Do Virtual Console releases increase or decrease the price of the original?

[SkiDragon]

Do Virtual Console releases increase or decrease the price of the original? I have been wondering this. My guess is that they will increase the price of the original, but I guess it might depend on the specific game.

[MarioMania]

depends on what game..People still want to to play the game on the Origanal Hardwear like the NES

[Greg2600]

No change, IMO, because the demand for classic games is driven by collectors and enthusiasts. If they wanted to play the game outside the original, they would just stick with Rom emulation.

[Griking]

This has been done SO many times here already but I never seem to be able to find anything with the search tool here.

[boatofcar]

No change, IMO, because the demand for classic games is driven by collectors and enthusiasts. If they wanted to play the game outside the original, they would just stick with Rom emulation.

I agree. ROMs would have killed the classic gaming market long ago if this were not the case.

[ShenmueFan]

It'll decrease the price.

Part of the reason why certain games are so expensive is because not only are they REALLY hard to get ahold of but also many people haven't played them.

Dragonball GT was a good example of this (for Playstation). When the first limited release came out, the game was really sought after because Dragonball was really popular at the moment, there were like NO DB games stateside and the game had some good press who said it was actuallya decent game. But in 2004 when the rerelease came out and everyone was able to play it, the original version price plummeted from people paying $200+ a copy.

I'm not saying virtual versions or re-releases of games will destroy the collectibility of rare titles completely...but a lot of people will have a hard time spending lots of money on a game they KNOW is crappy if they are able to try it out in a cheaper, more available form.

[CartCollector]

ROM releases can definitely lower the price of a rare game, especially prototypes and Japan-only titles. Just ask DreamTR - he's had people pay him $1,000 and upwards to dump prototypes he's collected to make up for the devaluation of his prototype.

[PSXferrari]

Like Shenmue says, it definitely doesn't help the price of the game. You'd have to be crazy to think that people want to pay $50 for an old game when they can get it for less than $10 on the VC. "Compilation" discs also hurt the value of old games. It own Mega Man X2 for the SNES and had been planning to put it on eBay for awhile because it was going for around $40. Well, Mega Man X Collection came out a few week after that and the price plumetted. Now you can get MMX2 on eBay for about $10. Anyone who is going to say that the VC doesn't effect the price of certain games has got to be out of their minds.

As Shenmue points out, that doesn't mean that it makes the market for the game non-existent. It depends on the game itself. Think about this: the people looking to get a game like Mega Man X2 probably are huge Mega Man fans who want to PLAY a good game. Therefore, when it becomes available through cheaper means, they're going to buy it that way. However, as collectors we will sometimes dish out ridiculous prices for games even when they are available cheaper (and sometimes better and more playable) on other consoles. Take a game like Metal Slug. It has a complication collection just released for the Wii-- sure the controls are slightly better on the Neo Geo controller than a Gamecube controller, but the game themselves are basically identical. While that compilation costs $50, it would take thousands to compile those games on the Neo Geo-- and collectors will still do it, because they are showpiece titles. So really, the games themselves play a huge factor. If nostalgic or casual gamers are the main people in the market for an older game you will probably see it decrease significantly. If it's collector's game, any decrease should be minimal.

And I think emulators are in a completely different ballpark. I don't think a lot of people know how to even go about getting into emulators, easy as it may be. Since the PlayStation people have gradually stopped using their computers for gaming, outside of a hardcore niche of gamers. If you don't believe me, just check out a sales chart and you won't see a PC game not named World of WarCraft anywhere near the top. The main emulators people are searching for are for new systems-- and those people are idiots.

[PSXferrari]

Damn, sorry, that last post was waaaaaaay too long for a message board. Belongs in a blog somewhere. But now that everyone's done skipping it, let me echo CartCollectors point about ROMs, which I hadn't even thought of. Reminds me of the prototype for Super Mario's Wacky Worlds for the Philips CD-i. There were like 3 known in the world and one of them I heard went for over $1000 on eBay. Well, now the game can be downloaded off the internet, and that prototype is worth a percentage of what it once was.

[diskoboy]

Watch the games like Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG go way down when the VC versions come out. So in a nutshell, the rare games will take a lashing. The common games wont really be affected.

*my two cents*

[SkiDragon]

The reason I thought it may make the price of some games increase is because it would make people more aware of otherwise obscure games, and if there are anything like me they will want the original. Take "Biohazard Battle" for example. I will bet not many people had heard about the game prior, and now that it is on the Virtual Console, more people may want the original.

[PSXferrari]

Watch the games like Chrono Trigger and Mario RPG go way down when the VC versions come out. So in a nutshell, the rare games will take a lashing. The common games wont really be affected.

*my two cents*


Yep, Chrono Trigger already took a huge hit when Final Fantasy Chronicles was released for the Playstation. And that compilation was for $50-- imagine how many more people will buy it when it's available for a fraction of that on the VC.

[cyberfluxor]

There's nothing like the real McCoy.