Which consoles to start with?

[Tanooki]

Feel free to ignore him as well as some people are just in denial while the data on ebay and local stores shows otherwise. It's easier to just keep quiet and accept it like any problematic stuff than complain, do something, or at least call attention to a problem.

That said he is right though on one point, buy in bulk if you go the real way. That way you can get around the scalper inflation. Keep what you want, then turn around and sell off what you didn't want to get the price down to something that's not bad. Or just find something that isn't being pounded heavily like handheld games or loose carts on the Genesis where they're nothing compared to most of the others.

[MrPopo]

Feel free to ignore him as well as some people are just in denial while the data on ebay and local stores shows otherwise. It's easier to just keep quiet and accept it like any problematic stuff than complain, do something, or at least call attention to a problem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

[samsonlonghair]

C'mon guys, we're going to scare off the new guy if we turn this thread into another argument about supply and demand.

Let's just agree that the price of video games (or practically any material good of a finite quantity) is governed principally by supply and demand, but that the market can be manipulated (intentionally or otherwise) by influential advertisers and shrewd marketers.

Let that be that for now. If we need to, we can create another thread just to argue about supply and demand.

Peace, brothers.

[ElkinFencer10]

Feel free to ignore him as well as some people are just in denial while the data on ebay and local stores shows otherwise. It's easier to just keep quiet and accept it like any problematic stuff than complain, do something, or at least call attention to a problem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand

Certainly scalpers are contributing to the decrease of supply, and YouTube is contributing to the increase in demand, but blaming CM or CGR or MetalJesus for the spike in demand for retro games is like saying that House of Cards is going to cause a spike in the number of people running for office. Information about retro games has just gotten more prominent and easier to access in the past ten or twelve years. As I said, it's like any other economic bubble - it will burst, and prices will drop, and I think devices like the Retro Freak and (to a lesser extent) the Retron 5 will help bring about that burst.

[Edge Master]

Wow - didn't expect this to reach 5 pages. Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.

Quick update from my end. I have downloaded a decent emulator for my home PC and have been playing some old 16bit games. Some have aged better than others, no doubt. I think I'll persevere with this however I also decided to pick up a Dreamcast online. I got a boxed, basically like new console for £50 ($63) and have got some sealed games for less than £10 so really excited about that. The DC was one of those consoles that I always dreamed (!) about owning but never did. Being able to go back and play the likes of Shenmue and MSR is going to be awesome.

In any case, don't let the doomsaying turn you off. Regardless of what your budget may be, there's lots of ways to be a really happy retro gamer and collector by either spending very little, spending a moderate amount, or spending quite a bit. Getting mad at market forces is only going to embitter you to things before you even really get started, and before you've had a chance to learn the ropes a bit.

Good points. Plus if you buy high and the games are not fun or you complete them and want to sell them on then you should in theory sell high as well.

[marlowe221]

Atari!

Go old school!

[Tanooki]

C'mon guys, we're going to scare off the new guy if we turn this thread into another argument about supply and demand.

Let's just agree that the price of video games (or practically any material good of a finite quantity) is governed principally by supply and demand, but that the market can be manipulated (intentionally or otherwise) by influential advertisers and shrewd marketers.

Let that be that for now. If we need to, we can create another thread just to argue about supply and demand.

Peace, brothers.

Thankfully someone intelligent enough to get it and not try and flame bait up some stupid pissing contest yet again to take cheap shots. It's a fake high as Elkin put it enough already in two posts. Bubble, volcano, whatever, eventually the pressure builds from one force pushing on another and then it pops. Unlike the bubble, like the volcano it will roll downhill and burn anyone who decided to ride that pressure cooker to the edge.

[marurun]

Good points. Plus if you buy high and the games are not fun or you complete them and want to sell them on then you should in theory sell high as well.

I think this is critical. Even when the bubble is in full-swing, it's up to you to decide what is too much for a particular game experience. If you buy something and try it right away you can determine if you like it. If you don't, turn it right around and you'll still be in the bubble most likely, so you'll get your investment back. If you like the game and want to keep it, isn't it worth what you paid for it, even if that price was inflated? If you were willing to pay that money, it must, on some level, have been worth it to you to have that experience, so you didn't really lose out.

I think the Nintendo NES Classic will actually inflate the bubble a little. A bunch of people who forgot how much they loved the NES will remember and suddenly want more games and a means to play them. People who didn't know they loved the NES or just missed out may try it and like it and will also want more games and a way to play them. People thought the Wii Virtual Console would drop prices and it didn't, for the same reason. Prices eventually evened out, but at first there was a spike as people remembered those games were out there and wanted more than just what was on the VC.

[Tanooki]

The only notable reversal I can think of was the WiiU Earthbound bomb, not sure how it chased it again or not with the 3DS release.

The game has been tracking around $200 and I saw stuff (not battered) going down around $120 when the hype wagon hit that peak of the Nintendo release. It took months, but it did annoyingly recover. My guess, those who really adored it for $10 decided to blow 15-20x that on a real one which is kind of silly.

[Ziggy]

Collecting ≠ Playing