Video Games Appreciating in Value.

[pompeyparsons]

To make a long story short I ordered a bunch of Final Fantasy Tactics games 3 years ago off of eBay for about $5 a piece. The reason for the quantity I bought is that I was an an idiot. I thought all the games were defective as I couldn't save them on my PS2. Turns out it wasn't the games that were defective but my head all I needed was a PS1 memory card.

In any case back then Final Fantasy Tactics was going for $5 and now each auction I see ends at around the $20 mark. I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on why some games appreciate in value while others decline and level off. I realize that it has to have something to do with demand but from what I can tell in a number of instances including FFT is that there are a ton of these games in circulation, same with FF7 so why the spike in values?

Any thoughts? Is there a way to predict what games will appreciate in value? I'm guessing it's much like the Stock Market where there is absolutely no way to tell.

[racketboy]

Well if you think about it, they games still depreciated in value from their initial selling price.
But like the old Wall Street saying goes, "Buy Low, Sell High". And in this case, you did just that. You bought them at just about the lowest point and now the value is climbing back up.

From my experience, its usually best to stock up on games when they are about a generation or two behind what's current. That is the point that most people are selling the games off to make room for their new stuff. Once they are three of four generations behind, most of that stock has been gobbled up and collectors are fighting over the scraps, which raises the value.

However, some games never really recover. Those mostly being sports games and those that don't hold up well over time (that aren't rare in the first place).

Some games are also especially common so there is never much of a shortage (your pack-in games and such).

[silverback]

Hype has a lot to do with it as well.

Say publisher A releases bop2

Some magazines say Bop2 is the most refreshing game in years, then everyone wants it, everyone gets it. Bop2 isn't that great but yet it flies out the shops.

So people have it then trade it in when they see its not that great or they just chuck it in the bin.

A few years later someone says remember Bop2, then everyone looks for it again to get back their youth or whatever, so bop2 that was selling for 2p, is now going for 20 quid cos everyone wants it again.

[ott0bot]

It's also demand. Final Fantasy games are ususally not rare and still fetch high prices becasue they are great games (for the most part) and people want to own them more than they want to sell them.

[RackGaki]

Sports games always crumble in value. If I ran a pawn shop or a video game shop, the day of the Super Bowl/Championship/World Series/etc. would be the day that I stopped taking in that year's game. I know quite a few pawn shops that have a disproportionately high number of sports games that no one in the world wants to buy.

But year, right now is the perfect time to stock up on Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2 games, I believe. Dreamcast titles are worth a few bucks if they are a desirable game, and SNES games are starting to go for quite a bit.

I remember hunting for Atari games at Goodwill (second-hand donation store, for those that don't know) ten years ago - used to find all kinds of good stuff. Now, everything is either in the dumps or in the hands of collectors, so the good deals are off!

[glynnahab]

If I ran a pawn shop or a video game shop, the day of the Super Bowl/Championship/World Series/etc. would be the day that I stopped taking in that year's game. I know quite a few pawn shops that have a disproportionately high number of sports games that no one in the world wants to buy.

Unfortunately, the prices of these games - especially in pawn shops - are normally comparable to other used games. A few weeks ago I saw a copy of Madden 05 for $10.

I admit it, I play Madden every now and then. (Let the flaming begin!) But I'd never pay more than 4 or 5 bucks for last year's games. Furthermore, I haven't purchased a new Madden since the early 2000's. It just makes no sense.

In general, I never buy games for the initial selling price. The last game I paid full price for was Mario Galaxy.

[retro_gammer79]

Supply and Demand!!!!!!!!

[Bootaaay]

Most of the time it's a combination of hype and limited pressings that seem to make games truely appreciate in value, for instance;

Border Down (Dreamcast)
Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn)
Princess Crown (Saturn)
Psychic Killer Taromaru (Saturn)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Shining Force III (Saturn)
Sin & Punishment (N64)
Suikoden I & II (PSX)
Under Defeat (Dreamcast)
Valkyrie Profile (PSX)

...are all games highly regarded by the few who have played them, but are all now difficult to acquire - though I doubt anyone could have predicted that these games would've become so valuable back when they were released.

[goaferboy]

Normally games that were released towards the end of the consoles life seem to go for more. Seems to be the case with the Saturn and DC at least.

[pompeyparsons]

Thanks for all the responses. I've got some food for thought now to mull over. I'm doing as much research into this as I can to see if there's anyway to make an "educated guess" what games are going to go up in value. (Which I think is probably impossible.)

I studied for the Series 7 for awhile so I really like stocks and trying to pick them. I'm intrigued by the idea of investing in games much the same would in a stock portfolio.

To further upon the topic are there any games out there that you see being worthwhile investments? While I for the most part collect for the actual enjoyment of playing the games, I'd also like my collection to appreciate in value.

I agree with the advice of Racketboy and RackGaki that now is the time to start purchasing games a couple generations removed from the current platforms. Maybe even the Gamecube, XBOX and PS2 as RackGaki said.