Phantasy Star prices drop?

[j_factor]

Prices just fluctuate. It's not all down for Genesis... Daze Before Christmas has shot up in price recently, and Pulseman is more expensive than I remember it being. Both of those are imports, but still.

Personally, while I have invested a lot in games, becoming cheaper is almost always a good thing IMO. No game should cost over $100. I don't like the fact that there are games out there that only rich people who drop hundreds of dollars can play.

[ryborg]

No game should cost over $100. I don't like the fact that there are games out there that only rich people who drop hundreds of dollars can play.

Interesting statement. Does it bother you that there are Italian sports cars out there that only rich people who drop hundreds of thousands of dollars can drive? What about professional sports franchises that cost hundreds of millions? Should society as a whole eliminate the concept of money?
________
Hemp

[j_factor]

Interesting statement. Does it bother you that there are Italian sports cars out there that only rich people who drop hundreds of thousands of dollars can drive? What about professional sports franchises that cost hundreds of millions? Should society as a whole eliminate the concept of money?

Since a franchise is a business, I have no problem with it costing whatever the market dictates. Cars are different because they're actual objects. What I object to (and not "morally" or anything, it just annoys me) is works of art being unattainable due to cost; ie, people being unable to enjoy a game/movie/book/etc. because it's expensive. Somewhat relatedly, I have a big problem with works of art being completely lost in time because no copy was ever saved. Art exists to be enjoyed; people shouldn't be prevented from doing so.

Society as a whole eliminating the concept of money is an interesting idea, but the real world isn't always like Star Trek.

[GaijinPunch]

Don't know if this is sarcasm or not, but I have a few friends that buy games and sit on them til they're "rare" or demand goes up. It's generally on SNES RPGs they find for $1 or whatnot.

It is not sarcasm... it's a legitimate curiosity. The standard lifecycle of a game is that it comes out, and the price drops. Very few go up. Only a handful more will go up after dropping. Games are a terrible medium to invest in. They should be played... if you make a few bucks along the way, cool.

[Captain Wrong]

I'm still in the camp that videogames are too new a thing to be seriously considered for investing in. Anyone who has even watched the antiques market even a little could tell you pop culture stuff like videogames is an extremely bad idea to consider drop a lot of money in expecting long term investment potential. The fact that the market as it is is still so voilatile is a sign of an immature market.

I could think of a lot of other things I'd be throwing my money into at this point if I was looking for an investement.

[mailman187666]

I think one of the things that could make the game market a worthwhile investment is its entertainment and nostalgic values. With comic books and sports cards, they are one or many pieces of paper that can be looked at and read. Vids have worlds to explore and challenges to be met. They can be fun for more than one person at once. In the future when there is a whole new generation of gamers that only know PS3, 360, wii, They will have games like "castlevania 22: Dracula's Death". That game may create a following which will cause that generation to hunt down the NES versions of the game to see what it used to be like. Most likely there will be more than one of that same person driving the demand up. Good games don't die, they age.

[cyberfluxor]

I generally try to buy games that are considered as must buys for the systems and whenever I find them real cheap I pick them up, sometimes for the right price I'll knab a bunch of games I'm not familiar with just to check them out. Games like Phantasy Star are a bargin to me for $5-10 (not loose) but I've only happened to pick up the 2nd, 3rd, and version 1 & 2 for the Dreamcast. I'll slowly find the rest but I'm in no hurry, nor have I ever. Just insteresting to see these prices and others fall and make things so affordable, especially when many shops around here price at Ebay prices.

[GillianSeed]

In the future when there is a whole new generation of gamers that only know PS3, 360, wii, They will have games like "castlevania 22: Dracula's Death". That game may create a following which will cause that generation to hunt down the NES versions of the game to see what it used to be like. Most likely there will be more than one of that same person driving the demand up. Good games don't die, they age.

Well let's extend that arguement to another hobby, like reading books. How would it be if you were required to spend several hundred dollars to read a copy of Shakespeare's Macbeth or Othello? Or movies, $300 to watch Citizen Kane or Star Wars?

Sure, there are rare books and movies out there if you want to collect them; but the works deemed to be essential are kept in print. Same should go for video games and hopefully digital distribution will help.

Speculators and ebayers obviously won't be too happy about it, but that's their problem. If you want to invest, go play the stock market.

[spanks_4]

i love my video games, but i also have a store and with ebay doing what it is is killing me!!! ebay prices have DROPPED on everything so now when i tell some jack ass to goto ebay to find it cheaper he actually can. the war in iraq is what is killing the prices on everything these days. as soon as bush i gone and we are out of iraq the market will start to pick up.

[cyberfluxor]

Excuse me? I'd hate to break it to you but the economy has been growing and game store owners around here seem to have increased business especially due to other chains dropping the classic game market from their stores. Also, I live near the largest naval base in the world and there's many of service people deployed at the moment from not just the navy but airforce and military as well.

[wberdan]

I'm still in the camp that videogames are too new a thing to be seriously considered for investing in. Anyone who has even watched the antiques market even a little could tell you pop culture stuff like videogames is an extremely bad idea to consider drop a lot of money in expecting long term investment potential. The fact that the market as it is is still so voilatile is a sign of an immature market.

I could think of a lot of other things I'd be throwing my money into at this point if I was looking for an investement.

like a free jazz record label?

hehehe

couldn't resist


willie

[spanks_4]

wow they are deployed! whats your point? uncover your eyes and realize the economy has gone to shit since the start of this war. prices on everything have dropped dramatically that is considered classic or collectible.

[Captain Wrong]

like a free jazz record label?

hehehe

couldn't resist


willie

Z.

Actually, I was thinking more along the line of buying up every black metal colored vinyl pressing out there.

[cyberfluxor]

wow they are deployed! whats your point? uncover your eyes and realize the economy has gone to shit since the start of this war. prices on everything have dropped dramatically that is considered classic or collectible.

My point is that tens of thousands of people from my area aren't around to buy in the local market but apparently it hasn't had nearly the affect you claim. In addition you claim that the economy is lost, take a look back at the stock market and sales across the board. Just seems quite lame you wanted to throw into the argument that war devestates the collectable markets.

[Vroomfunkel]

Depends ... prices are still strong for sealed copies. Regardez:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=150074768333

[crusader]

Depends ... prices are still strong for sealed copies. Regardez:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=150074768333

You can't judge the value of a game on a “Buy it now” auction. You need the completed listing auction like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Phantasy-Star-II...QQcmdZViewItem

[GarrettCRW]

In addition you claim that the economy is lost, take a look back at the stock market and sales across the board. Just seems quite lame you wanted to throw into the argument that war devestates the collectable markets.

Unless you're a part of the very small percentage of the population that owns stocks, Wall Street doesn't mean doodly squat when it comes to your economic outlook. The growing poverty rates, the decreasing number of insured Americans, and consumer confidence levels will tell you a lot more about the macroeconomic situation here in the US.

With that said, used game stores are doing so well because the big chains have abandoned older systems with strong fanbases, and in the case of the PS1, software that can be played on current-gen hardware. As a general rule, used game sales are very profitable, so if the big chains are casting aside a portion of the market (even a market affected by greater macroeconomic factors), you better believe that people like Joe are going to thrive.

[Cauterize]

I havent had time to read the whole thread here but it would appear too that the value of the PAL Phantasy Stars has dropped a little too!
Just thought id add this tiny detail to the discussion and hope someone else didnt add it before me

[Vroomfunkel]

It's true - especially Phantasy Star IV. I think there's probably two aspects to this. First, they are all now available on GBA and other platforms, so you don't need to get the MD version in order to play them any more.

Second, I think that people are slowly realising that that a lot of these RPG games aren't actually all that rare. Prime example is Panzer Dragoon Saga, which is actually pretty common, but for years was selling at £80-£90 .. or more. It's now at a much more reasonable £40-£60 for the most part.

It's probably also got something to do with the fact that a lot more people outside the retro gaming scene have realised that there's a market for retro games, so there's been a steady increase in the number of the higher priced games in circulation - which has, finally, brought the prices down.

It's good. I'm almost tempted to grab another copy of PSIV now, to play on my nomad Anyone know if the PAL version will work on a Nomad, or should I just grab a NTSC one?

[deejay726]

Genesisi stuff in general has dropped off in the past year.

Games like Pirates Gold, the Shinging Forces, Toe Jam and Earl, they're all cheaper now than they were. There's been an across the board drop.

Yes ive seen this on ebay. im almost embarressed to admit what i paid seeing what its going for today. I saw a copy of keio flying squadron for sega cd go for $70 bucks complete. it used to go for 150 minimum