Do you miss "hunting" for retro games?

[Erik_Twice]

Like most of us, I used to go "hunting" for old games with some regularity. I checked pawn shops, second-hand stores and the usual suspects like Gamestop or Game for games I would like to play and try to get a cheap price on them.

But it has been many years since I actually did that. There are no more games anymore. The PS2 was already two generations ago and those cheap copies of Gradius V eventually dissapeared as did all other interesting games. Nowadays, when I walk into one of these shops all I see is the ocassional game priced at much higher than ebay prices. The well has dried out.

And, well, it's true that it's a bit of a shame. I passed on a bunch of great games because I tried to get them for cheap (FE: PoR, Gradius II & IV, Gradius V, Truxton MD) and that's a shame. But that doesn't bother me too much, what bothers me is that...well, it was fun to collect games. It was fun looking around and going to random shops looking for deals and checking for obscure titles. I kind of miss that.

What about you?

[Xeogred]

Yes and no.

There's probably a reason why I still regard my SNES collection as my crowning achievement. I bought Mega Man X2, X3, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy II, III, Actraiser CIB, Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (had no idea it was rare and only paid dollars), EVO, and a handful of other rare titles and obscurities all in person over the years back in the day. It always felt amazing scoring them and the most I ever paid for any of these games would be $50, namely for Mana, Chrono, MMX3, and I think FFIII was maybe up there. It was thrilling driving up to stores wondering "Will they have that game this time?"

Here in the midwest we have Vintage Stock's and other chains that still have great selections.

But here's where I get to the no... I can probably think of a dozen different stores and chains I've been to over the years and I can only think of one guy over the counter in the entirety of my game buying history that I liked (a manager at Funco Land, then Gamestop, who looked like Dave Mustaine). Otherwise, the people over the counter have always soured the experience and been horrible to death with. The turnover in these mom and pop shops or retail joints must be pretty bad too, because you rarely saw the same faces when you returned. But it didn't matter. Just an onslaught of bad experiences and annoying employees in my experience. In that regard... being able to not deal with anyone and order things online has been great. But the reward factor has definitely been completely stripped out, for sure.

[Gunstar Green]

It was fun. I still like to go to places and look at weird things including games. The difference now though is I usually don't spend any money which is a good thing.

[MrNash]

Sometimes. It was a lot more fun before places caught on to old games being worth something and finding a title for $10 that I knew was worth $100. That being said, it's still a lot of fun hunting for new hidden gems that I never knew existed. That sort of thing is an ongoing process. There's always something that flew under my radar, or even sifting through Steam's library I often come across interesting games released to little or no fanfare and that got buried under big name games.

[Jrecee]

I think the last decent find was a thrift store near me maybe 2 years ago. They had Contra III for snes for $10, sitting on a printout of an ebay auction showing it for $40. They said they understood that there's no point in selling stuff there if it's cheaper to just sit and home and order online. At the same place I found like a dozen Saturn games (including puzzle fighter) although I didn't buy them all. But that was over 2 years ago and haven't seen anything there since.

Gave up on goodwill. The only two retro resellers near me both charge ebay prices. So yeah, I miss it, but I got a lot of great stuff from 2004-2011 and have more than I can play anyway. An SD2SNES will be one of my final retro gaming purchases until I strike it rich.

[Nemoide]

I miss it, but I can still get that thrill hunting through other media, like comic books, records, and laserdiscs. If you like rummaging for treasure, there are still hidden gems of different sorts in used book stores and antique malls!

But while part of me does like knowing that games I got for not that much money are now worth several hundred, it's annoying because it's really hampered my ability to collect for older consoles. There are several games I regret not jumping on when they were cheap and easy to find that I'll probably never own now... but honestly my collection is so big that I could PROBABLY spend the rest of my life just playing what I have and be fairly satisfied.

[Tanooki]

More than anything. It is back in the mid 90s what got me into the second hand market, but also it allowed me a world of amazing discovery of many things on a small budget. Not a meager allowance as a kid, but a small one of someone in college and starting out. I could take a $20 bill and offline hit shops or other online fliers and find stuff for systems I had I read about in Nintendo Power and missed out on, found out on the infant internet, word of mouth, or just a 'WTF is that moment' and going for it. It was like this from my time then into and through the 2000s until the earlier part of the 2010s.

Call it greed, taking advantage, or the economics of me too twits watching second hand shop shows or mass buyers (pickers, storage stuff, etc) but it has all gone to hell. It had been games, but they're really not so hugely popular as mass stuff you find on those other programs. It has made it very hard to hunt not just for retro games but for anything semi-interesting as now everyone thinks they can abuse the system and make a buck like those TV types and be so called experts too.

I still hunt, but a lot of the fun of it is gone and I've had to change tactics with the winds. It had been retro games, they're still there, but then I'd add in antiques, vintage toys, electronics, and so forth to give me a wide enough net to attempt to try my best not to come up dry all but rarely but even that is starting to get to be a chore in the last year.


I truly miss what came of the hunt, the mystery and discovery of it all for a new experience with a low risk to trying out something fun to do. It's now high risk, very predatory, and high priced compared to roughly 6-7 years ago now. I don't see improvement ever, what had been for decades is dead thanks to mass media and faux expert awareness. The old ride is dead so you adjust, quit, or just eat it to keep going.

[flojocabron]

It depends on where you live, obviously.

I live on the US/Mexico Border and there are still plenty of opportunities to hunt for games on either side.

But I do admit that its gone bone dry at times.

But you shouldn't give up the hobby just for some minor setbacks.

Stay on the hunt!

[alienjesus]

There wasn't a lot of opportunity near me anyway. I used to quite like hunting down games at the car boot sales at the weekend, but I eventually realised I was often buying games I didn't really want just because I found them there for a good price. The good stuff did dry up too. My first ever boot fair I left with 3 boxed Game Boy games amongst other stuff. By the end I was happy if I found anything that wasn't a PS2 sports game or a Wii party game.

For me, the thrill was finding the game at all, not the price, so I tend to do a lot of my 'hunting' at the retro games market we have here in London 3 times a year. The prices are roughly eBay level, sure, but it's still fun when you find an Actraiser on a table and start haggling on it.

I decided I'd rather focus on buying games I really want rather than trying to play anything that interests me. That still gives me a ton of games to track down, but means I focus my spending somewhat and keep my collection under control.

[Reprise]

Absolutely yes, I really miss it! It might sound really sad, but I got so much enjoyment out of 'hunting' for retro games. It was almost like a hobbie for me.

The ability to own practically any game I want, as long as I'm willing to pay the price (thanks of course to the Internet and sites like Ebay), is great, but the appeal has somewhat waned for me personally.

Growing up, I had loads of great independent and national stores within my local area, all of which had their own strengths, specialities and niches. I used to love shopping around them all looking for bargains and games on my want list. It was awesome. Some stores were like treasure caves full of exciting games to find, of you were willing to dig around. I used to pick up games that I had never heard of, because they had really interesting box art. It was a really exciting time for me as a gamer, because there was just an abundance of retro stock and the market was far more niche than it is today.