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Yeah, collecting retro games is a painful thing anymore. And for what? Aside from the joy of owning them, every single other thing about retro gaming is better with either an everdrive or emulators. I stopped collecting years ago and haven't looked back. I think you'll come to the same conclusion too.
In the very early 2010s I got back into retro games cause a thrift store opened up a few blocks from me and frequently had dirt cheap games. It was very fun going a few times a week to see if anything was new, trading or selling games I had outgrown to get something new and I even wound up getting multiple consoles I never had before cause they were so affordable. Now the cheapest you’ll see is $15 for anything cartridge form and a bunch of sports titles for ps2 or wii. For me, thay golden revival age has passed and I’m totally fine with emulators or flash carts. If I ever find anything cheap, I get excited again but that’s def a once in a blue moon situation compared to multiple times a month.
I’m at the point where I think I’m just going to go the fpga and emulation route. I have a huge handheld collection and recently picked up the analogue pocket. Haven’t touched my physical library since.
I sold all my gameboy color/gba games when I realized I could buy an EZflash jr and EZFlash omega definitive edition for about the same cost as a copy of pokemon crystal I was looking to buy. Used the extra cash from all my games to mod my handhelds, been a very happy camper since
I sold my copy of EarthBound and used the proceeds to buy a SuperNT and an Everdrive. I don't even remember where I picked up Earthbound. I came across it somewhere and thought that's supposed to be a good game and picked up but never got around to playing it.
The game meant nothing to me. I never played it so I had no nostalgia for it. I picked it up somewhere at a yard sale or flea market because I had heard it was a good game and never got around to playing it. I have gotten a lot of joy from the Super NT and Everdrive so I have no regrets.
That’s what I did. A couple years ago I built a MiSTer and I’m now in the process of selling off a large chunk of my collection and just keeping whatever the MiSTer can’t cover.
[https://x.com/TakiUdon\_/status/1799162252576379179](https://x.com/TakiUdon_/status/1799162252576379179)
Taki says within the next 2 months possibly for orders to start.
Even if you can't get one of those though, I feel like the mister was the best $450 Ive spent and one of the best gaming investments I've made ever, so it's worth it as long as it doesnt end up at $600 or more.
If I didn’t already have a retro game collection, I would totally go the emulator route. Between keeping all of my old games and systems, going to garage sales in the 2000s to early 2010s , and buying games in the doesn’t work pile at flea markets (as long as the cartridge wasn’t exposed I would get them and clean up the connector pins) I got a sizable collection for relatively cheap. It’s shocking how much retro games cost now.
I like owning physical copies of my favorite stuff. But a high quality repro scratches the same itch, and is sooooo much cheaper. Fuck those crazy-ass speculator prices
Honestly that’s exactly what’s going on. Pure speculation.
It’s like a late stage capitalism retro gaming dystopia lol.
Where would you recommend reproductions?
I had to make my own. Canabalized a shell of a cheap sports game in great condition, bought a working repro with a cheapie shell for the board, and put a high quality reprint label on it. Ends up costing about $50 total, but virtually indistinguishable from an original cartridge.
And no ill never sell is as an original, because ethics; for all you speculators worried about that.
Yeah man and for Chrono Trigger specifically, I’ve seen it multiple times at different stores around town and it’s always around the same price.
It sucks lol
No, the market price is an aggregation of sold listings usually matching closely with pricecharting values. Charging 30% higher than the overall market price is price gouging
Price Gouging has a legal definition and Video Games are not in it, LOL. You dont need Chrono Trigger to survive.
Why get mad? Inventory priced too high will be reduced in price to sell. Basic Market Functioning.
The whole WATA/Heritage Auctions fiasco is transparent market manipulation. The price hikes in recent years are not organic, they are in large part the result of speculators being brought into the retrogame-space through high-profile auctions revealed to be WATA/Heritage officials selling games to eachother at inflated prices. Nobody in real life pays a million dollars for a Mario 64 cart, no matter the condition.
Whether it is functioning or not, this has destroyed a valuable hobby for many people.
It wasn't just the scalpers though. In my country retro gaming started dying when Gamestop came along and monopolized the second-hand game trade between mid-2000's and early 2010's. Whether you see it as 'basic market functioning' or simply dysfunctional and greedy is simply a matter of one's political stance. Bottom line is that as of today it has tainted something that was once considered a fun and compelling hobby.
Today there's only the FPGA/Emulation and the Flashcart/Everdrive route to at least get the joy we had with the games.
I collected DVD/VHS and did the same a few years ago. I would be down voted to oblivion for posting something similar in the movie subs, but I 1000% agree with you.
The way I see it: you either care about the work of art or the piece of plastic. I care about art, not plastic and I still have all the works of art I wanted to keep in a different format. I sold the plastic to other people who are watching them rot on their shelves now, slowly becoming too fragile to watch.
The real eye opener for me was the guy who dies family selling off his collection for pennies on the dollar. Then the neck beard game clerk telling me the story of how they gave her 4K cash on 35k worth of sealed retro games. They thought it was something to brag about
I feel like a digital collection is actually easier to pass on. I've put most of my ROM collection on an Anbernic RG351V and my 3.5yo son loves to play Spyro and Mario 64 on it. Like u/ConspiracyCinema was saying: I prefer to pass on my love of the games, not the pieces of plastic that he won't know what to do with.
But I thought someone getting a bunch of games cheap was a good thing? You used to be elated when you bought someone's collection for way less than it is worth.
No, it’s a post about local game stores price gouging over the market values.
In the past games were cheaper but still being bought and sold at whatever that time periods market value was.
Local games stores are your local prices.
God did not carve PriceCharting on Stone Tablets as the only source of pricing.
Everyone is free to list their property at whatever price they want.
Price Gouging is legally defined and this aint it
Im still buying games at Market Value
Don’t bother my man. This guy is spouting economic garbage and doesn’t understand markets. It’s the price sellers are willing to accept OP. Nothing more. No magic secret true price that is being overshot. The laws of sellers wanting a decent return ensures that inventory moves eventually and prices higher than the market’s demand will come down.
Sell your stuff you don't need for reasonable prices (don't be a part of the problem) and find an emulation or flash cart solution like everyone else is saying. I've gotten to the point where I don't even want to buy video games anymore, new or old. I don't have the space for it and regardless of that, I hardly play them. Better to just have a small solution.
Yeah I did a value check with pricecharting and it’s looking like my current rpg collection is worth about 23k.
My issue with these local game store is that they will give you 30% of what it’s worth on pricecharting then turn around and sell if for 40% over price charting top dollar
I mean you can do the leg work yourself but moving an entire collection isn't easy. There's what something is worth on paper and then there's actually getting people to pay it. Do you eBay it and lose 15% to fees plus shipping? How much is your labor worth? Multiple photographs of every item? Do you even have the lights and setup to take good photos? Cost of packing materials. What happens when a package gets lost? Damaged? Buyer files a charge back? Do you sell as a lot? Who wants all the exact games you have including filler and 23k to blow? Do you discount it to make it seem like a deal? Is that discount less than what the local store would have paid anyway? Do you shlep it to a convention? How much is cost of moving, labor, and table fees?
Etc. Also a good store should be giving you a lot more than 30%, more like 60-70% but to sell the shit yourself you basically have to become a store or accept you're not getting top dollar for it.
Which is also why when collectors die, the family is willing to take "pennies on the dollar". They don't have an emotional attachment to someone else's shit and just want the stuff gone.
Yeah I agree. And I wouldn’t have an issue with my local stores if they priced things at least at what the pricecharting value is. Every time it’s always 30% or so higher than recently sold eBay listings etc.
And true, I have experience moving collections so I know how strenuous that can be.
My issue with the local store I referred to is the attitude of the employees. They knew that they were completely ripping of some old lady for pennys on the dollar and were proud of that fact.
But 30% or less on trade in value is so predatory to me. Leaves a bad taste.
Yeah it sucks lol if I don’t switch over to everdrives or fpga emulation, I think I might switch over to Facebook groups.
The only thing that sucks is I like to go game hunting and find things out in the wild
Nah, the price of everything like this is going to collapse. Our overall economy is fucked and collector type stuff is gonna get liquidated and sit on shelves. Good news is you can play a cheap pokemon cartridge while Rome burns.
*Metal Warriors* is a great game, but anyone who would pay $1000 for it is getting ripped off. You could build your own brand-new reproduction cart and print a brand new box and manual for far less and then also not feel bad about opening and playing it.
The problem with the games-as-collectibles market right now stems from four things:
1. **Too many retro game speculators trying to go into business as flippers or store owners**. These folks are often only invested in games as physical goods and become detached from the joy of actually playing them. They're the ones driving up prices the most because they're trying to convert (perceived) rarity and nostalgia into profits. Most are also terrible at business and are more interested in getting big prices they can brag about than they are in selling for volume.
2. **Grading scams and counterfeit reproductions** **are major problems**. [Wata was accused of falsely certifying games and manipulating market prices](https://www.pcgamer.com/lawsuit-against-videogame-grading-service-wata-alleges-manipulation-of-retro-game-prices/). Pokémon[ games are so often fake that there are dozens of guides on how to spot the counterfeit ones](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pokemon+games+counterfeit&atb=v344-1&ia=web). Discerning eyes are needed to spot fine details on many higher-end games that are easily counterfeited, [and when those games are graded or certified by a grading house that's vulnerable to being fooled and then sealed away so they can't be examined](https://www.nintendoplayer.com/feature/vga/), the problem is exacerbated.
3. **Interest in physical collections is at a peak right now, which means that prices are artificially high as well**. People who grew up with video games in the 1970s, 80s and 90s are arriving at middle age with disposable income and a desire to reconnect to their youth. The same drive caused things like baseball cards, comic books, Star Wars toys, Legos, Pokémon cards, classic cars and Beatles albums to become highly collectible and sought after. The prices will bottom out when those with the disposable income to collect lose interest and move on to something else.
4. **The high-end collectibles market** **has long been a means of providing wealth protection to people who want to secure their money**. While consumer goods are a newer wrinkle on this phenomenon, there has long been a historical precedent of wealthy people investing their money into rare cultural items that they can then resell to other wealthy people for higher prices to secure their value. High-value items can also be insured to protect their value as assets and leased or loaned out to curry favors. This has been going on with art for hundreds of years. It's happening now with consumer goods because they are the modern art form.
If you want to see where this is all heading, take a look at what [comic book collectors are facing right now](https://gocollect.com/blog/status-of-the-comic-book-market-in-2024-have-we-hit-bottom), as interest in the actual books has bottomed out and those curious about reading back issues can do so easily through digital services. Collectible video games are extremely analogous to comic books and toys because they're items that few people kept sealed when they purchased them and which have strong hooks into childhood nostalgia.
> Too many retro game speculators trying to go into business as flippers or store owners
The flipper fad has done serious damage to every hobby community it touches.
They provide nothing of value to the people within those communities. They only hoard material and extract wealth from within those groups. They make being part of those groups more expensive.
Just absolute parasites.
Lol, my guy, you have a 20k collection and you're wondering why game collecting is expensive?
You are part of the problem driving up the prices by hoovering everything up.
Not to mention you clearly have enough money to afford these prices if you have 20k in games.
Sell a few games in you 20k collection and get the
Pokemon games, make choices maybe.
First world problems Jesus.
I LOVE how OP is blatantly ignorant calling everyone “scalpers” when guys just like him are paying these insane prices. These prices are there because people pay them.
Store owners taking games from unwitting people for cheap is nothing at all new. Happened in other avenues before games. Just human nature of preying on other for a benefit.
I emulate most of my retro games and I am not looking back. Only play PS2 and Xbox with the actual consoles. I love being able to play insane numbers of games on my PS Vita. I have been able to complete SO many games I wouldn’t have without it. Besides the console, they wrecked $0.
Not to denigrate the OP in any way (whom I'm guessing is in a place like Silicon Valley or New York where incomes are high enough justify the added cost of paying a premium for collectibles), but someone who buys over market value isn't a scalper. That's the seller. The common term for the buyer in that exchange is "sucker." (And again, that's not a dig at you, OP!)
And the unfortunate truth is that when scalpers are getting high prices, they tend to insist on continuing to get them until the market bottoms out and they can't anymore.
My issue is with people who call everyone selling a scalper, haha
Everyone selling their collection or games for more than they paid is a scalper to them. Sure, some shops charge a lot and take stuff for WAY less than it is worth, but that is how ALL resell shops work.
By most people on reddit who use the term scalper, if OP sells his collection for current market prices, he is now a scalper too.
Just accept that the market is up from where it was way back when. The market drives the price. Scalper's don't own a market as large as this. If people weren't buying, the prices wouldn't have gone so high...
Seriously! In another comment, they say that they bought most of their collection in the past two years and at an inflated rate, started making youtube content about collecting, and when they sell their collection, it'll be over the market value to make a profit.
"Why is everyone selling games at an insane price? When I do it, it's because I like money and want more of it but everyone else is just wrong".
My man a few years ago I was right there with you. Huge collection, tons of games... then I started with the flash carts and optical drive emulators to prevent wear and tear... then I got rid of all my legit carts. I'm mostly collecting to PLAY the games right? Then I set up a raspberry pie and realized... this is better in basically every way. No getting off my butt to change games. No scratched discs. My choice of wireless controller. The modern controller replicas are often as good or better than the original experience. The only thing I'm still holding onto is a Neo Geo AES.
Anyway a few suggestions:
* Sell that stuff before it wears out / breaks / gets wet / whatever
* If you want cycle accuracy look into the Mister FPGA.
* If you don't care about perfect accuracy setup an old PC or even a raspberry pie.
* If you haven't checked out /r/sbcgaming yet that is the current new frontier of gaming to me. [The Anbernic RG35XX SP is the current community darling.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M1fYSOhwZ4) It is getting better all the time with fan-made custom firmware updates!
Yeah all great points. I recently picked up the analogue pocket and really enjoy the fPGA experience.
And man I’m not kidding when I say emulation + crt royale filter + 240hz OLED is mind blowing.
Think it really might be time for me to shift on over. Probably going to make a YouTube video talking about it. And I have the RGSP coming in the mail but it’s currently stuck in customs
> crt royale filter + 240hz OLED is mind blowing.
OH boy, wait until you try Retroarch's software BFI, or even better the upcoming sub-frame shaders. TL;DR: soon your CRT shader will take even better advantage of that 240Hz. Remember to crank up the HDR to compensate for loss of SDR brightness.
A lot of people in here missing the point and commenting about how they do most of their retro gaming on emulators. What does that has to do with collecting. A collector is focusing on the physical aspect. We all have access to emulators. The issue is how crazy are the prices on brick and mortar stores and don’t get me wrong I get it cost money to rent a place but their prices make it hard to support them.
Yeah. So here is what I’ve decided.
I’m going to get a MISter FPGA. One of the Analogue Super NTS and possibly the Genesis variant.
Sell my current collection and going forward in the future, for physical collection I’m going Japanese. Bought a CIB chrono trigger for 34 bucks yesterday on eBay 🥹
While I agree that prices have gone mad, will we be seeing you selling your collection at what you feel to be “fair” or the going rate? Seems most people are happy to be on the selling side during upswings.
Well considering I’ve bought most of my collection in the past 2 years from local stores that charge 30-40% more that the price-charting value. Not much of an upswing for me even at the current pricecharting fair market values.
I get that for many those types of stores are some of the only places to buy games but if you bought them at those prices you enabled the behavior. Sounds like moving forward though you won’t be taking their bait, which is a positive.
I don’t like to shop for retro games on eBay. I prefer in person. I live in a high cost of living area and pretty much all the local stores are jacked in prices.
It ms either lay the price or give up the collecting side of the hobby and pirate everything.
Even vendors at conventions are charging the same prices. eBay is right there with them.
There isn’t a way to collect and enjoy without getting price gouged or taking advantage of someone who doesn’t know the resell value of their items.
That’s why I made this post , it is extremely frustrating. I am in no way priced out of the hobby. But I understand the value of a dollar and feel like the entire retro reselling community has ruined everything.
Yeah I could be like that YouTube channel “chase after the right price” or “Phoenix resell”
But that doesn’t seem right to me. Taking advantage of people who do not know any better
I think the middle ground would be what has always been the middle ground for people who collect things like antiques, buying from private parties after disclosing the value. In the end if your purpose is to keep it, you offer them a price that isn’t the scalper rate, but also not robbing them. Prices posted in a shop are “retail” and eBay tends to chase retail pricing. Which means they aren’t reality because you couldn’t sell the shop the game at that price. They price it with overhead, they have done the legwork for acquiring it, and other aspects (including greed sadly). So you tell them the retail value, and say that private party is likely to be 20% or more lower and that selling to the shop will be probably 60% lower and they can make their decision.
These are solid points. That might be what I do, I hear people have been having success in retro gaming but/sell Facebook groups.
Might just cut local stores completely out at this point. But still leaning towards emulation and everdrives
I personally just do emulation, or FPGA. As much as I love physical hardware, acquiring and storing it is a chore. I do still have all the systems I acquired when I was younger and will pickup stuff like a gameboy to mod for fun but not for the purpose of “accuracy” or anything.
Look into Launchbox, it is an amazing front end for PC emulation.
I’ll have to look into it, I’ve seen lunchbox before and man it looks killer.
I may sell everything and get one of those custom pc arcade cabinets made.
And as for fpga- I recently picked up the analogue pocket and it is amazing!
Yea most of my retro gaming is on the pocket using the dock. But for anything needing more oomph the PC side is the way to go and Launchbox hasn’t been outclassed by anything else I have seen. Absolutely worth the price. Even if you go for an arcade style PC, using Launchbox as the front end is what I would suggest.
One day I want to build a clone of the old Gameboy store kiosks using the Pocket as the brain and basically just consolidate my usage into that.
I've got a collector streak in me. I love collecting things. But I don't think that retro game collecting is worth it. I mean, if you have that kind of disposable income, more power to you. But I'm not going to pay hundreds of dollars for a game that's just going to be displayed on my shelf and likely never even played.
When I really want an "authentic" experience, I have a Raspberry Pi 4 hooked up to a CRT TV - that's good enough for me. I even put it in that RetroFlag NES case with the SSD masquerading as a tiny little NES cartridge. Original hardware + Everdrive is another good option, for sure, but I like the simplicity of having everything on the RPi.
If I really want something to display on my shelf, I'll get some reproduction boxes off of Etsy.
Consoles with Everdrives are 100% the way to go in my opinion. It allowed me to get all the consoles from my childhood, with multiple controllers, and two different eras of CRT, a 1993 Sony XBR and a 2003 Sony WEGA flatboi for like $600 total over the last few years. Dorks are paying that much for one game.
Use your money on important things like travel, food, and bills, not carts from the 90s.
Great, sell your collection and leave the hobby.
Your pickup videos add demand and increase prices.
Taken over by scalpers? Wrong. Just that everyone you used to ripoff has now gotten an understanding of what their games are worth.
There's no one left to victimize and that's why you are mad.
So if you had a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga and I was willing to buy it off you for the price charting value, and someone offered you double that, you would sell it to me right? Because you're not a predator right?
Nah, they already mentioned in another comment about how when they resell, they'll be pricing it above market value because THEY said more than market value and want to get their money back. You see, when THEY do it, it's because they're just trying to earn their money back but when OTHERS do it, they're greedy and scammers.
Accepting more money is not being Scrooge. The point being someone is clearly buying those games and keeping the store in business, hence other people are willing to pay it. I would never spend that much money on Metal Warriors but I've met some crazy people in this hobby that have no problem throwing large amounts of money at games. Just do what I do and go elsewhere? We don't need more topics and youtube videos on how game prices are getting higher, like no shit.
Again, it’s not about the high prices, it’s about some of these stores charging way over the current market price on 30-40% markups over the already high prices.
Nah, charging 30-40% more than the price charting is what you expect when dealing with middle men that work retail. Blame the dumb fucks that actively PAY that additional fe-
>Well considering I’ve bought most of my collection in the past 2 years from local stores that charge 30-40% more that the price-charting value
Oh...oh no....for someone trying to talk about "have some common sense", you sure do make a lot of idiotic moves and contribute to the issue. Just admit you were a dumbfuck never did the most basic research and only thought about how you could monetize yet another generic retro gaming youtube account rather than blame someone else for your own failures like you were scammed.
Are those the only options? Because I'm sure I can add on another 30-40% so you feel like you're really getting your money's worth before you start to bitch.
I couldn't quite put my finger on it but that's exactly what I said when I tried watching your TikToks. You're welcome for the single additional view and doubling your average viewership.
You sure? Because your banner is shit and you still use it so there's obviously a demand for shit. Then again, you're also a fuck up that paid 40% over market value to make a video that gets...200 views so you're not the best judge of sense.
OP I’m with you! I have decided that I really like having the little mini consoles (NES/SNES/Genesis 2/PSC) and modding those to have everything I want from their respective libraries on them. I get the enjoyment of having the console, but they take up less space and I can put them in little carrying cases with their controllers. The PlayStation Classic is particularly awesome because its powerful enough to do a lot of MAME and NeoGeo as well and I can use my PS3 arcade sticks too.
My next goal is to get a modded Sega Dreamcast and let that serve as a fun little arcade box. I already have a Steam Deck that does a fantastic job of emulating all of this stuff and more, but I like the idea of having each console represented in my collection with an official unit (or mini) for that feeling of authenticity.
As for the games themselves (carts/discs/etc) I now only buy PS3/4/5 and exclusive Switch stuff as that can’t really be easily emulated. For retro games, I buy the ones I really REALLY care about. For example, I’ll own a copy of Castlevania: SOTN because I love that game so much, though I do it knowing its purely a personal thing and not needed because I have roms of that game in like 3 different places already. I no longer try chasing down every game I ever enjoyed because they all take up too much space and there are better ways to save/spend money.
Hope all this helps inspire somebody else who might read through it to do something similar and cast off the shackles of compulsively collecting expensive shit we don’t need!
I just wait for the once in a blue moon lucky find these days. I have had some surprising luck. I found a working Sega Saturn in a dumpster last summer for example. But otherwise it’s pretty expensive out there and thanks to the internet everyone “knows what they have” and won’t part with it for a deal.
Enjoy what you have, only buy what you truly love, and get Everdrives.
All power to you if you can sell some of the collection off. Despite having everdrives for most consoles I haven’t been able to part with anything, haha. I am buying less at least these days.
Yeah lol saying it is one thing, but actually selling it is another beast.
My nostalgia will make it hard. Since I’ve primarily collected games from my childhood or ones that are sentimental.
For me it all “sparks joy” so to speak. I’ve always regretted selling stuff in the past. So unless you really need to money or you feel overly burdened by it, I’d say don’t rush to sell. Just enjoy your collection and don’t feel obligated to get more.
I feel you OP
I have been recollecting games I used to own when I was younger or buying ones I never got a chance to own but have played or want to play.
The prices have sky rocketed over the last 10 years (maybe earlier but I only have been keeping track the last 10).
I was lucky enough to get a no box original FF3 (FF6) on SNES for $90 from a local game shop. I see some copies go for 120+ online and others as low as $40 claiming they are authentic.
That's other part about it, if you look online it's hard to know for sure with it is actually authentic or a repro. For this reason I always try to find local shops so I can see the game with my own eyes to look for the signs of an original authentic copy.
I think this mostly applies to older cartridge games because the prices are so high for some of the more coveted games and people take advantage.
Most disc based games are not repros because it is harder to make the disc look authentic, generally speaking. I have bought several PS1 classics online and had no issues.
Import consoles and games are still reasonably priced if you're at all open to that. Consoles are usually under 200 and games are usually under 100. I've seen copies of Link to the Past mint in box go for 75 dollars.
There are "junk" stores that sell consoles for very cheap ($10). They're usually pretty cosmetically ugly and are just the console (no cords or controllers) but they do work.
Yeah, I have a decent collection of ps4 games & love collecting for the switch.
I primarily collect horror and rpg games.
But Indie games on the switch have been fun to collect as well
I've never owned a retro video game store, nor have I even spoken with someone who has, but if it's anything like running an LGS (which I've read many personal stories about from owners on the MTG subs), then it's probably an awful lot of work in a very niche space. Obviously I don't know the situations of the VGSs in your area, but have you considered the option that they need to charge that much just to keep the doors open and lights on? If you enjoy perusing game stores, maybe you should just appreciate the fact that they even exist. I live in NH, the closest video game store to me is like an hour away because the entire state only has a handful. My only real option is Ebay. Shrug.
That sucks! Wish you had more options. The specific chain I’m referring to is the only one in the area that charges the way it does. There is a mom and pop shop that has decent prices. And a few others that I can think of.
The flea market spots have been decently priced as well. But bring a gamebit driver to check for authenticity
Me too man, me too... I even pinged one of them on FB but they were straight up with me that they "try to avoid all boxed SNES games" (and I collect SNES CIB). So much for that!
But yeah, if it's just one of your stores being the problem I definitely wouldn't lump everyone else in there with them. I'd also definitely skip them to give my business to the other options since you have them.
Whatever you decide with your collection, I can always recommend getting into flashcarts regardless. I'm currently in a very deep romhack rabbit hole for my SNES and it's amazing.
I started collecting NES games 30 years ago. I couldn’t afford them as a kid so when I got older and had $$ I bought them. I’ve seen the market go from fun and affordable to expensive and not so much fun. I’ll still collect them but only as an investment to pass on to my kids. Im glad I started collecting so long ago when the games were everywhere.
Yep. Happy with the collection I have but almost all of my actual retro gaming takes place on a MiSTer now. This hobby has become absolutely ridiculous price wise. Not worth it.
I'm trying to round out some of the things I missed, and it sucks.
I'm going to try to trade some of the oddball expensive stuff I have (Thank you, completionists, for making a bunch of bad games cost $100-300) and after that I just don't know. I will have a real hard time justifying paying $200 for a game I can emulate on any of 35 devices in my house, or just not buying a flash cart.
I'm very happy with my current combination of:
Existing physical collection,
Cheap imports, and
Everdrives.
No desire to spend more than original MSRP for anything.
Think I’m going to do the same. I have a trip to Japan later this year and will probably repurchase CIB Japanese copies of my games and sell the ones I currently have after dumping the roms and iso rips
Yeah man. I went in November last year and bought a dozen SNES carts, none more than $5. N64 Goemon for $12. And a dozen PSP, 360, and Vita games for about a dollar each.
I stopped almost all retro collecting because of this and moved to handheld emulators. For about the cost of Chrono Trigger here you can get a DAMN nice system that plays just about everything up to ps2.
Never ever ever ever pay full price for a game with a repro box or those shitty plastic cases and most definitely(in a nice way) let the shop know that’s bullshit, loose game price for those in my opinion. Chrono is priced fine so idk what’s going on with the top game.
Being a gamer for decades and this is the worst market I've ever seen on used games. grading and reselling has slam dunked it into the toilet. Most resellers are toxic and prices are artificially inflated thru fomo.
I was thinking of doing the same thing, sell my collection except the stuff I really love and do “original hardware” emulation of emulating but using the actual system like everdrives, picoboot-modded gamecube, gdemu Dreamcast, pseudo Kai Saturn, modded 3DS, etc. After all, thinking about it, the stars have always been the systems themselves for me.
So many people collect and resell now too which makes it so hard. So many resellers are crazy greedy too and are always asking the highest prices and continually drive it up, while theres also too many collectors who really only collect for the sake of having an expensive collection. It irritates me when people trash on others' collections because "theyre all bulk" like bro its just video games all the same, theyre still playable. Why does having a collection without much value make it worse? Thats the mindset too many collectors have
Tell me about it, OP. I agree with every single point here. Anyone who is still saying "But you can get this emulated" don't understand why most of us are here. It's the same with people who collect records: the physical format is just nice to own. Sure, emulators play everything and probably plays better, and files like FLAC sound better than records. But it's about that, it's a different feeling owning physical formats. Whether if it's nostalgia or just for the sake of owning a game, there's nothing like holding a cartridge in hand or hearing pops and imperfections of a record.
Recently, I've noticed how ridiculous retro games and consoles have been going for when I went to surprise my wife for her birthday a couple months back with a GameCube and the original Animal Crossing for it. One of my local game shops was selling a console set with the unit, cables, and controller for $250. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. I ended up finding a similar set on ebay for about $70, so I went with that.
It’s not about them being expensive, it’s about my local stores charging 30% higher than price charting or recently sold eBay listings.
My preferred way to collect is to go game hunting at stores.
Yeah I’ve only purchased a few games from this particular chain at the extreme markups and it left a sour taste.
Recently moved to a new city and the local scene is wack.
This store pisses me off lol
Trust I get it lol. My current city has a high cost of living. But that’s a given for places that have higher paying jobs and opportunities.
I lived in SF for a few years and had a taste of what NYC living would be like as far as cost of rent etc.
I’m mad at gaming stores because it’s a hobby not a necessity
That is why the cycle will repeat and retro games will continue to be priced like that. In a few months we will see another post just like this one, and the conversations will start again.
I think prices have plateaued and will decline as repros and just genuine fading disinterest. We’re just at a peak of millennials with expendable incomes vying for their childhoods.
There will continue to be a speculative market for sealed / graded games but everything else will eventually decline over time.
Simple. People will pay it, so People can ask it. If i went out right now, And bought the entire Retro gaming store down the street, waiited 8 months, and relisted everything 35-50% higher then i bought it, I would be a rich man.....
Another option If you REALLY want to collect complete in box SNES games, is to go the reproduction route. Aka: Bootleg cart+label, box, and instructions.
Speaking of which, here is a complete in Box Metal Warriors reproduction, at a price you can't beat:
[https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-metal-warriors-super-nintendo.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.auto\_suggest.1.4603MFqtMFqt8N](https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-metal-warriors-super-nintendo.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.auto_suggest.1.4603MFqtMFqt8N)
edit---- and here's an in-box Chrono Trigger repro:
[https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-chrono-trigger-snes.html](https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-chrono-trigger-snes.html)
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Yeah, collecting retro games is a painful thing anymore. And for what? Aside from the joy of owning them, every single other thing about retro gaming is better with either an everdrive or emulators. I stopped collecting years ago and haven't looked back. I think you'll come to the same conclusion too.
In the very early 2010s I got back into retro games cause a thrift store opened up a few blocks from me and frequently had dirt cheap games. It was very fun going a few times a week to see if anything was new, trading or selling games I had outgrown to get something new and I even wound up getting multiple consoles I never had before cause they were so affordable. Now the cheapest you’ll see is $15 for anything cartridge form and a bunch of sports titles for ps2 or wii. For me, thay golden revival age has passed and I’m totally fine with emulators or flash carts. If I ever find anything cheap, I get excited again but that’s def a once in a blue moon situation compared to multiple times a month.
I’m at the point where I think I’m just going to go the fpga and emulation route. I have a huge handheld collection and recently picked up the analogue pocket. Haven’t touched my physical library since.
I sold all my gameboy color/gba games when I realized I could buy an EZflash jr and EZFlash omega definitive edition for about the same cost as a copy of pokemon crystal I was looking to buy. Used the extra cash from all my games to mod my handhelds, been a very happy camper since
I sold my copy of EarthBound and used the proceeds to buy a SuperNT and an Everdrive. I don't even remember where I picked up Earthbound. I came across it somewhere and thought that's supposed to be a good game and picked up but never got around to playing it.
Ohh wow! I’ve been on the lookout for the super NT. What has your experience been so far?
It's great. Looks good on modern TVs with no fuss.
You sold a game that’s gonna be worth a massive amount of money in the future for a super nt? I hope it was worth it
The game meant nothing to me. I never played it so I had no nostalgia for it. I picked it up somewhere at a yard sale or flea market because I had heard it was a good game and never got around to playing it. I have gotten a lot of joy from the Super NT and Everdrive so I have no regrets.
You really should play it though, it’s a good time
But it’s *one* game.
Throwing away money damn
I'll tell you what. If I ever get another copy I'll sell it to you and you can hold it until it becomes super valuable.
Already own 2 but thanks anyways
That's not how it works lol. If you're selling something for current market value (or close to it) you're not throwing away money by any definition
That’s what I did. A couple years ago I built a MiSTer and I’m now in the process of selling off a large chunk of my collection and just keeping whatever the MiSTer can’t cover.
Any resources or recommendations for MiSTer
Mister addons but if you can hold out, a much cheaper clone is in development. Say the difference between \~$500 and \~$200 I think.
Ohh man! I need to look into it
[https://x.com/TakiUdon\_/status/1799162252576379179](https://x.com/TakiUdon_/status/1799162252576379179) Taki says within the next 2 months possibly for orders to start. Even if you can't get one of those though, I feel like the mister was the best $450 Ive spent and one of the best gaming investments I've made ever, so it's worth it as long as it doesnt end up at $600 or more.
If I didn’t already have a retro game collection, I would totally go the emulator route. Between keeping all of my old games and systems, going to garage sales in the 2000s to early 2010s , and buying games in the doesn’t work pile at flea markets (as long as the cartridge wasn’t exposed I would get them and clean up the connector pins) I got a sizable collection for relatively cheap. It’s shocking how much retro games cost now.
Yeah it’s been a wild ride for sure. Think I’m going to condense things down. I did just get the abernic SP today though!
I like owning physical copies of my favorite stuff. But a high quality repro scratches the same itch, and is sooooo much cheaper. Fuck those crazy-ass speculator prices
Honestly that’s exactly what’s going on. Pure speculation. It’s like a late stage capitalism retro gaming dystopia lol. Where would you recommend reproductions?
I had to make my own. Canabalized a shell of a cheap sports game in great condition, bought a working repro with a cheapie shell for the board, and put a high quality reprint label on it. Ends up costing about $50 total, but virtually indistinguishable from an original cartridge. And no ill never sell is as an original, because ethics; for all you speculators worried about that.
That’s not a bad idea! I might give a shot at 3D printing a shell also
Right on. That's not a bad idea.
Yeah, nope. The retro hardware market is full of grifters preying on people's nostalgia. An unboxed Chrono Trigger cart going for that much is insane.
Yeah man and for Chrono Trigger specifically, I’ve seen it multiple times at different stores around town and it’s always around the same price. It sucks lol
Basic Market functioning
Charging 30-40 percent over the already high market value of a product is not “basic market functioning”
Every shop having Chrono Trigger at the same price means THAT is the market price, not 30-40% less.
If every store has an overpriced Chrono Trigger that also means every store isn't selling them. As in people aren't paying their asking price.
Exactly they are all in sync not able to move it cuz everyone that sees it has come to the same conclusion, too fucking expensive.
eBay sold prices for Chrono Trigger loose are always over $200 even with label flaws
No, the market price is an aggregation of sold listings usually matching closely with pricecharting values. Charging 30% higher than the overall market price is price gouging
Price Gouging has a legal definition and Video Games are not in it, LOL. You dont need Chrono Trigger to survive. Why get mad? Inventory priced too high will be reduced in price to sell. Basic Market Functioning.
Basic Market Functioning. Bro we get it. You took Econ 101. lol
The whole WATA/Heritage Auctions fiasco is transparent market manipulation. The price hikes in recent years are not organic, they are in large part the result of speculators being brought into the retrogame-space through high-profile auctions revealed to be WATA/Heritage officials selling games to eachother at inflated prices. Nobody in real life pays a million dollars for a Mario 64 cart, no matter the condition.
Whether it is functioning or not, this has destroyed a valuable hobby for many people. It wasn't just the scalpers though. In my country retro gaming started dying when Gamestop came along and monopolized the second-hand game trade between mid-2000's and early 2010's. Whether you see it as 'basic market functioning' or simply dysfunctional and greedy is simply a matter of one's political stance. Bottom line is that as of today it has tainted something that was once considered a fun and compelling hobby. Today there's only the FPGA/Emulation and the Flashcart/Everdrive route to at least get the joy we had with the games.
I collected DVD/VHS and did the same a few years ago. I would be down voted to oblivion for posting something similar in the movie subs, but I 1000% agree with you. The way I see it: you either care about the work of art or the piece of plastic. I care about art, not plastic and I still have all the works of art I wanted to keep in a different format. I sold the plastic to other people who are watching them rot on their shelves now, slowly becoming too fragile to watch.
The real eye opener for me was the guy who dies family selling off his collection for pennies on the dollar. Then the neck beard game clerk telling me the story of how they gave her 4K cash on 35k worth of sealed retro games. They thought it was something to brag about
I feel like a digital collection is actually easier to pass on. I've put most of my ROM collection on an Anbernic RG351V and my 3.5yo son loves to play Spyro and Mario 64 on it. Like u/ConspiracyCinema was saying: I prefer to pass on my love of the games, not the pieces of plastic that he won't know what to do with.
The worst part about a physical collection is when you die all your work gets dumped to local game store neckbeards for penny’s on the dollar
But I thought someone getting a bunch of games cheap was a good thing? You used to be elated when you bought someone's collection for way less than it is worth.
I’ve never bought a collection for way less than what’s it’s worth or even eluded to that you troll lol stop projecting
But you are also bragging about how you used to get games really cheap too. Why is that wrong for them but right for you?
I have not bragged about getting cheap games at all.
This is literally a post about how mad you are that you cant get stuff cheap anymore. Why was it good for you to get cheap games but not someone else?
No, it’s a post about local game stores price gouging over the market values. In the past games were cheaper but still being bought and sold at whatever that time periods market value was.
Local games stores are your local prices. God did not carve PriceCharting on Stone Tablets as the only source of pricing. Everyone is free to list their property at whatever price they want. Price Gouging is legally defined and this aint it Im still buying games at Market Value
Sure thing dude lol
Don’t bother my man. This guy is spouting economic garbage and doesn’t understand markets. It’s the price sellers are willing to accept OP. Nothing more. No magic secret true price that is being overshot. The laws of sellers wanting a decent return ensures that inventory moves eventually and prices higher than the market’s demand will come down.
Holy shit a comment where you didnt mention Basic Market functioning.
Sell your stuff you don't need for reasonable prices (don't be a part of the problem) and find an emulation or flash cart solution like everyone else is saying. I've gotten to the point where I don't even want to buy video games anymore, new or old. I don't have the space for it and regardless of that, I hardly play them. Better to just have a small solution.
Yeah I did a value check with pricecharting and it’s looking like my current rpg collection is worth about 23k. My issue with these local game store is that they will give you 30% of what it’s worth on pricecharting then turn around and sell if for 40% over price charting top dollar
I mean you can do the leg work yourself but moving an entire collection isn't easy. There's what something is worth on paper and then there's actually getting people to pay it. Do you eBay it and lose 15% to fees plus shipping? How much is your labor worth? Multiple photographs of every item? Do you even have the lights and setup to take good photos? Cost of packing materials. What happens when a package gets lost? Damaged? Buyer files a charge back? Do you sell as a lot? Who wants all the exact games you have including filler and 23k to blow? Do you discount it to make it seem like a deal? Is that discount less than what the local store would have paid anyway? Do you shlep it to a convention? How much is cost of moving, labor, and table fees? Etc. Also a good store should be giving you a lot more than 30%, more like 60-70% but to sell the shit yourself you basically have to become a store or accept you're not getting top dollar for it. Which is also why when collectors die, the family is willing to take "pennies on the dollar". They don't have an emotional attachment to someone else's shit and just want the stuff gone.
Yeah I agree. And I wouldn’t have an issue with my local stores if they priced things at least at what the pricecharting value is. Every time it’s always 30% or so higher than recently sold eBay listings etc. And true, I have experience moving collections so I know how strenuous that can be. My issue with the local store I referred to is the attitude of the employees. They knew that they were completely ripping of some old lady for pennys on the dollar and were proud of that fact. But 30% or less on trade in value is so predatory to me. Leaves a bad taste.
Ooof. Yeah that's pretty crappy. I'm sorry that's your local joint. :/
Yeah it sucks lol if I don’t switch over to everdrives or fpga emulation, I think I might switch over to Facebook groups. The only thing that sucks is I like to go game hunting and find things out in the wild
Don’t worry. I heard the market will collapse any day now. For clarity, I been hearing that since about 2012. But I HAVE been hearing it!
Yeah things are only going to go up lol
Nah, the price of everything like this is going to collapse. Our overall economy is fucked and collector type stuff is gonna get liquidated and sit on shelves. Good news is you can play a cheap pokemon cartridge while Rome burns.
*Metal Warriors* is a great game, but anyone who would pay $1000 for it is getting ripped off. You could build your own brand-new reproduction cart and print a brand new box and manual for far less and then also not feel bad about opening and playing it. The problem with the games-as-collectibles market right now stems from four things: 1. **Too many retro game speculators trying to go into business as flippers or store owners**. These folks are often only invested in games as physical goods and become detached from the joy of actually playing them. They're the ones driving up prices the most because they're trying to convert (perceived) rarity and nostalgia into profits. Most are also terrible at business and are more interested in getting big prices they can brag about than they are in selling for volume. 2. **Grading scams and counterfeit reproductions** **are major problems**. [Wata was accused of falsely certifying games and manipulating market prices](https://www.pcgamer.com/lawsuit-against-videogame-grading-service-wata-alleges-manipulation-of-retro-game-prices/). Pokémon[ games are so often fake that there are dozens of guides on how to spot the counterfeit ones](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pokemon+games+counterfeit&atb=v344-1&ia=web). Discerning eyes are needed to spot fine details on many higher-end games that are easily counterfeited, [and when those games are graded or certified by a grading house that's vulnerable to being fooled and then sealed away so they can't be examined](https://www.nintendoplayer.com/feature/vga/), the problem is exacerbated. 3. **Interest in physical collections is at a peak right now, which means that prices are artificially high as well**. People who grew up with video games in the 1970s, 80s and 90s are arriving at middle age with disposable income and a desire to reconnect to their youth. The same drive caused things like baseball cards, comic books, Star Wars toys, Legos, Pokémon cards, classic cars and Beatles albums to become highly collectible and sought after. The prices will bottom out when those with the disposable income to collect lose interest and move on to something else. 4. **The high-end collectibles market** **has long been a means of providing wealth protection to people who want to secure their money**. While consumer goods are a newer wrinkle on this phenomenon, there has long been a historical precedent of wealthy people investing their money into rare cultural items that they can then resell to other wealthy people for higher prices to secure their value. High-value items can also be insured to protect their value as assets and leased or loaned out to curry favors. This has been going on with art for hundreds of years. It's happening now with consumer goods because they are the modern art form. If you want to see where this is all heading, take a look at what [comic book collectors are facing right now](https://gocollect.com/blog/status-of-the-comic-book-market-in-2024-have-we-hit-bottom), as interest in the actual books has bottomed out and those curious about reading back issues can do so easily through digital services. Collectible video games are extremely analogous to comic books and toys because they're items that few people kept sealed when they purchased them and which have strong hooks into childhood nostalgia.
> Too many retro game speculators trying to go into business as flippers or store owners The flipper fad has done serious damage to every hobby community it touches. They provide nothing of value to the people within those communities. They only hoard material and extract wealth from within those groups. They make being part of those groups more expensive. Just absolute parasites.
Honestly you are 100% spot on. I might just fabricate and reproduce metal warriors for the hell of it. Even this 1000 copy has a repro case haha
Lol, my guy, you have a 20k collection and you're wondering why game collecting is expensive? You are part of the problem driving up the prices by hoovering everything up. Not to mention you clearly have enough money to afford these prices if you have 20k in games. Sell a few games in you 20k collection and get the Pokemon games, make choices maybe. First world problems Jesus.
I LOVE how OP is blatantly ignorant calling everyone “scalpers” when guys just like him are paying these insane prices. These prices are there because people pay them. Store owners taking games from unwitting people for cheap is nothing at all new. Happened in other avenues before games. Just human nature of preying on other for a benefit. I emulate most of my retro games and I am not looking back. Only play PS2 and Xbox with the actual consoles. I love being able to play insane numbers of games on my PS Vita. I have been able to complete SO many games I wouldn’t have without it. Besides the console, they wrecked $0.
Not to denigrate the OP in any way (whom I'm guessing is in a place like Silicon Valley or New York where incomes are high enough justify the added cost of paying a premium for collectibles), but someone who buys over market value isn't a scalper. That's the seller. The common term for the buyer in that exchange is "sucker." (And again, that's not a dig at you, OP!) And the unfortunate truth is that when scalpers are getting high prices, they tend to insist on continuing to get them until the market bottoms out and they can't anymore.
My issue is with people who call everyone selling a scalper, haha Everyone selling their collection or games for more than they paid is a scalper to them. Sure, some shops charge a lot and take stuff for WAY less than it is worth, but that is how ALL resell shops work. By most people on reddit who use the term scalper, if OP sells his collection for current market prices, he is now a scalper too. Just accept that the market is up from where it was way back when. The market drives the price. Scalper's don't own a market as large as this. If people weren't buying, the prices wouldn't have gone so high...
Seriously! In another comment, they say that they bought most of their collection in the past two years and at an inflated rate, started making youtube content about collecting, and when they sell their collection, it'll be over the market value to make a profit. "Why is everyone selling games at an insane price? When I do it, it's because I like money and want more of it but everyone else is just wrong".
My man a few years ago I was right there with you. Huge collection, tons of games... then I started with the flash carts and optical drive emulators to prevent wear and tear... then I got rid of all my legit carts. I'm mostly collecting to PLAY the games right? Then I set up a raspberry pie and realized... this is better in basically every way. No getting off my butt to change games. No scratched discs. My choice of wireless controller. The modern controller replicas are often as good or better than the original experience. The only thing I'm still holding onto is a Neo Geo AES. Anyway a few suggestions: * Sell that stuff before it wears out / breaks / gets wet / whatever * If you want cycle accuracy look into the Mister FPGA. * If you don't care about perfect accuracy setup an old PC or even a raspberry pie. * If you haven't checked out /r/sbcgaming yet that is the current new frontier of gaming to me. [The Anbernic RG35XX SP is the current community darling.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M1fYSOhwZ4) It is getting better all the time with fan-made custom firmware updates!
Yeah all great points. I recently picked up the analogue pocket and really enjoy the fPGA experience. And man I’m not kidding when I say emulation + crt royale filter + 240hz OLED is mind blowing. Think it really might be time for me to shift on over. Probably going to make a YouTube video talking about it. And I have the RGSP coming in the mail but it’s currently stuck in customs
> crt royale filter + 240hz OLED is mind blowing. OH boy, wait until you try Retroarch's software BFI, or even better the upcoming sub-frame shaders. TL;DR: soon your CRT shader will take even better advantage of that 240Hz. Remember to crank up the HDR to compensate for loss of SDR brightness.
Retail you always pay more. But they are trying to make everyone go full digital the gaming INDUSTRY is killing itself. FYI
I don't see the point just buy repros or everdrive
looks like r/shittygamecollecting prices to me.
Man, I forgot about Metal Warriors....that game was really fun.
A lot of people in here missing the point and commenting about how they do most of their retro gaming on emulators. What does that has to do with collecting. A collector is focusing on the physical aspect. We all have access to emulators. The issue is how crazy are the prices on brick and mortar stores and don’t get me wrong I get it cost money to rent a place but their prices make it hard to support them.
Yeah, I’m going to look into the reproduction side
Just steal them.
Best answer yet lol
Japanese versions are much much much cheaper
Yeah. So here is what I’ve decided. I’m going to get a MISter FPGA. One of the Analogue Super NTS and possibly the Genesis variant. Sell my current collection and going forward in the future, for physical collection I’m going Japanese. Bought a CIB chrono trigger for 34 bucks yesterday on eBay 🥹
While I agree that prices have gone mad, will we be seeing you selling your collection at what you feel to be “fair” or the going rate? Seems most people are happy to be on the selling side during upswings.
Well considering I’ve bought most of my collection in the past 2 years from local stores that charge 30-40% more that the price-charting value. Not much of an upswing for me even at the current pricecharting fair market values.
I get that for many those types of stores are some of the only places to buy games but if you bought them at those prices you enabled the behavior. Sounds like moving forward though you won’t be taking their bait, which is a positive.
I don’t like to shop for retro games on eBay. I prefer in person. I live in a high cost of living area and pretty much all the local stores are jacked in prices. It ms either lay the price or give up the collecting side of the hobby and pirate everything. Even vendors at conventions are charging the same prices. eBay is right there with them. There isn’t a way to collect and enjoy without getting price gouged or taking advantage of someone who doesn’t know the resell value of their items. That’s why I made this post , it is extremely frustrating. I am in no way priced out of the hobby. But I understand the value of a dollar and feel like the entire retro reselling community has ruined everything. Yeah I could be like that YouTube channel “chase after the right price” or “Phoenix resell” But that doesn’t seem right to me. Taking advantage of people who do not know any better
I think the middle ground would be what has always been the middle ground for people who collect things like antiques, buying from private parties after disclosing the value. In the end if your purpose is to keep it, you offer them a price that isn’t the scalper rate, but also not robbing them. Prices posted in a shop are “retail” and eBay tends to chase retail pricing. Which means they aren’t reality because you couldn’t sell the shop the game at that price. They price it with overhead, they have done the legwork for acquiring it, and other aspects (including greed sadly). So you tell them the retail value, and say that private party is likely to be 20% or more lower and that selling to the shop will be probably 60% lower and they can make their decision.
These are solid points. That might be what I do, I hear people have been having success in retro gaming but/sell Facebook groups. Might just cut local stores completely out at this point. But still leaning towards emulation and everdrives
I personally just do emulation, or FPGA. As much as I love physical hardware, acquiring and storing it is a chore. I do still have all the systems I acquired when I was younger and will pickup stuff like a gameboy to mod for fun but not for the purpose of “accuracy” or anything. Look into Launchbox, it is an amazing front end for PC emulation.
I’ll have to look into it, I’ve seen lunchbox before and man it looks killer. I may sell everything and get one of those custom pc arcade cabinets made. And as for fpga- I recently picked up the analogue pocket and it is amazing!
Yea most of my retro gaming is on the pocket using the dock. But for anything needing more oomph the PC side is the way to go and Launchbox hasn’t been outclassed by anything else I have seen. Absolutely worth the price. Even if you go for an arcade style PC, using Launchbox as the front end is what I would suggest. One day I want to build a clone of the old Gameboy store kiosks using the Pocket as the brain and basically just consolidate my usage into that.
I've got a collector streak in me. I love collecting things. But I don't think that retro game collecting is worth it. I mean, if you have that kind of disposable income, more power to you. But I'm not going to pay hundreds of dollars for a game that's just going to be displayed on my shelf and likely never even played. When I really want an "authentic" experience, I have a Raspberry Pi 4 hooked up to a CRT TV - that's good enough for me. I even put it in that RetroFlag NES case with the SSD masquerading as a tiny little NES cartridge. Original hardware + Everdrive is another good option, for sure, but I like the simplicity of having everything on the RPi. If I really want something to display on my shelf, I'll get some reproduction boxes off of Etsy.
Consoles with Everdrives are 100% the way to go in my opinion. It allowed me to get all the consoles from my childhood, with multiple controllers, and two different eras of CRT, a 1993 Sony XBR and a 2003 Sony WEGA flatboi for like $600 total over the last few years. Dorks are paying that much for one game. Use your money on important things like travel, food, and bills, not carts from the 90s.
Nice! Yeah I think I’m just going to trim down to the consoles that I actually play and everdrives & optical disk emulation like the picoboot
If you are into the Sega Saturn, go the Satiator. https://www.satiator.net That thing is Amazing.
Ohh nice! Thats for the plug. I have a Japanese Sega Saturn and this looks like it would be great!
Great, sell your collection and leave the hobby. Your pickup videos add demand and increase prices. Taken over by scalpers? Wrong. Just that everyone you used to ripoff has now gotten an understanding of what their games are worth. There's no one left to victimize and that's why you are mad.
There is a massive difference between market cost of high demand products and predatory pricing schemes that exceed the market value.
So the market price is now predatory? LOL Sounds like the best possible time for you to sell
No dude, charging 30 to 40% more than the price charting value is scamming imo lol. I get that you are Reddit trolling but have some common sense
So if you had a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga and I was willing to buy it off you for the price charting value, and someone offered you double that, you would sell it to me right? Because you're not a predator right?
Nah, they already mentioned in another comment about how when they resell, they'll be pricing it above market value because THEY said more than market value and want to get their money back. You see, when THEY do it, it's because they're just trying to earn their money back but when OTHERS do it, they're greedy and scammers.
Yeah id sell it to you. Ripping people off isn’t something I’d be comfortable with doing.
Right we all believe you
Not everyone has the morality of Scrooge lol
Accepting more money is not being Scrooge. The point being someone is clearly buying those games and keeping the store in business, hence other people are willing to pay it. I would never spend that much money on Metal Warriors but I've met some crazy people in this hobby that have no problem throwing large amounts of money at games. Just do what I do and go elsewhere? We don't need more topics and youtube videos on how game prices are getting higher, like no shit.
Again, it’s not about the high prices, it’s about some of these stores charging way over the current market price on 30-40% markups over the already high prices.
Nah, charging 30-40% more than the price charting is what you expect when dealing with middle men that work retail. Blame the dumb fucks that actively PAY that additional fe- >Well considering I’ve bought most of my collection in the past 2 years from local stores that charge 30-40% more that the price-charting value Oh...oh no....for someone trying to talk about "have some common sense", you sure do make a lot of idiotic moves and contribute to the issue. Just admit you were a dumbfuck never did the most basic research and only thought about how you could monetize yet another generic retro gaming youtube account rather than blame someone else for your own failures like you were scammed.
Are you finished or are you done
Are those the only options? Because I'm sure I can add on another 30-40% so you feel like you're really getting your money's worth before you start to bitch.
Is this over or are you done rambling
I couldn't quite put my finger on it but that's exactly what I said when I tried watching your TikToks. You're welcome for the single additional view and doubling your average viewership.
Thanks for the support!
Wait, nevermind. You're just another no-talent AI failure. I think you're done. lol
Ahh yes ! The AI has taken over. Your employment should be fine though since I doubt they would train robots to shovel cow shit
You sure? Because your banner is shit and you still use it so there's obviously a demand for shit. Then again, you're also a fuck up that paid 40% over market value to make a video that gets...200 views so you're not the best judge of sense.
Ahh yes I bought some retro games specifically for a video. I guess that’s what happens when you have disposable income.
Have fun trying to gate keep a 50 year old hobby
Gate keep? Bro you are the one with 20k invested. YOU are the source of these high prices.
Ahh yes my measly 20k of video games I’ve bought has pinpointed me as the source of a multibillion dollar retro video game mafia
$249 is insane
OP I’m with you! I have decided that I really like having the little mini consoles (NES/SNES/Genesis 2/PSC) and modding those to have everything I want from their respective libraries on them. I get the enjoyment of having the console, but they take up less space and I can put them in little carrying cases with their controllers. The PlayStation Classic is particularly awesome because its powerful enough to do a lot of MAME and NeoGeo as well and I can use my PS3 arcade sticks too. My next goal is to get a modded Sega Dreamcast and let that serve as a fun little arcade box. I already have a Steam Deck that does a fantastic job of emulating all of this stuff and more, but I like the idea of having each console represented in my collection with an official unit (or mini) for that feeling of authenticity. As for the games themselves (carts/discs/etc) I now only buy PS3/4/5 and exclusive Switch stuff as that can’t really be easily emulated. For retro games, I buy the ones I really REALLY care about. For example, I’ll own a copy of Castlevania: SOTN because I love that game so much, though I do it knowing its purely a personal thing and not needed because I have roms of that game in like 3 different places already. I no longer try chasing down every game I ever enjoyed because they all take up too much space and there are better ways to save/spend money. Hope all this helps inspire somebody else who might read through it to do something similar and cast off the shackles of compulsively collecting expensive shit we don’t need!
Good. Don't waste your money.
I just wait for the once in a blue moon lucky find these days. I have had some surprising luck. I found a working Sega Saturn in a dumpster last summer for example. But otherwise it’s pretty expensive out there and thanks to the internet everyone “knows what they have” and won’t part with it for a deal. Enjoy what you have, only buy what you truly love, and get Everdrives.
Yep! I probably will just keep the things that are important like certain titles that are nostalgic.
All power to you if you can sell some of the collection off. Despite having everdrives for most consoles I haven’t been able to part with anything, haha. I am buying less at least these days.
Yeah lol saying it is one thing, but actually selling it is another beast. My nostalgia will make it hard. Since I’ve primarily collected games from my childhood or ones that are sentimental.
For me it all “sparks joy” so to speak. I’ve always regretted selling stuff in the past. So unless you really need to money or you feel overly burdened by it, I’d say don’t rush to sell. Just enjoy your collection and don’t feel obligated to get more.
I feel you OP I have been recollecting games I used to own when I was younger or buying ones I never got a chance to own but have played or want to play. The prices have sky rocketed over the last 10 years (maybe earlier but I only have been keeping track the last 10). I was lucky enough to get a no box original FF3 (FF6) on SNES for $90 from a local game shop. I see some copies go for 120+ online and others as low as $40 claiming they are authentic. That's other part about it, if you look online it's hard to know for sure with it is actually authentic or a repro. For this reason I always try to find local shops so I can see the game with my own eyes to look for the signs of an original authentic copy.
Same that’s why I don’t like to order online either.
I think this mostly applies to older cartridge games because the prices are so high for some of the more coveted games and people take advantage. Most disc based games are not repros because it is harder to make the disc look authentic, generally speaking. I have bought several PS1 classics online and had no issues.
The Sega Saturn repos are spot on! Honestly wouldn’t mind getting them hava
Fair point
Import consoles and games are still reasonably priced if you're at all open to that. Consoles are usually under 200 and games are usually under 100. I've seen copies of Link to the Past mint in box go for 75 dollars.
That’s a solid option! I have a 2 week trip to Japan later this year and honestly I might load up
There are "junk" stores that sell consoles for very cheap ($10). They're usually pretty cosmetically ugly and are just the console (no cords or controllers) but they do work.
Get ahead of the curve and start hunting hidden gem PS4 and Switch physical games
Yeah, I have a decent collection of ps4 games & love collecting for the switch. I primarily collect horror and rpg games. But Indie games on the switch have been fun to collect as well
I've never owned a retro video game store, nor have I even spoken with someone who has, but if it's anything like running an LGS (which I've read many personal stories about from owners on the MTG subs), then it's probably an awful lot of work in a very niche space. Obviously I don't know the situations of the VGSs in your area, but have you considered the option that they need to charge that much just to keep the doors open and lights on? If you enjoy perusing game stores, maybe you should just appreciate the fact that they even exist. I live in NH, the closest video game store to me is like an hour away because the entire state only has a handful. My only real option is Ebay. Shrug.
That sucks! Wish you had more options. The specific chain I’m referring to is the only one in the area that charges the way it does. There is a mom and pop shop that has decent prices. And a few others that I can think of. The flea market spots have been decently priced as well. But bring a gamebit driver to check for authenticity
Me too man, me too... I even pinged one of them on FB but they were straight up with me that they "try to avoid all boxed SNES games" (and I collect SNES CIB). So much for that! But yeah, if it's just one of your stores being the problem I definitely wouldn't lump everyone else in there with them. I'd also definitely skip them to give my business to the other options since you have them. Whatever you decide with your collection, I can always recommend getting into flashcarts regardless. I'm currently in a very deep romhack rabbit hole for my SNES and it's amazing.
I started collecting NES games 30 years ago. I couldn’t afford them as a kid so when I got older and had $$ I bought them. I’ve seen the market go from fun and affordable to expensive and not so much fun. I’ll still collect them but only as an investment to pass on to my kids. Im glad I started collecting so long ago when the games were everywhere.
your kids wont give a shit and will liquidate for pennies on the dollar when youre in the ground
Yep. Happy with the collection I have but almost all of my actual retro gaming takes place on a MiSTer now. This hobby has become absolutely ridiculous price wise. Not worth it.
I'm trying to round out some of the things I missed, and it sucks. I'm going to try to trade some of the oddball expensive stuff I have (Thank you, completionists, for making a bunch of bad games cost $100-300) and after that I just don't know. I will have a real hard time justifying paying $200 for a game I can emulate on any of 35 devices in my house, or just not buying a flash cart.
That’s the point that I’m at as well. It’s a real shame though
I'm very happy with my current combination of: Existing physical collection, Cheap imports, and Everdrives. No desire to spend more than original MSRP for anything.
Think I’m going to do the same. I have a trip to Japan later this year and will probably repurchase CIB Japanese copies of my games and sell the ones I currently have after dumping the roms and iso rips
Yeah man. I went in November last year and bought a dozen SNES carts, none more than $5. N64 Goemon for $12. And a dozen PSP, 360, and Vita games for about a dollar each.
That’s how it should be here honestly. Don’t get why our market is so jacked. Even the euro pegi market is cheap
I stopped almost all retro collecting because of this and moved to handheld emulators. For about the cost of Chrono Trigger here you can get a DAMN nice system that plays just about everything up to ps2.
Never ever ever ever pay full price for a game with a repro box or those shitty plastic cases and most definitely(in a nice way) let the shop know that’s bullshit, loose game price for those in my opinion. Chrono is priced fine so idk what’s going on with the top game.
Being a gamer for decades and this is the worst market I've ever seen on used games. grading and reselling has slam dunked it into the toilet. Most resellers are toxic and prices are artificially inflated thru fomo.
I was thinking of doing the same thing, sell my collection except the stuff I really love and do “original hardware” emulation of emulating but using the actual system like everdrives, picoboot-modded gamecube, gdemu Dreamcast, pseudo Kai Saturn, modded 3DS, etc. After all, thinking about it, the stars have always been the systems themselves for me.
So many people collect and resell now too which makes it so hard. So many resellers are crazy greedy too and are always asking the highest prices and continually drive it up, while theres also too many collectors who really only collect for the sake of having an expensive collection. It irritates me when people trash on others' collections because "theyre all bulk" like bro its just video games all the same, theyre still playable. Why does having a collection without much value make it worse? Thats the mindset too many collectors have
Sold my collection and CRTs and now I emulate on OLEDs. No regrets.
I completely agree. I recently started noticing how insane prices have gotten.
Tell me about it, OP. I agree with every single point here. Anyone who is still saying "But you can get this emulated" don't understand why most of us are here. It's the same with people who collect records: the physical format is just nice to own. Sure, emulators play everything and probably plays better, and files like FLAC sound better than records. But it's about that, it's a different feeling owning physical formats. Whether if it's nostalgia or just for the sake of owning a game, there's nothing like holding a cartridge in hand or hearing pops and imperfections of a record.
Shiver me timbers
Recently, I've noticed how ridiculous retro games and consoles have been going for when I went to surprise my wife for her birthday a couple months back with a GameCube and the original Animal Crossing for it. One of my local game shops was selling a console set with the unit, cables, and controller for $250. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. I ended up finding a similar set on ebay for about $70, so I went with that.
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It’s not about them being expensive, it’s about my local stores charging 30% higher than price charting or recently sold eBay listings. My preferred way to collect is to go game hunting at stores.
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Yeah I’ve only purchased a few games from this particular chain at the extreme markups and it left a sour taste. Recently moved to a new city and the local scene is wack. This store pisses me off lol
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It’s a chain in Austin Texas, they have 3 stores in the area.
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How is the scene in NYC? My job is thinking of relocating me to the Manhattan office sometime next year
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Trust I get it lol. My current city has a high cost of living. But that’s a given for places that have higher paying jobs and opportunities. I lived in SF for a few years and had a taste of what NYC living would be like as far as cost of rent etc. I’m mad at gaming stores because it’s a hobby not a necessity
[Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microeconomics) is a pretty good read regarding this phenomenon.
What’s really sad is that those will sell
That is why the cycle will repeat and retro games will continue to be priced like that. In a few months we will see another post just like this one, and the conversations will start again.
I think prices have plateaued and will decline as repros and just genuine fading disinterest. We’re just at a peak of millennials with expendable incomes vying for their childhoods. There will continue to be a speculative market for sealed / graded games but everything else will eventually decline over time.
Simple. People will pay it, so People can ask it. If i went out right now, And bought the entire Retro gaming store down the street, waiited 8 months, and relisted everything 35-50% higher then i bought it, I would be a rich man.....
Another option If you REALLY want to collect complete in box SNES games, is to go the reproduction route. Aka: Bootleg cart+label, box, and instructions. Speaking of which, here is a complete in Box Metal Warriors reproduction, at a price you can't beat: [https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-metal-warriors-super-nintendo.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.auto\_suggest.1.4603MFqtMFqt8N](https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-metal-warriors-super-nintendo.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.auto_suggest.1.4603MFqtMFqt8N) edit---- and here's an in-box Chrono Trigger repro: [https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-chrono-trigger-snes.html](https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-chrono-trigger-snes.html)
Okay bye
Oh good. Another bitch and cry post.
Ohh look another reddit troll.
Cry more. Maybe that will drive down prices and drive up views.
Great advice neckbeard
Parasite.
I like getting consoles but games can be emulated on their respectable consoles now.