Sealed Video Games launched competition - 28 games prize

[Retrodude]

I guess I should clarify. Maybe it's just the atmosphere I grew up in, but to my mind, real gamers are the ones who care more about playing games than collecting them and are only collectors in the sense that they keep the games they buy to play. That's why it frustrates me that the market has gotten so insanely out of hand, and I think it's valid to say that a large part of that is because of people who think of themselves as collectors first and gamers second.

We're not dealing in gold bullion here. Unless we're talking prototypes or extremely low print runs, no game should cost hundreds of dollers the way some of them do. And those few that go for that kind of money have a ripple effect on everything else that drives up the prices on even dirt common games like Zelda. Anyone who's sane can see that this is a problem that's only gotten worse in the last few years and will probably continue to get worse.

In all honesty, I keep hoping that the bottom will fall out of the market so that when resellers realize there's no money in it, they'll all go away and leave game collecting to gamers who would be more inclined to give fellow gamers a fair deal. It happened before with the comic book market, so there's no reason not to hope it happens to the retrogaming market.

[AppleQueso]

People who collect sealed games aren't driving up the market, speculators are. People who buy games in anticipation of rising prices down the road hoping to sell them later.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with people collecting games because they simply enjoy collecting games. Is someone who shoots for a complete console library somehow less of a gamer than you are? How do you know they don't play their console of choice every day?

Sealed game collecting is practically a separate hobby altogether anyway. It doesn't affect you, stop trying to pretend it does and fucking let it be already.

[aaron]

this is not a personal slam against Retrodude because this isn't the first time i've seen people bemoan the so-called "evils" of sealed game collecting, but i honestly think that argument is rooted in ideals of coveting and petty jealousy. why can that person have a sealed copy of a game that i want? he's not even going to play it! how wasteful! what's the point?! if i had that game, i would play it to death!

i've seen that logic when people post pics of huge ebay lots of complete collections. why on earth would you need that many games? how could you possibly play them? that's just excessive!

[AppleQueso]

I sympathize with being frustrated at prices rising on stuff lately, but I think trying to pin the blame on sealed collectors is pointing your finger at the wrong place. The rising prices hurt them too, you know. It's not like they banded together and decided they wall wanted to pay more for the games they collect.

[irixith]

Who are you to decide who is and isn't a REAL gamer anyway?

This here soapbox says so! Wanna fight aboudit?

Since I'm here:

1. Cool contest. I hope the winner enjoys their prize whether they play them, use them to start a fire, or admire them on their shelf.

2. Who cares if someone wants to collect sealed games? With all the different methods available to play older games these days, those who want to artificially drive up prices and spend their money on originals can do so.

3. I would be quite entertained if one day someone cracked open some of those sealed boxes and found out they got hosed, there was no game in the box. I would be even more entertained if they were VGA graded. Just sayin'.

[Retrodude]

I sympathize with being frustrated at prices rising on stuff lately, but I think trying to pin the blame on sealed collectors is pointing your finger at the wrong place. The rising prices hurt them too, you know. It's not like they banded together and decided they all wanted to pay more for the games they collect.

You're right, they are not entirely to blame. However, I do think they are at least partially responsible for how things have gotten because at least some of them actually pay these ridiculous prices and that only encourages the sellers.

"Hey! That sealed copy of Chrono Trigger sold for 300 bucks! Surely my loose copy is worth at least 90!" No. It isn't.

Sooner or later, there has to be a breaking point where we say "Enough!" and stop feeding the trolls, as it were. Maybe then we can restore some sanity to things. For example, for a game like Chrono Trigger that's in high demand, I could see paying 40, maybe 45, but that should be the limit on stuff that's neither rare nor hard to find. And as for sealed, again, unless we're talking about a low print run, no sealed game should sell for more than 100 no matter how popular it is. This stuff isn't worth as much as people think it is.

[isiolia]

You're right, they are not entirely to blame. However, I do think they are at least partially responsible for how things have gotten because at least some of them actually pay these ridiculous prices and that only encourages the sellers.

"Hey! That sealed copy of Chrono Trigger sold for 300 bucks! Surely my loose copy is worth at least 90!" No. It isn't.

If someone will pay that for it, ostensibly, it is worth that much. Whether or not it should be is another matter entirely - though it should be expected by anyone that pays attention to the collector's market for...everything else, ever?

The only group of gaming enthusiasts not at least partly "at fault" for rising prices are those who are utterly uninterested in a particular game. Those who want a copy of a game to play, and will dig a little deeper to pay for a copy to do so, still reinforce the value of the title. The connoisseurs that can't fathom playing a digital download, or a disc copy with load times, or one where the music uses a slightly different sample set...they're still contributing to the cost.

Why does Chrono Trigger for SNES command $85+ when it's readily available on several other platforms for a fraction of the cost? It started because of the reputation of the game, back when the SNES version was the only one there was. The game cost more than you wish it did now back in 2000. Only now, you've got several options for $10-20 too, unless they're simply not good enough. Which, if they aren't, then maybe you've got another reason/group to blame for the price

As annoying as it can be to find games be priced out of what I'm willing to pay for them, to me it's a validation of sorts for gaming as a whole. We're seeing games that are viewed as important enough to people to be worth that kind of money. To be significant enough to be worth preserving.

[BurningDoom]

That is very generous. I for one want a chance at that game stack, and I'm not gonna complain for it being free.

I'll probably spend more time signing up and getting into it tonight, as I'm at work right now.

[Dark Sol]

Holy Shit! That's quite a discussion we have here.

[Gamerforlife]

I sympathize with being frustrated at prices rising on stuff lately, but I think trying to pin the blame on sealed collectors is pointing your finger at the wrong place. The rising prices hurt them too, you know. It's not like they banded together and decided they all wanted to pay more for the games they collect.

You're right, they are not entirely to blame. However, I do think they are at least partially responsible for how things have gotten because at least some of them actually pay these ridiculous prices and that only encourages the sellers.

"Hey! That sealed copy of Chrono Trigger sold for 300 bucks! Surely my loose copy is worth at least 90!" No. It isn't.

Sooner or later, there has to be a breaking point where we say "Enough!" and stop feeding the trolls, as it were. Maybe then we can restore some sanity to things. For example, for a game like Chrono Trigger that's in high demand, I could see paying 40, maybe 45, but that should be the limit on stuff that's neither rare nor hard to find. And as for sealed, again, unless we're talking about a low print run, no sealed game should sell for more than 100 no matter how popular it is. This stuff isn't worth as much as people think it is.