Nintendo DS a future big collectable handheld?

[cyberfluxor]

I'm currious as to what people think about this being a highly collectable and future expensive unit and the games. I'm struggling to find some titles I want at the stores and am seeing them going for over $50 on eBay. With what I am guessing are limited copies aren't a ton of these going to be worth a ton in maybe 10 years?

[Carey85]

As far as hardware is concerned, I don't think it will be rare. You'll be hard pressed to pay over $10 for any of the various incarnations of the GameBoy, GBA excluded. I don't think the games will be too terribly hard to find in the future, either. Of course, I imagine a lot of the games will be lost just to the sheer size of the gamecards..... I don't know, perhaps time will tell.

[s1lence]

I don't see the system as a whole being rare, but I do see the Pink and Blue Nintendogs models has holding some value.

[DocRamon]

as a DS collector, i'd say no, it's not going to be terribly expensive in the future.

it's a timing thing, i think. some of the earlier systems are now quite valuable because when they were released, nobody really thought about completing a collection. now, with the system still early in it's lifespan, myself and several others are maintaining complete collections as games are released. it's more of a hobby and less of a pasttime. so, with the exception of a few select titles, i'd say none of the current generation systems, handhelds probably moreso than consoles, will be crazy expensive at any point.

[Capybara554321]

ya id have to say that Big Mutha Truckers is oddly one of the hadder games to get ahold of aside from walmarts website i have only seen it in stores once and that was a value city

[MrRoboto19XX]

Note to self, go back to value city tommorow.


I see the DS as being like the Saturn in the future, a good balance of real gems, buried treasure and crap.

[GarrettCRW]

I see the DS as being like the Saturn in the future, a good balance of real gems, buried treasure and crap.

Except that the DS is actually popular, like the Saturn would have been if not for the morons on Sega's payroll.

[7th lutz]

While the ds is good system like the saturn that where the comparisions stop. My brother Started being a saturn collector for good games in 2001. He has over 60 games. The price in certain genres and and when the game was released in the saturns life effected the price and the rarity of the game.

This is not the case with ds and already sold systems then the Saturn did in the United States. I expect the value ds games be around the original gb for common games 10 years down the road or the genesis for that matter. The ds Rarity for games that a rarity of 3 to 6 could go up $20.00 depending on the game and the market for it. Don't expect many ds go past $15.00 in 10 to 15 years after the game was released unless there is a video game crash in 1983 or 1984 levels that I don't see coming during the ds lifetime.

[B - Mark]

Yes.
The Nintendo DS can be a future piece of collection.

The console had excellent games likes Sonic Rush, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Nintendogs and Warioware for exemples.

The Nintendo DS had several versions, colors and bundle games.

For exemple of NDS bundles:
- System with Metroid Prime Demo
- System with Nintendogs
- System with Mario Kart DS

We can´t forgot the DS Lite, the new NDS version.


In my collection the Nintendo DS had a place reserved for him.

[slip81]

I don't think anything DS related will be hard to find/rare/in mega demand to the point where we see super inflated prices in places like ebay.

I do however think that the system and games will become a collectable due to the facts that it's a great system with enough variations to warrent hardware collection, and an above average library of games (so far).

I think people will continue to collect the DS for years to come, but I doubt we'll ever see a game like Phoenix Wright go over $100, or a teal Nintendogs bundle over $200-250.

[jonjandran]

I think that one of the things that people forget about future collecting is the increase in the number of collectors also.

Yes the newer systems have millions of games/systems being produced but the number of collectors are rising dramatically and will continue to do so.

Face it, vidoegame collecting is becoming quite popular.

So a lot of these games and systems will become rare when 100,000 collectors are looking for a sealed game that wasn't that popular and didn't have a 10 million print run.

[milhouseOFpain]

I think that one of the things that people forget about future collecting is the increase in the number of collectors also.

Yes the newer systems have millions of games/systems being produced but the number of collectors are rising dramatically and will continue to do so.

Face it, vidoegame collecting is becoming quite popular.

So a lot of these games and systems will become rare when 100,000 collectors are looking for a sealed game that wasn't that popular and didn't have a 10 million print run.

well put. i dont think i have seen anyone express this viewpoint. not sure i totally agree, but it seems possible.

[DocRamon]

ya id have to say that Big Mutha Truckers is oddly one of the hadder games to get ahold of aside from walmarts website i have only seen it in stores once and that was a value city

can't really confirm this first hand, but i've heard that this game had a MASSIVE distribution in canada. stores are nearly choking on copies of it, and it's the same as the US release... so it's not as rare as it seems, they're just all a little more north than anyone ever thought to look.


as for the number of collectors thing... if GB/GBC/GBA has shown us, there are far less collectors for handhelds than for consoles. even given the popularity of the DS, i can't imagine that a ton more people will jump on the DS train in the future... however, i would expect to see a ridiculous amount of wii collectors... and wouldn't be surprised if that translated into more gamecube collectors as well.

[cyberfluxor]

Well, I'm somewhat falling back on the DS being one of the most popular handhelds in awhile. I see more people with these than any other at the moment. On top of that all the DS Lites are sold out around me, which of course shines light on for me to have the ability to grab one of the Navy/Light blue when they finally make their way here. But besides that, I have trouble finding some of the games that came out at launch and the used copies aren't even seen either. Magically though they are on eBay going for higher than their initial retail release price spiking the idea of collecting to become quite valuable but also imporant to grab titles you want around launch. Just what I've been thinking and for the little handheld, I think it's all worth it. Great system!

[jcalder8]

I think that one of the things that people forget about future collecting is the increase in the number of collectors also.

Yes the newer systems have millions of games/systems being produced but the number of collectors are rising dramatically and will continue to do so.

Face it, vidoegame collecting is becoming quite popular.

So a lot of these games and systems will become rare when 100,000 collectors are looking for a sealed game that wasn't that popular and didn't have a 10 million print run.
You might be right that the number of collectors will go up but that may not be the case. Most people collect things from thier youth that they weren't able to have or remember playing. If the trend that the Wii is hopefully starting it won't be hard to play older games. Also video games have become a lot more common than they were years ago. Also from what I have seen on ebay it seems that interest is droping off a bit, at least for the NES.

On topic I don't think that the DS will become as collectable as some of the consoles just because it is cheaper to start off with, which means that more people will be able to buy it. I had a Gameboy growing up and was able to get a few games for it. But it took awhile to get an NES and the number of games that I got was fairly small. I now want to be able to play and own the games that I never had growing up.

Of course these are just my opinions.

[Perkar]

one thing that hasn't been mentioned that is a definite PLUS for collectors. DS games have very, very nices boxes. every handheld i can think of prior to the DS had cardboard boxes for their games, easily disposable.

i think that the mere fact that the DS has those nice clamshell cases will increase its popularity as a system to collect for...

[Dangerboy]

From a retail worker standpoint, it's already being collectable. Phoenix Wright is the first official "OMGWTF" game that's commanding dumb prices, along with mini-print ones like Nintendog best friends edition and the various colored systems.

Something to be aware of; if you're going to start collecting, start it now. In my week long buying frenzy taking advantage of the B2G1 sale that is now over at EB/GS, there was a severe LACK of games I figured would have been bountiful in the used been but were nowhere to be found, like Need For Speed Underground. Many titles are being released at specific stores, like the already mentioned Big Mutha Truckers, and several of the Majesco titles.

Having taken me a YEAR just to find the GH version of Need for Speed on the PlayStation, I can't imagine what the DS would be like in 5 years.

Also fo note are the register codes and the epileptic warning slips. I've noticed that many games are missing these in the used area, so for those *complete* freaks, nows the time to start hoarding them.

It also doesn't help that the DS is a kick ass system. :) I went from 20 games to like, 44 in a week. >_>;;;

[Vectorman0]

I think DS will be more popular in the future than many of you guys think. Maybe it won't be the next most popular system to collect for, but I bet it will be the most collected of all handheld consoles to date.


one thing that hasn't been mentioned that is a definite PLUS for collectors. DS games have very, very nices boxes. every handheld i can think of prior to the DS had cardboard boxes for their games, easily disposable.

i think that the mere fact that the DS has those nice clamshell cases will increase its popularity as a system to collect for...

LIES. NGPC games initially had nice clamshell cases. But I do agree that the better cases make the system nicer to collect for. I'm not a fan of loose carts, especially really tiny ones.

[cyberfluxor]

one thing that hasn't been mentioned that is a definite PLUS for collectors. DS games have very, very nices boxes. every handheld i can think of prior to the DS had cardboard boxes for their games, easily disposable.

i think that the mere fact that the DS has those nice clamshell cases will increase its popularity as a system to collect for...

LIES. NGPC games initially had nice clamshell cases. But I do agree that the better cases make the system nicer to collect for. I'm not a fan of loose carts, especially really tiny ones.

I think he was referring to the Nintendo line of handhelds, but just guessing here. As for games like Phoenix Wright and Trauma, they are 2 games I really want but the outragous price on eBay and lack there of it being in stores around here are scary. I'm wondering if the second Wright game is going to be just as rare or if they'll learn from what's going on now and make extra copies.

[Perkar]

I think he was referring to the Nintendo line of handhelds, but just guessing here. As for games like Phoenix Wright and Trauma, they are 2 games I really want but the outragous price on eBay and lack there of it being in stores around here are scary. I'm wondering if the second Wright game is going to be just as rare or if they'll learn from what's going on now and make extra copies.

i was actually referring to any handheld system, and although the NGPC did originally come with clamshells in the US, the majority of the games were released in the cardboard boxes. that said, they are probably the nicest cardboard boxes of any system i've ever seen, handheld or otherwise.

but looking at other handhelds (excluding current gen psp)... gb/gbc/gba, virtual boy, game gear, lynx, game.com, etc etc. they all had cardboard.

i like the DS clamshells, end of story :)