I have to say though, how can a horrible game ever become valuable regardless of the number of prints made. Games that were never popular 20 years ago will likely never be very valuable years from now.

I guess my point is that the great classics, the ground breakers, and the game changers will be the most vluable games around. These are more than mere investments, they are historical points in time for the video game industry.

I’ll assume you’re referring to LPs (vinyl), and while there certainly are those that purchase LPs for nostalgia or novelty, the most prevalent reason why LPs are still sold today is that analogue has superior mid-levels to digital, especially in comparison to CD and compressed formats. Analogue is simply the superior choice for audiophiles. Nostalgia has nothing to do with that.

As for the topic at hand, I agree with the general consensus of the comments. I’ve watched prices of many older cartridge-based titles since emulation has gotten more prevalent and since things like the VC have made it even more so. Many complete games (box, manual, and cartridge – cartridge only is a different market) don’t fluctuate much in price even with rereleases, as some items are sought for their collector’s value and not for playability (which is why cartridge only prices can vastly differ for games with higher collector’s value).

There’s no doubt that something like Radiant Silvergun would drop in value with a rerelease, as the game wasn’t so much rare as highly sought after as the holy grail of shmups. Panzer Dragoon Saga, on the other hand, is not only a legendary RPG but also a rare US title on a system that is dear to many collectors.

For an example of a more obscure game (where prices are actually more consistent, due to smaller releases), look up prices for Trigger Heart Exelica, which got a rerelease on Xbox Live Arcade some months ago. The standard version still fetches more than the price it was originally sold for and the Limited Edition copy often goes for $150. And I could have told you that would happen months before the game was released, as the same thing happened to many postmortem Dreamcast releases. I’m not sure how the PS2 release will effect that, but I can assure you the LE will continue to be worth more than it was originally sold for. That seems like a sound investment to me.

Supply vs. demand is the key here – there will be no more original cartridges of Chrono Trigger created. When a cartridge gets broken there will not be another created to take it’s place. That, plus whether or not people will still consider this a great/classic/must own game, which to me is undisputed, is what will determine whether this game is a good investment (Demand). It really comes down to how nostalgic you feel people will be in the future.

I can say for myself – I love the original systems and controllers and will always buy things in their original state. Lots of people are fine with emulating games. What the trend will be 5-10 years from now is the question.

As always I enjoy reading your articles. But I do disagree with you on this particular article on several points. Just because values of “some” items go down over time, does not make it a bad investment. With all investments there are winners and losers. What I would like to see is empirical evidence of the average annual growth of old video games. Then you could compare video games strictly as an investment vehicle versus the more common investments such as stocks and bonds.

If you can find a complete copy of Final Fantasy I for the NES in 40 years, regardless of how many emulators and rereleases have been put out there, it is going to be worth substantially more then it is now.

As collectors we will always have the ability to justify the value of certain items. Every collectors hobby has its ups and downs. Video games are in their infancy. If you can get complete copies of games released in the early to mid 80’s they are worth a lot. This will be the same for NES/Genesis, TG16, PS1, N64…just give them their time. If you have a feeling about a certain game pick it up. Throw it in a ziploc and hang on to it for a while.

I guess in closing, and I don’t have ther ability to put my thoughts on paper very well so I hop the above isn’t too difficult to process, the majority of valuable games on the market are the ones which gamers enjoy. Otherwise who would want to buy them?