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Thread: Fewer Xbox, Atari, and PlayStation Collectors Compared to Nintendo?

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    Default Fewer Xbox, Atari, and PlayStation Collectors Compared to Nintendo?

    For years I've noticed that the Xbox, Atari, and PlayStation game releases and hardware are less expensive than the comparable Nintendo ones (e.g. Xbox or PS2 versus GameCube). I know part of this is a lot of Nintendo collectors is generating a lot of demand, but is there also just a small amount of collectors for Xbox & Xbox 360; PS1 & PS2 & PS3 & PSP; and Atari consoles?

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    I think that there are three main contributing factors at work here.

    1. Nintendo characters and branding carry a strong nostalgia. Many of these franchises have a somewhat timeless appeal, and tend not to feel as tied to an era. People go back to what they know best.

    2. There are fewer copies of many cross-platform games on Nintendo's later consoles, making them the more collectible variants, especially with the Gamecube.

    3. Small libraries draw collectors for completion, and the N64 and Gamecube are far more accessible than PS1, PS2, or PS3, not to mention either Xbox. Atari's big consoles for collectors these days seem to be Jaguar and 7800, both due to small catalogs. When you start getting into libraries numbering in the thousands, you're really stretching yourself for time, space, and spending compared to roughly 300 N64 titles.

    Aside from Nintendo, what draws? Sega. It also has nostalgic franchises, and the Saturn and Dreamcast have always drawn completionist collectors with smaller libraries, as have the 32X and Sega CD. It was completionists that blew up the Virtual Boy because of its tiny library. Master System, Turbografx...

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    I think the primary factor is that Nintendo still exists and bases a lot of its current business on nostalgia for its older systems and games. There's also the fact that the collecting bug tends to hit hardest when one becomes an adult and gets enough disposable income to think about recapturing their childhood memories of gaming. That's not to say there aren't teenage collectors, collectors who keep at it well into their 30s and 40s and beyond (though, I find most of us tend to dial back on the collecting for dead systems after a certain point and just sit on the collections we already have), and collectors who focus on systems that weren't a part of their childhood (either before their time or whatever), but it's no coincidence that systems like the NES and SNES are hot for collecting right now. The generations who were kids when those were active are now eager to return to them. And outside of the Genesis, non-Nintendo systems in that time period just weren't as widely played.

    There used to be more Atari collectors, but that group has essentially aged out of the hobby. Most are either satisfied with what they've amassed and aren't actively buying up more any longer, can't buy any longer because now they have families and mortgages and what have you, or they even dumped it all back on the market (hence why 2600 prices are lower than they once were). There's also something to be said for the fact that Atari has basically been all but dead in everything but name for a loooong time, and there's little keeping Atari fresh in people's minds. Microsoft has never pushed a nostalgia agenda, so its systems don't tend to attract retro gaming sorts. Big-time Xbox fans are more likely to be the sort to crave the latest, most technologically-advanced games. I'm sure Xbox nostalgia will pop up eventually, but even the first Xbox still isn't old enough yet. Getting close, though. There's already quite a lot of nostalgia for the PS1/N64/Saturn gen out there. On that note, I think there is a good amount of PlayStation collecting going on, but it takes a different form from Nintendo collecting. First off, you have to consider the sheer size of PlayStation libraries. Few are crazy enough to go for a full set for any of them. Then you have to consider the appeal of those libraries. While Nintendo fosters nostalgia for its first-party games, PlayStation fans have always been big on third-party stuff. So with PlayStation collectors, they tend to focus on genres that they like, rather than going for absolutely everything. There are a lot of expensive games in the PS1 library now, but they tend to be in genres that have fervent fans, like RPGs and shmups.
    Last edited by Aussie2B; 09-17-2017 at 09:09 AM.

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    I think it's a bit of what celerystalker and Aussie2B stated.

    Nintendo sells itself on its characters and ips, so every time we see another game like SSB or Mario Kart, the games that features those characters only get that much more expensive because you've got a new generation of collectors that want the titles that feature these characters. Go and Ebay Startropics for example, it's a great first party Nintendo series, but they're not all that much to acquire, even complete you can find both games for $30 or less with them being less than $10 loose. Now just wait until we see a new/remade Startropics or Mike gets added to the next SSB and I guarantee those prices will sky rocket.

    But it's also the size of the libraries as well, most of the SNES seems like it's fairly expensive because the size of the library. But really, you're more than likely only going to be looking up what you want to purchase, and with a much smaller library, the best games are all fairly expensive. PS1 and PS2 libraries are huge. You can get a lot of great games for all kinds of different genres for cheap, Warhammer Shadow of the Horned Rat, Colony Wars, Omega Boost, WWF Smackdown, Nightmare Creatures, etc, but then look up an RPG which is what the PS1 is known for, and most of them will demand high prices.
    Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.

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    I forgot about the Warhammer PS1 game. Pity we never got a Final Liberation port or something.

    I do agree that there is a much bigger nostalgia factor for Nintendo than most other consoles, even the gamers that hate Mario usually acknowledge the impact SMB had back in the day.

    There is also the straight up hardware side of things. After the SNES, people were buying less of Nintendo's stuff (except for Game Boy and its later iterations) for various reasons (including Nintendo's bizarre combination of artsy-fartsy and conservative business practices) so there is less overall supply, at least until the Wii. The Playstation family in particular has a great deal more market saturation in general; if you see a an old console it in a thrift it tends to be a PS1 or PS2. Another, frequently overlooked factor is that Nintendo stuff tends to be tough, you're much more likely to find working hardware and carts, even with the issues of the toaster oven NES.

    I can't speak to Atari users, but there is a lot more venom between the Sony and Microsoft camps, leaving Nintendo in a strange 'sacred cow' situation. You're allowed to like Nintendo 'too,' but the woe unto he that likes Sony and Microsoft at the same time.

    So woe betide me I guess.... :P
    RPGs: Proof that one you start done the dork path, forever will it dominate your wallet's destiny.

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