Games - A Good Investment ?

[Goldo1]

Elaborating on old threads about people who collect games without actually playing them, do any of you ever buy a game thinking that, apart from the enjoyment of playing it, it might actually be worth quite a bit of cash down the track (I'm thinking here mostly about Neo, Saturn and PCE owners). Thus, treating games as an investment instead of just another purchase. Also, is it realistic to think that if a particular game/platform is expensive now, it will always be so?

I must admit that I'm sometimes guilty of these thoughts when I buy Jap Saturn games. I think it started back in 1998 when I bought Radiant Silvergun in Japan for about 4000 yen, only to see the price shoot up in subsequent years.

[superstarbeejay]

Long term investments in gaming are allways set to fail. The market is too difficult to predict and games value is affected by many factors. Who is saying that treasure won't release an anthology next gen and the prices of games like RS and alien soldier will plummet. I believe this happens all the time with SNES GBA games. The price of LTTP drop significantly due to the GBA release.

As many here will say you can make quite a bit of cash out of collecting/trading games but it's all short term bargains.

[Treble]

Also, is it realistic to think that if a particular game/platform is expensive now, it will always be so?

Depends on the system and the availability of the games. The reason why certain games will always at least retain value is that they had small production runs. So that's why VCS Combat isn't going to be worth as much as PS1 Harmful Park, for example (off the top of my head).

Neo games are generally good investments, too. Their runs were always small in comparison to most consoles due to production costs. When you factor-in damage to and loss of games, the price can only ever rise, particularly if your copy is in good condition (or even the fabled MINT) and complete.

Something like Radiant Silvergun isn't expensive becuase it's particularly hard to obtain; just because it's very popular. The price may well drop on it in the future. But you have to remember, if you buy a retro game that had a none-too-massive production run, in great condition and complete, in 10 or 20 year's time it's going to be worth more money than it is now

As many here will say you can make quite a bit of cash out of collecting/trading games but it's all short term bargains.

Not "all", by any means. An original game that's complete will retain value, as I say, if the production run was low. For example, the DC releases of Garou and Last Blade 2 haven't driven-down the value of my AES copies, and over the long term, they'll retain value as the other copies on the market take damage or are broken/lost. It's all about what you buy.

Byt the way, i'm not anal about collecting. I only own about 5 games out of my entire collection that are there for monetary-appreciation purposes. The rest I play and enjoy ^_^

[Kaladron]

Start buying those Japanese NGage and Gizmondo games now.


I'm not kidding.

[superstarbeejay]

if you buy a retro game that had a none-too-massive production run, in great condition and complete, in 10 or 20 year's time it's going to be worth more money than it is now

Yes maybe but is it going to be worth more than an investment elsewhere. In 20 years time a ?100 game now will need to be worth ?300+ to make it even an average investment.

[Treble]

Yep, true dat
=]

[michael]

I'm with Treble on this one - buy to play is my general feeling, but there are a few games sitting in my collection that are there for cashing in when the time comes. Suikoden I and II seem to hold their value quite well, and there's a pile in my house that the GF calls the cashpoint... Certainly managed to pay for last year's holiday, anyway.

However, finding these valuable games in the wild is very much a luck thing - unless you were truly dedicated and had a very understanding other half, I don't think it's a career option.