What is the state of retro game collecting in 2019? We discuss where the hobby is at and where it could be headed. ✅Listen to us @cupodcast.podbean.com ✅More info @
Well, I'm still playing Mario, Castlevania, and Turtles in Time every few weeks or months. Nothing has changed. Nothing left to buy worth playing either.
I jumped on board super super late. Started with the Famicom and now I have 3sh systems I enjoy collecting for (Famicom,neo geo cd, turbo grafx) I think maybe the nostalgia will eventually just give out for curiousty and people going out of the nintendo/Sony/Sega bubble
I think one big factor I didn't hear mentioned is how the collecting craze pretty much killed off traditional game collecting i.e. finding the stuff at flea markets and thift stores. That's not a new factor to all this, that started happening in the early part of the decade, but I think it's the longest-lasting one. Some of the biggest enjoyment I got out of the hobby was discovering random games and especially gems out in the wild. Nostalgia is what got most people into the hobby, but I think it was interest in game hunting that really fueled the fire. I'll never forget finding a blank genesis case in a local Goodwill that just happened to contain a copy of MUSHA with the manual for $5 or finding an absolutely pristine copy of Power Blade 2 in the same store for $3. I found 20 sealed Sega CD games in a bin priced at $4 a piece in 2006 and this included stuff like Robo Aleste, Vay, Popful Mail and both Lunar games. Any given day, you could go into one and find an NES system, often complete for $10 or less. You pretty much couldn't give away N64s and they, along with the games littered shelves and garage sales. Unfortunately, this just doesn't happen anymore. Grifters and resellers hoovered up every single thing even remotely game-related and ended up pricing a ton of people out of the hobby. That's not even mentioning a major chain like Goodwill where a lot of people like me found this stuff eventually caught on and never put it out on the shelves anymore and instead slaps them up on their auction site for absurd amounts of money. I fell out of this hobby for years because I realized after the thrill of the hunt was gone, I just didn't care that much. Without that rush of discovery, the only people left in the hobby are the hardcores who squabble with each other over how high the price should go for their shitty multi-cart that only they want.
You're no different or more special than anyone else who entered the hobby. Nostalgia and the thrill of the hunt is pretty much the story for everyone. The only difference between the time you got in it and they did was there are more people doing it now.
media is responsible for mainstreaming the game hunting craze, where as the only people that might play them are people who have nostalgia, versus those that are into it purely as an investment, rising values game.
I think getting my Everdrives really opened my eyes to how I really already had the carts I wanted to own and that such a vast amount of games are just a waste of space and money
Yep, would I rather have a room full of boxes and cartridges, or a nice big Wega KV-36FV310 and some modded systems and Everdrives? I know my little one won't care about carts, that's only for me.
@@kevinmiller8111 It's all based on our individual nostalgia so much, it's interesting. For some reason, Xbox 360 is still a newish system in my head even though it's reaching 15 years old. Just like I'll use the year 2000 as a reference point for how many years ago even though it's pointless, the 360 is just one of those things that will be permanently modern in my head for some reason. Now the OG Xbox? Waaay different story. Being a part of the softmodding community and the early days of modding Halo 2 online floooods me with nostalgia that i could never replace.
Well the 7th gen was the start of HD graphics. Eh for me it's not nostalgia for my cutoff point. The 7th gen of consoles was the last one without excessive microtransactions, dlc, and day 1 patches. Everything afterward I only bother picking up platform exclusives that don't require massive patches (since at that point it's basically a digital copy anyway). I find the 7th gen and older consoles have tons of games that are unlikely to be ported to PC or other digital distribution with each passing gen since I'm finding less and less of a reason to bother collecting for it. The PS4 will be the last home console I'm collecting for (only exclusives I want + a handful of other games I want a physical copy for) and the Switch might very well be the last handheld one, it's not the same anymore.
Speaking from a mid-20's age demographic, things seem to be more series/franchise focuses when it comes to collecting. People want to own every entry for Castlevania / Zelda / Pokemon etc.
I'm 18 and have been into game collecting since I was like 8. My collection is still fairly small but I am still gonna keep collecting for the foreseeable future
@@jacobyne That's a interesting question. For me personally I find stuff like stuff before the 6th generation appealing mainly because of retro gaming channels on UA-cam. The problem with young people not collecting those consoles is the price and how hard it is to find those games out in the wild. Look at the prices for ps2 and the original Xbox and how dirt cheap the games are and how easy it is to find in the wild. With stuff like the snes, nes and ps1 those consoles are fairly expensive to collect for, especially when you consider the income if most kids and teenagers
I'm glad the hype died down cause I was never collecting for posterity I was collecting just so I could get my hands on old games I played as a kid and even some I may have missed because I didn't have income to buy all the greats so to me this is a blessing
@@justinwilliam4644 Emulation is nice. I emulate most retro games that I already own, because lets be real, controls and graphics of most of these games are kinda shitty now, specially N64, and stuff like framemeister and RGB/HD mods for consoles, cables and converters are just ludicrously priced and distributed. I'm pro Emulation but I also like knowing that I own an original physical copy of the game. I recently beat Majora's Mask on my PC with a Texture pack, it looks gorgeous and it feels great on a Dualshock 4, but I proudly own my golden cart complete with its box, so for some of us emulation is not enough, we need to own the thing.
for me I've realized that going for complete is an impossible task, better to focus on the games I want to play, have a moderate but worthwhile collection
This has always been true. Problem is that just reinforces are materialistic nature. I wish I had let go of more stuff growing up. Now I am a slave to my stuff.,
I've never understood collecting just to collect. They are video games, I've always collected on the mindset like "hey this game looks cool and interesting I want to try it out." I've only ever sold parts of my small collection because I was low on money not because I wanted to make a profit. I loved collecting for Genesis years back because it was so much cheaper than collecting for SNES and you could find tons of interesting bargain bin titles.
As an NES collector I now have a personal rule that I don't buy any other games until I beat the ones I have. The insane prices keep me from grabbing anything new.
Until they start selling Original Xbox, PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Gamecube, Sega Saturn. Then the hobby is not going anywhere. The 3rd and 4th Generation isn't the only reason why retro collecting is a thing.
"Don't want to deal with it when I'm 60"... I'm 54 and just bought the systems I wanted when I was young but couldn't afford them back then. I'm not after a complete collection of anything, but I want to have fun with those system.
@@Kourumeme But the ability to PLAY what you wanted with a natural feeling controller meant the curious do not need to fight the market. Another bubble may come, I don't see it coming for the NES. Atari saw its time and didn't really retake the fever. Without the generational rose-tinted glasses, the market will be between collectors and no real new, impulsive interest
Stumbled on to this channel by accident. Watched from oldest to newest video. Love the gaming passion from Pat. Ian seems to have this "I know it all therefore your opinions are wrong" vibe. Anyone else feel this vibe?
I do think it's a bit ridiculous how much prices for retro games have skyrocketed. I remember buying certain games for a fraction of the price they are not even 10 years ago. I really hope that prices start falling again soon as the craze dies down.
As an avid collector this is one of those times when you realize how much Pat knows his stuff. I've been noticing the softening of prices for the last couple of years and he perfectly explains it here
Truth be told, I LOVE collecting (not just having and playing the games, but also the thrill of the hunt), but I'm headed to TooManyGames in a few weeks, and my list of things I want is essentially nothing. I'm WAY more excited to see friends and hang out.
Not sure if I should laugh or cry watching this a year later. Prices went absolutely crazy with the pandemic and they are higher than ever for almost everything.
I've been a video game retailer for the past 5-6 years. When I started with games, NES/SNES were hot and we sold so many original, Hyperkin and other clone consoles and so many games for those two systems. The past two years NES/SNES has completely faded out, part of that is RetroPie and others are these Nintendo made NES/SNES consoles and the ability to play a lot of it on the Switch. It's also the generation of games changing, the Gamecube/N64/Dreamcast/Saturn fans are really blowing up those markets. N64 has cooled but Gamecube is still hot and will continue to be as people want controllers and Smash Bros for it. Dreamcast/Saturn are hot because the good games are hard to find. Dreamcast especially, so many great RPGs for that system and they are not common. As the group of gamers get older, the collectibles market always shifts to the group that is around 24-30, they get their first real jobs/paychecks, they have extra cash and they want the things they had as a kid that they can now afford or that "mom" sold at a garage sale.
DC RPGs? We had arou d 10, even including Shemue (which really isn't one). Skies Grandia Evolution 1 & 2 Evo 7th Cross Time Stalkers Sega Collection (Phantasy Star 2) Phantasy Star Online (kinda) E.G.G. Silver Lodoss War Then a few Japanese ones Umm... Maybe L.O.L.?? Wow... Not a great list. I mean Skies and Grandia are great... Then it kinda drags out.
As someone who sells on eBay, I think a huge part of the stagnation in prices is due to bootlegs (DVDs and games). While real collectors will see through them, they are getting harder to pinpoint, and the overabundance of them flood the aftermarket. People who are quickly looking for a copy of game will most likely buy them. Why buy a used copy of Conker's with a beat up label for $35 when you can get a pristine copy for $20?
Hi Pat! I been watching your videos for a long time and started a small collection of NES games in 2002’. Very recently I got the itch to collect more just for the nostalgia. There’s so many games I never got to play as a kid so I found myself just buying any game just for the sake of having it. I downloaded your app as well to help me which btw I think is amazing! After going crazy buying a bunch of games though, I ended up having buyers remorse because I don’t have room for all these games and thought maybe I should of just bought an emulator. And I think that’s also affected the drop in people’s interest of physically collecting these games. As I’m already feeling the same way. It’s just a haste for me to have all this stuff everywhere and it’s not convenient. Personally I think I’m still gonna keep collecting though but I am feeling very indifferent about it.
Great conversation guys. Pretty much everything you mentioned I have noticed as well. One trend I've noticed in more recent years is Nintendo stuff going down a little bit in price and a lot of Sega stuff going up (Dreamcast, Saturn and now Genesis which I think is being caused by the Analogue Mega SG's recent release).
Really happy to see you doing an updated video on this topic. Your old video about the state of retro game collecting was actually the first video I saw from you. As for selling off collections I have seen this and heard about this quite a lot actually. People either don't care anymore, need the money for something else (mostly their new family), someone dies or they reduce their collection to the absolute minimum, usually the games that they're most passionate or nostalgic about. I have also heard quite a lot of people say that they do not want to have a bunch of consoles at home or a CRT. So they just get a Retropie etc. It will be really interesting to see what retro game collecting will turn into in the next few years. I am also curious whether this will have an effect on online message boards, subreddits or even UA-cam channels. If the interest declines will some channels go down under or will they adapt? E.g. James Rolfe now frequently reviews PS1/Dreamcast etc. games. This would probably have been unthinkable 5 years ago.
This is actually good news. When I first tried getting into retro gaming, that was back around 2015, when prices were crazy. It was very discouraging, but now it seems that collecting will be more doable.
I'm one of those collectors that really only wants stuff that I'm going to play, or at least plan it. It's interesting to see some of these wacky prices but I pretty much agree with y'all.
I started collecting a year ago and you guys described my collecting pattern exactly. I started out with NES games, getting odd ones just to try to collect them all. Realized it would cost too much so shifted to just the ones I really enjoyed. This made me start collecting old PS2 games I loved, and SNES, Genesis, Master System, N64 and even 360.
I am happy that I started collecting NES games 10 years ago. I have around 660 individual NES games now. The prices on those spiked and now it is just not worth the money to collect for. The original XBox is also a good system to collect for. They are easy to find in the wild and they are cheap.
I sold my collection in 2016 to JJgames (about 35% off retail price) Cause I moved to collect the rights of video games. So far 150+ different old school video game IPs acquired.
I feel this is true. I was an avid shopper at my local retro game store 8 years ago. I probably frequent that store 2 to 3 time a week seeing if any rare game came through the door to buy. I have not shopped at any Retro Store or even gone to any Video Game Swaps in at least 3 years now. Maybe because the prices are stupid high now for certain games or maybe I'm just happy with the games I own right now.
I scaled down my collection to just a few essentials. Nes, snes, N64, and PS1. I also still have my genesis but I don't collect for it. I had to stop the hobby a couple of years ago and take a break because I just couldn't fight the prices of the games I wanted. I am not going for complete sets, but I do want some of the hard to find games for those systems. Anyway I knew that eventually the bubble would burst. It seems to be very close now.
I've noticed a price drop in the common retro games especially SNES and NES. Genesis prices have always been reasonable from what I've seen. I don't know about PS1 and PS2 since I haven't collected for those systems heavily for the past 3 years.
@@videogameobsession I usually find decent deals on Amazon and EBay. I mean the prices aren't where they were two years ago. I just look through what's on the market at any given time rather than jump on a game that's selling on the first page or wait for a seller that has it at the right price for me. Would be great if retro games could be had at the prices eighteen or even twenty years ago.
I have a google doc spreadsheet for games that I want for each system. Unless it's among the rarest for each system, I'm look up the reviews, and watch gameplay online to make sure that it's something I'm going to play.
The game store that I used to work at a few years ago, I saw a lot of interest in retro from younger kids. I remember selling a Sega Master System to a middle-school aged kid and lots of n64 and nes games.
I’m 21, I got into collecting when I was 16. I live on a small island on the east coast of Canada, so the market was never very good, but when the market peaked it 2016 it pretty much just killed it. I started a Facebook group to help people buy and sell their games and when collecting became the hot thing all the resellers flocked to it. Now the scene around me is so dead that the only people who have games to sell are resellers, and they aren’t moving them
You have to comb through the sold listings on eBay to filter out the numerous, numerous repros that have impacted the average selling prices of popular and collectible games. You would be surprised how many games have retained their value once you remove repros from the mix.
Yeah, I myself have been thining out my collection lately and I've noticed that the prices have gone down on those. Just a few weeks ago a guy at the flea market was selling NES games (stable ones like Mario and Zelda) for 5 dollars a piece. Plus, I don't see as many sells that often anymore. I remember in the old days there would be at least 10 sellers at my flea market selling games alone, not counting other sellers who would have random games. I remember seeing ebay hunters looking for games, no matter what the quality. It just isn't like that anymore.
Great take on a very interesting topic. I have only recently had the time to restart my collecting of NES games. My son showing interest in the games really pushed this along. I'm guilty of being in the, I am only buying games I want to play at this point and am sitting around 200 titles. Repro carts are also playing a role in this. If playability is someone's concern, then why pay hundreds when you can pay under $50? The ever drive absolutely plays a part in this decline as well. I will say, if this trend continues, I may very well go ahead and complete the set but for now, I'm not even considering games I have no interest in playing. Luckily, there are so many NES games worth playing that I still have a ways to go for my son and I. Thanks for the video!
And it was awesome for me. SNES Classic "upgraded" is about everything I wanted since my Super Scope won't work on a Roku TV, I am fine just playing what I want
I recently sold my SNES collection for over $8000.00. I only had about 1/2 the set, although I did have most of the rarer titles. I didn't lose any money on any of it with the exception of a few titles. I've noticed that there are some obscure SNES games that people don't really want. I would say It really depends on which game you are talking about like you guys said. Overall, the market hasn't fallen that much, though.
The virtual boy has skyrocketed in price recently. A working unit could be bought for around 80 dollars a few years ago. A broken unit can not be touched for less than 100 now and a working unit could easily go for 200-300.
Do you think the market peaked for NES/SNES when Nintendo brought back those Nintendo Mini and SNES mini consoles? I sold my NES/SNES collection back in 2016 though it wasnt very robust I just felt like where I live that I dont come across deals at all and most of my collection was coming from ebay.. I guess if I lived in a bigger city or was able to go to swap meets and such Id probably still have my collection. I really don't miss it though it was just taking up space in my house collecting dust. Now when I find a great deal (got Yoshis Story 64 for $1 the other day) I just mark it up on ebay and sell it xD It still pays to know the values of some of these games for sure
I scaled down my collection a LOT recently. At the same time though, several of my friends have started getting pretty serious about GameCube collecting. Kinda strange for me to see, but it's not that surprising. Like it or not, that's what the future holds for game collecting I guess.
I’m wondering if the Ultimate NES app would allow for tracking of data prices to reinforce just how much the value of a complete NES collection has fallen, the largest single drop in % of a single cart value, and more. I would love to see the numbers if the app has the ability to share that info from the backend data.
Honestly I find myself collecting for two systems primarily, the 3DS and original Xbox. For the 3ds I've gotten most of the games I'm interested in and only need a couple of more to be done with it, and for the original Xbox I collect for it since it usually has the cheapest version of a multi platform game, that generally look nicer (i.e. they run at 480p), and some exclusives for it that look fun.
As someone who has been buying games for a while, even when the prices were at their total peak for nes, snes and genesis, I’ve had limits, which is why I have a pretty small collection, but I can say that being patient really helps in getting What you want for a reasonable price
I agree, due to prices and not having internet, I could never collect the way I wanted nor did I know values, I bought what Icould afford. Nowadays, I still collect and try to get a good mixture of rare, memorable, and good deal games, but Im glad prices have dropped because what is still a fun hobby to me, really took a backsear due to high prices and the craze. Friends wanting their childhood games found it difficult to get them due to price and availability and that sucked because what they were looking for never should have been that hard and pricey to track down. Glad it is shifting to make things easier and cheaper to find for those of us who want memories and preservation not get rich quick schemes.
Modern retro gaming scene owes a lot to streamers who do variety shows and gong pits, people who watch videos or streams of people playing old games trying to play each game and give it a fair shake or squeeze joy from a bad game, like I remember a game that wasn't fun made me laugh and therefore I have good memories of it.
I'm collecting games I used to have as a kid, or systems and games I wanted as a kid but couldn't afford. Last little while I've been buying SegaCD stuff mostly if I can find good deals on it. I hope prices go down for other systems like the NES because i'd love to get a bigger collection.
a friend and i started collecting just out of nostalgia and then my friend that was a bit more tech savvy figured out how to make a raspberry pi box and that was pretty much the end of collecting besides sealed games and ultra rare games that are actually fun i see the values of these games sinking like sports cards in the 90s
So Pat, do you think video game collecting is heading back to being a underground scene again? Being that game collecting has been mainstream the last decade almost
@@Oceanandskylinevidss yep, it really sucks. I'm glad i got earthbound and many other rare games before 2020, but there are still many more games i want but their prices have petty much tripled
I feel that once the PS5 and and Series X are regularly in-stock and easy to buy, people will dump all of their pandemic retro games. People are playing these because they don't have access to current gen consoles.
@@gmti486 This is a really interesting theory. I’ll be very curious if this holds true. One piece of evidence to support your theory is that used PS4’s and Xbox One’s continue to hold their price (if not increased). I have never seen that before when a new generation of systems are released. Ever.
@@mielthesquid6536 I am all for the value of retro video games to plummet providing the otherside of the hobby's coin isn't hurt too badly. If interest in our hobby died away too much we might see cool aftermarket tech dry up and people simply throwing away their old games rather than bothering to get a few measly bucks selling them.
We completed the xbox 360 collection this year. A fun new system to collect. At the moment im looking for N64 and Wii U. Both are hard sets to complete. The fun part for me is the variants of games for the xbox 360 like classics, best sellers, not for resale, and other editions. It never ends 😎
What I never hear about in any of these talks on any channel, is the people like me that don't resell, not starting a musuem or a store, rarely trade, but just collect for the enjoyment of the hobby and only look at the value as how hard it is to replace and will still collect if the market crashes and won't cry about the loss of value, I think most people got into it for the wrong reasons or just to turn a profit.
Maybe it comes down to emulation as well, I doubt a lot of people would still want to buy the 8/16 bit era game when they are so simple to emulate and are fairly accurate. When it comes to later gen consoles they are harder to emulate or can still be played on modern consoles via backwards compatibility, they may fair a little bit better later on for collecting as there is no other way to play them. The fact that Ian mentions saturn is starting to rise in cost (my thoughts) is mostly due to no simple decent running emulator or backwards compatible console like there is for the psone so people tend to grab original games due to lack of another option. My 2 cents anyhow.
Collecting for Master System/Mark III/SG-1000 mainly. Also some Gamecube, N64, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Genesis. Price has always got to be right though. 60 bucks is the limit for any game and then it needs to be a game I want to play.
I kinda collect, but I only buy stuff I want to play. That's why I really don't want to sell anything because I still use all my consoles. Some more regular than others, but every year i'm in a sega saturn kick and play that for awhile. I know I will miss it if it goes.
There will people people in the years/generations to come to be just as if not more excited about collecting SNES/retro games than we are now. There will always be a desire.
Just a thought. You mentioned how Mario kart has gone from 47 to 33 bucks a Cart. Which I agree the price has gone down. However a lot of the prices on price chart are a little off because they are also including sales of "repro" games. Which makes it look lower the it actually might be.
I started sharing a room with my girlfriend in an apartment with 3 other people and I downsized everything. It made me take a really hard look at my collection and ask myself "what do I actually like here?"
It depends where you are In Canada Retro collecting is huge. I think you guys are underrating the market. I think its become just as popular or more. I know a ton of retro collectors and I will go into the retro stores and they tell me how much games they sell and collections they buy for inventory on a regular bases. So I don't think its dying at all.
Still chipping away at my extensive list of games I want. Got Wario land 4 for the gba a few days ago. Never felt the need to buy games I don't have any intention of playing.
sketchesofpayne I have a store I got to about a hour from me that sells PS2 games as low as $0.88 and it’s not sports games. Highest priced PS2 game I have saw there was $33 for Silent Hill Shattered Memories a very uncommon game for the system. Recently the store got a ton of sealed PS2 games in ranging from common to rare. They were priced really well. Right now collecting for PS2/PS3 is really cheap.
I feel the market will always be there but popularity certainly peaked. I got into retro collecting and bought system I owned as a kid back in 2009 when I discovered Pete Dorr and right before All Gen Gamers podcast started, I wanted to buy anything and everything. I ended up selling everything with just a few exceptions. I only sold because they weren't complete and I want to eventually rebuy the games and systems I owned as a kid CIB, I just haven't gotten around to it, I am busy buying Blurays and XBox360 games to beef up my collection of them. But peoples interest in retro video games is still there, interest will be decent for decades to come. Some peoples interest in collecting will come and go and come again, others will be more steady. Even though I do not collect retro currently I have steadily maintained interest in the UA-cam gaming community for over 10 years and that is what is important, an interest. I am just waiting for a time I feel is good to hit up some game cons and start buying again. If an interest is there so will buyers and collectors, buying anything and everything is just not going to be so much of a thing like it was at it's peak.
really? that's kind of a low availability but low demand system, the cheapest games for me have always been genesis, ps1, ps2 since they're as common as dust.
I collected a modest amount of retro games between 2007-2011.. then got married and kinda priced out of it. I’m looking to downsize now to just the games I want to play and games for game competitions that I’ve had and will do amongst friends. It sucks, but I’m also fine with the prices coming down off their peaks bc I got in before they were a premium. Then you combine doing the leg work to sell and the interest in Atari, nes, and snes waning. Lol I don’t think I’ll take a hit but time will tell
Where do you think the hobby of retro game collecting is in 2019? Are you still collecting? What system(s)?
Everything peaked in 2016.
Well, I'm still playing Mario, Castlevania, and Turtles in Time every few weeks or months. Nothing has changed. Nothing left to buy worth playing either.
i still collect but have mostly been pushed out of the market about 8 or so years ago, i switched to more obscure stuff to still get bargains.
I jumped on board super super late. Started with the Famicom and now I have 3sh systems I enjoy collecting for (Famicom,neo geo cd, turbo grafx)
I think maybe the nostalgia will eventually just give out for curiousty and people going out of the nintendo/Sony/Sega bubble
@@ninjamaster3453 Peaked in 2016... when I bought most of my collection. Boy I know how to pick the wrong time to enter a market.
I think one big factor I didn't hear mentioned is how the collecting craze pretty much killed off traditional game collecting i.e. finding the stuff at flea markets and thift stores. That's not a new factor to all this, that started happening in the early part of the decade, but I think it's the longest-lasting one. Some of the biggest enjoyment I got out of the hobby was discovering random games and especially gems out in the wild. Nostalgia is what got most people into the hobby, but I think it was interest in game hunting that really fueled the fire.
I'll never forget finding a blank genesis case in a local Goodwill that just happened to contain a copy of MUSHA with the manual for $5 or finding an absolutely pristine copy of Power Blade 2 in the same store for $3. I found 20 sealed Sega CD games in a bin priced at $4 a piece in 2006 and this included stuff like Robo Aleste, Vay, Popful Mail and both Lunar games. Any given day, you could go into one and find an NES system, often complete for $10 or less. You pretty much couldn't give away N64s and they, along with the games littered shelves and garage sales. Unfortunately, this just doesn't happen anymore.
Grifters and resellers hoovered up every single thing even remotely game-related and ended up pricing a ton of people out of the hobby. That's not even mentioning a major chain like Goodwill where a lot of people like me found this stuff eventually caught on and never put it out on the shelves anymore and instead slaps them up on their auction site for absurd amounts of money. I fell out of this hobby for years because I realized after the thrill of the hunt was gone, I just didn't care that much. Without that rush of discovery, the only people left in the hobby are the hardcores who squabble with each other over how high the price should go for their shitty multi-cart that only they want.
You're no different or more special than anyone else who entered the hobby. Nostalgia and the thrill of the hunt is pretty much the story for everyone. The only difference between the time you got in it and they did was there are more people doing it now.
@@gamewizardks Uh, I'm pretty sure I didn't say I was special or different. I'm not really sure what you're trying to get across here.
media is responsible for mainstreaming the game hunting craze, where as the only people that might play them are people who have nostalgia, versus those that are into it purely as an investment, rising values game.
I think getting my Everdrives really opened my eyes to how I really already had the carts I wanted to own and that such a vast amount of games are just a waste of space and money
Yep, would I rather have a room full of boxes and cartridges, or a nice big Wega KV-36FV310 and some modded systems and Everdrives? I know my little one won't care about carts, that's only for me.
Everdrives got me to give up on collecting Gen 3, 4 and N64 games. Still collecting PS1-PS4, OG Xbox and 360 and later Nintendo consoles though.
@@kevinmiller8111 It's all based on our individual nostalgia so much, it's interesting. For some reason, Xbox 360 is still a newish system in my head even though it's reaching 15 years old. Just like I'll use the year 2000 as a reference point for how many years ago even though it's pointless, the 360 is just one of those things that will be permanently modern in my head for some reason.
Now the OG Xbox? Waaay different story. Being a part of the softmodding community and the early days of modding Halo 2 online floooods me with nostalgia that i could never replace.
Well the 7th gen was the start of HD graphics. Eh for me it's not nostalgia for my cutoff point. The 7th gen of consoles was the last one without excessive microtransactions, dlc, and day 1 patches. Everything afterward I only bother picking up platform exclusives that don't require massive patches (since at that point it's basically a digital copy anyway). I find the 7th gen and older consoles have tons of games that are unlikely to be ported to PC or other digital distribution with each passing gen since I'm finding less and less of a reason to bother collecting for it.
The PS4 will be the last home console I'm collecting for (only exclusives I want + a handful of other games I want a physical copy for)
and the Switch might very well be the last handheld one, it's not the same anymore.
Speaking from a mid-20's age demographic, things seem to be more series/franchise focuses when it comes to collecting. People want to own every entry for Castlevania / Zelda / Pokemon etc.
I'm 18 and have been into game collecting since I was like 8. My collection is still fairly small but I am still gonna keep collecting for the foreseeable future
How do people your age look at retrocollecting, especially nes, snes, ps1, saturn?
Are you gonna concentrate on consoles like gba, psp or ds?
@@jacobyne That's a interesting question. For me personally I find stuff like stuff before the 6th generation appealing mainly because of retro gaming channels on UA-cam. The problem with young people not collecting those consoles is the price and how hard it is to find those games out in the wild. Look at the prices for ps2 and the original Xbox and how dirt cheap the games are and how easy it is to find in the wild. With stuff like the snes, nes and ps1 those consoles are fairly expensive to collect for, especially when you consider the income if most kids and teenagers
@@jacobyne to answer the second part, I probably would concentrate on day just because how common it is
Feel like I've been waiting for this topic a long time, excited to hear this.
I'm glad the hype died down cause I was never collecting for posterity I was collecting just so I could get my hands on old games I played as a kid and even some I may have missed because I didn't have income to buy all the greats so to me this is a blessing
Why don't U just emulator them
@@justinwilliam4644 Emulation is nice. I emulate most retro games that I already own, because lets be real, controls and graphics of most of these games are kinda shitty now, specially N64, and stuff like framemeister and RGB/HD mods for consoles, cables and converters are just ludicrously priced and distributed. I'm pro Emulation but I also like knowing that I own an original physical copy of the game. I recently beat Majora's Mask on my PC with a Texture pack, it looks gorgeous and it feels great on a Dualshock 4, but I proudly own my golden cart complete with its box, so for some of us emulation is not enough, we need to own the thing.
I legit feel like we are finding more than ever lately. Pretty hyped ✊
@MY CATS COOL well thank you ♥️
Pixel Game Squad excellent
Because all the bandwagon people are selling off their collections now since they were just into it for the dick showing.
RetroHabit82 😆😆😆😆🙏🤘
Not me. For the last year or so if I find anything even remotely decent it's at eBay price anyway. Even at Goodwill. Plenty of sports games though.
I think the SNES classic and upcoming Sega classic, are a godsend
for me I've realized that going for complete is an impossible task, better to focus on the games I want to play, have a moderate but worthwhile collection
I am telling young people today to save the things they love you will love it more later
This has always been true. Problem is that just reinforces are materialistic nature. I wish I had let go of more stuff growing up. Now I am a slave to my stuff.,
I've never understood collecting just to collect. They are video games, I've always collected on the mindset like "hey this game looks cool and interesting I want to try it out." I've only ever sold parts of my small collection because I was low on money not because I wanted to make a profit. I loved collecting for Genesis years back because it was so much cheaper than collecting for SNES and you could find tons of interesting bargain bin titles.
As an NES collector I now have a personal rule that I don't buy any other games until I beat the ones I have. The insane prices keep me from grabbing anything new.
You probably wrote word for word what I do. I think it’s the best way to go.
I need to apply this rule
That was also my rule way back in the NES days. Nowadays I'm just happy to play a game for a few levels and call it a great day.
Emulators and Arcade Cabinets are in your local Walmarts. The retro experience has become modern. Prices will continue to fall.
Yay?
Until they start selling Original Xbox, PS2, PS1, Dreamcast, Gamecube, Sega Saturn. Then the hobby is not going anywhere. The 3rd and 4th Generation isn't the only reason why retro collecting is a thing.
"Don't want to deal with it when I'm 60"... I'm 54 and just bought the systems I wanted when I was young but couldn't afford them back then. I'm not after a complete collection of anything, but I want to have fun with those system.
Definitely noticed a decrease in NES & SNES games wanted, most likely because of the NES & SNES Classics being released.
Kaiser499 then the idea of a retro mini console is going to get stale. Plus collecting Is going to boost back up again due to it
@@Kourumeme
But the ability to PLAY what you wanted with a natural feeling controller meant the curious do not need to fight the market.
Another bubble may come, I don't see it coming for the NES. Atari saw its time and didn't really retake the fever.
Without the generational rose-tinted glasses, the market will be between collectors and no real new, impulsive interest
Stumbled on to this channel by accident. Watched from oldest to newest video. Love the gaming passion from Pat. Ian seems to have this "I know it all therefore your opinions are wrong" vibe. Anyone else feel this vibe?
Whatever happened to the "Ask Frank" videos?
You'll have to ask Pat, but I believe Pat moved and Frank is no longer his neighbor. They did a farewell ask Frank.
Frank has other planets to save.
@@Channel9001 I heard he's just busy with work because of the weather.
Yeah franks in Mexico man. Changed his name to Frankfurt .
I do think it's a bit ridiculous how much prices for retro games have skyrocketed. I remember buying certain games for a fraction of the price they are not even 10 years ago. I really hope that prices start falling again soon as the craze dies down.
Yup, I did a review for Snatcher in 2009 and prices were around £60-100. Now people want £300-400. Its ridiculous.
As an avid collector this is one of those times when you realize how much Pat knows his stuff. I've been noticing the softening of prices for the last couple of years and he perfectly explains it here
Truth be told, I LOVE collecting (not just having and playing the games, but also the thrill of the hunt), but I'm headed to TooManyGames in a few weeks, and my list of things I want is essentially nothing. I'm WAY more excited to see friends and hang out.
16:20 Pat: “We have the stuff we want”. Says the man with a full NES collection.
That's because he wasn't dumb n didn't wait
They never thought the prices would go up back then. They were worthless and abundant when they collected.
Not sure if I should laugh or cry watching this a year later. Prices went absolutely crazy with the pandemic and they are higher than ever for almost everything.
I've been a video game retailer for the past 5-6 years. When I started with games, NES/SNES were hot and we sold so many original, Hyperkin and other clone consoles and so many games for those two systems. The past two years NES/SNES has completely faded out, part of that is RetroPie and others are these Nintendo made NES/SNES consoles and the ability to play a lot of it on the Switch.
It's also the generation of games changing, the Gamecube/N64/Dreamcast/Saturn fans are really blowing up those markets. N64 has cooled but Gamecube is still hot and will continue to be as people want controllers and Smash Bros for it. Dreamcast/Saturn are hot because the good games are hard to find. Dreamcast especially, so many great RPGs for that system and they are not common.
As the group of gamers get older, the collectibles market always shifts to the group that is around 24-30, they get their first real jobs/paychecks, they have extra cash and they want the things they had as a kid that they can now afford or that "mom" sold at a garage sale.
DC RPGs? We had arou d 10, even including Shemue (which really isn't one).
Skies
Grandia
Evolution 1 & 2
Evo 7th Cross
Time Stalkers
Sega Collection (Phantasy Star 2)
Phantasy Star Online (kinda)
E.G.G.
Silver
Lodoss War
Then a few Japanese ones
Umm... Maybe L.O.L.??
Wow... Not a great list. I mean Skies and Grandia are great... Then it kinda drags out.
As someone who sells on eBay, I think a huge part of the stagnation in prices is due to bootlegs (DVDs and games). While real collectors will see through them, they are getting harder to pinpoint, and the overabundance of them flood the aftermarket. People who are quickly looking for a copy of game will most likely buy them. Why buy a used copy of Conker's with a beat up label for $35 when you can get a pristine copy for $20?
...bootlegs you say? Do they work the same as the legit copies?
I started buying records in 2009. You'd pay at the most $20-$30 for a rare side. Now the prices have shot up to $50-$100 for a used album.
Very interesting topic and good discussion. This is the stuff I love about Completely Unnecessary. Thanks!
Hi Pat! I been watching your videos for a long time and started a small collection of NES games in 2002’. Very recently I got the itch to collect more just for the nostalgia. There’s so many games I never got to play as a kid so I found myself just buying any game just for the sake of having it. I downloaded your app as well to help me which btw I think is amazing! After going crazy buying a bunch of games though, I ended up having buyers remorse because I don’t have room for all these games and thought maybe I should of just bought an emulator. And I think that’s also affected the drop in people’s interest of physically collecting these games. As I’m already feeling the same way. It’s just a haste for me to have all this stuff everywhere and it’s not convenient. Personally I think I’m still gonna keep collecting though but I am feeling very indifferent about it.
Great conversation guys. Pretty much everything you mentioned I have noticed as well. One trend I've noticed in more recent years is Nintendo stuff going down a little bit in price and a lot of Sega stuff going up (Dreamcast, Saturn and now Genesis which I think is being caused by the Analogue Mega SG's recent release).
I still find deals at garage sales for NES, and SNES. Twice a year for Atari vcs too.
Really happy to see you doing an updated video on this topic. Your old video about the state of retro game collecting was actually the first video I saw from you.
As for selling off collections I have seen this and heard about this quite a lot actually. People either don't care anymore, need the money for something else (mostly their new family), someone dies or they reduce their collection to the absolute minimum, usually the games that they're most passionate or nostalgic about. I have also heard quite a lot of people say that they do not want to have a bunch of consoles at home or a CRT. So they just get a Retropie etc.
It will be really interesting to see what retro game collecting will turn into in the next few years. I am also curious whether this will have an effect on online message boards, subreddits or even UA-cam channels. If the interest declines will some channels go down under or will they adapt? E.g. James Rolfe now frequently reviews PS1/Dreamcast etc. games. This would probably have been unthinkable 5 years ago.
Great video! Pat and Ian are legit 👏🍻
Condition of games is more important in the hobby too. Rarer titles in great condition are commanding better prices than they were a few years ago.
2007 to 2015/2016ish saw such craziness it was bound to go down. Thank god
I started to try to collect for retro systems, but then the Switch came out. Since then I’ve gone all in on it and am trying to collect for that.
This is actually good news. When I first tried getting into retro gaming, that was back around 2015, when prices were crazy. It was very discouraging, but now it seems that collecting will be more doable.
It was YOU! YOU jinxed it!
I'm one of those collectors that really only wants stuff that I'm going to play, or at least plan it. It's interesting to see some of these wacky prices but I pretty much agree with y'all.
I started collecting a year ago and you guys described my collecting pattern exactly. I started out with NES games, getting odd ones just to try to collect them all. Realized it would cost too much so shifted to just the ones I really enjoyed. This made me start collecting old PS2 games I loved, and SNES, Genesis, Master System, N64 and even 360.
I am happy that I started collecting NES games 10 years ago. I have around 660 individual NES games now. The prices on those spiked and now it is just not worth the money to collect for. The original XBox is also a good system to collect for. They are easy to find in the wild and they are cheap.
It's finally time to get my Pogs slabbed and graded.
I sold my collection in 2016 to JJgames (about 35% off retail price) Cause I moved to collect the rights of video games. So far 150+ different old school video game IPs acquired.
As one of your Kickstarter backers, I appreciate your efforts in getting 40 Winks a proper release.
Love the master system and was ecstatic when I found out the library size in europe.
I feel this is true. I was an avid shopper at my local retro game store 8 years ago. I probably frequent that store 2 to 3 time a week seeing if any rare game came through the door to buy. I have not shopped at any Retro Store or even gone to any Video Game Swaps in at least 3 years now. Maybe because the prices are stupid high now for certain games or maybe I'm just happy with the games I own right now.
I scaled down my collection to just a few essentials. Nes, snes, N64, and PS1. I also still have my genesis but I don't collect for it.
I had to stop the hobby a couple of years ago and take a break because I just couldn't fight the prices of the games I wanted. I am not going for complete sets, but I do want some of the hard to find games for those systems. Anyway I knew that eventually the bubble would burst. It seems to be very close now.
Everything looked so hopeful in 2019, it all seemed to be cooling down. 2020 really did a number on this hobby.
I've noticed a price drop in the common retro games especially SNES and NES. Genesis prices have always been reasonable from what I've seen. I don't know about PS1 and PS2 since I haven't collected for those systems heavily for the past 3 years.
@@videogameobsession I usually find decent deals on Amazon and EBay. I mean the prices aren't where they were two years ago. I just look through what's on the market at any given time rather than jump on a game that's selling on the first page or wait for a seller that has it at the right price for me. Would be great if retro games could be had at the prices eighteen or even twenty years ago.
I have a google doc spreadsheet for games that I want for each system. Unless it's among the rarest for each system, I'm look up the reviews, and watch gameplay online to make sure that it's something I'm going to play.
The game store that I used to work at a few years ago, I saw a lot of interest in retro from younger kids. I remember selling a Sega Master System to a middle-school aged kid and lots of n64 and nes games.
I’m 21, I got into collecting when I was 16. I live on a small island on the east coast of Canada, so the market was never very good, but when the market peaked it 2016 it pretty much just killed it. I started a Facebook group to help people buy and sell their games and when collecting became the hot thing all the resellers flocked to it. Now the scene around me is so dead that the only people who have games to sell are resellers, and they aren’t moving them
You have to comb through the sold listings on eBay to filter out the numerous, numerous repros that have impacted the average selling prices of popular and collectible games. You would be surprised how many games have retained their value once you remove repros from the mix.
Still collecting
Yeah, I myself have been thining out my collection lately and I've noticed that the prices have gone down on those. Just a few weeks ago a guy at the flea market was selling NES games (stable ones like Mario and Zelda) for 5 dollars a piece. Plus, I don't see as many sells that often anymore. I remember in the old days there would be at least 10 sellers at my flea market selling games alone, not counting other sellers who would have random games. I remember seeing ebay hunters looking for games, no matter what the quality. It just isn't like that anymore.
I collect for every system from Atari forward. Passing it all on to my son one day who is only 6 but LOVES to play ALL of them, old NES to modern PS4.
Great take on a very interesting topic. I have only recently had the time to restart my collecting of NES games. My son showing interest in the games really pushed this along. I'm guilty of being in the, I am only buying games I want to play at this point and am sitting around 200 titles. Repro carts are also playing a role in this. If playability is someone's concern, then why pay hundreds when you can pay under $50? The ever drive absolutely plays a part in this decline as well.
I will say, if this trend continues, I may very well go ahead and complete the set but for now, I'm not even considering games I have no interest in playing. Luckily, there are so many NES games worth playing that I still have a ways to go for my son and I.
Thanks for the video!
The mini consoles killed a lot of the collecting of snes and nes games. The same will happen to the n64 if they release a mini version of that.
And it was awesome for me. SNES Classic "upgraded" is about everything I wanted since my Super Scope won't work on a Roku TV, I am fine just playing what I want
Pat I didn't realize you were such a big comic book fan time to trade in all that retro gaming stuff first Jack Kirby goodness
THIS is what I need
A few years? It feels like they have this discussion every episode!
I am 23 and I would love to buy those collections xD
I still collect, and I hope it goes on for a while :3 I'm building up my Genesis collection
I recently sold my SNES collection for over $8000.00. I only had about 1/2 the set, although I did have most of the rarer titles. I didn't lose any money on any of it with the exception of a few titles. I've noticed that there are some obscure SNES games that people don't really want. I would say It really depends on which game you are talking about like you guys said. Overall, the market hasn't fallen that much, though.
The virtual boy has skyrocketed in price recently. A working unit could be bought for around 80 dollars a few years ago. A broken unit can not be touched for less than 100 now and a working unit could easily go for 200-300.
Collecting has become way too expensive I only buy games I had as a kid to relive the memories
Do you think the market peaked for NES/SNES when Nintendo brought back those Nintendo Mini and SNES mini consoles? I sold my NES/SNES collection back in 2016 though it wasnt very robust I just felt like where I live that I dont come across deals at all and most of my collection was coming from ebay.. I guess if I lived in a bigger city or was able to go to swap meets and such Id probably still have my collection. I really don't miss it though it was just taking up space in my house collecting dust. Now when I find a great deal (got Yoshis Story 64 for $1 the other day) I just mark it up on ebay and sell it xD It still pays to know the values of some of these games for sure
I scaled down my collection a LOT recently. At the same time though, several of my friends have started getting pretty serious about GameCube collecting. Kinda strange for me to see, but it's not that surprising. Like it or not, that's what the future holds for game collecting I guess.
I’m wondering if the Ultimate NES app would allow for tracking of data prices to reinforce just how much the value of a complete NES collection has fallen, the largest single drop in % of a single cart value, and more. I would love to see the numbers if the app has the ability to share that info from the backend data.
Honestly I find myself collecting for two systems primarily, the 3DS and original Xbox. For the 3ds I've gotten most of the games I'm interested in and only need a couple of more to be done with it, and for the original Xbox I collect for it since it usually has the cheapest version of a multi platform game, that generally look nicer (i.e. they run at 480p), and some exclusives for it that look fun.
As someone who has been buying games for a while, even when the prices were at their total peak for nes, snes and genesis, I’ve had limits, which is why I have a pretty small collection, but I can say that being patient really helps in getting What you want for a reasonable price
I agree, due to prices and not having internet, I could never collect the way I wanted nor did I know values, I bought what Icould afford. Nowadays, I still collect and try to get a good mixture of rare, memorable, and good deal games, but Im glad prices have dropped because what is still a fun hobby to me, really took a backsear due to high prices and the craze. Friends wanting their childhood games found it difficult to get them due to price and availability and that sucked because what they were looking for never should have been that hard and pricey to track down. Glad it is shifting to make things easier and cheaper to find for those of us who want memories and preservation not get rich quick schemes.
quality over quantity exactly
Modern retro gaming scene owes a lot to streamers who do variety shows and gong pits, people who watch videos or streams of people playing old games trying to play each game and give it a fair shake or squeeze joy from a bad game, like I remember a game that wasn't fun made me laugh and therefore I have good memories of it.
You guys need to do a follow up to this with the corona price spikes.
I'm collecting games I used to have as a kid, or systems and games I wanted as a kid but couldn't afford. Last little while I've been buying SegaCD stuff mostly if I can find good deals on it. I hope prices go down for other systems like the NES because i'd love to get a bigger collection.
a friend and i started collecting just out of nostalgia and then my friend that was a bit more tech savvy figured out how to make a raspberry pi box and that was pretty much the end of collecting besides sealed games and ultra rare games that are actually fun i see the values of these games sinking like sports cards in the 90s
Do mobile games from the PSP, DS, and 3DS not count as much when it comes to collecting?
What do you mean? Of course they count there's just a smaller market for them to begin with.
So Pat, do you think video game collecting is heading back to being a underground scene again? Being that game collecting has been mainstream the last decade almost
little did these guys know the year 2020 was right around the corner. all retro prices skyrocketed in 2020
I would have loved to pay for earthbound for $130 dollars, Its $300 Now. lol
@@Oceanandskylinevidss yep, it really sucks. I'm glad i got earthbound and many other rare games before 2020, but there are still many more games i want but their prices have petty much tripled
@@RideRedRacer well I hope you find what you're looking for my dude. Someone told me to start looking at estate sales online.
I feel that once the PS5 and and Series X are regularly in-stock and easy to buy, people will dump all of their pandemic retro games. People are playing these because they don't have access to current gen consoles.
@@gmti486 This is a really interesting theory. I’ll be very curious if this holds true. One piece of evidence to support your theory is that used PS4’s and Xbox One’s continue to hold their price (if not increased). I have never seen that before when a new generation of systems are released. Ever.
The CIB market seems to resist market fluctuation better than loose too.
Is it ok to buy old games cheap and resell for marked up price?
If people are selling off their collections it also means people are buying them. Am I missing something here? How is this not an equivalent exchange?
@@mielthesquid6536 I am all for the value of retro video games to plummet providing the otherside of the hobby's coin isn't hurt too badly. If interest in our hobby died away too much we might see cool aftermarket tech dry up and people simply throwing away their old games rather than bothering to get a few measly bucks selling them.
Nice collection bruh
We completed the xbox 360 collection this year. A fun new system to collect. At the moment im looking for N64 and Wii U. Both are hard sets to complete.
The fun part for me is the variants of games for the xbox 360 like classics, best sellers, not for resale, and other editions. It never ends 😎
What I never hear about in any of these talks on any channel, is the people like me that don't resell, not starting a musuem or a store, rarely trade, but just collect for the enjoyment of the hobby and only look at the value as how hard it is to replace and will still collect if the market crashes and won't cry about the loss of value, I think most people got into it for the wrong reasons or just to turn a profit.
I emulate almost everything so I only buy what I really want to own for some reason or what will look cool on a shelf.
whats your guys's opinion on complete in box GBA collection?
If we have extra copies of the same game then we should sell them on ebay and other places. That way the prices will calm down.
Maybe it comes down to emulation as well, I doubt a lot of people would still want to buy the 8/16 bit era game when they are so simple to emulate and are fairly accurate.
When it comes to later gen consoles they are harder to emulate or can still be played on modern consoles via backwards compatibility, they may fair a little bit better later on for collecting as there is no other way to play them.
The fact that Ian mentions saturn is starting to rise in cost (my thoughts) is mostly due to no simple decent running emulator or backwards compatible console like there is for the psone so people tend to grab original games due to lack of another option.
My 2 cents anyhow.
Collecting for Master System/Mark III/SG-1000 mainly. Also some Gamecube, N64, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Genesis. Price has always got to be right though. 60 bucks is the limit for any game and then it needs to be a game I want to play.
I kinda collect, but I only buy stuff I want to play. That's why I really don't want to sell anything because I still use all my consoles. Some more regular than others, but every year i'm in a sega saturn kick and play that for awhile. I know I will miss it if it goes.
There will people people in the years/generations to come to be just as if not more excited about collecting SNES/retro games than we are now. There will always be a desire.
Just a thought. You mentioned how Mario kart has gone from 47 to 33 bucks a Cart. Which I agree the price has gone down. However a lot of the prices on price chart are a little off because they are also including sales of "repro" games. Which makes it look lower the it actually might be.
I started sharing a room with my girlfriend in an apartment with 3 other people and I downsized everything. It made me take a really hard look at my collection and ask myself "what do I actually like here?"
Any plans to do a 2020? I think it'd be interesting considering how insane prices have gotten due to quarantine
It depends where you are In Canada Retro collecting is huge. I think you guys are underrating the market. I think its become just as popular or more. I know a ton of retro collectors and I will go into the retro stores and they tell me how much games they sell and collections they buy for inventory on a regular bases. So I don't think its dying at all.
The NES and SNES Classics were both hits, so it's still popular but I think less are collecting in general.
Still chipping away at my extensive list of games I want. Got Wario land 4 for the gba a few days ago. Never felt the need to buy games I don't have any intention of playing.
Does Luna Games ever take in demo disks? I wouldn't mind collecting those for PS1.
Those Official PlayStation Magazine Demo Disks always had such cool intros and menus. The PS2 ones were awesome too.
It seems like PS2 prices have bottomed out. I've been picking up all the titles I was interested in but never got around to buying.
I've seen that I've noticed good game collections of ps2 being sold.
sketchesofpayne I have a store I got to about a hour from me that sells PS2 games as low as $0.88 and it’s not sports games. Highest priced PS2 game I have saw there was $33 for Silent Hill Shattered Memories a very uncommon game for the system. Recently the store got a ton of sealed PS2 games in ranging from common to rare. They were priced really well. Right now collecting for PS2/PS3 is really cheap.
@@LakesideAmusementPro Lucky
I feel the market will always be there but popularity certainly peaked. I got into retro collecting and bought system I owned as a kid back in 2009 when I discovered Pete Dorr and right before All Gen Gamers podcast started, I wanted to buy anything and everything. I ended up selling everything with just a few exceptions. I only sold because they weren't complete and I want to eventually rebuy the games and systems I owned as a kid CIB, I just haven't gotten around to it, I am busy buying Blurays and XBox360 games to beef up my collection of them. But peoples interest in retro video games is still there, interest will be decent for decades to come. Some peoples interest in collecting will come and go and come again, others will be more steady. Even though I do not collect retro currently I have steadily maintained interest in the UA-cam gaming community for over 10 years and that is what is important, an interest. I am just waiting for a time I feel is good to hit up some game cons and start buying again. If an interest is there so will buyers and collectors, buying anything and everything is just not going to be so much of a thing like it was at it's peak.
These days I collect for the master system nothing else. I find for me it's the cheapest option.
really? that's kind of a low availability but low demand system, the cheapest games for me have always been genesis, ps1, ps2 since they're as common as dust.
Pat let me know if you have a hard time getting rid of your turbo collection I can help somehow 😁
I got an NES over the weekend but I don't plan to "collect". I'll just get the games that look cool and if they have a box or not whatever.
I wound up getting demi kids cib 6 years ago. I was surprised someone had a gba cib.I can't remember if it was wrapped. But I opened it. Game is okay
I collected a modest amount of retro games between 2007-2011.. then got married and kinda priced out of it. I’m looking to downsize now to just the games I want to play and games for game competitions that I’ve had and will do amongst friends. It sucks, but I’m also fine with the prices coming down off their peaks bc I got in before they were a premium.
Then you combine doing the leg work to sell and the interest in Atari, nes, and snes waning. Lol I don’t think I’ll take a hit but time will tell