What current stuff is the highly desirable collectable of tomorrow?

[James Lyon]

I don't think I like the whole collector mentality if it keeps games out the hands of people who might want to play them. I mean I understand people either want to make money or have something to cherish, but that just means the price goes up as it goes out of print. Collectors should be collecting for the fancy boxes to put on their shelf but if it doesn't require exclusive hardware then it should be available digitally as well.

 

Recent example for me is Yakuza: Dead Souls. First saw it in CEX for about £19.99 around release. It's an average game, so wasn't going to pay that then. Now it's £45 (even sillier money on eBay) and no way I'm paying that now. No reason they couldn't port that to PC (well, plenty of reasons). There's lots of other games like that going for lots of money that should really get sold as a basic digital version. Maybe even if the console chiefs actually acknowledge that emulation is a thing, which they'll likely never do.

 

There's always hope, though. I'd never have dreamed Persona would come to Steam for instance. I hope we see more of that.

[Broker]

I bought my complete copy of Earthbound for about £40 and I believe sold it for around £100  

[Bacon Horsemeat]

My copy of 3D Mario All Stars is basically my pension

[gossi the dog]

7 hours ago, James Lyon said:

I don't think I like the whole collector mentality if it keeps games out the hands of people who might want to play them. I mean I understand people either want to make money or have something to cherish, but that just means the price goes up as it goes out of print. Collectors should be collecting for the fancy boxes to put on their shelf but if it doesn't require exclusive hardware then it should be available digitally as well.

 

Recent example for me is Yakuza: Dead Souls. First saw it in CEX for about £19.99 around release. It's an average game, so wasn't going to pay that then. Now it's £45 (even sillier money on eBay) and no way I'm paying that now. No reason they couldn't port that to PC (well, plenty of reasons). There's lots of other games like that going for lots of money that should really get sold as a basic digital version. Maybe even if the console chiefs actually acknowledge that emulation is a thing, which they'll likely never do.

 

There's always hope, though. I'd never have dreamed Persona would come to Steam for instance. I hope we see more of that.

Yakuza: Dead Souls was a game that you couldn’t give away for years. It was £3.99 brand new in HMV a year or so after release. The Oxford Street store seemingly had hundreds of copies. Up until a few years ago it was less than a fiver in CEX.

[James Lyon]

1 hour ago, gossi the dog said:

Yakuza: Dead Souls was a game that you couldn’t give away for years. It was £3.99 brand new in HMV a year or so after release. The Oxford Street store seemingly had hundreds of copies. Up until a few years ago it was less than a fiver in CEX.

 

That's why the whole thing stinks. It's suddenly a cult curio just because the main series got a boost in popularity. 

[Ketchup]

Or because some youtuber posts their haul of the week and says it’s rare.

 

I find it frustrating stuff like Pokemon Blue is over £100. It’s not a rare game, there are millions upon millions of them out there so why is it selling for so much?

 

I do think the WiiU will shoot up in value. It’s a great machine for emulation even without hacking. The controller is a key part of the system and the thing most likely to get damaged. Whilst lots of its games are on switch it has a lot of stuff still exclusive to it or versions that have unique aspects. Plus it’s Nintendo.

[megamixer]

Well, something is only worth as much as people are willing to pay so if many buyers are paying what is perceived as a silly amount on a consistent basis, it cannot 100% be argued that the value is false.

 

Pokemon has been expensive for ages. It's one of those franchises that has an invisible "tax" on the name. As somebody who collects the vintage trading cards, I can tell you that all things Pokemon are subject to the attention of investors, flippers, speculators, and collectors with a lot of money who don't care what they have to pay to have something in their display cabinet. I think there is a false assumption that anybody into videogames and collectables are all normal everymen with regular incomes. The number of serious collectors with high-powered jobs and a lot of excess cash to burn is higher than one might think.

 

As for Yakuza Dead Souls, somebody on another forum told me that this game - and Lollipop Chainsaw - shot up in price after a rumour about the games being delisted from a digital store (or something) or "confirmed" as never going to be re-issued digitally. It caused a price spike that never went back down despite no evidence that these games would be lost to their original platforms forever. It's kind of like petrol/diesel spiking due to a specific reason then never coming back down to the original price again despite said reason being eliminated.

 

Not saying I agree with the morality of any of this but it is better to just look at the reality rather than what you want to see or what you believe 'should' happen.

[phillv85]

I backed Paprium in 2012, finally got my copies of the game in 2020 I think it was. That was a real drama, then the developer re-emerged with a kickstarter and restarted the whole drama.

 

As for future collectibles I always keep an eye on:

SMT or Persona mainline games

Shoot 'em ups (particularly CAVE games). Sadly with many of these you have to be ready to drop money on a moments notice with the limited print companies.

Big name titles from Limited Print companies that stay limited and don't get released in other regions.

 

I agree with 3DS games becoming sought after, I've picked up almost every game on the system I want now I think. Wii U full set collecting seems to becoming a thing as well now, must admit I thought about it, but fortunately stopped after getting the good games (and some crap) and not wanting to buy another 80+ games just for owning them's sake.

 

I'll put my neck out and say evercade carts may become collectible in the future. The licensing deals will likely expire on quite a few of them and they'll go out of print. I think full set collector's will drive up the prices.

 

 

[Oh Danny Boy]

Doubtful over the Evercade. I don’t think a product with ‘Blaze’ in its name will have the same pull as ‘SEGA’, ‘Nintendo’ or ‘SNK’. 

[Down by Law]

14 hours ago, MikeBeaver said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pocky-Rocky-Reshrined-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B09SQPKWDY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FPKLD2083YC8&keywords=pocky%2Band%2Brocky%2Bswitch&qid=1672866107&sprefix=pocky%2Band%2Brocky%2Caps%2C162&sr=8-1&th=1

UNder £19 atm, your post reminded me to go buy it 😛

 

£15.10 on PS4 so I've grabbed it before it's OOS

 

Ninja Saviours PS4 goes for around £40-45 nowadays. Passed that up at £13.95 from the game collection. Not this time ! 

[Ry]

I fucking lost a mint condition copy of Probotector for the mega drive only a couple months ago. 

 

It goes for about £350 now. 

[JamesC]

It goes for £350?!

 

There has to be a crash in the retro market soon, these prices are getting crazy.

[DeciderVT]

6 hours ago, gossi the dog said:

Yakuza: Dead Souls was a game that you couldn’t give away for years. It was £3.99 brand new in HMV a year or so after release. The Oxford Street store seemingly had hundreds of copies. Up until a few years ago it was less than a fiver in CEX.

 

We had quite a few copies of that but we had even bigger quantities of Puppeteer. SCEE employees who worked nearby used to trade in their sealed copies so often that we did ended up having to refuse that particular game for a while and were lumbered with shelves full of it that we struggled to shift, with even more in our stockroom. Sealed copies are selling between £45-80 on eBay now.

 

We also used to sell sealed PS2 shumps for £1.98. Nobody cared about stuff like Dragon Blaze at all, they were just seen as budget 2D releases that only the likes of me bothered with and were largely bought in just to add some filler to our second hand range. Decluttering those ended up paying for most of my new PC ten years later.

[Cheyenne]

My shout is for licensed titles. Increasingly this century we're seeing games not being re-released due to the cost of the license they use (my personal pick being the actually pretty good original Beenox Spiderman games) and that has consistently driven up their second hand value. I feel it's only going to become more prominent. This is then magnified if the title never got a PC release (hi, Asura's Wrath).

 

It's why I'm surprised at the second hand prices for Yaluza Dead Souls, as mentioned already. There is another title in that series that should see it's price increase now, yet it still hovers around the £5-10 mark. Yakuza 4 in its original release has already become a 'rarity', as the remastered version fully recast one of the principal characters. That's a pretty significant change, and even if the remaster has better performance, that at least gives it a collectors value.

[gossi the dog]

37 minutes ago, Cheyenne said:

My shout is for licensed titles. Increasingly this century we're seeing games not being re-released due to the cost of the license they use (my personal pick being the actually pretty good original Beenox Spiderman games) and that has consistently driven up their second hand value. I feel it's only going to become more prominent. This is then magnified if the title never got a PC release (hi, Asura's Wrath).

 

It's why I'm surprised at the second hand prices for Yaluza Dead Souls, as mentioned already. There is another title in that series that should see its  price increase now, yet it still hovers around the £5-10 mark. Yakuza 4 in its original release has already become a 'rarity', as the remastered version fully recast one of the principal characters. That's a pretty significant change, and even if the remaster has better performance, that at least gives it a collectors value.

I thought Asura’s Wrath was a new IP created by Capcom? 
 

Agreed on licenced games. I imagine the recent games based on the likes of Berserk; Attack on Titan and Fist of the North Star will rocket in value if the licence expires and they get removed from digital store fronts

[Cheyenne]

Asura's Wrath is original, yes. I just cluttered my words a bit, meant it more for how it never got a PC release and now PS3 copies go for minimum £40 usually.

[Noonanman]

It's a shame that video games are now subject to price bloating, and there's some obvious manipulation by speculators. Just means that games are less likely to get into the hands of people that play games and more likely to sit on shelves or packed away in storage, etc.

 

Saw this doing the rounds recently too!

 

 

[SMD]

10 hours ago, JamesC said:

It goes for £350?!

 

There has to be a crash in the retro market soon, these prices are getting crazy.

 

Doubtful, all the big collectors know each other and are invested in making sure prices don't drop. Gamers in general are fucking stupid and there are enough with too much cash to keep the grift going.

 

Just look at how much any limited print of game immediately goes for on ebay even if there's a digital version. A lot of these people simply aren't serious about playing these games, which is why they pay so much for titles no one gave a fuck about when they were in stores. A lot of publishers have cottoned onto this and have reduced their runs now so they barely hang about.

 

Except Capcom Europe who just do it cos they hate us.

[Oh Danny Boy]

I remember when people accused Edge of inflating the retro market with their Retro series. Simpler times. 

[PikaStu]

In the States, the bubble seems to have burst on a lot of 8bit stuff, while PlayStation2 era seems to be going up in price. The Uk has always been different though, with the mentality that anything retro = £££s

 

I’ve bought and sold loads of stuff over the last 30+ years that, looking back, would make me feel a bit sick. I sold a boxed Goldstar 3DO for £40 with a bunch of games because nobody wanted it, but my supervisor at work thought it would be a laugh. 
 

I traded Steel Battalion for £60 credit towards an Xbox 360. 
 

On the other hand I still have my WiiU in the hope that one day it’ll be worth something. However, while it sold relatively low numbers, I think is outsold the Saturn and Dreamcast, so I’m not so sure.

[Azrael]

I know CEX prices aren't the most accurate but was quite shocked at this when walking by today;

 

 

£220 for Fire Emblem, £128 for Banjo Tooie. They won't be getting added to my collection any time soon then if thats close to going rate. 

[Ketchup]

Banjo Tooie is an odd one, it’s price on eBay boxed varies between £60-£120.

 

I just want to know who’s buying these games at these prices. It’s a game you can play on Xbox easily enough, isn’t that great a game so how many people are buying this just for the collection shelf?

[gossi the dog]

18 minutes ago, Ketchup said:

Banjo Tooie is an odd one, it’s price on eBay boxed varies between £60-£120.

 

I just want to know who’s buying these games at these prices. It’s a game you can play on Xbox easily enough, isn’t that great a game so how many people are buying this just for the collection shelf?

The people in this article?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/shopping/the-retro-games-consoles-that-have-soared-in-value/ar-AA15LLGz

 

[Couk]

I regret selling my Saturn collection when I was a student, to make more space in my tiny room. I never should have sold my PS1 copy of Parodius either. Still wanna sell your copy for £15, @dumpster?

 

I do wonder if all the physical copies of current indie console games (from the likes of Limited Run, Special Reserve, Fangamer, iam8bit etc) will be worth a lot down the line. You only have to look on ebay now to see fairly recent releases going for upwards of £100 (thanks, scalpers). I keep buying these things due to paranoia that 20 years down the line, old digital downloads will get corrupted and un-redownloadable. How will I play "Baba is You" after the great internet crash of 2043?

 

Another thing I suspect will maintain and increase in value are the many many bootleg vinyl pressings of video game soundtracks, available only to members of Illuminati-style secret Facebook groups. Someone is sure to pay ten squillion pounds for my box set of Ocarina of Time, right?

 

If all else fails, i've got a US copy of Cubivore on the Gamecube, which is apparently worth a few bob.

[MikeBeaver]

14 minutes ago, Couk said:

I regret selling my Saturn collection when I was a student, to make more space in my tiny room. I never should have sold my PS1 copy of Parodius either. Still wanna sell your copy for £15, @dumpster?

 

I do wonder if all the physical copies of current indie console games (from the likes of Limited Run, Special Reserve, Fangamer, iam8bit etc) will be worth a lot down the line. You only have to look on ebay now to see fairly recent releases going for upwards of £100 (thanks, scalpers). I keep buying these things due to paranoia that 20 years down the line, old digital downloads will get corrupted and un-redownloadable. How will I play "Baba is You" after the great internet crash of 2043?

 

Another thing I suspect will maintain and increase in value are the many many bootleg vinyl pressings of video game soundtracks, available only to members of Illuminati-style secret Facebook groups. Someone is sure to pay ten squillion pounds for my box set of Ocarina of Time, right?

 

If all else fails, i've got a US copy of Cubivore on the Gamecube, which is apparently worth a few bob.

I hear Secret Painting Club item's are quite sought after

[Couk]

5 minutes ago, MikeBeaver said:

I hear Secret Painting Club item's are quite sought after

 

Haha! Every year I think "this is the year I pick it back up", but I don't make the time for it!

[Corranga]

I think Nintendo is the answer to this, too many updates on other consoles, then there is the effect we see with Pokémon. Very few first party Nintendo games are particularly rare, but most have some value, perhaps not the highest of values, but some value over their sales / rareness suggests. If we look at Pokémon, I think any main series game from GBA back is basically worth £100+ now in good condition complete with box and manual. These games sold millions worldwide, but the number of gamers then and now, and indeed Pokémon fans via the cards, cartoon and Go has increased drastically, if that continues, prices will stay high as demand outstrips supply significantly.

 

On top of that, we have he relatively unsuccessful (by comparison to their peers) N64, and GameCube, then the Wii bringing in huge numbers of new gamers, and then the WiiU diving again. 3DS similarly didn’t have the success of the DS.

N64 is already a bit nuts, GameCube more so. WiiU will follow, retro YouTubers will be showing off and talking up the 2 screen benefits of WiiU versions vs. Switch, and explaining why it’s so much more than the Wii in a way obvious to anyone who understands console generations, and prices will rise.

 

The unknown gamble for me at the moment is the PSP. Values of the common and good stuff are modest, sealed stuff is still around and doesn’t seem to warrant a huge premium yet, and the console is an oddity with its UMD drive, plus the quality is decent and it’s still fun to play today, and of course it has different versions of the big ticket Sony titles (though many ended up ported to ps3 and possibly 4).

 

Limited Run stuff, I don’t know. It’s expensive to begin with and many titles fall into that decent but unknown / Indy side of things, those diamonds in the rough that often end up being worth so much, but then many are also ported to everything and also end up with cross generation availability (digitally), also there won’t be such a drop off in these titles.  Pokémon and Mario etc of the past have been owned by kids and destroyed, chucked out by parents, written on my Game, lost in house moves.  99% of limited run stuff will still exist in 20 years time as it’s bought by collectors for collecting, a decent proportion of that will still be sealed too.

[shynra]

Had a quick look at an older thread to see predictions Rare game of generation (ps2/xbox/gcn/gba) which is fun. 

 

 I've jumped out of collecting last gen so only grab physical games of what I want. That's a bit annoying when limited run games makes a game numbered - I have to struggle to grab one or just let it go.