Do you ever wonder about the life and value of your stuff?

[smokehouse]

Some things see a sharp rise ad slow decent in popularity. Right now, retro gaming is really hot and I just wonder what things will be like in 30 years. Next year my NES will be 20 years old, in another 30 I’ll have a 50 year old gaming system. Will it be worth much? Hell, will it even work? On top of that will I have TV to play it on?

I’ve always wondered about these things because as console gamers we’re kind of entering uncharted territory.

[Tan]

i always wonder about longevity, especially disc-base systems, and to an even more extreme the xbox, it's hardware is shaky at best and i don't trust the reliability of the hdd over the long haul.

[crazyjackcsa]

Not really. I think at one point all of our systems will begin to break down ( by our, I mean collectors) and it will get to the point where the technology will be so old that they can't be fixed. At that point they will strictly be antiques. Like many antiques they'll stop being used what they were used for originally and become strictly collectibles and conversation pieces.

[smokehouse]

Good point. I fully expect my CD based systems to fail eventually. As for the cart based systems like the NES, SNES, NEO and Genesis I'm not quite sure. For all we know they could last a long time.

[Iron Draggon]

Well I'm hoping that by the time all of our old systems no longer work anymore, someone will have found a way to make a device that will allow us to continue playing all of our old games on it just as though we were playing them on the actual systems. The legal aspect is the only obstacle that I see to this happening. The technology to do it exists already, and by the time it's needed, it should be so cheap that there won't be any reason not to do it, except for the possible legal reasons. So I hope that legal reasons are no longer an issue by then. It would be sad if copyright law was the only thing that prevented preserving our history.

However, those of us who still own original ROMS by then should still have something of great value, even if they can no longer be played. People will see them as antiques, like relics from a bygone era, and there will always be those people who are willing to pay a fortune to own them, even if free downloadable ROMS of every game ever made exist by then. Something like that may cause the originals to go down in value a bit, but they will still maintain a high value.

[KingCobra]

Not really. I think at one point all of our systems will begin to break down ( by our, I mean collectors) and it will get to the point where the technology will be so old that they can't be fixed. At that point they will strictly be antiques. Like many antiques they'll stop being used what they were used for originally and become strictly collectibles and conversation pieces.

This pretty much nails it on th head, there's going to be some major factors in the long haul. Such as monitors and controller issues(rubber dosen't last for ever, most D-pads and buttons use these as functions), and someone will always have some older video game hardware up and running, but at what cost?

For the average retro gamer? it'll be over in general, it's why it's already turning to emulation IMO, but now with the inforcement of the internet tightning up and if pc hardware changes to a point whare you won't beable to play todays emulations on tomarrows hardware, nor downloading ROM and emu data. Then what?

Their's always going to be some good hackers out there, but will the average Joe have access to it for free or small fee over the net? This seems pretty shakey to me.

As far as value goes? Who knows? even older antiques flaten out at some point and end up in museums. The real money will be in mint condition and up and running aracade cabnit's over the home gaming consoles IMO.

You'll pay $20 to get in a museum when your like 90 and say "I remember those old atari's" then some kid will say Dammmmnnn your old LOL

[Vectorman0]

I think that the time when a good portion of video game software and hardware starts to fail (upwards of 10%), is so far into the future that it can't really be predicted.

But when it does start happening, and if us collectors are still around, expect a working NWC to go for much more than a broken one.

[Blackjax]

Well, value isn't one of my big concerns since I don't usually sell off anything - I may trade at times, but generally as a rule, once it enters my collection, it's here to stay.

As for these things functioning in the future, I think there's only a few things that people really need to be concerned with. There are already a few items that are a lot harder to find in working condition than others - think about the Atari 5200 controller (the thing was garbage in general), either model of Sega CD (blown fuses), the original "brick" Gameboy (dead lines of pixels), and the N64 controller (Mario Party was death on these things) are a few that come to mind.

Considering that through a few converters, we can still play the original home "Pong" on current HDTVs, I don't think finding something to play all this stuff on is going to be a problem, but I do think CD systems and controllers specifically are going to be the problem. Personally, what I intend to do, and I really should do this sooner than later, is toss a new PSOne and a PS2 into storage, since those are what I believe are gonna be the problem.

However, of the problems I mentioned earlier, a fix for exerything has been found except for the Gameboy thing, and replacements for the Gameboy have been many (and seem to still be coming)

I could be wrong however, but at least not many things would be permanantly lost, thanks to emulation. All legalities aside, at least this stuff will be around down the road, in one form or another.

[Ed Oscuro]

I've gotta fair number of games on magnetic media, but the format seems pretty long-lived.


As for these things functioning in the future, I think there's only a few things that people really need to be concerned with...and the N64 controller (Mario Party was death on these things) are a few that come to mind.
All of the SNES controllers I've gotten ahold of are pretty quirky, and none of them works adequately for Operation Logic Bomb (which requires you to hold down L or R pretty much the whole time you're playing).

[incubus421]

Yes, longevity is a big concern. My PS2 has already had episodes where it has failed to read games and it progressively gets worse. I will be buying a new one soon to replace it...most likely when i get settled into a new house this summer.
But Blackjax brings a good point. Perhaps I should buy two and preserve one in storage....sounds like a good idea. As for ROMS....it's just not the same. ROM's are a fantastic way to play those rare games and non-US-released games that you don't get the chance to play. I used to be big into ROMs and Emulation....used to sit and download and play all day long. Then I realized I have much more fun tracking down and buying the games I love. Besides that, there is more money involved in the actual collecting of all these games 8-)

[ice1605]

Magnetic Media is supposedly quite long lived. If you have ROMs, use archive formats. Some are supposed to stay secure for upwards of 100 years. However, as for the systems, cartridge formats (except for the battries in them) could last awhile as they are burned on to the chips. Unless your cart was made with some radioactive isotope of silicon (lol), cartridges should last for at least 10-20 more years. The systems will have to be kept in top condition, so scrapping multiple broken systems to make one complete working system will probably become common.

[Haoie]

CD rot is something I've heard of but never really put my mind to.

I'm hoping PS emulation in the future is more reliable than it is now!!

[zektor]

If the demand for these classic games exist 50 years from now, you can bet somebody will capitalize on it. If not some undergrounder, it'll be somebody like Nintendo or Sony (If they are still around!) re-releasing stuff. Can you imagine? On the NES's 50th year anniversary, Nintendo re-releases the NES and all of the games! If there are people that will pay, this kind of thing can really happen.

[cyberfluxor]

I agree with the "as things break down, the working systems will be worth more" and "at some point they'll be antiques and mainly conversational pieces". I'll hang onto my hardware as long as possible and the games because they look nice. People spend hundreds, even thousands for artwork on walls, I like to think of my games as being apart of decore when not being played.

I do expect though, that there will be conversions for older technology to port to newer things to come out. There may be a point where things drastrically change and would require a complete new design to work with it, but that would be so far down the road it's most likely past our lifetimes. You'll see cable-ready & AVI TVs in pawn shops and thrift stores long after they can't be found in retail.

[kentuckyfried]

Looking through my collection and counting all the broken and sketchy systems/peripherals/games, and how year after year I find more things broken than working in the wild, reminds me of the world of the Gunslinger written by Stephen King, where the world has moved on.

[Blackjax]

...as long as my future game systems don't end up like Blaine the Mono, i don't think things are gonna get *that* bad LOL

[kentuckyfried]

Yeah, I'd probably start freaking out when North Central Positronics brings out a console ;)

[smork]

Hah, it'll be like that one episode of Cowboy Bebop where they have to find a Beta machine...

But geez, look at how bad it is with Cassettes and VHS tapes. Those already rot pretty well -- alot of mine from the 80s are already degraded pretty bad, and when those belts go, they go.

I don't think it'll be too bad for gaming (as bad as anything magnetic, at least) -- but things will get alot scarcer, and more valuable to those "in the know". Sorta like 78 records are now. Sure, you can get equipment to play them, and you can find them in some places, but for how ubiquitous they were 70 years ago there sure aren't many around now. Vacuum tubes are another one....

Eh, but civilizations rise and fall, so do technologies.... The code will be preserved (in roms, etc) even if the physical media isn't.....

[aaron7]

I try not to think of value when it comes to my collection... as then it makes me pissed that I can't sell them to pay for my debt LOL

[s1lence]

Maybe I see a eay of hope through the thought of my original games not working. I look at it this way, the 2600 is pretty close to being 30 years old. How many of us have one that works? Quite a few of us.

I also see it in a way like a car collector. There are cars that are 40-50 years old that are still being driven, in some cases driven everyday and in other cases even older then 50 years old. A automoblie has a lot more moving parts then a videogame system and they continue to be around, corrosion is a big part of that type of collecting too.

Now as stated previously, controllers are going to be the trouble spot. I see the SNES pads, dual shock pads, n64 controllers all becoming issues, to go along with all the ones (5200, 2600 Paddle) that we are already having problems with.

Maybe I just see gamers/collectors as being smart enough to be able to keep our devices working long into the future.