Poll:Will the Revolution hurt the value of NES games

[sliop24]

Does anyone here think that the revolution's abillity to download vintage games will hurt the value of actually vintage NES carts? You know less demand and all that.

[poopnes]

For about a week after this announcement I was seriously contemplating selling my NES/SNES/N64 system and games. But I came to the conclusion (with the help of my girlfriend) not to. Why? Because there's nothing quite like the original. So I imagine all the Nintendo titles will still be wanted in their original state. Second, most of Nintendo's games are dirt common anyway.

[robotriot]

Well, there has always been the possibility to download ROMs and an emulator for your computer, and it didn't really change the value of the original games. So I guess the Revolution won't change that either.

[classicb]

Well first we need to think about the world outside of DP land. Not everyone who buys old Nintendo stuff is a collector. I won't be selling any of my Nintendo stuff but I know many will and that will effect the price of common but sought after titles.

[felix]

I think that they will go UP in value. I personally dont buy classic games to play them (even though I do). I buy them as collectables. I have 100s of roms on my computer, but it doesnt mean that im going to sell every nes game I own.

[Fuyukaze]

It realy depends on the factors involved. At this time, Nintendo has only spoke of their own titles being released for d/l. This could have some effect on the prices, but not a great amount. Now if other companies should decided to do so, that could prove different. From what I hear, capcom has given some thought of making their catalog of games available for d/l as a special feature for beating new games. If many other companies should make them available, then I believe it could prove to have a drastic effect on it.

On the other hand, it could have little to no effect in any main retail chain aspect. When one consideres that Gamestop, Gamecrazy, and EB games have all decided to not carry non curent games, it leaves gamerush as being the only national chain left. Once that happens, it becomes little more then a thrift store/ebay market. In that, I have no clue as to what effects it could have as both markets flux due to consumer demand.

[yok-dfa]

Do you think the value of you NES carts will go down no that the Revolution can download vintage games

Well i really hope so. Cheaper games can only be a good thing for the collector. Cheaper games means more games to buy and play from the same amount of money. How can that be bad?

[THATinkjar]

I don't collect NES games, but I'm sure any effect on NES games would be felt to some degree on SNES and N64 games.

I'm not worried, though. I'd only be concerned if every future Nintendo console featured this back catalog feature. That would be a worry. And, of course, if Nintendo fails to offer third-party efforts, then its a completely different ball game.

Still, as someone already said, there is nothing like owning the real thing. And any reduction in prices overall wouldn't last and would be more of benefit than not.

[InsaneDavid]

Damn, double post (below) my apologies.

[InsaneDavid]

Naaa, if emulation didn't do it the Revolution won't either, as robotriot said.


Second, most of Nintendo's games are dirt common anyway.

Indeed, if they stick to first party stuff especially. Interesting though, if Nintendo is making the cost for the games FREE then that means the romdumps have a monetary value of ZERO since the copyright holder is assigning them as valueless.


It realy depends on the factors involved. At this time, Nintendo has only spoke of their own titles being released for d/l. This could have some effect on the prices, but not a great amount.

Yeah it would be like OMG, all my SMB / Duck Hunt carts have dropped from 20 cents to 10!


On the other hand, it could have little to no effect in any main retail chain aspect. When one consideres that Gamestop, Gamecrazy, and EB games have all decided to not carry non curent games, it leaves gamerush as being the only national chain left.

You have two of your stores crossed, Gamecrazy isn't dropping out any time soon and EB Games is dead. ;)

[poopnes]

Second, most of Nintendo's games are dirt common anyway.

Indeed, if they stick to first party stuff especially. Interesting though, if Nintendo is making the cost for the games FREE then that means the romdumps have a monetary value of ZERO since the copyright holder is assigning them as valueless.

And right now I'm guessing that 80 to 90% of the items for "download" will be first party. I could be wrong (and hope I am), but we haven't heard alot about how the 3rd parties feel about this. Overall, I don't really care what it does for the "value". To me that's not what its about anyway. My 25 cent SMD/DH is just as valuable as my Final Fantasy. My collection just wouldn't be complete without either.

[googlefest1]

i think it wil ower the value of some games

sure roms are available - but not every one uses them - some feel games have to be played on consoles

- it may increase the price in the beginging - but after the thrill of playing old games dies down there will only be the colector left and since non collectors will be able to DL the games on the revolution then i think the demand will drop thus lowering the prices

hopefully this wont mean that stores like game crazy will stop carying them

[Xantan the Foul]

Hopefully the prices will go down, it'll just make it easier for people like me who want the actual carts :)

[Nature Boy]

I think common stuff will suffer but the rare stuff won't really. Collectors will remain collectors and go after the real thing. Gamers will go after whatever is cheaper, which would (I assume) lower the demand for the more common classic titles.

[sharp]

I don't think it will make any difference. Look at the Neo Geo market, did any Neo Geo game ever went down after the release from a home version. Ok you can doubt about the quality of the conversions, but Twikle Star Sprites on DC was a lot better then the original and even started as budget game still the original catches high prices.

I think this also counts for other releases. It just offer the experience the original game does (and no even PS2-conversions of Neo Geo game won't be the same, even with the Neo Geo Stick for PS).

So I'm not afraid of it. BTW didn't the Dreamcast had such a service in Japa which let you play Megadrive and PC-Engine games?

[Captain Wrong]

Well first we need to think about the world outside of DP land.

Of course we should also think about the fact that this entire scenario is still based on a healthy dose of rumor and speculation at this point.

I agree with thinking about people outside of DP, though I think I'm coming at it from a different angle than you. I think people around here are greatly overestimating how importaint the ability to play old NES games is going to be to, well, most of the world not posting here. I think it would be a novelty at best for most "average" gamers.

I know there's still non-retrogamers buying NES games, but in my expirence it's because they either have small kids or can't afford something newer. So for them, I doubt this is going to have any effect on prices.

Even assuming the "every first party game evar for free, OMGWTFBBQ!!!/!?!?!11!!" story is true (which is highly unlikely,) I still say not really because collectors are collectors and I'd say that's what a vast majority of the people buying NES carts are. If the current ability to download ROMs hasn't hurt the market, I don't think the officially sanctioned ability to do so is going to change their minds either.

[Flack]

Here are the two possible scenarios I could think of.

* Some people who have NES carts now will sell them, replacing their real carts with downloaded ones for their Revolution.

* Some people will get interested in collecting NES carts after playing them on the Revolution.

We already have (for all intents and purposes) perfect NES emulation. My PSX/PS2, Dreamcast, GP32, GBA, Xbox, Gamecube, PC ... hell, even my Palm Pilot plays NES games. Emulation is not the complication, fringe hobby it once was. Download an NES emulator and an NES ROM and off you go -- no more messy or complicated setups required. You don't need to search back alleys or deal with pirates to get the stuff; Google has everything you need to get you going.

It's hard to put my logic into words, but what I was kind of thinking was this.

People who are already playing NES games through emulators will not affect the market.

People who have NES carts could already be playing games via emulators, so the Revolution will not affect them.

I would guess there would be a small percentage of people who will sell their NES carts when the Revolution comes out, which will probably be cancelled out by people who get excited about the NES when the Revolution comes out and will be looking to buy carts.

In other words, I don't think the sky is falling. If free emulation and Famiclones over the past decade hasn't affected the value of NES carts too greatly, I doubt the Revolution will either.

[SlayerOfFurbies]

yes it will hurt the value of the games in a few diferent ways


As a major selling point of the revolution, it will bring the classic games into the spotlight. Computer emulation doesn't have the same impact that this will, because it is very much underground and the average joe has no clue were to start looking for the games. hence going to ebay and buying the games.

To be honest for me i do not collect because i think of the value. i collect because i enjoy the games pure and simple

[-hellvin-]

Personally, if emulation hasn't hurt the values of nes to an extreme point, then the revolution's service, which I believe you have to pay for, shouldn't either.

[Aussie2B]

Keep in mind that there's no guarantee that the games will still be playable after the lifespan of the Revolution is over. It's still a possibility that you'll have to be logged into their online service to play the games.

I sure as hell wouldn't be selling off ANYTHING based on this announcement.

[leonk]

We already have (for all intents and purposes) perfect NES emulation. My PSX/PS2, Dreamcast, GP32, GBA, Xbox, Gamecube, PC ... hell, even my Palm Pilot plays NES games.

Emulators out there are far from perfect. They're perfect for playing 99% of all the games out there, but they're no where near perfect in emulating the actual H/W and mapper H/W. They have big gapping holes that most people won't notice (unless they play the originals and compare).

Also, I doubt Nintendo will be able to resell games that didn't have the nintendo seal in the first place (there are some that are really good too.. like Tengen Tetris or Pacmania!)

[MegaDrive20XX]

No, it'll just make the real thing worth a bit more I think.

[Jagasian]

Judging by Nintendo's past emulators, I would say that the NES emulator for the Revolution will not be as accurate as the real thing. Hence there will be a difference in audio and video between the Revolution versions and the real thing. So I guess it is similar to asking if the invention of Real Dolls will decrease the demand for real women. I think not.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Somebody brought up an interesting point on this topic on another forum.
When the Super GameBoy came out, it allowed people to play their GameBoy games again. This is probably the reason why Gameboy games are considerbly higher than NES and SNES games (at least where I am).
Therefore, I think people will see the NES games they used to play, and go out to buy them. This will, in the end, increase the demand and the price of NES games.
:(

[bargora]

No, because Nintendo will go bankrupt before they can carry off this hare-brained idea. Nintendo is going down, you hear me? Going down!!! Long live Microsoft!

[Chuplayer]

On the other hand, it could have little to no effect in any main retail chain aspect. When one consideres that Gamestop, Gamecrazy, and EB games have all decided to not carry non curent games, it leaves gamerush as being the only national chain left.

You have two of your stores crossed, Gamecrazy isn't dropping out any time soon and EB Games is dead. ;)

Yeah. Gamecrazy is the only store I know that has a semi-solid selection of Saturn games. As for EB Games, I have only been to one since the Gamestop takeover, but they even got rid of their N64 games! WTF? I haven't been to the other *cough*better*cough* EB Games around here since the takeover, though. I hope they don't get rid of their old games. I even got an Atari 2600 game from them last year.

[Chuplayer]

So I'm not afraid of it. BTW didn't the Dreamcast had such a service in Japa which let you play Megadrive and PC-Engine games?

Holy crap! It's been years since I last saw that in Dreamcast Magazine. Heck, it's been years since it crossed my mind at all. But you're right. They did have a Megadrive download service. They even had Gunstar Heroes. I so wanted that to come stateside since I hadn't yet gotten Gunstar Heroes for my Genesis. But then I forgot about it and got Gunstar Heroes.

I think the service was pay-per-play or pay-per-hour or something.

[Bronty-2]

Loose carts might be affected; it's tough to say. I think completes and sealed won't be affected at all though - those are already bought for collecting more than playing.

[calthaer]

Yes, they will go down. This should be good news for all game collectors, however. If it's not...well, there are probably other places where you could get a much better return on your investment, if that's what you're going for. Collecting games for the sake of games themselves is the only way to go - for-profit doesn't do anybody any good.

[Jagasian]

Anybody who claims that NES emulation is perfect, is either using an imaginary NES emulator or they have never compared, side-by-side, their favorite NES emulator with a real NES... both hooked up to the same TV via RCA composite audio and video. In every emulator I have seen so far, the difference is enough for a digital camera to capture. Of course, a human with eyes and ears will notice even more of a difference than can be captured in a still photo.

[Nesmaster]

Sure it could. It might not. I'm sure a majority of the people (here at DP anyways) prefer the real carts over any form of emulation. Most of the general public could probably careless, so most of the people who are buying carts now, will continue to do so.

So it hurts the value. Big deal i say. It will probably only hurt the value of the well known games, and wont affect the rarities at all, or very little. If it does, then horray for us collectors. Might be finally able to get Stadium events for under $100 again.

So it doesnt hurt the value, and maybe sparks more interest in real carts. Value goes up, and those of us with doubles or are wanting to unload our real carts can make a quick buck. I dont know if i am making much sense, but either way in my head i see a win-win situation :)

[Nature Boy]

Sure it could. It might not. I'm sure a majority of the people (here at DP anyways) prefer the real carts over any form of emulation.

Not to be too contrarian, but I'm beginning to like the compilations better than the original. Like Sonic Mega Collection - I don't have time to sit down and play a whole game start to finish, so being able to save is *great.* And having a bunch of games like that one one disc means I don't have to get up and change carts (yup, I'm lazy).

Just being a devil's advocate. :)

[Jagasian]

Sure it could. It might not. I'm sure a majority of the people (here at DP anyways) prefer the real carts over any form of emulation.

Not to be too contrarian, but I'm beginning to like the compilations better than the original. Like Sonic Mega Collection - I don't have time to sit down and play a whole game start to finish, so being able to save is *great.* And having a bunch of games like that one one disc means I don't have to get up and change carts (yup, I'm lazy).

Just being a devil's advocate. :)

Well, most consoles have real-time save cheat devices, which let you save at any point in a game. If you are a Sega Genesis nut, then you might want to just get your hands on a Mega Drive (aka Genesis) flash cart, so that you can make your own game compilations from ROMs on your PC. It is a little pricey, but then you can play any Genesis game you want, on a real Genesis:
http://www.tototek.com/pio/main1/SUBMENU/PARTS/LINKS/OS/mdpro64plus.htm
http://www.tototek.com/

That same company sells flash carts for other classic consoles too, such as the SNES, TG16, Master System, etc.

On the topic of emulators, some guys at nesdev and I came up with a really cool idea for NES (and possibly other) emulators. We call it "the sands of time" (named after "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time"), which is adds a real-time rewind button to your controller. So if you make a mistake in your favorite NES game, you can just press the rewind button until everything rewinds before the mistake and then release it to immediately start playing again. It is still under development, but it is really cool to hear and see in action because everything, including audio and video go in reverse.

Here is an mp3 of playing Super Mario Bros and using rewind right after screw ups:
http://www.io.com/~greens/temp/smb_matrix.mp3

You can bet that Nintendo's emulators will most likely not have this feature, but PC emulators will have it.

[Griking]

I'd never sell my collection to play a download version of the game. Anything that's downloaded can also be accidently deleted at some point and the games won't always be available to redownload from Nintendo.

[GameDeals.ca]

Coming from the perspective of a game seller... I have to admit that I'm worried about the value of "casual" games going down... not so much in the short run, but in the long run. Let me try to explain a bit, based partly on fact, partly on speculation.

There has been emulation for a long time... and it hasn't had too much of an impact on game values (but it has impacted it slightly - every gamer I know plays emulated games of some sort). So... the Revolution on it's own shouldn't impact things much more... except that it will bring "emulation" into the mainstream (i.e. the people who aren't computer-savvy) and when they tell their friends "we can play NES games on our machine"... their friends will tell them "we've been doing it for years... on 3 of our systems... for FREE". I fear it may spread like mp3's. Once underground, now mainstream.

BUT... there is no way this will affect the collectors (most of you) for all the reasons already stated in the thread... as the value of rare, boxed, sealed, etc. games will always be there and will probably go up. On the other hand... the value of a loose Super Mario Bros 2, or SNES The Lion King will drop drastically. Not to mention, the future of this "trend". I'm willing to put money on the fact that Nintendo will continue this feature on their next handheld... extending it to Gameboy games as well. The other companies will catch on... Sega will release their back-catalogue online, etc. etc. etc. This isn't a simple feature that will be in one console and then forgotten... this is an industry shift that will continue as long as games are played and/or as long as the classic titles can be sold for any amount.

So in the end... this WILL affect game prices on the secondary market... but primarily casual gamer titles. The customer who comes in to buy an N64 with a few games for their kids will not exist in 10 years (at best). The question now is... will the decline in casual gaming customers affect the overall business model of video game stores, and what impact will that have on collectors & independant game store owners?

[-hellvin-]

I hope it decreases the value, because collecting wonderful NES games will be much less taxing on my wallet.

[NESaholic]

I voted NO because these days the prices seem to only rise then drop,insane prices i saw this year for NES games,maybe within a few years that it could drop,but to be honest i don't think so.

[smokehouse]

No, because Nintendo will go bankrupt before they can carry off this hare-brained idea. Nintendo is going down, you hear me? Going down!!! Long live Microsoft!

That’s like saying “Long live communism and shitty, unreliable products!!!”

Do I personally think it will drive collector prices down? Not really. Games like the Mega Man collection did because I think that the Mega Man titles for the NES were over priced to begin with. As for playing NES games on anything but a NES, it’s just not the same (at least to me it isn’t). Like stated above, Nintendo’s emulation isn’t always top-notch. The Zelda collection on the GC sucks, I just normally go back the originals. If it’s like that on the Rev or they require you to use the “wonderful” new remote control piece of garbage controller, it will be a flop.

[zerohero]

Honestly I can't see it doing to much damage. People know about emulators even alot of casual gamers do. Just go to your local college and you'll see what I'm talking about. Prices might drop for a little, then quickly jump back up.

[EricRyan34]

It dosnt really matter to me whether or not the value of the games will go up or down. I like collecting my NES carts no matter what the price is :-P

[GrayFox]

After working in a game store, I have now learned that no one knows of emulators.

Seriously, only people who actaully game a bit know of emulators, I always get a blank face when I say 'Emulators? Roms?"

Rev could lower prices, that's what I'm thinking.

[Daltone]

No, because Nintendo will go bankrupt before they can carry off this hare-brained idea. Nintendo is going down, you hear me? Going down!!! Long live Microsoft!

That’s like saying “Long live communism and shitty, unreliable products!!!”

Do I personally think it will drive collector prices down? Not really. Games like the Mega Man collection did because I think that the Mega Man titles for the NES were over priced to begin with. As for playing NES games on anything but a NES, it’s just not the same (at least to me it isn’t). Like stated above, Nintendo’s emulation isn’t always top-notch. The Zelda collection on the GC sucks, I just normally go back the originals. If it’s like that on the Rev or they require you to use the “wonderful” new remote control piece of garbage controller, it will be a flop.

Well, if you turn the Revolution controller on its side it kinda looks like a NES one. Ish. If you use your imagination a bit...

I can't see this affecting prices. Casual gamers who only want to dabble can download and play a game without the hassle of going out and finding the cart and plugging their NES in and then finding out that the contacts are dirty. One click and it's there on your console to play.