Do you buy current gen games to keep sealed?

[Carnby]

I have started a habit of buying current gen games and keeping them sealed. But I am starting to question this practice. I do own sealed copies of MGS HD Limited Edition and Skyward Sword Bundle, and they are staying that way. But for some reason I own two copies of Catherine (regular version and censored version) that are still sealed. For some strange reason I think they will be valuable in the future. I also have a sealed copy of Dark Souls CE. I want to play it but I keep telling myself to keep it sealed. I think this all started when realized how foolish I was for opening my copy of Demon's Souls Deluxe Edition.

Do you do the same thing? Is this a waste of time?

I think that I need someone to talk me out of this habit. :help:

[joshnickerson]

I guess I could see that for limited editions... the Skyward Sword bundle is already going for twice its original retail... if you plan on re-selling them in the future. I think it also depends on the fanbase... there will always be manic Zelda fans willing to fork over big bucks for a sealed Skyward Sword ten years down the road, but can the same be said for Catherine or Demon Souls? It's a gamble, since they could be worth less than what you originally paid. Plus, there's always the risk that there could be a reprint, like I've heard a rumor that the Skyward Sword bundle could see a reprint in the next few months.

Personally, if you're going to focus on collecting sealed games from the current gen with the intent on selling them in the future, I would concentrate on games that show up at the end of the system's life, possibly in limited quantities... a good example is the upcoming release of Xenoblade for the Wii. A game that is going to be released in the last year of the Wii's life, and available only at one retailer or through mail-order.

tl;dr... Be selective in your choices, and don't spend more than you can afford.

[Red Earth]

i do that sometimes but not always because i want to keep them sealed to sell later, but because i dont have time to open them all and play them. so i save them for when i'm ready to play.

[Sunnyvale]

This is a tricky one. You can do so, but beware. This didn't happen before. Look to the comic craze of the 80's and what lots of people buying them and keeping them sealed did to prices. Now it's a lot more expensive to do this with SMG, but after the kind of money a sealed non-goty Halo 1 is fetching, more than a few may be doing this.

Be really selective. That's the best advice you'll get. Beyond that... It's really a crap shoot.

[kupomogli]

For almost everything this gen, it's not really a waste of time if it's something you want do, but it's a huge waste of money.

There are the very few which will become expensive. Even a lot of the limited edition titles aren't very expensive. The only titles that I'd look into purchasing to keep sealed are limited edition copies of games that don't have huge expectations. Hyperdimension Neptunia could have been used as an example, except it's recently had a reprint which kills the high costs it once had. Every copy of the game prior to the reprint had premium packaging, but the reprint includes the game only, so the original version still holds its value, but isn't as expensive as before.

Catherine is a game I wouldn't have put any hopes in on making anything off of because of all the marketing you saw for the game. Being the Atlus name, like has been said many times before uses the fact that all their games used to become rare to their advantage, and occasionally throws out a niche title here and there.

Seriously. Don't waste your money. If you want to keep everything sealed, I'd wait until you can get the games cheap. If a game happens to hold its value and hits $100, then just purchase it new at that point. You'll save much more purchasing the extremely rare $100 or so game and purchasing everything else around $20 than you will paying for everything at $60.

[Ze_ro]

http://astrocadeage.com/notaninvestment.jpg

--Zero

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Someone already said this, but using video games as an investment vehicle is very risky. The future of the collecting market may not be as vibrant as it is today. People may lose their appetite for physical copies of media as time goes on. Your sealed games could also get stolen from your house. Not to sound pessimistic or anything. :)

[Carnby]

Thanks for the input.

BTW, I do not collect to make money or as an investment. I just like owning rare items for bragging rights, because I genuinely like the game, and for the thrill of it all.
I

[Polygon]

Nope.

I collect games to play them. I wouldn't collect anything and not use it as intended.

[rlemmon]

I intend to buy extra copys of super mario galaxy 1 & 2 as well as new super mario bros. I'm not doing do to resell but because there games that i truely love playing and will want to be able to continue playing for many years.

[The 1 2 P]

i do that sometimes but not always because i want to keep them sealed to sell later, but because i dont have time to open them all and play them. so i save them for when i'm ready to play.

Same for me. I have a ton of sealed 360, PS3, Wii, DS and PSP games. This isn't because I planned it this way, but because I haven't had time to play all of them and in the case of the DS I don't even have that system yet. But none of them were bought brand new on release day for $50 or $60. They were all bought on sale months or years later with atleast 90% of them being bought for $20 or less(with many of them even costing $5).

I suppose I could sell some of these in the future for more than I bought them for but I also have tons of retro games for that. It's already been said that if you want to use current gen games as an investment then you are approaching a very risky venture. And I think joshnickerson gave what will be your best bet on what will perhaps be one of the rarest Wii games in the future. Beyond that, I would think only certain limited editions become even harder to find in the future.

[Press_Start]

Four steps....

1. Take sealed game.

2. Place it on flat surface.

3. TEAR THE PLASTIC RIGHT OFF!

4. Open box, play game, have fun and...ENJOY! :D

-or-

You can just buy a $10 used copy (like I do sometimes :p).

[duffmanth]

The only current gen games that I have sealed are the Collector's Editions of MGS4, GT5, and GOW3. I don't see the point of keeping standard copies of mass produced games sealed, they're probably not going to be worth anything substantial in the future. However, I do have some black label copies of certain PS1/PS2 games sealed that I picked up for dirt cheap like GOW2 and MGS3. Again they're never going to be worth anything much, but they're two of my favorite series, so I keep 'em sealed.

[Carnby]

I did it... I opened my copy of Dark Souls CE.

Now does anyone know the best way to clean off sticker residue? The seal to the game left some sticky white stuff on the case.

[Sunnyvale]

Rubbing alcohol and a cloth.

[The 1 2 P]

I did it... I opened my copy of Dark Souls CE.

Now does anyone know the best way to clean off sticker residue? The seal to the game left some sticky white stuff on the case.

Goo Gone is your best friend in situations like this. It can clean sticker residue, gum glops, marker writings or DNA from blue dresses.

[kupomogli]

Goo Gone is your best friend in situations like this. It can clean DNA from blue dresses.

How do you know this?

[The 1 2 P]

How do you know this?

I use to work as a presidential aide:angel:

[NayusDante]

The newest sealed games I have are Mega Man Zero Collection, Mega Man ZX Advent, and Mega Man X Collection (PS2). The first two, I simply haven't had the time to play yet. I did buy a copy of X collection just to keep sealed, but that's the only game I've ever purposely bought with that in mind.

I will likely be buying Xenoblade on day one, but it'll probably stay sealed until I get around to actually playing it. There's too much in my backlog right now. If the value skyrockets, I'll pick up a cheap disc-only copy to play it and keep the original unopened.

So the short answer is "not intentionally."

[Sunnyvale]

I use to work as a presidential aide:angel:

*rimshot

[jonebone]

Only with games I REALLY enjoy. As in, buy it, open it, play it, beat it, and THEN buy a copy to keep sealed because the game was that damn good. Right now the only two modern games that I own sealed are Xbox 360 Dragon Age Collector's Edition and Zelda Skyward Sword bundle.

I should probably grab a Super Mario Galaxy 2 sealed at some point also, because that is probably the best Wii game I've ever played. Very worthy of the many 10/10s it received.

[VACRMH]

Only because I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I'll keep a game sealed till then, and if the value starts going up, I may track down a cheap used copy and sell the sealed one to the crazy peoples :)

[xelement5x]

Only because I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I'll keep a game sealed till then, and if the value starts going up, I may track down a cheap used copy and sell the sealed one to the crazy peoples :)

That's the exact same thing I'll do. So many games that I pick up are really cheap (sub $10) so that if I find another copy used in very good condition I wouldn't complain about picking up the used copy and selling my sealed one to the crazies.

[Cornelius]

*rimshot

I thought it was a bj...?

I have plenty of sealed games, none for collecting purposes. It is all just stuff I haven't gotten to, or was crap to begin with but too cheap to pass on or came with a lot. Like others, I have the Zelda SS bundle, also the Mario 25th anniv. thing, Fallout 3 lunchbox, Metroid Prime trilogy, Cursed Mountain, Bioshock 1 & 2, Dead Space, Heavenly Guardian PS2, SMGalaxy 2, Okami, Tales of Symphonia Dawn, ... the list just goes on and on of stuff in my backlog. This is all stuff I thought I'd play right away, because otherwise I'd have waited to get them used or cheap at garage sales. Only the first two on that list were bought anywhere near full price.

I don't intend to keep any of it sealed, but at this point I'm pretty likely to sell Metroid Prime trilogy sealed and buy an open copy to play instead.

[MarioMania]

I just don't get people

It prob because all the ebay resellers buy up all he game and charge more on ebay

[AceAerosmith]

http://astrocadeage.com/notaninvestment.jpg

--Zero

This! Play them and sell them. Very few games are all that collectible/rare/expensive and I doubt any of the current gen shit will ever be worth all that much in the future.

[DOAsaturn]

I do this only in special circumstances. I have about 10-15 sealed games, off the top of my head the "best" ones are:

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure (Wii)
Fritz Chess (Wii)
DJ Max Portable 3 (PSP)
History Channel: Great Battles of Rome (PSP)
Cart Kings (PSP)
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (PS2)

The rest is a bunch of random shovelware that I got cheap (or free in a couple instances) and kept sealed only because it seemed obscure from my personal research on it and I didn't really want to play anyway. It's kinda like buying an action figure to keep sealed. Outside of this I don't go mining for sealed games, I'm just opportunistic if I really think a particular game will be obscure.

[Genesaturn]

I don't usually go by this practice...USUALLY..doesn't mean never though. For instance, right before the launch of the PS2, I noticed prices on Xenogears and FFVII started going from the bargain bin prices to back to retail. I picked up a copy of each (non greatest hits) brand new and I'm glad I did. I still have them. Usually the games worth money are obscure Japanese games or RPG's that usually fly under the radar in the first place, whether its because of limited release, or it just came out at the bad time when to many big titles came out.