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[dunpeal2064]

Why should it be priced at $5-$10, becuase that is what is affordable to you?

$18-$25, to some people, is dirt cheap for a game offering as much entertainment as Mario 64.

[isiolia]

Bone might have picked a bad example, but the main point is still valid. Taking Super Mario 64 as a for instance, regardless of popularity, it is probably the single most common N64 cart and there are more than enough to go around, so it should be priced in the $5-10 range, but I rarely see it for less than $18-25.

Even the article you linked explains that though. It might be a common cart, but if everyone and their mother wants a copy because it's a quintessential title for the system, that'll still keep the price at a decent level.

[Ack]

Right...but then why has the average price for FFVII steadily decreased over the last six years then?

http://videogames.pricecharting.com/gam ... antasy-vii

Bone might have picked a bad example, but the main point is still valid. Taking Super Mario 64 as a for instance, regardless of popularity, it is probably the single most common N64 cart and there are more than enough to go around, so it should be priced in the $5-10 range, but I rarely see it for less than $18-25.

Actually, Super Mario 64 has on average fluctuated between $10 and $20 for the last six years.

http://videogames.pricecharting.com/gam ... r-mario-64

since you obviously oppose the concept of a free market, what kind of controls do you want in place?

Well it would be nice if people would just stop taking their cues from Gordon Gecko, but obviously, that's never going to happen. I have found a few (a very few) sites that actually have more reasonable prices, but even they succumb to reselleritis sometimes. Why is it that people can say "greed is good" all day long, but when someone has the temerity to disagree, they get called out on that? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

You dodged my question. While I criticize you for my belief that you have a limited grasp of free market economics, instead of calling you out on your claims and attempting to berate you, I have simply asked what alternative you wanted to provide.

Free market economics allows for some level of price gouging, with the belief that sellers can throw out prices, but people will only pay what they deem acceptable. If Mario 64 isn't acceptable at $20, then keep searching and you will find one for $10. If that keeps happening, sellers will lower the price accordingly to sell their copies. You oppose this method, so I have asked you for an alternative, which would involve devising some method to lock prices or at least prohibit them from rising beyond a certain point. I merely want to know what your suggested method would be. After all, if it proved to be a better system, then why would we not be interested?

But you repeatedly do not offer an alternative and instead simply lament that we are criticizing you or instead figuratively try to attempt to shove your fingers in your ears and make loud noises while pretending not to hear.

[AppleQueso]

There are a ton of resources on capacitor plague beyond wikipedia articles over on PC Engine FX. I would look around for you, but I'm actually at work and responding to this topic is probably taking up too much of my time as is. I can give you some links later on today when I get home, but if you're impatient you can take a look on those boards.

I did kinda poke around those boards a bit, but didn't really see anything that suggested to me that "capacitor plague" is a universal looming problem for all old consoles. I'd imagine that if something like that were to happen, it'd likely be limited to specific consoles, specific models, or even specific manufacturing dates.

I may not have looked hard enough though, so I'll be looking forward to those specific links when you get home. While I definitely find the idea of say, a large batch of Turbos being made with faulty caps to be plausible, I'm pretty skeptical of the idea that there's some large scale widespread failure incoming.

Either way, I'm very curious, I'm sure there will be interesting info.

[Retrodude]

I merely want to know what your suggested method would be. After all, if it proved to be a better system, then why would we not be interested?

The problem is, there actually is a way to fix things, but no one cares: If we all got together as a group and decided en masse to stop buying from sellers who routinely overcharge and only buy from the more reasonable ones, that would probably do the trick after a year or two, but that will never happen because PT Barnum was right: "There's a sucker born every minute and two to take him".

[Raiiban]

It would be nice if there was a scoring body (there already are a few I think) to keep the prices of said games down but something like that would end up being a voluntary compliance at best for sellers. The fact is that if one person is willing to pay a larger price then 10 people are willing to sell it at the embellished value.

It's an unavoidable situation and while there has been a small surge in retro collections as of late that's not to say it will or will not continue. I believe we'll see a small decline in the next few years followed by another rise once the 8th generation starts to die down and dedicated gaming consoles become an overall thing of the past.

Hardware failure and lost/destroyed product will continue to drive up the value of games and consoles but it ultimately comes down to how much sellers can get away with charging items for. Until nobody is buying a game for such a large price for an extended period of time will the price go down, but good luck organizing such a thing with a large and mostly anonymous group of people nobody has control over.

[dunpeal2064]

The problem is, there actually is a way to fix things, but no one cares: If we all got together as a group and decided en masse to stop buying from sellers who routinely overcharge and only buy from the more reasonable ones, that would probably do the trick after a year or two, but that will never happen because PT Barnum was right: "There's a sucker born every minute and two to take him".

"We all" would be anyone who ever grew up with the N64, or anyone who has any interest in retro gaming. I do not see why everyone with an interest in the N64 would band together to boycott buying Mario 64 at $20, so that its price would come down to $10, when its most likely that they all have jobs and would not find it worth the effort to save $10... on a game that they probably already bought, since $20 is not a lot of money for a game.

If I buy a game that is supposedly worth $10 for $12, am I a sucker. Probably not, because its just $2, right? So why are others suckers for making more money than you, and thus feeling the same way about $20 that you do about $2?

[Krejlooc]

There are a ton of resources on capacitor plague beyond wikipedia articles over on PC Engine FX. I would look around for you, but I'm actually at work and responding to this topic is probably taking up too much of my time as is. I can give you some links later on today when I get home, but if you're impatient you can take a look on those boards.

I did kinda poke around those boards a bit, but didn't really see anything that suggested to me that "capacitor plague" is a universal looming problem for all old consoles. I'd imagine that if something like that were to happen, it'd likely be limited to specific consoles, specific models, or even specific manufacturing dates.

I may not have looked hard enough though, so I'll be looking forward to those specific links when you get home. While I definitely find the idea of say, a large batch of Turbos being made with faulty caps to be plausible, I'm pretty skeptical of the idea that there's some large scale widespread failure incoming.

Either way, I'm very curious, I'm sure there will be interesting info.

You have to remember the way global electronics are manufactured. Turbo Duos weren't produced in a bubble outside of Sega genesis production, for example. The same plant that produces one console, likely produces several others. It's outsourced labor.

That specific Taiwanese capacitor which is prone to fail held an Asian monopoly over the capacitor market for over a decade. That's why the problem is so wide spread. Conversely, Brazilian produced and Brazilian exclusive consoles from that period are exempt for the same reasons.

I try not to talk out of my ass in general when it comes to video games. If I say something, I generally heard it from a source somewhere. I'll try to provide some links when I get home

[Retrodude]

"We all" would be anyone who ever grew up with the N64, or anyone who has any interest in retro gaming. I do not see why everyone with an interest in the N64 would band together to boycott buying Mario 64 at $20, so that its price would come down to $10, when its most likely that they all have jobs and would not find it worth the effort to save $10... on a game that they probably already bought, since $20 is not a lot of money for a game.

Wait, what? I was talking about retrogaming in general. No offense, but if you're trying to troll me (which is honestly what this looks like to me), you're making it a bit too obvious.

[dunpeal2064]

How am I possibly trying to troll you?

So you think we all should stop buying every game that YOU think is overpriced until it reaches a price that YOU are confortable with?

You aren't talking about retro gaming in general, you are talking about games that had a large print run but still fetch a high price (Since apparently $20 is a high price)

"We all" (which I assume, when you said it, relates to retro game collectors) are buying the games at what we find them worth. That you think "we all" would change our buying habits based on what you think is very self-centered.