Have you given up on buying SNES?/Cheap SFC recommendations

[Sarge]

No, I never give up entirely. It just takes a long time for me to add games to the collection. If it's something super-rare, I'm pretty much just going to wait until I chance across something at a thrift store, retro gaming store, or pawn shop. That, of course, has become far less common over the years. But still, sometimes I get lucky and find some undervalued games even at the local game store. I almost never find anything there, though, and they really don't rotate their older stock much anymore.

I have started picking away at the margins of the Super Famicom, though. I've imported some of the interesting RPGs that have been translated like Mystic Ark and Seiken Densetsu 3, and I just had to own a legit copy of Gun Hazard.

[samsonlonghair]

I was lucky to buy up a bunch of great SNES carts back in 2007~ish for a couple bucks a pop: Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Pilot Wings, F-Zero, Mario Kart, Link to the Past... a couple dozen must-have games.

Now I can no longer afford to buy SNES cartridges. My SNES collection hasn't grown in years. I think the last SNES cartridge I bought was Turtles in Time for about $20 back in 2011~ish from girl racer on this forum.

[Betagam7]

Do you guys ever see the prices settling back down to what they once were? I don't mean stuff like Earthbound I mean when you could pick up a loose cart of something super common like Super Mario Kart and not expect some idiot to think it was worth £25 or more and some other idiot to validate that opinion for him?

I've heard the argument that the SNES occupies that sweet spot in 2D gaming where the games don't look as archaic as 8 bit titles but also haven't aged badly like the early attempts at 3d graphics and so that's why it's continuing to occupy sacred status on ebay....but then I don't see anybody trying to get silly money for Sonic 2 on the Mega Drive/Genesis and while I do tend to regard that system as inferior to the SNES it ticks all the same boxes in terms of time frame and nostalgia factor without having seen it's prices soar as retro-gaming became more mainstream.

[samsonlonghair]

Do you guys ever see the prices settling back down to what they once were?

Nope. The days when SNES carts were cheap is behind us. Better to focus on buying up Wii and WiiU games while they're cheap.

Maybe someday the SNES bubble will burst, but even if it does SNES carts won't be as cheap as they were back then - just a little bit cheaper than they are today.

[Ack]

Do you guys ever see the prices settling back down to what they once were?

Nope. The days when SNES carts were cheap is behind us. Better to focus on buying up Wii and WiiU games while they're cheap.

Maybe someday the SNES bubble will burst, but even if it does SNES carts won't be as cheap as they were back then - just a little bit cheaper than they are today.

Unless we hit another huge recession and everybody tries to dump their games all at once. Then maybe...though I doubt that will happen.

[Sarge]

I think there might be some settling at some point, as the generation that actually cared about the SNES loses interest (get on that N64/PS1 train now, folks!), but I don't know if it will ever be "reasonable". Of course, that's got all sorts of connotations. I mean, most of the big-name Nintendo releases are averaging around $20-30, which is not that awful. I mean, for crying out loud, you can still get a copy of Yoshi's Island for around $30, and it's definitely the best way to legitimately enjoy that game.

[Ack]

(get on that N64/PS1 train now, folks!)

They already are. Nintendo 64 prices have been going up steadily since 2011. Five years ago, the average price of an N64 game was around $6. Now it's $14.

PlayStation 1 games have also been increasing, but at a slower average rate. They've gone from around $6 in late 2012 to nearly $9.

While neither of these are as dramatic as the SNES(which really just followed the NES trend), they might continue heading in that direction. Overall, SNES games on average are still cheaper than NES games, which average around $25 now a cart.

[Sarge]

Yeah, I was going to say that they're up, but they're not up up. If you're the least bit interested, now is the time to start looking.

The cheapest stuff is going to be in the PS2, although even random games there are really pricey. As the 360/PS3 dies away, there will be a glut of cheap games, but we're not quite there yet, in my opinion. I'm waiting for when GameStop starts clearing them out like they did for PS2.

As far as what NES games average, there are quite a few that skew those numbers, obviously. There are retro stores that can't unload their stock for quite a few games at $5. Mainly 'cause they're junk, but still.

[Ack]

Yeah. PlayStation stuff in general is great to be going for. Prices are still low across the board, with none of the Sony line averaging more than $10 a game.

Oh, and while we've been talking about Sega stuff, it's all had a steady climb too. I feel bad for Saturn collectors, as those games are around $30 on average. Genesis is still a good bit lower, as is Dreamcast.

Oh, and Nintendo handhelds are feeling it too. Game Boy average prices are up, and Game Boy Color prices are rising. GBA prices have started to rise too. But if you're into Nintendo DS games, now is the time to buy.

Frankly the cheapest to collect for right now is Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.

[Exhuminator]

Frankly the cheapest to collect for right now is Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.

This is why I stay a generation behind. Sweet sweet prices.