Video Game "Look what I found"

[noiseredux]

The worth (price dictated by market/supply & demand) of the Lexus/Hyperstone Heist is X. The price that you would be willing to pay is Y. You're talking about two different things.

[Snatch1414]

The worth (price dictated by market/supply & demand) of the Lexus/Hyperstone Heist is X. The price that you would be willing to pay is Y. You're talking about two different things.

Yeah that seems to be the crux of the matter I admit. So how do I phrase it that I don't see how anyone can justify paying $100 for Hyperstone Heist without catching hell from people around here?

As an aside I just like to talk prices in addition to straight up talking games. I think it's an interesting aspect of the hobby, but for whatever reason I'm sounding an alarm when I say what I want to say about it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Again with the Lexus example: So if two guys sit down and one says "I like my Lexus. Totally worth the price," and the other guy says "I had one and I wouldn't recommend anyone get one for what they go for," is the second guy's opinion just invalid simply due to the fact that people buy cars from Lexus?

No. It is a valid opinion. The person is entitled to that opinion. I, for example, would not buy a Lexus for its market price. I could afford it, but I just don't want to spend my money on it. (I would rather buy video games, apparently.) Unless I lived in the Soviet Union or some other location where prices are determined by government fiat, however, I could not argue that the market price was "wrong," that Lexus was charging too much for its cars, etc.

I think you are falling victim to the "paradox of value" described by noted Scottish economist Adam Smith:

The word VALUE, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes expresses the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. The one may be called "value in use;" the other, "value in exchange." The things which have the greatest value in use have frequently little or no value in exchange; on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarcely anything; scarcely anything can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarcely any use-value; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.

I understand that you're saying the market dictates. What I don't get is why I can't say "That game's price does not add up from everything I've seen." The idea of "it must add up because people pay for it" is a hand-wavey notion. It's like saying "the people have spoken", then not bothering to examine if the people have any clue what they just voted for. In the case of games, show me why and how it correlates to a dollar amount.

This is basic supply and demand, which is explained here. With vintage video games, however, the supply curve would be a vertical line; so, a small shift in demand (i.e., moving the demand curve to the right) results in a large in increase in the market price.

[noiseredux]

The worth (price dictated by market/supply & demand) of the Lexus/Hyperstone Heist is X. The price that you would be willing to pay is Y. You're talking about two different things.

Yeah that seems to be the crux of the matter I admit. So how do I phrase it that I don't see how anyone can justify paying $100 for Hyperstone Heist without catching hell from people around here?

seems simple:

"Hyperstone Heist is worth $100. I'm not willing to pay that much."

[ninjainspandex]

This thread has been completely derailed, can we please move this elsewhere?

[prfsnl_gmr]

This thread has been completely derailed, can we please move this elsewhere?

This thread has been derailed so many times by this debate, that I think it is probably the best place for it as this point.

[mjmjr25]

This thread has been completely derailed, can we please move this elsewhere?

Have you read this entire thread?

This might be the most on-track it's ever been.

[Snatch1414]

Again with the Lexus example: So if two guys sit down and one says "I like my Lexus. Totally worth the price," and the other guy says "I had one and I wouldn't recommend anyone get one for what they go for," is the second guy's opinion just invalid simply due to the fact that people buy cars from Lexus?

No. It is a valid opinion. The person is entitled to that opinion. I, for example, would not buy a Lexus for its market price. I could afford it, but I just don't want to spend my money on it. (I would rather buy video games, apparently.) Unless I lived in the Soviet Union or some other location where prices are determined by government fiat, however, I could not argue that the market price was "wrong," that Lexus was charging too much for its cars, etc.

I think you are falling victim to the "paradox of value" described by noted Scottish economist Adam Smith:

The word VALUE, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes expresses the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. The one may be called "value in use;" the other, "value in exchange." The things which have the greatest value in use have frequently little or no value in exchange; on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarcely anything; scarcely anything can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarcely any use-value; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.

I understand that you're saying the market dictates. What I don't get is why I can't say "That game's price does not add up from everything I've seen." The idea of "it must add up because people pay for it" is a hand-wavey notion. It's like saying "the people have spoken", then not bothering to examine if the people have any clue what they just voted for. In the case of games, show me why and how it correlates to a dollar amount.

This is basic supply and demand, which is explained here. With vintage video games, however, the supply curve would be a vertical line; so, a small shift in demand (i.e., moving the demand curve to the right) results in a large in increase in the market price.

That's a lot of good stuff I appreciate that.

As much as it appears to the contrary I'm not arguing with supply and demand as a concept the world generally agrees on. I just believe if you could somehow acquire actual numbers like original # produced, # originally sold, # available for purchase today, quantifiable popularity of franchise, etc. we would see that there's little to no basis for an 80% difference in price between a loose cart of Super Star Wars vs. Turtles in Time for example. Of course we can't do all that but that's where I'm coming from. A lot of the prices don't add up for me when you compared them to others, and I don't think it's unique to just me and just retro video games.

[prfsnl_gmr]

As much as it appears to the contrary I'm not arguing with supply and demand as a concept the world generally agrees on. I just believe if you could somehow acquire actual numbers like original # produced, # originally sold, # available for purchase today, quantifiable popularity of franchise, etc. we would see that there's little to no basis for an 80% difference in price between a loose cart of Super Star Wars vs. Turtles in Time for example. Of course we can't do all that but that's where I'm coming from. A lot of the prices don't add up for me when you compared them to others, and I don't think it's unique to just me and just retro video games.

I think I see what you are getting at, and I agree that it would be great to have supply numbers. If we had those we could really differentiate how much of a game's price is attributable solely to demand, and I think we would learn a few interesting information regarding the way video game enthusiast's tastes change over time.

[Sarge]

Wow, that went crazy.

Anyway, I do gripe occasionally about the price because I'm a cheapskate. I'm not saying that's not market value, I'm saying that, for me, the price for some games is ridiculous and not worth me spending that money. For example, I'm not running out to buy Little Samson any time soon.

Still, if I gripe about a price, that doesn't mean I'm not acknowledging its worth. Now, there are arguments that can be made in some cases that the market is acting irrationally, but then, we're irrational beings, and we all assign a different worth to things. And I'm more than okay with the prices if I actually own the game in question (and yes, I do have Hyperstone Heist complete).