When will prices for GBA, PS, games bottom out?and N64

[cheesystick]

When I first started collecting SNES games, I noticed that the prices reached the "lowest valley" in my area between 2002-2005. At least in my experience, it seems that collecting can meet a sweet spot about two console generations behind the current generation. During that time, XBOX, PS2, and Gamecube were all the rage, and Gamestops were discontinuing carrying SNES games and the like. As you might expect, the masses were interested in the current consoles. Many still played their consoles from the previous generation, but going back two generations was definitely considering "not cool." This made for a field day for me, as people considered a lot of SNES and Genesis games to be worthless. I never found so much SNES stuff in such abundance or at such cheap prices.

This is comparable today where it seems that very few people are caught playing their Playstations and N64s nowadays, at least in reference to the general populous. As I walk into thrift stores, I see bare Playstations and N64s piled up all the time. Retro gamers aside, playing those systems is reaching the height of their respective "uncool" phases. You can't trade in Playstation, N64, and now more recently GBA games at Gamestop, and most people that aren't in the know end up junking them into a thrift store. At pawn shops, a lot of PS, N64, and GBA games go for pennies.

However, going back to the SNES collecting heydays between 2002-2005, even then I knew that the NES collecting market was getting out-of-hand. Hell, it had been out of hand for years. Prices on eBay were just outrageous and it was clear to everyone that the SNES was going to go down the same path given enough time. Flash forward to the present and that is very much the case. SNES collecting hasn't reached the same pinnacle of insanity that NES collecting has, but it has been skyrocketing as of recently and I don't think it is going to slow down any time soon. Now I look for my remaining 78 SNES games I need for the collection and think to myself, "Oh how I wish I had bought this game back in the day before the SNES collecting bubble exploded." I can only assume that prices are going to keep on going up, especially considering the trends of the past few years.

Considering this, you have to think that there is a collecting "sweet spot," when most people view the systems and games as being out-dated, yet it is a time right before they become more "collectible." Using this theory, when will we see the sweet spot for GBA, N64, and Playstation? Or are we already there?

In my eyes, there has never been a better time to collect for PS and N64. Games are so cheap and in such abundance. GBA games need a little more time to dip down, but in my estimation, shortly after the NGP drops and more people buy the 3DS, the prices for GBA games will drop. Portables are a little different though and they don't exactly fit well with my above theory. They are phased out slower and look at regular Gameboy games, which have always seemed to sell decently...

So are we at the bottom of the PS or N64 price range right now? Will the bottom hit in a few more years before prices start to climb and collectibility ensues? Can you see N64 games and PS games getting even cheaper than they are now?

Let me know what you think, and thank you,
Chris

[tom]

NES prices on US ebay always were like dirt cheap, 1000s of game available for $1 or few.

VCS collecting rocketed sky high, even common titles are now demanding quite a few bucks, just heck out Activision, Imagic. Same goes for Coleco, some carts reach super high prices.

PSX games are usually very cheap, just a selected lot seem to go higher and higher.

[mpat15]

Very interesting article!

I would have to fully agree with you, I have noticed the 2 generation trend. However I have notice Nintendo always carries the most overall value. I always think alot of it also has to do with the age of the "main" gamers that played those systems. For instance, I'm 22 the first game system I remember is the SNES. I played my SNES hard till about 1/2 way through the PS1 era before I broke down and bought one with birthday money. Point being, alot of my generation is finishing/finished college recently, coming into therr own places and their own money. They want to enjoy the memories they had as kids by replaying the games they had fun playing.

I did have great snes finds a year or two ago. Now my real deals have come in bundled ps1, N64 lots where people often have gems! ITs a fun time for the ps1, and N64. The ps2, GC, Xbox era will begin soon.

Best of luck and happy searching.
Mike

[ubersaurus]

NES prices on US ebay always were like dirt cheap, 1000s of game available for $1 or few.

VCS collecting rocketed sky high, even common titles are now demanding quite a few bucks, just heck out Activision, Imagic. Same goes for Coleco, some carts reach super high prices.

PSX games are usually very cheap, just a selected lot seem to go higher and higher.

VCS and that era really has fallen off compared to where it was a few years ago, though. I've been able to pick up a few games relatively cheap compared to where they were not too long ago. Hell, a friend of mine was able to get Bumper Bash for under $60 a couple years back as prices started to fall, a game that used to go for around $100!

[boatofcar]

VCS and that era really has fallen off compared to where it was a few years ago, though. I've been able to pick up a few games relatively cheap compared to where they were not too long ago. Hell, a friend of mine was able to get Bumper Bash for under $60 a couple years back as prices started to fall, a game that used to go for around $100!

I believe that more uncommon VCS titles have fallen dramatically in the past few years, while common titles have risen slightly.

[Nz17]

Answer: last year, around 2:30.

I love question threads. :P

[Oldskool]

The thing that you must keep in consideration is this. Back in the NES and SNES days the games were not produced in as high numbers. Also the games came in cardboard boxes (other than Sega games), so most people tossed the boxes. So there were less games, and of those games many of the boxes were chucked into the garbage. That makes them more rare, especially for CIB versions.

Fast forward to the PS1 era and later, and things are a bit different. CIB games are in abundance (except for maybe N64). Games are generally more common, so that keeps the prices down.

I honestly don't ever think that the last few generations will ever see high prices like the cart based and early CD based consoles. It's simply a matter of supply vs. demand. The supply has vastly gone up. It's much like sports card collecting. That rookie card you have from 15 years ago ain't worth shit, even if it's a good player (I know, trust me cause I have a ton of cards). But if you had a rookie card from the 50's when supply was much lower, it's worth a massive amount.

Also - stating something is a "Limited Edition" doesn't help either. It's purely to entice customers to buy their product. In most cases that Limited Edition could number several thousand. Even a million.

So for that reason, I don't think that people will be like OMG a CIB PS2 game 10 years from now. Sure people will still be collecting them, but aside from a few titles here and there it will be much more affordable.

So basically what I am saying is hold on to your MUSHA, Little Samson, and your Earthbounds. Those will be the Babe Ruth of Video Games in the future.

[Jisho23]

Yeah, barring the occasional oddity I doubt anything on this or last generation will ever reach inane price levels. As far as the "sweet spot" for last gen games though, I have a feeling that at least for the GBA stuff the prices may start to climb (in some cases already have) especially since every major store no longer stocks them (Gamestop has mostly stopped except for a few stores). Add in the fact that complete GBA games are tricky to find, the relatively large number of hidden gems and niche titles...

At the very least I feel GBA is a much better system to collect for than its peers.

[Oldskool]

Yeah, barring the occasional oddity I doubt anything on this or last generation will ever reach inane price levels. As far as the "sweet spot" for last gen games though, I have a feeling that at least for the GBA stuff the prices may start to climb (in some cases already have) especially since every major store no longer stocks them (Gamestop has mostly stopped except for a few stores). Add in the fact that complete GBA games are tricky to find, the relatively large number of hidden gems and niche titles...

At the very least I feel GBA is a much better system to collect for than its peers.

I love the GBA. It reminds me of a super powerful retro console, that happens to be a handheld. Which is exactly what it is. The DS gives me that feeling somewhat too with it's jawsome 2D games (like castlevania), although the DS does have some games that clearly no retro console could handle.

I always thought of the GBA as basically a handheld SNES, even though it's a bit more powerful (32-bit vs. 16-bit).

[Zing]

I always thought of the GBA as basically a handheld SNES, even though it's a bit more powerful (32-bit vs. 16-bit).

It's a shame that the sound quality and graphical resolution are lower. If they could have literally squeezed a SNES into a GBA, it would have been perfect.

[Oldskool]

It's a shame that the sound quality and graphical resolution are lower. If they could have literally squeezed a SNES into a GBA, it would have been perfect.

I think the sound quality is arguably better myself.

As far as resolution, I suppose there is not much you can do about that - it does look pretty good on the screen it was designed for.

[Zing]

I can't stand the "scratchiness" of the GBA synth. The SNES sounds so pure. I remember connecting my SNES to a stereo with headphones and listening to the Castlevania IV music test.

It would have been nice if Nintendo had squeezed a few more lines of resolution on the GBA, so it could display SNES games natively instead of having to shrink or crop the screen.

[jonebone]

You already missed the "Sweet spot" for N64. Many prices have risen drastically over the past year, from rares to populars. I see more and more WTB N64 posts every week and demand goes on a daily basis.

<- 2 Games away from the CIB set finally.

[chrisbid]

the sweet spot for cheapest games tend to be right at the point when gamestop is clearing them out.

once the only nationwide retail source for x console is exhasuted, prices on the internet begin to rise, local stores basing their prices off of amazon/half/ebay raise their prices, local stores that base prices off of other local stores raise their prices, etc.

so right now is the best time for xbox and gamecube and gba games. the n64 and playstations sweetspot was around 5 years ago.

[ubersaurus]

It kind of sucks, too. There's like 3 or 4 N64 games I'm still interested in buying, and not only are they becoming a pain to track down, they're never cheap when I do!

[TinyTheGiant]

The EB Games (gamestops, just a different name) in my area have recently marked down the prices of their Game Boy Advance games. Last week I got about 70! Some were even complete in box! And none of them were over $3. A lot of good games too, such as Kirby, Lego Star Wars, and Medabots Metabee Gold (which is actually worth about $30, and I payed $1 for it).
Anyways yeah I hope that at least these go up in price. Would add a lot of value to my huge game collection.

[raptor94k]

the sweet spot for cheapest games tend to be right at the point when gamestop is clearing them out.

once the only nationwide retail source for x console is exhasuted, prices on the internet begin to rise, local stores basing their prices off of amazon/half/ebay raise their prices, local stores that base prices off of other local stores raise their prices, etc.

so right now is the best time for xbox and gamecube and gba games. the n64 and playstations sweetspot was around 5 years ago.

I feel like this is only half right. I agree that the sweet spot for buying in stores is when they are clearing them out. But, I feel like buying at flea markets and garage sales etc. is about two generations away like the topic creator said. At this point I think the average (non-gamer) person thinks "well now these are really old and not worth anything."

However, I also think that this is slowly become untrue because of the popularity/growth of craigslist, eBay, etc. over the past 5-10 years. Even people who sell at garage sales seem to be aware that their junk is worth more nowadays.

[retrocollectorguy]

You already missed the "Sweet spot" for N64. Many prices have risen drastically over the past year, from rares to populars. I see more and more WTB N64 posts every week and demand goes on a daily basis.

I agree with jonebone. The time to buy N64 was from 2004-2007 when Gamestop and the like still carried them and were blowing them out at record low prices.

GBA's 'heyday' was in 2008-2009 when big box retailers cleared out stock.

Good luck finding anything cheap now.

[Doonzmore]

I agree with jonebone. The time to buy N64 was from 2004-2007 when Gamestop and the like still carried them and were blowing them out at record low prices.

GBA's 'heyday' was in 2008-2009 when big box retailers cleared out stock.

Good luck finding anything cheap now.

I would actually say the prime time for N64 collecting was between 2002-2004. That's when all the video stores starting clearing out their stock. I purchased games like Goemon's Great Adventure for 8 and Snowboard Kids for 5 and got the manuals off Digitpress for free.

Now is a great time to stock up on gba stuff, what with Gamestop clearing them out. Most titles are under 5 dollars and will soon go on sale. I've also been finding lots of complete gbc/gba titles for super cheap:

720- .99
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - .99
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - .99
Super Monkey Ball Jr. - 3.99
Code Name Kids Next Door - 2.99

And there's plenty more where that came from. I'd say now is the time to stock up on Gamecube titles at Gamestop. They're lowering prices on them all the time, and with a premium edge card, B2G1/B2G2 sales, and coupons through newsletters and club card offers they're practically giving them away. I'm currently at 257 games for the Gamecube and so far I've only bought 2 online.

[JSN]

Starting tomorrow 05/30/11 GameStop is putting GBA games and accessories on sale for 25% Off. That'll stack with Power Up Pro cards too.