of people significant to the industry.

I've got the left arm of the 1990 Nintendo World Championships 11-and-under winner and I'm in negotiation with my sources to obtain one of Chris Roberts' eyes.

I hear this area of collecting is about to take off, so I want to get in before the prices explode. :D

-------------------

 

hmmm, just thought of something...

 

jbbc.png

 

Now, don't take this the wrong way or anything....but have you ever considered the possibility of spending eternity as a well taxidermied Pier Solar display stand? I kid, I kid... :twisted:

Edited by Reaperman
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Do you know anyone w a couple Tera bites of storage? I know people who collect digital media. You saying someone can't collect mp3s is your opinion, because someone can and a lot of ppl do. My gfs brother in law has a collection of roms and he's always downloading more and weeding others out. Again your stance is very subjective to your own viewpoint. There are ppl on the digital side of the fence and consider themselves collectors of digital media.

Gf's brother in-law... :P

 

I probably have a similar set of roms & tunes, and it's just files on a hard drive, NOT a collection.

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Gf's brother in-law... :P

 

I probably have a similar set of roms & tunes, and it's just files on a hard drive, NOT a collection.

 

"Collection"

 

I can see people who legitimately pay for MP3s calling it a digital collection, but all NES ROMs can be had in one torrent. That's a collection like the hair on my head is a collection.

 

Edit: On second thought, I can always sell my hair, so...

Edited by o.pwuaioc
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Do you know anyone w a couple Tera bites of storage? I know people who collect digital media. You saying someone can't collect mp3s is your opinion, because someone can and a lot of ppl do. My gfs brother in law has a collection of roms and he's always downloading more and weeding others out. Again your stance is very subjective to your own viewpoint. There are ppl on the digital side of the fence and consider themselves collectors of digital media.

 

This isn't a discussion that's worth the hassle. There are too many people stuck with their antiquated views of what a collection is. The real problem is that people with physical collections tend to feel that their collections are somehow worth less if a digital set of files is also considered a collection. It's a silly argument, usually made by people who are either focused solely on the monetary value of their collection (I'd argue that's not a collection, but instead an investment) or those who's collections are valued based on what others think.

 

Does a digital collection have the same monetary value as a physical collection? Likely not. It can definitely have the same personal value to the person who has the collection. These two types of collections can co-exist, but you're not going to convert anyone at the moment. People fear change, especially when that change deals with something they are passionate about. It was easier trying to convince people the world is round.

 

 

A collection is something that is not readily available. Something you've built over the years, that is unique in the world.

 

 

No, that is not the definition of a collection. It is defined as the following:

 

: the act or process of getting things from different places and bringing them together

: a group of interesting or beautiful objects brought together in order to show or study them or as a hobby

: a request for money in order to help people or to pay for something important; also : the money collected in this way

 

This is what a collection is, as defined my Merriam Webster. There is nothing that requires a collection to be rare or unique in any way.

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This isn't a discussion that's worth the hassle. There are too many people stuck with their antiquated views of what a collection is. The real problem is that people with physical collections tend to feel that their collections are somehow worth less if a digital set of files is also considered a collection. It's a silly argument, usually made by people who are either focused solely on the monetary value of their collection (I'd argue that's not a collection, but instead an investment) or those who's collections are valued based on what others think.

 

Does a digital collection have the same monetary value as a physical collection? Likely not. It can definitely have the same personal value to the person who has the collection. These two types of collections can co-exist, but you're not going to convert anyone at the moment. People fear change, especially when that change deals with something they are passionate about. It was easier trying to convince people the world is round.

 

 

 

No, that is not the definition of a collection. It is defined as the following:

 

: the act or process of getting things from different places and bringing them together

: a group of interesting or beautiful objects brought together in order to show or study them or as a hobby

: a request for money in order to help people or to pay for something important; also : the money collected in this way

 

This is what a collection is, as defined my Merriam Webster. There is nothing that requires a collection to be rare or unique in any way.

 

"a group of interesting or beautiful objects brought together in order to show or study them or as a hobby"

 

Sounds pretty similar to what Andre81 said.

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"a group of interesting or beautiful objects brought together in order to show or study them or as a hobby"

 

Sounds pretty similar to what Andre81 said.

 

Neither 'interesting' or 'beautiful' imply 'rare' or 'unique'. Also, interest and beauty is something that's purely subjective, while rarity and uniqueness is measurable.

 

Someone can easily have more interest in the content, rather than the distribution mechanism. If someone is interested in collecting games, but cart shells and optical media hold no interest, then a digital collection makes sense for that person. For someone else who values the distribution mechanism, the digital collection will hold little interest, but that doesn't mean the digital content is not a collection.

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Yeah I have a digital collection of all kinds of media. I am trying to get a copy of all the cartoon and TV shows I used to watch as a kid, all the music by my ever growing list of artists I like, and all the roms and disc images of games I can find.

 

I currently have two 3TB hard drives, two 2TB hard drives, one 1.5 TB hard drive [This one is exclusively for media made by my band friends and I], one 1TB hard drive and three older 500GB hard drives that I try not to use anymore except to take files with me somewhere because they are older and too small for me.

 

I'm waiting for them to start making larger hard drives so I can consolidate my collection further. When I buy real cds for $2 a piece or less at the thrift store, I like to keep them in .wav format because the format is lossless and will play on anything unlike FLAC. Hence the need for large amounts of hard drive space even for music. Backing up a disc image of any DVD you have will also eat 4.7GB right up.

 

This digital collection might not be worth anything but the price of the hard drive hardware itself, but the time I spent putting it all together and organizing everything by release date is precious to me. These dated and labeled folders are like a time machine. It's one thing to look at one item and say ah I remember that, but when you put TV episodes that premiered on the same day back to back you get vivid memories of the day you watched all those shows. Or cds that all came out around the same time, you start to remember catalogs and store displays you went through back then. Even for times where you weren't born yet, you get a sense of "cool so this is what people slightly older than me were interested in or had available to them"

 

Also there are some things that even digital are really hard to find. There are TV series that have not been released on DVD that are still not posted online or very few people have. It takes a lot of searching to find episodes of a forgotten, less popular show. You have to get lucky and hope that someone out there recorded it on VHS. When you do finally find something that was hard to get, you feel that same sense of accomplishment.

 

Also as far as the prices go, some of that false lack of supply comes from hoarders who buy like 50 copies of their favorite game like Final Fantasy VII or Super Mario World. Millions were made and sold yeah, but who knows how many are still intact and unbroken now? Then how many people are sitting on 50 units of the same variant and wasting the supply? There would be more than enough out there for everyone and in good condition too if 100 people weren't trying to make themselves a store. 100 hoarders within a country of millions of people sitting on 50 copies of 1 game take 5,000 copies of said game out of circulation. Now see where supply and demand rarity comes from?

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I've sold several ebay auction lots of video games to major resellers in recent months and they simply mark-up the games and instantly list them.

Sure, they'll sell some of them to (mostly) unaware and uneducated buyers but they're grossly overcharging for the games and then others see those inflated prices and follow the pricing.

 

Each to their own...

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Neither 'interesting' or 'beautiful' imply 'rare' or 'unique'. Also, interest and beauty is something that's purely subjective, while rarity and uniqueness is measurable.

 

Someone can easily have more interest in the content, rather than the distribution mechanism. If someone is interested in collecting games, but cart shells and optical media hold no interest, then a digital collection makes sense for that person. For someone else who values the distribution mechanism, the digital collection will hold little interest, but that doesn't mean the digital content is not a collection.

Andre81 never said rare, though. Interesting and unique are, though, related. And you seem to be making the dictionary fallacy, that is strictly reading what a dictionary defines a word as, when in reality the meaning is dictated by usage. And in the gaming world, very few would consider a bunch of easily downloadable free ROMs to be a "collection". I have every NES ROM on my computer, does that make it a collection? It's not in the least "interesting".

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Andre81 never said rare, though. Interesting and unique are, though, related. And you seem to be making the dictionary fallacy, that is strictly reading what a dictionary defines a word as, when in reality the meaning is dictated by usage. And in the gaming world, very few would consider a bunch of easily downloadable free ROMs to be a "collection". I have every NES ROM on my computer, does that make it a collection? It's not in the least "interesting".

 

Interesting does not mean unique, nor does the reverse stand true. It's very easy to come across interesting things which are in no way unique.

 

Regarding word utilization, if I continuously use the word 'fox' to describe a dog, that doesn't make it correct. Words can be misused and that's exactly what's happening here.

 

You apparently didn't read what I wrote, because it takes in to account what you posted. Just because something isn't of interest to you, and you wouldn't consider it a collection in your own possession, doesn't mean it isn't of interest and a collection to someone else.

 

I really don't understand why it bothers some people so much if others collect digital media. How exactly does it affect them in any way? Are they concerned that people won't be as impressed with your collection? If so, maybe they should stop worrying so much about what other people think and build a collection that's meaningful to them.

 

As I said above, this conversation isn't worth the hassle. I'm very comfortable with my various collections (both physical and digital), as they make me happy. What others have to say about it doesn't minimize my collections in any way.

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Interesting does not mean unique, nor does the reverse stand true. It's very easy to come across interesting things which are in no way unique.

The opposite of both unique and interesting is mundane... But I didn't say that they were the same, but related.

 

Regarding word utilization, if I continuously use the word 'fox' to describe a dog, that doesn't make it correct. Words can be misused and that's exactly what's happening here.

1. No, it's not. It's specializing a word for a particular context.

 

2. That actually exactly would be correct. The word "fox" is derived etymologically, ultimately from *-pukos, which means tail. No one today would even think of making the connection. Consider too words that change in our own lifetime. When we were kids, a web meant some sort of weave for catching, like spider's web. Who would have thought prior to 1990 that "web" would also mean a series of interconnected electronic networks for viewing HTML pages? Languages change. It wasn't until the 16th century that "run" meant to operate a machine, and 19th for it to mean "be in charge".

 

With that in mind, it seems silly to refer to hobbyist collections as merely any collection. The two are separate and distinct in the minds of many, and that's a perfectly legitimate usage for the word.

 

I myself cannot think of any other object other than freely and easily obtained digital files that when gathered together are not at once unique or interesting in some way. No two jars of pennies are alike, and all that.

 

PS, I don't think anyone is "upset" at others calling their easily and freely obtained collection of digital files a "collection", but to compare it to the difficulty, expense, and materiality of a physical collection is diminishing of the latter.

Edited by o.pwuaioc
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I've sold several ebay auction lots of video games to major resellers in recent months and they simply mark-up the games and instantly list them.

Sure, they'll sell some of them to (mostly) unaware and uneducated buyers but they're grossly overcharging for the games and then others see those inflated prices and follow the pricing.

 

Each to their own...

 

Seems to be a growing trend on ebay - list grossly overpriced BIN's and prey on the gullible and uniformed. They seem to be outnumbering the simple auctions anymore. Hardly anyone starts anything at a penny or a dollar and just lets it ride. Everything is rare. Actual true rarity is so rare on ebay that the word common is now rare.

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The grossly overprices BINs tend to lie in the shelves like lead, though. Every buyer who has a few brain cells to spare should be able to show a little patience and wait for a few auctions of the same game.

 

What annoys me most about those BINs is this: Sellers (both private and professional) on flea markets who fire up their iPhone while haggling and show it to you, saying: "See, THAT's for how much this game goes on ebay". How dumb and inexperienced do they think I am?

 

There are also funny moments on flea market. Some old lady asked 15 Euro for a Super Mario Land Gameboy cart. When I told her that's bullshit, she insisted that Gameboy games go for 200 Euro or more on ebay. All of 'em! I showed her a heap of 5 GB carts which I bought for a total of 4 Euro two booths away. She didn't believe me. Good luck selling those Gameboy carts, Ma'am :-).

Edited by karokoenig
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when in reality the meaning is dictated by usage.

This is true.

 

Regarding word utilization, if I continuously use the word 'fox' to describe a dog, that doesn't make it correct. Words can be misused

This is also true.

 

Words are not only defined by usage, for if that were the case, there would be no such thing as incorrect usage. One could call a "fork" a "wheel" and it would be correct. Words are defined by common usage, with extra weight given to notable usage (e.g., usage by published authors). Dictionaries don't originally define any words, they simply attempt to document already-existing definitions which have arisen naturally from common and notable usage.

 

Someone can have a "collection" of anything, including digital files. There are really only two things that matter for determining whether something is a "collection" or not:

 

1. There has to be more than one of something.

2. These things had to have been intentionally "collected" by someone (not simply gathered by someone; there has to be "collector intent"). In other words, just because e.g., your driveway happens to have a ton of rocks, that doesn't make it a rock collection.

Edited by MaximRecoil
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And I think your logic is flawed. Although more than ever digital DLs are being sold they have zero collectability.

 

You can download all the Atari 2600 or NES ROMs, but is this a collection? No, it isn't. A collection is something that is not readily available. Something you've built over the years, that is unique in the world.

 

In 15 years you can download all PS4 as a Torrent or whatever we use then. But that is no collection.

 

You can collect vinyl, but not MP3s.

And I think your logic is flawed :lol:(not trying to be mean).A collection Is "the action or process of collecting someone or something" so you can collect PS4/X1 games.Now obviously they won't be worth anything but you can very well(when it is possible) collect them.just my 2 cents...

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