Will my Games be worth anything?

[Gruce]

If I want a new game I normally sell an old unplayed title, but looking at things Like Panzer Dragoon going for ?100 is it better to keep them and sell them on ebay in say 7 years time? Only certain games sell for more than you buy them for but what should I look out for? limited edition versions?

Thanks

[jimmbob]

Look out for titles that are good/fun to play, but don't actually sell too well on general release.
I can't think of many examples other than the recent, and now rare-as-rocking-horse-**** Steel Battallion.
Also games that are released near the end of a consoles life are worth picking up, like Shenmue 2 and REZ for the Dreamcast, or Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Saturn. :P
I think that the original cardboard PAL release of ICO will be worth a bit, in mint condition in a few years.
It's a bit of a gamble really, but you can safley count out anything mass produced to ridiculous proportions [see E.A], or any high profile title such as Metal Gear Solid 2...

[Halo]

If I want a new game I normally sell an old unplayed title, but looking at things Like Panzer Dragoon going for ?100 is it better to keep them and sell them on ebay in say 7 years time? Only certain games sell for more than you buy them for but what should I look out for? limited edition versions?

Thanks

I honestly think that nothing of this generation will be worth as much as Panzer Dragoon Saga/Radiant Silvergun for Saturn. Want your cash back almost garanteed in 10 years time? By the GBA version of Bubble Bobble. Every single version of Bubble Bobble avaliable is worth above a tenner IIRC.

A semi-obscure RPG with a semi-limited release seem a sure fire bet. GBA Pick up something that is created by a reasonably big/popular company that isn't appreciated by the masses and thus not that many copies are sold. I have a feeling that Jap games DVDs (such as Ikaruga Appreciate) and CDs (Jet Set Radio soundtrack) are going to take off as well as many of them are difficult to get hold of.

It's a bad way to collect/make a profit, really. It's all guesswork.

[tankplanker]

Steel Battallion already goes for more than RS or PDS, but I expect the price to drop through the floor if Capcom release a new mission pack & controller bundle.

Any game that has an optional controller is always going to hold its value - particualrly if you take the time to get 2 controllers.

The Sega Direct packs are always worth a punt, often they are made in less than 3000 copies, plus they are only available to people with a Japanese address so the import price is high.

RPGs without a PAL release tend to be worth more too, Suikoden is worth a pop (produced in limited numbers and can be had cheap on ebay at the mo), plus any altus RPGs.

If you are really serious about increasing the value of your games then collect as much branded crap to go with it, for example:

Biohazard Boxset
Biohazard Wallet, Lighter, Cap, T Shirt, watch & Poster
Biohazard complete soundtrack collection

is going to be worth far more together than seperate.

Final point is that anything requiring looking after to keep it mint (e.g., JPN GC Cases) will always be worth a little more.

[Flabio]

I think that the original cardboard PAL release of ICO will be worth a bit, in mint condition in a few years.

Only cause keeping its flimsy cardboard box in mint condition is nigh on impossible A friend of mine sat on mine. Git.

[rjpageuk]

For the GC I think Doshin and Cubivore are both games that could potentially rise in value.

Cubivore is very hard to get hold of now, and Doshin because it was never released in the states.

[jimmbob]

Only cause keeping its flimsy cardboard box in mint condition is nigh on impossible A friend of mine sat on mine. Git.

Heheh, I know what you mean. I keep my ICO box stored away, and put the disc in a CD jewell case , that way if I ever do sell it, the whole lot will be in nice condition...

[Gluecifer]

The collectors market for games is something still very new.
Less than 5 years ago you could get any old game for cheap,.. unless it was a super rare virtual boy game, but on the whole, 99.999% of titles went for a couple of bux after the system had been taken off the market.

The collectors these days who are paying ridiculous amounts for old games are fairly small in number, its not like everyone who plays games is a collector, and this isnt going to change i think.

Sure there will always be someone willing to pay a lot for radiant silvergun but come on, thats one game. If its going to come down to one or two games for each system that are going to be valuable, then you really shouldnt be thinking of buying games for investment, it simply isnt going to work.

I even find it hard to see any modern games becoming valuable as the amount of gamers and games have increased so much so that its impossible for them every to become rare enough to be worth the kind of money that makes this worthwhile. I can guarantee a huge amount of even the most obscure ps2 or gc game are produced compared to any neo geo cart simply beacause more people are playing/buying them.

Games like Tekki are articifially expenisve beacause they have such a high price point to begin with. I have also heard radiant silvergun sells for less than its retail value in japan too as its not rare there at all. PC Engine games have been going for a lot on ebay, but in japan, they go for a few cents.

Another point is just because a game is valuable dosent necessarily mean its a great game, most of the super expensive neo geo carts are expensive due to very limited release and not for great gameplay. Buying games that are crap at an inflated price in the hope of making some money isnt the soloution either.

Basically you have too many factors working against you to ever predict whats going to be valuable, and the mere fact lots of us are thinking that games are going to be an investment isnt going to help values go up any either. More people are looking for the future collectible than those looking to pay the high price for it.

Just my opinion of course,


Gluecifer

[tankplanker]

Interesting points.

I guess it all hangs on the growth (or lack of it) in the collector market as time goes on.

I certainly agree that we will never see the $10,000 games that you do see with the Neo Geo.

[essankay]

Sure there will always be someone willing to pay a lot for radiant silvergun but come on, thats one game. If its going to come down to one or two games for each system that are going to be valuable, then you really shouldnt be thinking of buying games for investment, it simply isnt going to work.

I have also heard radiant silvergun sells for less than its retail value in japan too as its not rare there at all. PC Engine games have been going for a lot on ebay, but in japan, they go for a few cents.

The Saturn has dozens and dozens of games worth well above the ?50 mark.

Radiant Silvergun is quite rare and valuable in Japan as well.

Sure, some PC Engine games go for pennies in Japan, but a lot of games are expensive there as well.


The only games I have bought as investments recently are Sneakers(US-Xbox) which was a Toys R Us Exclusive, and Cubix for GC(US) which was a Blockbuster exclusive, plus you got a bonus DVD with it.

Considering most Blockbuster exclusives in the past are both rare and semi-valuable, even the crappy N64 sports exclusives.


I believe it was Edge that mentioned that if a PEZ dispenser can sell for tens of thousands on ebay, then why not videogames. They have certainly been more significant and prevalent than PEZ ever could aspire to. Why not?

[Gluecifer]

How many people do you guys actually know who pays this kind of money for old games on a regular basis?

A lot of video game prices are simply someone saying "i think this game is worth X amount" and someone else saying "If thats worth X amount, then this game has to be worth XXX amount"

Its not like the market for say comic books, where items are evaluated on factors that make the values actually mean something.

The value of a game is what people are paying, not what someone thinks its worth.

All edge is doing is artificially increasing the values of the market because lots of their readers assume "edge knows all", they in fact are singularly responsible for a lot of games in the uk going for such ridiculous prices,
If it wasnt for edge a lot of games would still be resonably priced.

The Pez dispenser point is moot, as the whole principal is that when the Pez dispenser came out no one ever thought of it as a collectible investment, and disposed of it accordingly, then, years on, it becomes valuable because there arent many around. Modern games are produced by the million and with lots of people assuming they will be worth something and holding onto them it gurantees they will never be valuable.

I think the saturn was the last machine we will see that will have a games catalogue of any kind of collectible value, but whether these prices will continue rising or not is a different story, theres a very finite number of gamers interested in collecting saturn games, and with the prices as high as they are now for some games, its going to put off a lot of people from starting to collect them.

I wonder a lot about these "limited editions" i have a few myself, but i dont expect them to be worth much more than maybe their original retail price in a few years time, they might actually keep their value instead of dropping like everything else.

Its all very interesting.

Would love to hear if other people think similarly or differently.


Gluecifer

[tankplanker]

I think this should be moved to the general discussion board as its not really suited to the Q&A board anymore.

While I do think that certain games have peaked for the moment, while the market for collecting grows there will be contiuned demand for R@RE!!11!! titles.

Pricing is really based on two obvious factors, what the market is willing to pay for the product and how available the product is (not how many were made, thats different).

It doesn't matter that certain games have had a 500,000 or 1 million pressing if only a few copies actually come onto the market in good condition

There is also a few games that have limited pressings (I think around the 10,000 mark), the blockbuster ones have already been mentioned, Atlus RPGs are another. These are games that will rise in value.

I think ebay would be a good place to research the number of successful auctions for rare stuff, does anyone want to come up with a bench mark list, similar to the National Stats office shopping basket that defines inflation?

[essankay]

There is also a few games that have limited pressings (I think around the 10,000 mark), the blockbuster ones have already been mentioned, Atlus RPGs are another. These are games that will rise in value.

The Blockbuster ones are interesting too because A. There is a limited print-run of the games, and B. most of those made are destroyed as rental games.

There will always be games that have a limited printing for whatever reason, or that are recalled(Kakuto Chojin most recently, Dragonball GT a few years ago, etc). Most gamers who invest in games will miss some of these titles as there are too many games released on the whole for anyone to buy all potential collecting gems.

And, as for Edge knowing all and inflating prices. Edge even advised against buying from Britain. And it is true that the UK is priced higher than the US for instance, but here we have the VAT added which we don't have to pay if games are ordered from the US. But, then again France has better game pricing than the UK as well. I found prices in Paris to be around the same amount as the UK, but in Euros, which makes quite a bit of difference.

[tankplanker]

GamesTm also has a retro section with prices, they even had a Rare section this month

Personally I'm in favour of magazines pricing games, anything that helps stabilise prices.

This is the thing that I like with collecting, realising that you brought a bargin years after the event. My PS1 rainbow isle disk, brought for a couple of quid of a mate years ago is a good example.

The DC is a good collectors system, plenty of hidden gems, limited releases and limited editions. I don't like the way that they are releasing budget versions of certain games, this lowers prices (even tho the first edition holds it some of its value) and you get certain ebay sellers trying to pass off budget releases as the full price release.

[bwi]

How can you call games like PDS and RS rare?


Most people seem to think that rare = exspensive, this is not the case. A rare game is one that comes up for sale once in a blue moon.

All the games i hear about being rare Samba, PDS, RS , Steel Battalion and even Metal Slug can be easily bought within a couple of days if your willing to pay the price.

Hell, i saw a pic of a pile of Radiant Silverguns in a shop in Japan.

Try get a US kizuna Encounter on US for the Neo and you will see what rare really is.


Bri