Are we living the twilight of Classic Gaming as we know it?

[Damon Plus]

I've been thinking for quite some time, classic gaming doesn't feel what it used to be. I started back in 2001 to become interested in this hobby, and 2002-2008 were the best years if you were a classic gamer, imo. Prices were a lot lower, there were lots of discussions and every message board was very busy (Gamefaqs console boards were great, I remember fondly the Nes board). Emulation helped a lot of people discover games they didn't try in its infancy, and the magic was still there.

Of course, some of you might think I've just gotten older and I'm ranting like an old man in his backyard how 50's were a better time. But you only have to look at classic gaming actual state: Prices have skyrocketed for almost every system (Snes prices are just stupid), and getting games is harder and more expensive as time passes. A lot of the older web pages about classic systems have dissappeared, never having been replaced by more modern ones; the few that remain have a lot less posts than a few years ago. Individual boards for games older than 2000 are dead. I know there's just so much you can discuss about old games, but still, with the resurgence of Classic gaming thanks to Virtual Consoles and such, there should be a whole new lot of people interested in it.

Life goes on, I guess, but it's sad to see that Classic Gaming will never be the same.

Do you think I'm exageratting, or not?

[CastlevaniaDude]

Hopefully, you're right.

If it destroys itself then all of the problems that you mentioned will go away and it will be like a time warp.

[bigbacon]

Like most things it will bubble up and then burst, just a matter of time. A lot of the problem is just nintendo stuff, sega stuff is still priced well for the m ost part and iseaasyto build a good library of games,especially if you want CIB.

[Guyra]

Prices go up and down. A lot of the high prices has got to do with the fact that those who had these consoles as kids are now adults with steady incomes. Right now it seems to be that everything from the NES to the PS1 is what is currently getting inflated, while systems both older and newer than those are much cheaper. At least that's how I see it. Of course there are other factors as well, but I believe this is a big part of it.

Another factor is that game collecting has become a more widespread phenomenon, and therefore there is more competition driving the prices up.

At the same time, even games from the NES and SNES are generally lower priced than if you were to buy used games back when the systems were new.

As for boards and sites about classic systems and games, there are a couple of things to take into account: The amount of information on classic systems and games available has increased tremendously during the last decade. It is also much easier to find. People don't have to ask for help on boards to find out how to get to the next part of Super Metroid when they can just look up a walkthrough or a Let's Play video that explains it or shows how. People don't need ask others to find out what games are the ones to get for their older systems, because there are already tons of lists and videos about top games and hidden gems, etc.

In addition to that, people who are extra interested in a certain system often ends up on "specialist" sites. So a lot of the "traffic" that you were used to might also just have moved somewhere else.

I would also like to point out that "classic gaming" is a very vague and relative term. To some people, Atari 2600 is "classic gaming," while PS1 is "modern gaming." Another person might call the PS2 "classic gaming."

And in the end, the world around us is constantly changing. The society is constantly changing. Our lives are constantly changing. Technology, economy, politics ... And our world view is constantly changing. I think it would be very, very strange if something as small as "classic gaming" wouldn't. In fact, I'd say it has been changing the whole time. And it's certainly not just bad things about that. :)

[StarMan_NES]

I think classic gaming as a hobby is really strong right now and has been for a long time, but I agree about pricing for systems such as the NES and SNES. Sellers have gotten out of hand asking crazy prices for common games and we as collectors are giving in and driving this practice. In retrospect we really have ourselves to blame because the more we spend on these games the longer these games will come with a high price tag.

I don't see the bubble bursting for a while. Maybe once the PS2/Xbox/GCN generation starts to be seen as nostalgic we will see older systems games drop in price and those systems rise, but I don't think classic games will ever be as affordable as they once were 5-10 years ago.

[treismac]

Do you think I'm exageratting, or not?

Prices of collectibles rise and fall, websites wax and wane, but retro gaming remains whatever you make of it. With emulation and flash carts, you can play whatever you like, which means that although collecting classic video games might have become more costly and less pleasurable, the games of yore are still within reach and as much fun as ever.

[sloan]

The upward price death spiral and games-as-investments have killed a lot of the fun for sure. If investors and flippers would leave the hobby alone, everybody would be better off for it. Twilight? No. Emulators and flash carts will always mean the games are available to play. Just that the wealthy will be the ones with actual games and original hardware.

[thegamezmaster]

Me myself still enjoy my classic games, sometimes more than the new stuff. And classic games will always hold a special place for me. Back in the day, there was something magical about it.

[zakthedodo]

Prices have gone up, way up, but as time goes, I don't see them getting cheaper, if anything more expensive.
Nothing deemed collectable rarely ever gets cheaper with time.

I paid some pretty good prices online for some Japanese Mega Drive games, but titles like Battle Mania, Pulseman, and other games in that bracket such as Gleylancer you're lucky to find for under $140.00

I recently sold most of them, for about 80 dollars each which was 30 dollars cheaper then the next cheapest copy maybe a year ago.
I wasn't looking to make money, I actually lost a small amount, but I just wanted to flip them and move on to another system.
Now these same games have shot up at least 50% more and I'm kinda kicking myself but these listings for 200 dollar games just sit there on Ebay forever.

You can catch a break if someone doesn't know what they have most likely from an estate, but if it goes to bidding that can get pricey as well.

The best time to collect is when a system is wrapping up it's lifespan.
Consoles are everywhere.
In 1997 or so, the EB Games here had literally a wall full of model 2 Genesis complete with the sidecar Sega CDs and 32X for about 60 dollars.
I bought a Nomad in 1995 for 180 dollars in 1995 and another in 1997 for 40 dollars.
Back in the early 2000's used Genesis and both NES and SNES games were also sold in much more retail stores.

If I really, really want a game badly enough to the point it's itching at me, I can afford about 80 to 100 dollars once a month to throw away on it, but that's rarely the case.
The fact is, less consoles are working, most retro games were owned by children, especially NES.
Sega sold the Genesis to an older demographic , signing deals with Joe Montana, Tommy Lasorda, and Arnold Palmer. ( The kids loved them some Arnold Palmer back in the day).
The system was expensive and heavily sports orientated as well as arcade.
Probably the 1st system whose majority of owners took care of.

But to wrap whatever point I think I might me making up, time is no friend to the serious collector and to some point even the casual one.

[JakeM]

You guys do know that in 5 decades people will see the Atari through Genesis era of gaming as the stone age? Retro is always going to be around as gaming goes forward, its not like its gonna disappear as long as people can see with their eyes and use their hands to do stuff. Hell there will be games when were doing everything with just our minds with computer chips. There will also be games, and games that are 20 years to 30 years old will be retro. Ps2 will be someones 2600 and at the end of the PS4's life time youll see those $10 copies of God of War be $50.

[zakthedodo]

You guys do know that in 5 decades people will see the Atari through Genesis era of gaming as the stone age? Retro is always going to be around as gaming goes forward, its not like its gonna disappear as long as people can see with their eyes and use their hands to do stuff. Hell there will be games when were doing everything with just our minds with computer chips. There will also be games, and games that are 20 years to 30 years old will be retro. Ps2 will be someones 2600 and at the end of the PS4's life time you'll see those $10 copies of God of War be $50.


In 50 years, maybe sooner, video games ( or the equivalent thereof ) might be indistinguishable from anything that's been on the market up til now.
If in 1963 you tried to explain the internet or a current gen console, or even earlier, most people would have no frame of reference of what you were talking about.
Then tell them there will be over 500 stations on the television that is now shaped like a movie theater screen. @_@

Thankfully however, these games now are being archived digitally as in 50 years from now, most of the cart based games will inevitably corrode regardless of how much care is taken care of them and I don't think optical drives will be around in 10 years, much less 50.

[JakeM]

If in 1963 you tried to explain the internet or a current gen console, or even earlier, most people would have no frame of reference of what you were talking about.
Then tell them there will be over 500 stations on the television that is now shaped like a movie theater screen. @_@

Thankfully however, these games now are being archived digitally as in 50 years from now, most of the cart based games will inevitably corrode regardless of how much care is taken care of them and I don't think optical drives will be around in 10 years, much less 50.
There was radio back then and tv, just say that it was a mix of both. Carts will corrode over time, but the software is surviving due to emulation on computers, wii virtual console, psn and xbox live. People already think maybe therell be virtual reality games, it was on star trek next generation, one episode of the honey i shrunk the kids, and other shows. I have an idea about how video games could evolve, but I dont want to say it out loud yet.

[Neb6]

Maybe they're all too busy playing classic games :)

You know that old 50s song, "Rock and Roll is here to stay"? Well, I feel the same about retro games.

I think there will always be a place for simple (elegant, if you prefer) games that offer highly-refined gameplay with great replay value. That and I think the 8 and 16-bit games really showed the fantastic results available when designers are faced with strict limitations.

[zakthedodo]

People already think maybe therell be virtual reality games, it was on star trek next generation, one episode of the honey i shrunk the kids, and other shows. I have an idea about how video games could evolve, but I dont want to say it out loud yet.

Virtual Reality was the next big thing in the '90's but I guess the technology wasn't ready yet.
The Virtual Boy, Sega with Virtua this, and Virtua that. Neither really lived up to the promise of their namesake.
Classic games will always have a market however.

[sfchakan]

Personally, I remember the highest level of discussion and passion for vintage gaming to be the late 90s, early 00s. People were just discovering that there were other freaks like them that still played and collected all of these old games. Message boards were busy, fan sites were numerous, and emulation was really exciting to follow.

Now, with numerous resellers killing thrift shops, secondhand stores being unreliable, collectors snapping up games no matter their asking price, and a lot of fan favorites being just a legal download away; it feels like the community has waned a little bit. Holy run-on sentence, Batman! Aw, fuck it.

I'd say it started to die down around 06, 07; it not a little bit before then.

[Gameguy]

You guys do know that in 5 decades people will see the Atari through Genesis era of gaming as the stone age? Retro is always going to be around as gaming goes forward, its not like its gonna disappear as long as people can see with their eyes and use their hands to do stuff. Hell there will be games when were doing everything with just our minds with computer chips. There will also be games, and games that are 20 years to 30 years old will be retro. Ps2 will be someones 2600 and at the end of the PS4's life time youll see those $10 copies of God of War be $50.
If it ends up like comic books, people will always be after the golden and silver age. Most things after that you might as well burn as it's all next to worthless(some exceptions obviously). At a certain point most games will just lack the early fresh feel and will just feel old and obsolete years later, like most early 3D or FMV games do now. Unless a person grows up with certain games there will be little attachment to it, and those who focus on that because of nostalgia alone will get bored and sell it off afterwards. Right now video games are really popular, they won't always be just like with Beanie Babies. With Beanie Babies there are a handful that are still worth a decent amount even today, but most are worthless.

[Buyatari]

If it ends up like comic books, people will always be after the golden and silver age. Most things after that you might as well burn as it's all next to worthless(some exceptions obviously). At a certain point most games will just lack the early fresh feel and will just feel old and obsolete years later, like most early 3D or FMV games do now. Unless a person grows up with certain games there will be little attachment to it, and those who focus on that because of nostalgia alone will get bored and sell it off afterwards. Right now video games are really popular, they won't always be just like with Beanie Babies. With Beanie Babies there are a handful that are still worth a decent amount even today, but most are worthless.


So when does the Golden Age of video gaming begin and when does the Silver Age of gaming begin and end?

There were coimcs before the Golden Age.

[7th lutz]

I don't see games getting cheap especially from the NES, SNES, and Genesis systems. I brought up the NES, SNES, and Genesis for a reason.

There are websites, and sellers on ebay that sell reproduction game cartridges. What I read from Lostclassics website a couple weeks ago shows a problem in amount of NES game cartridges.

Lost Classics website mentioned that It's no secret that NES stuff is getting harder to find for everyone. Their stock of donor carts for the NES is dwindling.

[7th lutz]

There is something with Cartridge based systems that I think some people didn't realize. A good amount of those systems using existing game cartridges to put hacks, reproductions, and homebrew games on cartridge.

I don't think that is something disc based systems to worry about. The fact is you can burn CD's to put games on them for a disc based system to play.

[Gameguy]

So when does the Golden Age of video gaming begin and when does the Silver Age of gaming begin and end?

There were coimcs before the Golden Age.
For me personally, I would consider the Golden Age to begin with the early 70's around the Magnavox Odyssey/Pong/Computer Space years and end up until the NES. The Silver Age would be the NES up to and including 32bit systems. The only reason I would include 32bit systems is because of the 32X expansion and Sega Saturn, that would allow the PS1 to be included with them.

There were electronic games going back to the late 1940's, and of course the later Tennis for Two, Spacewar!, and even Galaxy Game(first coin-op video game beating Computer Space). These weren't exactly available for the general public, these were before video games started becoming mainstream and widely popular.


Right now the people I see clamoring for vintage video games are teens, I just saw today some teens in a thrift getting all excited over finding Sega Master System stuff. The only thing I saw that they bought was a copy of Phantasy Star for $7.99 missing the instructions, at least they left the rest of the games which were junk and also missing the instructions. Still they were excited to just see the games. I'm pretty sure I saw one of them later carrying around a VHS VCR while looking through the video tapes for action films, or it was few different teens. I didn't bother to stick around to see if they bought it all, I just know the Phantasy Star was gone when I later came back to the store. Usually when teens are into something in groups, it's just fads that don't last long term. Five to ten years from now I'm not sure if collecting video games will still be as popular, at least as popular with common games. Actual rare stuff will always be sought after.

[sfchakan]

Yeah, I can say the same about younger kids being surprisingly into it. Perhaps it's because they have less money, or they're just genuinely interested.

My kids have my library of stuff to play, so it's hard for me to really tell with them. They play random shit all the time.

My boss' 13 year old son is into Genesis, PS2, Xbox, and PS3. That's what he's got and he doesn't get a ton of money coming his way, so he gets a good bit of value for $50 versus buying one game and being done with it in a couple of days.

[Tron 2.0]

Right now the people I see clamoring for vintage video games are teens, I just saw today some teens in a thrift getting all excited over finding Sega Master System stuff. The only thing I saw that they bought was a copy of Phantasy Star for $7.99 missing the instructions, at least they left the rest of the games which were junk and also missing the instructions. Still they were excited to just see the games. I'm pretty sure I saw one of them later carrying around a VHS VCR while looking through the video tapes for action films, or it was few different teens. I didn't bother to stick around to see if they bought it all, I just know the Phantasy Star was gone when I later came back to the store. Usually when teens are into something in groups, it's just fads that don't last long term. Five to ten years from now I'm not sure if collecting video games will still be as popular, at least as popular with common games. Actual rare stuff will always be sought after.
Really damn,that for me means more competition some 'thing i don't like.When it comes to collecting for older consoles at least.I wonder for younger people are they doing it because they think it's cool or just a trend for them.In in any case,it does seem to be at it's peak.At this point i'm i just hoping it will become a fad and in the future,for prices to drop.

[Aussie2B]

Prices have gone up, way up, but as time goes, I don't see them getting cheaper, if anything more expensive.
Nothing deemed collectable rarely ever gets cheaper with time.

Have you ever seen one of those Antiques Roadshow update episodes? "Collectables" lose value pretty commonly, if interest in those types of items wanes. There is always an ebb and flow. Or just look at pre-crash collecting. The truly rare stuff isn't getting any cheaper, but interest in pre-crash games in general has definitely cooled, as have the prices on the common stuff.

Anyway, getting back to the main topic question, it's all relative. For those of us who have been collecting and a part of the scene for a long time, things may seem worse and less interesting, but I'm sure a new collector/retro gamer can find a lot to be excited about. Also, us older collectors are stuck in our old ways. We're go to the same old boards and the same old sites and wonder why things are dying off, but things change and move on. Message boards and fan sites are old news. Young collectors are connecting on social media, Youtube, blogs, etc. Personally, I don't think these outlets tend to foster as thoughtful discussion and thorough documentation/research, but what can ya do.

[Scotterpop]

I got into collecting games in about '97 or so... right about the time I gained access to the internet. Information I would get from message boards and eBay really stoked that desire to collect all the stuff I wanted as a kid but never could afford. And those first couple of years of collecting were GLORIOUS! I would find great stuff every time I headed out to the thrifts, yard sales, estate sales, and flea markets. And there were so many different game stores back then, little mom 'n pop places that would eventually get run out of town by big corporate stores like Gamestop. Around the early to mid-2000's is when things really started to cool off here. Prices went up, finds became scarcer and less frequent, and everywhere I go now I see speculators with barcode scanners and cell phones frantically looking up eBay prices. Yep, the Sumguy has become high-tech... God help us all!

Classic gaming as we know it will, in my opinion, continue to shift toward digital emulation. I simply can't afford to collect physical copies of games and systems like I did before because most of the stock is now in the hands of resellers. I have a hacked PSP Go and a Dingoo and they do a pretty good job of providing my classic gaming fix. Sure, nothing will EVER replace the experience of playing a cart on the original hardware, but that's a luxury I now have to start to let go of. So, barring another catastrophe like the crash of '83, it looks like the glory years of affordable collecting are behind us.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I think in general, classic gaming is stagnant. younger gamers see simplistic games with pixel graphics as something that belongs on a 99 cent iphone game and not a console, and fewer new developers are willing to risk new retro style games.

On the other end, we - the classic gaming crowd - will continue to get older and become less and less relevant to marketers who will continue to push the latest war fps onto the 13-15 year olds who will increasingly replace us as the dominant market.

Prices are in a boom phase, but the bubble will burst someday - maybe not for decades, but I think there will come a time when collections of any physical media will become almost worthless.

Does anyone expect a kid born in 2050 to grow up and want to play an NES game - especially on an ACTUAL NES with an ACTUAL cartridge?

Like it or not, classic gaming is in a dying market that isn't changing with the times.

I think for it to thrive once again, pixel art games need to showcase they have worth as an art style and that they can be just as complex as 3D games.

[Atarileaf]

I often wonder why retro gaming is becoming more popular, hence more competitive and pricier. Is it because more people want to play these games or is it simply another thing resellers can buy to make a profit? In my area it's both but reselling is definitely taking a huge chunk of the available finite stock. The same people are listing on Kijiji day after day, usually the same things with some additions and subtractions as they sell their wares.

I actually think Kijiji, Craigslist and like-minded sites have more to blame than ebay - simply because these sites are free to use, there are no fees, no packing, no shipping, no feedback, no chargebacks, etc - you can have people come to your house and hand you cash which is so much easier and profitable for resellers. With retro games or other collectibles, you can even build up a nice regular customer base. People who may have balked to buying to resell on ebay will readily do it via online classified ads.

I truly believe that if these sites started charging fees to post ads you might see a decline in reselling but until then, its a 100% profit for resellers and retro gaming can make you a lot if you know what to look for.

On the other hand, resellers do what they're doing BECAUSE retro gaming and collecting are more popular and the reason they're more popular is that as time goes on, there are more systems and games that become classic and retro. When I first started collecting, SNES, Genesis and TG-16 were current gen systems, now they're a huge part of the retro gaming scene and attracting millions more people who grew up in the 16-bit era.

I think though that pre-crash is starting to decline slightly, and mainly those that collect for those systems, like myself, are all but finished their collections - there's simply nothing left from that era that I'm actively looking for as an example (although I'd never say my collection would ever be "done")

[rmaerz]

Like it or not, classic gaming is in a dying market that isn't changing with the times.



Isn't that the whole idea?

[MetalFRO]

I often lament the hike in prices for stuff. SNES games still command awfully large amounts of money, even for cart-only copies, for common games that aren't rare. There are some game shops and retailers who price them more fairly. For example, I paid $8 each for Metroid Prime and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (I thought that was pretty good a couple months ago), but when I'm paying the same $8 for Bio-Metal, it's not quite right. And forget about buying boxed SNES carts without taking out a second mortgage on your house or getting a second job. Gaming is a much more expensive hobby than I ever bargained for. I secretly snicker when I overhear people talking about hunting and the $6,000 shotgun they just bought, because it has taken me years to sink that kind of money into my mostly used gaming collection. But it's becoming more difficult to afford to be a collector unless you're more choosy about what you buy or seek out deals and trades whenever possible.

[ReaXan]

I think a lot of the 90's/2000 collectors are now in their early to mid 40's and aren't collecting for the 2600 era as much as they once were. They might have moved onto other more expensive hobbies as a lot of people in their 40's are making the majority of money out in the real world now. I think they have dictated the change in the market more than anyone as they come from the video game pioneer generation.

[GhostDog]

Retro gaming has become mainstream big time but my days of collecting older games are long gone. I sold off most of my games on eBay a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. I had my fun collecting but at the end of the day I barely played any of the games. I do still enjoy looking through 90s gaming magazines like EGM and Gamepros to relive the good 'ol days. The internet is also great in reliving some of those memories with plenty of content on Youtube.

[sparf]

If the hobby is diminishing, I haven't noticed, but then I haven't been looking, either. I learned the lesson of what these games meant to me the hard way. Fortunately it happened before the boom of recent years.

I worked at [LARGE GAME RETAILER] and traded in a LOT of my older games (NES and SNES) in order to acquire the newest PSX titles and PS2 stuff at that time. I was able to get most of it back later once I realized how much I missed those games. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, yes, but these were also fantastic titles! Final Fantasy III(VI), Super Metroid, Mario RPG... I even traded my systems at one time. Once, the NES was fetching $60 in trade credit (which we turned and sold for $99).

We may be in a slowly dying hobby as technology outpaces our old loves. But that's okay. Because if we're doing this for anyone but ourselves, then we're doing it for the wrong reasons.

[RyanR]

Like most things it will bubble up and then burst, just a matter of time. A lot of the problem is just nintendo stuff, sega stuff is still priced well for the m ost part and iseaasyto build a good library of games,especially if you want CIB.

This is one of the reason I started collecting for the Genesis/Mega Drive. A lot of the games are reasonably priced, and its easer to find CIB.

[bigbacon]

This is one of the reason I started collecting for the Genesis/Mega Drive. A lot of the games are reasonably priced, and its easer to find CIB.

same here, I went pretty much SMS, GG, Genesis as nintendo stuff is just outrageous in price especially since almost everything out there is a loose cart. I mean the mark up on popular and most widespread games is crazy. I would like to own a copy of contra and super metroid but not at 30+ bucks. For $30 bucks i could get 3 or 4 CIB genesis games.

I think a lot of the problem is resellers and people with a HUGE nostalgia footprint on what they have. New retro gaming stores are popping up left and right around here, they come up with the most amazing finds and then turn it around and sell it for big money (or try to) and those with the huge nostalgia problem see those prices and also they just feel that because of their attachment that it is worth huge money. At the same time there are those that just don't know and you see them selling stuff at their garage sale for stupid money. I see that a lot.

obviously there must be a lot of people out there paying the money because the prices don't seem to be dropping.

though, I would like to hope for a huge crash....

[RyanR]

New retro gaming stores are popping up left and right around here, they come up with the most amazing finds and then turn it around and sell it for big money

I found a retro gaming store in my area not to long ago. So I decided to stop by and look at some games.

I asked the guy behind the counter about a price of one of the games. Then he reached into his pocket got out his phone and started messing around with it. I asked "what are you doing" he replied "I'm looking up prices on ebay." I just laughed and walked out of the store.

[ninjistar]

I found a retro gaming store in my area not to long ago. So I decided to stop by and look at some games.

I asked the guy behind the counter about a price of one of the games. Then he reached into his pocket got out his phone and started messing around with it. I asked "what are you doing" he replied "I'm looking up prices on ebay." I just laughed and walked out of the store.

I too have seen a surge of retro gaming stores open in my area. That's hilarious that the worker flat out told you how he's pricing his inventory! That seems like a fairly greenhorn move on his part. Next time, you'll have to list 10 copies of whatever you're looking for, starting at 0.99 :D I kid, but you have to admit, it's interesting where we are at in the retail video game space!

I've been wanting to go into some of the retro gaming stores in my area, but so far, I've avoided it. The main reason is that unless I feel some absolute NEED to have an item right away, I look for a good price first. If you keep looking, you tend to find what you want for sale these days. I know that these guys are buying things at the same places I buy, and then reselling. There's nothing wrong with that, but I can't imagine paying what they're asking.

[PreZZ]

I think nes games, snes and genesis are perfect for younger children because games are simpler and fun. my 5 year old nephew loves his genesis! He also has a ps2 and xbox, but theres too many buttons and games are too complicated. He enjoys Sonic 2 and can get to the 3rd world easily.

[Kevincal]

i think prices peaked when the economy peaked in 2006. downhill since then. you guys arent looking hard enough for the good deals. more and more people are selling because more and more people are having money problems. ebay is flooded with any game you need more than ever. systems too. competition is fierce for sellers on ebay, i know. tough out there. good time to buy for anything. world is in a depression.

i will say i dont see much point in collection the systems that are easily emulated, basically anything under 32 bit. well, what i mean is, cool to collect affordable games, but the handfull of rare games that sell for 50 or more dollars, doesnt make much sense when you can easily get it free and play it in rgb with save states and such.

32 bit and 64 bit collecting is where its at if you ask me, that stuff is much harder to emulate properly. and i just prefer those games over 8 and 16 bit.

classic gaming collecting and community was much more fun in the early to mid 2000s than the last 5 years. i will say. theres been a flood of annoying noobs because in the last 5 years its become cool and mainstream to be a dorky nerd also in the last 5 years girls finally see it as cool to play video games. the young guys age 20 and under are clueless about the classic stuff n64 and earlier. for the most part.

[Steven]

Interesting topic and question.
The prices have exploded but to me it's none of my business, as I wrapped up "active buying/collecting" last year when I finally found a 3 Ninjas Kick Back SNES box. But really, I finished buying most of my wants by 2008, fortunately. So whenever people bring up prices nowadays, I just thank my lucky stars that the nostalgia bug hit me in 2006 when the market was still pretty friggin' awesome.

In terms of message boards, the glory days of retro gaming discussion has seemed to come and pass. I too remember the late '90s and early 2000s as a time where people were recalling their childhood, discovering emulation and using the internet as one big sandbox of their childhood. Topics cranked out at a crazy clip, lots of replies and the "community" seemed to buzz. I guess you can only talk about a game for so long though, as topics have slowed over the years, and perhaps does not contain the same "vigor" as before. I remember posting on usenet, remember rec.video.games.sega in the late 90s to early-mid 2000s? Them some fun days.

In terms of my own personal gaming journey, I am still into SNES as I was when I got back into it nearly 8 years ago now. I am having a blast beating these games one at a time... but I know too that eventually, I'll beat them all, and after that it'll be a point of reaching for an old favorite off the shelf for the random playthrough. I probably still have a good 3-4 years until I get to that point though.

I find, it's best to just enjoy each season as it comes.
You never know when the fun ends, or you burn out, or life alters drastically and your interests shift.
Don't get caught up in comparing yourself to other retro gamers, be pleased where you're at, and just enjoy yourself.

[spman]

The surge of retro stores selling old stuff at eBay prices and above is just a ludicrous concept to me, and a terrible business model. Outside of having a physical presence that provides you with more opportunities to make deals on old games, what advantage does having a physical store have over selling online? Yeah, the 80 copies of Blades of Steel you have for NES will never sell online for the $8 each you have them tagged for in your store, and yeah you might find a couple of suckers dumb enough to come in and pay that, but it's never going to be enough to cover overhead.

Anyways, prices will settle down eventually. It's just a fad, probably 70% of the demand right now is just from resellers looking to make a quick buck and hoarding inventory. eBay definitely does a lot to affect prices. There's a couple of issues with eBay that I hate, which causes prices to go up in an unnatural fashion. The first is that when an item sells on eBay, there is no clear indication of whether the item was actually sold and paid for at some ridiculously inflated price, or if the item was just bid up by a scammer, or by the seller themselves. So now when people search the completed listings on eBay, they see that one loose copy of Super Metroid that sold for $65, and the prices just slowly creep up from there.

The other issue is the automated bidding bots people use. People use sniper bots and set them to win a certain auction, regardless of the price. If three or four or more people are using bots on the same item, it turns into an unnatural bidding war that drives the price of the item well above what anyone should reasonably pay. So your bot wins the item for you, and you only expected to pay $30 for the item, but competition from other bots drove the price up to $75, so a new price point is now set.

What will eventually happen is that the bubble will burst, much like it did with Atari 2600 cartridges which are now largely worthless except for a handful of maybe 100 or so super rarities. The stuff that is common will drop like a rock, back to where it should be. The rare stuff however will stay where it is, maybe drop a little, but still stay high priced.

[xelement5x]

The other issue is the automated bidding bots people use. People use sniper bots and set them to win a certain auction, regardless of the price. If three or four or more people are using bots on the same item, it turns into an unnatural bidding war that drives the price of the item well above what anyone should reasonably pay. So your bot wins the item for you, and you only expected to pay $30 for the item, but competition from other bots drove the price up to $75, so a new price point is now set.



If that's how you're using a sniping tool you're doing it all wrong. What you should do is put in the max you want to pay and have it snipe at the last 5 seconds or so. If you wind up paying your max, that is that, and other people would have bid the same amount as well, you just gave yourself hope it would end lower. If you pay under your max, consider it a score. If you think you overpaid, then it's your fault for putting in a max bid that was more than you wanted to pay.

[Mad-Mike]

TBH, I'm not sure if it's a Twilight or just a "slow period"........

Classic Gaming is a recent thing that grew along side the whole "retro" fads that started kicking off in the late 80's/early 90's, and I don't think that has been long enough to see what the long term cycle of fashion will be for this stuff.

I've always seen a small parallel to the music/fashion industry and what is fashionable/popular at the time. In the early 2000's, we were having a 70's revival on the heels of an 80's revival.....after a 60's revival at the beginning of the 90's and a 50's one at the end of the late 80's. Around 2000-2004ish, I saw the Atari 2600 considered "classic" instead of "sell it off for $20 altogether in a grubby cardboard box at the Salvation Army" junk, and watched the NES get to that point too.

If I were to make some speculations....
- certain consoles will always be popular, the NES, SNES, and 2600 come to mind
- certain games will always be cheap (think Super Mario Bros., Combat, Pac-Man, Pitfall!, Dragon Warrior, Zelda...and the like)
- when the quantities get lower, the prices will go up, but they will have a ceiling based on demand. I don't expect like Frank and Mike on American Pickers to pay $250 for a NES in 20 years to resell at their antique store for $320
- Some consoles will fade away except to certain crowds - I doubt the majority of collectors will want an RCA Studio II or Worlds of Wonder Action Max in the future
- And the mainstream will continue to whine and complain that the graphics are bad, the sound is ear grating, and that they can't figure out how to use a controller with one button and a stick, and that should should buy the Nintendo WiiWii 5000 with 12560P XSHD Graphics and a miniature DNA cloned orchestra for sound.

[Casati]

After getting out of video gaming in the 90s, I was late to the hobby, building my collection between 2010 and 2012. What I've noticed as of late is the disappearance of reasonably priced retro video game manuals. I bought much of my collection CIB a couple years ago for reasonable prices, hardly ever paying more than $5 extra for a manual or box. Now the manuals, especially for NES/SNES if they're still in good condition, are commanding premium prices often more spendy than the game cartidges (since they're more perishable and more often thrown away). And the supply of reasonably-priced posters has evaporated as well.

Also, as the supply has become concentrated in resellers' and serious collectors' hands, Ebay offerings have become largely a crapshoot since these resellers usually use stock photos and won't offer any description beyond "good". I have a dozen or so manuals that I'd like to replace due to their poor condition, but it's not easy to find a good copy on Ebay any more. And many of these Ebay sellers don't take a simple precaution such as cardboard backing to protect a manual that was listed as like new and I paid some good money for. This is basically an Ebay rant, but I was able to find manuals on Ebay with actual photos for good prices just a couple years ago, so it has recently changed.

[JSoup]

Unsurprising, really. All collectibles, particularly ones with large communities behind them, go through periods of major price influx. My mother used to tell me about how vinyl records used to be crazy expensive, then dropped off to pennies when the next thing came out, then spiked again when the internet became a thing. Now they are back to being (largely) dirt cheap.

Yes, games are way different, but the principle is the same. I'd wadge that a percentage of new collectors will eventually realize they prefer to play rather than collect and will make the switch to emulation, like I did.