Anyone else refuse to keep/collect really expensive games?

[drewbrim]

Now I'm sure we all have a different opinion of what's "really expensive" but as far as this discussion I'm referring to any single game that is worth over $100. Such as Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant Silvergun, NES Panesians, Magical Chase, etc.... are a few that come to mind.

Now I'm assuming that we would all buy these games on the cheap if given the chance, but how many of us would keep them? How many would sell or trade?

I personally can't hold on to a game when I know it will bring that much loot. The enjoyment I get from owning or playing the game isn't as great as the amount of gaming stuff I can get in return. Basically no matter how good the game is, it isn't that good. I've only had to make this decision twice. Once with a copy of Magical Chase (and I even collect for the Turbo), and once with a DK competition cart. Anyone else agree? Or do you guys think I'm crazy for letting stuff like this go.

[goatdan]

For me, it all depends on three factors:

1) Will I enjoy / use the item? If not, I am a lot more likely to get rid of it. I've sold some true holy grails (Lynx development kit, for one) for reasons like that. When I sell these things, I always try to ensure the person I'm selling it to will use it.
2) How did I obtain it? If I found it hunting, I'm a lot more likely to keep it. If I got it in a trade or bought it, I'm a lot more likely to sell it later.
3) Do I collect for that system? If I do, I tend to hold on to stuff even if I don't really play it -- my Alien Vs. Predator prototype falls into this category.

Usually, if the item matches up with two of these, I'll keep it. If not, I will usually let things part with me after a little while enjoying them first!

[Xexyz]

I don't think you're losing out. YOu want the money and the buyer wants the game. Its a win/win situation in my eyes. If I had gotten games that were worthh $100+ on the cheap I would most likely keep them. However, if I was ever to get my hands on complete copies of the first 3 Metal Slugs for the Neo Geo AES for peanuts, I'd be very tempted to sell them off to top dollar buyers.

[ghostangelofcky]

I used to have a copy of Crazy Climber for the 2600, I traded it for

Sega Master System and a Sega Saturn to Briguy,

I like Atari and all but I ilke the newer systems better, so it wasn't a real big choice to get rid of it, no regrets :D

[retroman]

i agree.. it would have to depend on the game and how bad i wanted it...I have paid that much and more for some Neo-Geo stuff and it was worth it to me...

[racerx]

Given that I'm trying for complete Jaguar and Virtual Boy collections, there are some games that I need to fork out the big bucks for (Virtual Bowling, Battlesphere...). I'd never get rid of those, even if they played horribly (though Air Cars is tempting...ugh).

I suppose if I stumbled onto additional cheap copies in the wild, though, they'd be on eBay in no time.

[kainemaxwell]

I'll keep them around if they're fun to play, then possibly sell them at some point later.

[drewbrim]

I will usually let things part with me after a little while enjoying them first!

I absolutely agree with that statement! And in the topic the word "refuse" is a little strong. It's not some unbreakable rule that I follow, but if even I really enjoy the game and it just happens to be worth $150 I can't see myself enjoying it more than 15 $10 games or 10 times as much as a $15 game.

You guys bring up a good point about how much you paid for the game, which I believe lends itself to both sides.

For me, if you paid next to nothing for it then my conscience would be telling me to sell since it was just like finding a wad of $20 bills lying on the ground. But if you kept it at least you wouldn't feel like you had to play it all the time to get your monies worth.

If you paid market value then you probably wouldn't feel bad about keeping it since you chose to spend that amount and if you disliked the game you could always get your money back by reselling. Kind of a "no harm, no foul" sort of thing. Of course for me to hold onto it I would feel the need to justify (e.g. BEST GAME EVER!) having something that expensive in my collection.

[ClassicGameTrader]

Well I have a different feeling on the topic. I enjoy yhr pursuit of expensive games and to me the thrill is owning them. I wouldn't be going after a prototype of mary kate and ashley olsen games or anything. But who has played a better shooter then Radiant Silvergun, to me it is worth the $150 I paid. I can't say the same for Taromaru, but in that case I payed $50 or so for it, I guess at this point I keep it for the wow factor. Games like Dragon Force, PDS, Dracula X and so on are all REALLY good games and they happen to command a high price on ebay as well. But I certainly wouldn't trade a bunch of cheap games for one of those. My feeling on trading and collecting is quality over quantity. Unless were talking about a DBZ:FB or something, expensive games are generally excellent.

[alexkidd2000]

I find its alot more fun to collect expensive games then to invest in some kind or RSP or Mutual Fund.

[Richter Belmount]

so you wouldnt ever want to have a copy of
terragnima english
dracula x?
snatcher?
or a metal gear 2 msx in your collection? :hmm:

[Iron Draggon]

Hey, I'm the guy who paid $300 for a factory sealed Hyper Duel just to be able to open it and play it. And I still believe that it was worth every penny. So much so that I will be the guy who will eventually pay $500 for a factory sealed Radiant Silvergun just to be able to open it and play it too someday.

The way that I look at it, it's all relative, and it all evens out. Sometimes you underpay, sometimes you overpay, sometimes you pay an even price. So you have 10 games at $10 each and one game at $100 that you enjoy 10 times more than those 10 games combined. Both are still worth $100, both are still worth keeping. If that isn't you, don't worry about it. That isn't everybody. But for some of us, no price is too large or too small, if it's a game we want.

It's very easy for me to feel that way about it, because most of the triple digit games in my collection were bought many years ago for double digit prices, long before anyone knew a thing about their value. So I look at any triple digit game that I want to add to my collection as a counterbalance to all the triple digit games that I have that I only paid double digits to obtain.

That philosophy makes it far easier for me to spend mega triple digits on just one game sometimes. I have no problems at all spending mega triple digits on several games all the time, so why should I look at one any differently? I'm still spending mega triple digits, so who cares how many games I get with that much money? As long as I want it, then I will be happy with it.

[drewbrim]

so you wouldnt ever want to have a copy of
terragnima english
dracula x?
snatcher?
or a metal gear 2 msx in your collection? :hmm:


Not saying that. Just saying what I would rather have. I was hoping this wouldn't turn into a "quality vs. quanity" thing, but while I'm here... not saying I'd rather have 150 copies of smb/dh than radiant silvergun. But if I could sell RSG for $150 and then buy a SNES $25, Earthbound $45, Chrono Trigger $35, FF2 $20, and FF3 $25 (or whatever system/game combo you're comfortable with) then that's the route I would take.

I'd just rather have what a game at that price could give me in return, as opposed to just what it gives me. Comprende'?

[esquire]

I think you need to first break it down between buying for collecting and buying for playing. You also then need to break it down further between carts and cds.

There are people who strictly buy games they like to play, and those who need to have everything for a particular system. Of course there are also those who are both, myself included. I assume most of us here fall into this last group.

If you are a purist collector, of course the answer is simple. You have to buy them. If you are just a casual collector or only collect games that you like, then you have to make an economic decision as to how bad you want a particular game. Are you into shmups? Is your favorite console the TG16? Then how much are you willing to spend to get that copy of Magical Chase?This is nothing new here, and I don't mean to restate the obvious, but it needs to be mentioned before I go to my next analysis.

If you are a gamer and just want to play the game, then the decision is different. I differentiate on the basis whter its a cart or cd. For the purpose of this argument, I am assuming you want to play the game as its orginally meant to be played - on the original console and not using emulator.

For carts, I think its easier to make a case for collecting them. You can't play the game on the console unless you have some pirated 52-in-1 or eeprom burned, which are both hard to come by for the average collector.

For CDs, it much easier to find pirated copies of the more expensive games, making it hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars just to play games like Sapphire, Dracula X, Radiant Silvergun, Dynastic Hero, etc. I'll be honest. i've downloaded isos for all of these games, and if I didn't, I would never have been able to experience those games.

Now because I am a collector and a gamer, I will eventually want to get originals for certain games for consoles that I collecting. As my collection grows, and I eliminate the lower priced games from my "want" list I may come back to a "Radiant Silvergun" or "Sapphire" and determine I really want to own an original. I've pretty much done this exact thing with my PC-Engine collection. i started out downloading isos, finding out I really liked the games and now I buy the originals. Eventually, I'll get a Dracula X, but until I can justify spending $100 or more on one game as opposed to several games, that day will have to wait.

[Dimitri]

The way that I look at it, it's all relative, and it all evens out. Sometimes you underpay, sometimes you overpay, sometimes you pay an even price. So you have 10 games at $10 each and one game at $100 that you enjoy 10 times more than those 10 games combined. Both are still worth $100, both are still worth keeping. If that isn't you, don't worry about it. That isn't everybody. But for some of us, no price is too large or too small, if it's a game we want.

...

That philosophy makes it far easier for me to spend mega triple digits on just one game sometimes. I have no problems at all spending mega triple digits on several games all the time, so why should I look at one any differently? I'm still spending mega triple digits, so who cares how many games I get with that much money? As long as I want it, then I will be happy with it.
Word. \^_^/

I plan to use a similar justification with myself when I need to wrap up my MD/J collection...whenever that comes...

[Zadoc]

Now I'm sure we all have a different opinion of what's "really expensive" but as far as this discussion I'm referring to any single game that is worth over $100. Such as Panzer Dragoon Saga, Radiant Silvergun, NES Panesians, Magical Chase, etc.... are a few that come to mind.

Now I'm assuming that we would all buy these games on the cheap if given the chance, but how many of us would keep them? How many would sell or trade?

I personally can't hold on to a game when I know it will bring that much loot. The enjoyment I get from owning or playing the game isn't as great as the amount of gaming stuff I can get in return. Basically no matter how good the game is, it isn't that good. I've only had to make this decision twice. Once with a copy of Magical Chase (and I even collect for the Turbo), and once with a DK competition cart. Anyone else agree? Or do you guys think I'm crazy for letting stuff like this go.


I have a few of those games that would go for over $100.

My collection sorted by price: http://www.consolecity.com/user.php/action-collection/member_id-300/region_array-b%3A0%3B/sort-price_D/start-0/sortfield-price.html


Panzer Dragoon Saga is my favorite game, and it is wortha good deal to me. Also, Snatcher on the SEGA CD is not only valuable in terms of how much it sells for, but it is to me personally because it's an amazing game in my opinion.


I have had only one valuable game that I sold, Steel Battalion, because I hated it.

[hezeuschrist]

I don't put anything in my collection unless it's something I'd like to play. There are certain things I want to have in my collection that I won't pay for (PDS for sure), but if I happened upon it for a reasonable price I'd gladly pick it up and head straight to B&S and request a saturn.

But a lot of stuff I have no desire to own. If I happened upon anything rare pre-NES it'd go straight to here, if no takers, Ebay. If it's not a good RPG/ action/rpg then it's not worth owning! Definite exceptions, but that's definitely where I've focused my collection. If I found any competition carts those would be on ebay in a second.

[Iron Draggon]

Now because I am a collector and a gamer, I will eventually want to get originals for certain games for consoles that I collecting. As my collection grows, and I eliminate the lower priced games from my "want" list I may come back to a "Radiant Silvergun" or "Sapphire" and determine I really want to own an original.

Very well said! This is another reason why it's easier for me to spend very large amounts of money on just one game now. There really aren't very many more games that I want that I don't already have. If there were, then I would definitely still be focusing on getting the less expensive games first. So I can see why drewbrim feels the way he does about it, and why others like him would feel the same way. When you have more games on your wishlist than you actually have in your collection, quantity is definitely far more important than spending extremely large sums of money on just one game. Unless your goal is to get the hardest games to obtain knocked out of the way first. There's alot of good reasons for collecting that way too, but for most people the preferred method is to start at the bottom and work your way up. Very few if any people will ever start at the top and work their way down. So when you get into the triple digit tiers, it's typically like a rite of passage. You're transcending from the common level to the next level.

That's probably why those of us who've reached those levels tend to boast about it a bit. We're just proud to finally be moving on to the next level of collecting. It's not so much that we want to brag about what we can afford as it is that we've reached a higher plane of gaming, and we're proud of it. I suspect that if you ever reach the quadruple digit tiers then it becomes even more of a rush. Those guys are like gods. The triple digit club is more like demigods. And everyone else are just mere mortals. All equally respectable, but just on different planes of existance. None are really any better than the others. Some may think they are, but they aren't. Others may think they aren't worthy of transcending, but they are. Anyone can do it. You just have to want it bad enough. If you don't, there's nothing wrong with that. So if you'd rather sell those items, then sell them! Milk the golden cash cow!

[squidblatt]

Steel Battalion is the only game I've every paid over $100 for, but I can see myself spending as much on other games once I'm in a better financial situation and my collection has grown. There's really no difference in paying lots of money for three titles at once and the same amount for one. In fact, if those three titles are less remarkable than the expensive one, then you can make the argument that they are the bigger waste of money.

Still, I don't know if I will ever be able to justify paying more than $200 on a single title. There's retirement to think about, and my son's college tuition. Lots of people think that they'll see a return on their collection investment, but I have no confidence in that at all. Almost uniformly, you will put more money into your hobby than you will ever get out of it, so counting on a game collection turning a profit is very risky. I definately see the appeal, but I don't thik I'll ever make enough moolah to feel right about spending thousands on a few games. That's just me; more power to you if you've got a different perspective.

[Tron 2.0]

I'll keep them around if they're fun to play, then possibly sell them at some point later.
That's some thing i also i try live by,when it comes to collecting video games.

Price is not much of factor to me if.... i like it i keep it if not i 'sell it then.

[jdc]

Iron Draggon nailed it in his last post.

As with anything collectible, there comes a time when you step over the threshhold from being a collector to being a COLLECTOR. When you start paying the big bux you've reached the point where everything is open and no price is too steep in order to acquire what you need. It's where the old saying "you can't get wetter than wet" comes into play.

I'm sure that there are many of you here that have another collecting jones that runs you more money than your videogame hobby.

[Vroomfunkel]

Never say never is my motto.

I probably wouldn't keep a really expensive game - but I am more than willing to buy it, play it and then sell it on. If I make money, great - if I lose money then I view it as like a kind of rental fee :D

I bought Panzer Dragoon Saga for about £85. I kept it for about three months, played it through, completed it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I shouldn't really have bought it as I was broke and used my overdraft to get it.

But I loved every moment of it .. and then sold it for £95 - all good! But even if it had only gone for £75 then £10 for three months of one of the greatest games I ever played would be a price I would have been more than willing to pay.

I think that is the most I have ever paid for a game (I bid more for Darxide, but lost ... again, I would have played it, and then resold ..)

Again, I am glad I shelled out to play Snatcher - another of the greatest games I ever played! Got it cheap as it has a broken case. Played it, swapped the case out for a mint one from Ecco the Dolphin or something and doubled my money on the re-sell ... but again, if I had only got half my money back I would have been more than happy to take the hit in order to play that game.

Vroomfunkel

[vintagegamecrazy]

If I had the cash I would pay any amount of cash for a game that I needed. I collect to have complete games for each system so if have to fork out big bucks then so be it. I have tons of crap but it is part of my collection, I have over 50 TRS-80 games and they will never get played again, but I collect for the system so they will stay.

[Griking]

I think you need to first break it down between buying for collecting and buying for playing. You also then need to break it down further between carts and cds.

For what its worth, I don't think any game is worth paying much over $100 or $200 to play, especially older classic games w/ no depth and moderate replay value. If you polled 1000 people who spent over $100 on a game I'd bet that 90% of them would tell you that they bought the game for a collection or to resell at a profit moreso than they bought it just to play.

[klausien]

Since I collect to play, monetary worth is just a small factor for me. If I were to get a grail on the cheap, I would keep it if it was something I was looking for, or if it were a TRUE rarity, but would most likely trade it for something worthwhile if I had no use for it.

I will say that it is a nice feeling to blow someone away with a Radiant Silvergun or Dracula X and then reveal how much it's worth. 8-)

[Captain Wrong]

I'll keep them around if they're fun to play, then possibly sell them at some point later.

I can't add more to that.