Buying an expensive retro game, 100% of those proceeds goes to the reseller, not the original company. You're not doing Kojima any favors by buying that expensive copy of Snatcher for Sega CD.
Excellent point. Which is fine I don't care about people making money. But a 1k+ game is alot of taco bell which will satisfy me more. Plus you can burn a Sega CD game and play it on unmodded hardware. Lol
so true .....for the business of creating and developing games , retro gaming is harmful ..... the good thing we see resurging in past years is the indie developer retro game style that was abandon by the 3d phase
@@bungieborris9111 Only to elitest snobs and coomlectors. Personally I see nothing wrong with roms and I like RGT I used to collect a bit myself but right now the retro gaming market is doing what comics did back in the 90's it will implode and bigly it's not a matter of if but when.
@@bungieborris9111 depends which circles you hang in. If you are around enthusiast who buy these Chinese emulation handhelds and Pandora box consoles/arcade cabinets you good. Those things only emulate games 20 years older and that’s fair game. The developers have long made their money on them.
@@oOignignoktOo1 true true. I started emulating the games I picked up over the years after my ps2 finally kicked the bucket (yes I got the bios legally and ripped my own games)
Funny when people say, “Don’t worry the retro gaming bubble will break.” Retro games were dirt cheap 20 years ago because there was a mass consensus that it was “uncool” to play “old” looking games. Nowadays, with RUclips videos showing off how good games were, it’s “cool” to collect and live with old games. So with the people hoping for a burst in the retro gaming bubble: it will only burst when people, like you and me, turn cheek and think retro games are uncool again.
It's not a bubble in the sense that it will just one day pop and all games will cost nothing... but look at the old systems that were before many collectors time. Atari 2600, Master System and NES... majority of their entire library is extremely cheap and dropping in price (and some very expensive ones that will always be collectors items). This will happen successively with all systems... I also think people focus on the few very expensive games while the truth is most games for most systems are very affordable.
No I won't be people like us that burst the bubble because they're always be new generations that take interests and people always like old things these games are about to become antiques pretty soon well NES games wait till they're 50 years old then it'll be a true antique
@@nikolas_schreck Weird how that hasn't happened with anything else though... most DVDs, LPs and CDs are 1-5 dollars, that's what you can easily find Atari 2600 and NES games for as well. Most antique stores are filled with cheap junk nobody wants. The "rare" and pricey stuff will stay expensive, but everything else will lose in value over time.
@@JoypadDivison there's a difference because it's obviously Nintendo and not Atari Atari went out of business so long ago nobody really cares about those Atari games because they just don't hold up the old NES games are always going to be valuable they're like modern comic books dude in comic books are still valuable so they're not just going to devalue because you want them to be worthless so you can grab a bunch of them and hope they revalue up
@@nikolas_schreck I began collecting NES games in 1998. I already have all the NES games I ever wanted (besides a few that are not worth the price and that I don't imagine will ever come down in price), I'm also not interested in them as an "investment" since I never bought them to later sell them... you spun quite a story in your head about my motivation for thinking the way I do... it's based on a few things: conventions with 1 dollar bargain bins with NES games, that wasn't _ever_ a thing before; most who collect have already got what they're after, and if not at least the cheap common ones; and furthermore I think very few people who didn't grow up with it becomes a collector of it's games, very few new collectors, large print runs of all officially released games. Time will tell what will happen but even if it turns out I'm wrong I think people who look at it as an investment are certainly going to be dissappointed in the future (increase in value against inflation makes for small profits, especially if one is doing it now in 2022).
A lot of people don't like to admit it, but it's these big gamer channels on RUclips that are the primary cause as to why these retro game prices skyrocketed. Game room videos, game hunting videos, hidden gem videos, price check videos...they all contributed. I've recently been seeing more and more of these "I quit retro collecting" and "Retro collecting isn't fun anymore" videos from a lot of these RUclipsrs. It comes across to me as damage control...they helped cause the prices to artificially inflate, now they are trying to influence people to lose interest in retro games so the prices will go back down.
Doing garage sales, thrift stores and flea markets to get cheap games has become an extension to gaming for me. I love finding cheap stuff out in the wild almost as much as I love playing the games.
Yeah I agree, I really enjoy going out & about to find some games although it's less likely these days as like RGT says everyone has jacked up the prices...
It’s a sad retro collecting scene man - I’ve been out also for a couple years now. I’m focused on building a modern collection with my daughter now. Great topic and video
I remember 10 years ago, I used to go to flee markets, garage sales, and used game stores and just collecting GameCube games that I really liked and where fun. No one wanted GameCube games back in 2011 so most the games where like 5 dollars. Same with ps2. So that was the fun part of collecting in my opinion, finding hidden gems for really good prices. Now a days, I’ve sold my collection... It’s just not worth it anymore... I’m not paying 200 dollars just to play Skies of Arcadia again, it’s insane. Farewell, game collecting hobby
@@ebenezerspludge8369 . True to an extent. Xbox 360 is my favorite console of all time though and I love the backwards compatibility with modern Xbox. I'm not really that excited for Microsoft exclusives these days cause I'm not really impressed with how 343 has handled Halo or how The Coalition have handled Gears of War. They feel like The B Team rather than The A Team. Yet I can look past the exclusives due to backwards compatibility and games like Red Dead 2 and Mortal Kombat 11 that are multiplat anyway. I absolutely love my Xbox Series due to the hardware and how I can play OG Xbox games, 360 games, One games, and Series games on one device.
Some people really fall into this trap. People often confuse playing retro games with collecting, which is a complete shame and way too common. The point is to PLAY and BEAT these old classics, and appreciating those stones left unturned. The moment I made a rule for myself to play the games I have before buying anything more, for the most part, everything felt better. I could breathe easy and focus again. Accumulation of the medium without experiencing it is just sad.. imagine doing that with movies or music, or whatever. Keep gaming! 🖤 one at a time!
Agree. I fall into that trap. But I've noticed that if I beat that game playing it by other means the hype I have to get the original dies down quite a bit.
@@guillermos8447 for me, it somewhat does the opposite… once I’ve completed the love of really appreciating and digesting a game, I get excited to display the game and/or box alongside others.
@@guillermos8447 it also depends on the space and display area. There are some solid methods to display them on the wall or facing outward on staircase shelves. It’s nice to use those, bc those displays mean so so much more if you’ve actually played through those games and love them.
@John Hooper yes, this can happen… that’s not necessarily what I’m comparing though. Imagine calling yourself a movie fan, or film enthusiast, when all you actually do is search online and in local shops for bulk deals on movies, just to check them off as part of a collection, and then continue to hunt more down while never even watching them. It’s just kind of empty and pathetic, is all I’m saying. Accumulation isn’t passion, it’s just hoarding and an obsession at that point… it’s understandable and I have empathy for it, which is why I call it a trap.
I stopped collecting around 2018, I feel like that sweet spot between 2014 and 2018 was the peak time for collecting. Now the fun is out of retro collecting, cause it’s become more popular causing prices to skyrocket for retro games.
You’re so right about that, I started collecting in 2015, and since 2018 prices have skyrocketed. Def Jam Fight for NY has become astronomical in value!
Facts I was able to re buy my GameCube collection cheap during that time got xd gale of darkness for 25 , Mario strikers for 20 every thing was around 20 or 30 max for my games glad I decided back than to get them
Nah peak collecting era was like 1998-2001......Funcoland era, 99 cent NES games, 1000s of carts in store, basically guaranteed to find something at any yard sale
I remember around 2003 or 2004 bringing about 100 NES games to an Electronics Boutique and the manager convinced me that I should keep all of my stuff and that I would regret trading it in......nicest thing a video game store employee ever did for me
Hey, sorry to hear collecting isn't as fun as it used to be and a lot of us are in the same boat as well. Love your videos as always man and best of luck.
Its expensive to collect retro games since covid and wont drop prices anytime soon right n ok was modern games are cheaper however modern consoles are exspensive if you even find one tbh I might stop gaming all together in a few years since things will get worse and we may hit a video game crash 2
It's refreshing to see someone like yourself speak this out. My collecting has always been pretty focused, certain games, certain systems, etc. It's impossible though. I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on a game I already have on my PC. I miss when they were 30-40$ for a CIB of something. Then it was a piece, something to cherish. 150$ for a retro game is straight up ridiculous. I don't care WHAT game it is.
Nothing can beat collecting in the early 2000s for me.... Prices were good, product was plentiful but not TOO easy to find. I stopped collecting around 2011. It's just way overpriced. I still keep up the hobby aspect. "The flame is gone, the fire remains"
I reached this point myself a year and half ago and more so after watching The Minimalist. Josh and Ryan really put the over abundance of collecting in general into perspective and I’m a lot happier finding other ways to enjoy things without hoarding/collecting. Additionally, like you’d ask the markets are becoming savage to a point it’s no longer fun and there are more important things to look forward to. I also agree that emulation is a great way to save space and preserve retro gaming without overrunning your living space with stuff that you eventually run out of room to keep.
I imagine it's alot easier to quit game collecting once you've amassed such a huge library. You've probably got the majority of titles you want already.
Lol yea pretty bizarre video. He even mentions he has a lot of stuff at this point. A lot easier to quit when you have most of what you want. I too plan to quit...when I have the games on my list.
I can really relate to this. Been going to carboot sales for the last 15 years. I'd always find something quirky or interesting, gaming magazines or boxed N64 games. You name it. It was something I really enjoyed doing growing up, building up my collection and appreciating it. I'd make my family take me there as early as possible, it was my little thing that I enjoyed. I never saw anyone else there that looked like the type to be into retro gaming, but slowly and surely over the years I saw more and more people wandering around all with the same expression of urgency, like they were desperately hunting something out. They'll buy anything retro gaming related, just to flog on eBay an hour later. Not because they actually want to play something or keep anything for a collection. I remember one time going to a boot sale extra early ... it was 7:02am and there was a guy walking upto cars that hadn't even parked yet .. they were still driving along and he was yelling 'any sega, nintendo or playstation!?" and I knew then that things had changed. My heart sank.
@@_Conzo_ Your story is exactly the same as mine growing up 10 years ago. Once I saw a guy with a sign on his back "BUYING ALL Sega, Nintendo, and Playstation" with the logos. That's when I knew the fun was over.
Me and my dad done boot sales we called them boot rats 😉 Everyone loves a bargain but the rats robbed people and they harmed the sales in the long run 👍
Like most things, the internet ruined retro collecting. The golden era was 2007-2010. AVGN and these retro collection channels made prices go through the roof. Flea market sellers that would ask $10 for an uncommon NES cart were now asking $60 in 2012. The change felt like it happened overnight.
The neckbeards have ruined everything. It's gotten to the point where it's just gatekeeping. The gameboy player startup disc for the gamecube? It goes for 150$ minimum now. It's not rare, there's no justification, It's just gatekeeping. And that's just one example. It's absolutely pathetic that people are doing this, and then claiming that "i KnOw WhAt I'vE GoT!!!!!". People have even gone as far as charging crazy money for CRT televisions. Those crappy old TV's that most people are giving away or sending to the dump? Nope! "200$. I know what i've got." *sigh*. All that we collectors can do is just hope that eventually more people realize how ridiculous it is.
Glad to hear others speak out about these issues. It feels that its all just done for profits at this point and no passion (the grading incident was the straw that broke the camels back for me).
I invested in everdrives, and abandoned collecting for the most part. I’m happy with my small collection of games mostly obtained in my far younger years, I can’t justify the price of say a Chrono Trigger or Conkers Bad Fur Day when I have them on Everdrives and get the exact same experience.
We are exactly the same. I have all my childhood stuff (which ain’t too shabby). However, I went with modded systems with SD cards instead. Some emulation, some hardware hacking. Works well for me.
Totally aggree. I wont get rid of the stuff I had as a kid, or if its just not worth selling. Between analogue, terraonion and krikzz, we can play stuff as good or better than before.
Everdrives and Optical drive emulators are great. I’ve gotten a few of these and a RetroTink 2X Pro and am super happy when I fell the urge to play a retro game.
Not to mention when you realize you don't have enough life left to beat them all, and the friends you remember playing the games with are decades in the past, and long gone. I say only buy the ones that are on your bucket list to beat before you croak.
This is how I feel. I was heavy collecting. Even until a few years ago. I finally realized, I have near 2,000 games now. I can absolutely NEVER in my lifetime play all of these and more importantly finish them. 100 games would keep you busy for years. I am in my mid 40’s now. It is time to only buy those 2-3 games a year I really, really want to play. And start letting a lot of the others go…
@@DangerousDevilOfficial yeah I feel exactly like this. I’m 47 now-I’m categorizing things into what to do/play before I die. It always felt like I had forever to play whatever I wanted. I now feel like I’m on the clock and need to pare it down.
@@jwprimetime9795 well said! I feel this, especially after almost dying in 2020. And now dealing with liver problems that may be liver failure coming on (waiting for results). Time is definitely finite. And I even look at my movie collection (around 9K) and realize I will never be able to watch all of them either. You definitely get a different perspective as you get older. And have brushes with the end. 🤷♂️
This is why I’m so glad we have companies like M2 who take game preservation so seriously and put love into the games they release. They essentially are the Criterion Collection of gaming.
As a gamer that plays a lot of older stuff, I mostly emulate. I don’t care how people feel about it. Ill pass on spending a fortune on games I’ll play here and there.
I’ve been over it for years. Once I figured out how to emulate stuff, I had a really hard time justifying either a) paying jerk offs on ebay or b) spending hours and hours of my life HOPING I find a deal at Goodwill, some yard sale in the middle of nowhere, or other such places. I still love the games I just don’t need the physical stuff anymore.
I agree the game prices have skyrocketed recently. I own the "rare" games that I like. But I won't go out and buy rare games because they are rare. It makes collecting better, if you only collect what you like.
I’ve never understood why these people buy games they never intend on playing just to have it. What’s the point? I’ve always been one to have a curated collection, it’s far easier to maintain as well. I still hunt for stuff and buy it cheap if I find anything to use for trades for stuff I want.
I stopped "collecting things" ages ago. Its like you said, if I want something and can afford it, I'll buy it. If not, I'll let it go. And this goes for so much more than just games. I personally hate modern gaming because its all about just sucking your wallet dry. At least with a retro game, you buy the game and you have the game. But with modern gaming you have to pay for every little thing, and then if a game requires the parent company to keep servers up for it, and then the parent company just decides not to care anymore and they discontinue it, then you spent all that money for nothing. At least with retro games, you get to keep what you paid for.
Why not delve into pirating? As long as you have the time to read, you will always be able to experience the current AAA or indie titles. It goes without saying, learning about proper safety is something to consider and multiplayer games are also another thing to take into account but the average Joe can easily do it.
Yeah I don't like many modern games as well and I still collect retro and I know prices for games are insane but the fact of the matter is there are TONS of cheap ones as well. RGT mentioned Sega Saturn but what about the OG Xbox you know 😄 I get many great games for $5 to $20 all the time 💁♂️
I really dont like modern gaming either. ps3, xbox360 was it for me, only current gen console i play is Switch but only cause it has ports from that ps3 360 era and feels like im playing on a giant suped up Gameboy advance I usually wait for sales, only by base games no dlc, or online subscriptions theyre BS and a cash grab.
Physical retro games will always go up in value especially now with the new gen consoles all going digital and publishers baking DRM into games you'll never be able to sell or trade you're games again so in reality youll never actually own your own games.
I didn’t quit retro game collecting however I decided to sale 90% of my collection. I still hunt every once in a while because it’s still fun for me. Although now almost every price sucks.
I sold close to 2000 games, kept the few I had back in the day/nostalgic for and took that great profit i made and bought flash carts/ODE's/HDMI mods for every system, wireless controllers and put the rest of the money in the bank. Been great to simplify things/de-clutter and have easy access to any game I ever want to play. I have never looked back.
I think the "collecting" part of retro game collecting is over for the average person. However, I don't think it makes sense to sell your collection now, because you may never be able to get what you have for a reasonable price ever again.
your appealing to the unknown or Argument from ignorance.... i,e ''You know that scientists can't prove that UFO's do not visit the Earth, so it makes sense to believe in them.''....... ''You don't know so selling is bad''........ selling could be great for him. 10 years later a large ressession could hit forcing holders to sell or he could have much more money in 5 years.. Certainly paying 60$ a game is worse when your broke. Then 500$ when your wealthy. Thats why i sold .. I sold all mine 2 years ago. A had almost every vita collectors edition on the market. all the rare neptunia's,danganronpas,persona golden,muramasa,rootletter,steinsgate, etc etc They just sat there. I mean, I played them often but the boxes n stuff just sat. They cost me thousands and i always was struggling money wise. Buying them back later when i actually have money is easier. Then holding and being poor..... Thats if i still want too of couse. if i could get some actually use out of the packaging and art books i'd of kept them...
@@MichaelPhillips-jw4bj I'm not "appealing to the unknown," I'm making a reasonable guess as to where the market is headed. Gaming is only becoming more popular and retro games will only get rarer. It makes sense that prices will continue to go up as retro games become more of a collector's item and that means prices that the average retro gamer either can't afford anymore or aren't willing to pay. You saying they should just sell now, because they might become wealthier in the future or some other unlikely scenario is ironically far closer to "appealing to the unknown" than my relatively safe prediction.
@@MichaelPhillips-jw4bj There is almost no financially advantageous decision that starts with "I was struggling money wise." You needed money and you liquidized your assets. If you didn't need the money you would have kept all of those games. I haven't met anyone that sells from that position that doesn't later regret it and attempt to regain some of those losses when they reach a financially stronger position. You won't be an exception, and you will pay more for it. That is exactly what Chasing Fields is saying.
I've been selling my collection off slowly for the past couple of years. A lot of it collects dust and has truly become a burden. I've been collecting retro video games before it even became "cool." There was a point where no one wanted these old games and considered them junk. You could get boxes of cartridges dirt cheap almost anywhere. For the past 10 years, the prices just kept going up and up, now it's to a point where I am ready to cash out. Games I paid nothing for are now worth 100s of dollars. I know this might hurt a little, but it's time to cash out people, there's more to life than video games.
As someone that was addicted to video games they definitely are. It’s better to level up in real life then stare at a screen and play video games for hours.same goes for streaming sites.
I always told myself that when I lost my passion for video games, I would sell some of my collection. I'm 47 years old and not there yet. Also thankfully I'm in a good financial position I own a home a small business and thankfully I don't need the money. If I ever sold my collection it would be because I'm not enjoying them. I have a strict rule that I only buy games that I legitimately want to play regardless of how rare or common they are.
I've been out for like 6 years now... and when I stopped things where only half this bad and it seemed like an already insurmountable rise compared to the prior 6 years. Man, those late 2000s to early 2010s sure where a golden age I am glad I put full effort into... too bad that time is gone forever and never coming back. I agree that the bubble is never going to pop, but I would totally accept my collection dropping to 1/20th of it's value in exchange for being able to experience that again.
Retro game collecting is really darned expensive right now. No way I'm paying $600 for a copy of Rule of Rose on the PS2. I might as well play an iso of it via emulation or on a soft modded PS2 console.
I’m only 25 and I just started collecting mainly for the system I grew up with. anything ps1 and up. the most expensive game I paid for was death jam fight for New York on the ps2 for 150 it was brand new. unfortunately it was Japanese port so I had to buy another ps2 just to play it. only been collecting about a year so far I’ve around 300 games rn I’m only collecting for the ps2, ps3, ps4, and the switch.
@@MalikATL Nice! I have the US Greatest Hits version of Def Jam Fight For NY and I paid only $5.00 ages ago. The PS1 has tons of great games and some of those are still going for a low price, with exception to those JRPGs and other games that sell for around 100 to 300+ on the system. Highest amount I paid for a Retro game was $250 for a near cib copy of Lunar 2 on the PS1. Only thing missing was Lucia's pendent.
😆 just sold mine for $550.. Def Jam for $180.. Sold 80% of my colletion and just git a modded ps3 (ps2 ps3) games that i sold... Made a pretty penny on my colletion.
@Zachary Erickson Nice! I would patch the isos and burn them to a disc myself, but that sounds awesome though! Right now I have a 2TB internal hdd in my Fat PS2 to play games off of. I hate having to switch discs all of the time.
Retro games are like diamonds, most aren't rare they're just being hoarded. I know some do have great value but lots of these games are being stacked up in the back of video game stores.
I stopped actively collecting a few years ago. I got pretty much all I would ever want, and TBH, am looking to sell some stuff in the coming year. 3,000+ games across 7 generations of games is a pretty good run, and my complete Wii U Physical collection will stand as my greatest collecting achievement… but let’s face it, the crazy price hikes during the pandemic contributed to sucking the fun out if it.
I feel the same way. In my opinion, roms are the way to go now for retro gamers. I feel most collections these days are more of a flex than anything else. Not to say I don't collect, I just hit the e-brake on it.
Great point man. I just roll my eyes seeing flex posts in social media of someone showing an expensive game they don't even like or know with "mail call" as the title. So fucking stupid.
@@DrBizz I swear the real scene is roms. I support the fans. When I see fan translations..I know that's out of love for a franchise. Modern day retro collectors don't care about that.
@@AdamTheKaiju Not even to mention that a lot of the collectors out there put all there games in cases or, god forbid, a graded slate. When pushed, they will admit it’s more about having it on their wall than actually playing the games. I mean come on, you are on the planet around 80 years? How many games can one person actually play?
I quit collecting a couple of years ago. Now I just pick up stuff that I will put time into playing. As a father, I don’t have too much free time so I have to make it count! That being said, I see your point on many of your statements and I understand what you’re feeling. I pick up stuff that I will play and not because it’s rare or it’s a “must have.” I have enough thing on the shelf in the backlog, so no point in continuing to collect without actually playing them. I’ve had a few pricey items in my collection that I let go with no hesitation like complete copy of Earthbound, I’m never gonna play that again, and I’m fine with that. I didnt care to keep it anymore, and that’s perfectly fine! Good luck to you in 2022!
Can't really find local deal anymore it sucks. Everyone one wants top dollar and what it goes for on ebay. It's no even worth my time driving around for local deals. Facebook market place and garage sales are a joke. They want ebay price. So none of that makes sense for me to drive out and meet them, when I can order the same thing from the comfort of my home and have it shipped to my house from ebay. I just laugh at the prices now. They are a complete joke and out of touch with reality. I stopped buying around when the pandemic started as I was busy with other things at the time. Now I feel like I may never finish or get a lot of the games for my collection as the prices shot through the roof.
It's in retro everything collecting. I'm a "retro" (hate that word) toy collector and if I didn't have the things I do now, I wouldn't be able to afford it. And yes...the gatekeeping and elitism is beyond ridiculous.
I’m with you, I had a massive collection of every console and many of the great games for each system from NES all the way up to PS3 and everything in between. I sold it all around 2009 to support a nasty drug habit, and I regretted it ever since as I watched the retro game-collecting scene explode in the years after that. And here’s the best part: for years and years I was the most depressed about my Zelda collection, especially the CiB Ocarina and MM collectors editions. I assumed that I sold them with the box, but last week on New Year’s Eve, my brother called me as he was cleaning out the attic at my mom’s house. He found a box with about 30 Game Boy, SNES, Saturn, Genesis, neo Geo Pocket Color and N64 boxes, among them were 4 Zelda game boxes w/ manual including Libks Awakening, LTTP, Majora and Ocarina Collectors edition boxes. I still have the fuckin’ boxes to all that with no cartridge. I think I’ll take to eBay and buy a few of those gold carts just to have something from my childhood complete with the box, buy a Japanese N64 and an everdrive with a few controllers and call it a day. Peace RGT85, I feel you on this decision, there are many more good things to look forward to in life and many other ways to spend your precious time.
@@ZyferWarriorPrime for real though ... If I tried to get the whole MMBN series (which sold mostly well so it isn't an issue of drastic scarcity) I'd paying over 200 dollars. We had a Megaman collection, an X collection, and a Zero/ZX collection, all back to back to back. But now that MMBN should be up, seeing how it was the next logical step for a collection, it's been 2 years and we've not even got an ANNOUNCEMENT🤦🏽
@@texastech56789 To me it seems like easy money. It would sell well enough to do it even if they just went digital only. It is a significantly different style of gameplay that many never got to experience.
I totally agree, I collect figures and Games and the worst thing about it is the people that arn't collectors inflating the prices by buying up tons of copies and putting them on EBay! This to me is so frustrating. I also totally agree on your other criticisms. You shouldn't have to pay the price of a Car for something like a retro video game. Unless of course its like an Incredibly rare game from a tournament or something that was made in extremely limited quantities. That makes sense but not common and slightly uncommon stuff for 200+ dollars a piece. That's ridiculous! I stick with emulators now unless its something that is super Nostalgic. Its sad that is the case but Im not rich 😁
I collect the same plus other stuff but man it’s ridiculous. You got people who don’t even like the stuff and they’ll buy all the supply of action figures up, or buy a few destroy the other packages, then jump on EBay and raise the prices. It just ticks me off the greed these dudes bring to the hobby. I buy at most 2 figures, I saw a dude at target just clear a shelf of pops into his cart while scanning them on EBay to see their worth like damn can you leave one for others?
I'm glad I started my retro gaming collection in the early 2000's when games were really cheap. I remember going on ebay and biding on lots of Sega Genesis games for $0.01 even brought a Sega Dreamcast with a controller and light gun for like $30 or going to estarland and getting games relatively cheap.So after hearing about these prices now I'm glad that all my collecting early
I'm right there with you, I previously bought banjo kazooie for my N64 for $40 cause I never owned it as a kid. From time to time I find games from the thrift store or pawn shop whether it's on sale or I have the money that's the only time I'll buy it. Just found and got a 3rd party controller for the switch at the thrift store that works good. Still collect games but for now I'm taking a break and enjoying the games I already have for now.
I don’t know why people have to declare so loudly that you quit or whatever. Buy whatever you want. If people want to buy something cool. If you don’t want to buy it, don’t.
I agree. I made the same decision a few years ago, and I'm glad I did. I'd say there are two overlapping categories of retro game enthusiasts; collectors and players. Most people are a mixture of the two, but it is also possible to be exclusively one or the other. My compromise is that I collect consoles for display, but I don't collect the games themselves.
I started collecting for Gamecube at the beginning of last year. Covid money made it too easy but I had to stop when I realized I had spent over 1000$ on about 15 games
Even modern consoles are obscenely expensive, like 2-3x retail price for no reason. I refuse to pay scalpers for their price gouging. They wrecked Pokémon and other TCG collecting but now they cornered the retro game market.
@@putainclasse1986 sad thing is it’s not even just games/consoles. i was looking for Pokémon emerald box. Just the box. And they’re going for 200+ also. It’s freaking insane at this point
RGT: "I take prestige in keeping my channel wholesome and clean. I try not to swear on my channel." Spawncast: *2.5 seconds into the start of the show* RGT dropping every curse word under the sun! 🤣🤣🤣
Apparently, the popular method now is to hunt for cheap modern games like XB360, PS3, etc. You can still find them in flea markets and goodwill where they undervalue them because they're not collectible yet. Then you flip everything on ebay and put your profits aside. Build up enough of a war chest, and you can eventually walk into a retro game store and put down $200 for a game you actually want to keep. Rinse and repeat for the next 10 years, and you'll eventually have a decent collection. Personally, I'd rather emulate.
For the most part I have been importing games from Japan for the last few years. The market for retro games in the States is outta my price range but I've found it far easier to collect the Japanese version of games. I've bolstered my SNES/SFC and Gameboy collections tenfold without breaking the bank.
I just make my own cases and emulate the games. The box/case is the only thing I want. I'll never take my games out the cases so I don't see the point spending stupid money for essentially a case in not great condition.
I still collect (primarily Nintendo) but I've slowed down a lot over the years. The best deals are on broken items I then repair. Cheapest way to collect outside spending hours walking around yardsales or scoping out ebay.
Same here, most of my consoles I paid next to nothing for because they were broken. Easy typical fixes also. Wii...just need cleaned. XB1..just need a optical drive swap. PS3 just needed a HD reformat. At times I will buy them in a lot and sell/dump all the accessories off at gamestop and make money on the purchase.
Just because you’re not buying games by walking around a certain place to find a good deal doesn’t mean you’re not a collector A collector is just someone who gets the things he really wants with no attentions of getting rid of it anytime soon
Very good topic to cover. I am a reseller/ semi collector. I typically keep the good physical copies of the retro stuff but will sell just about anything for the right price. I actually set a timer and keep track of the time spent sourcing the games and money spent on the initial investment, I usually buy them in lots locally. Sometimes at the goodwill outlet but you literally have to fight people for them since covid due to the other topic you covered. The Wata...just like the retro shirt people at goodwill, these people will fight you for a game because they think it's worth hundreds of dollars. I actually have one story of going to pick up a old DLP projector off of marketplace, I get there and this guy is cleaning out his ghetto garage in a apartment complex. He was really cool, he looked like he hated his life and just want to get all the stuff out of the garage. While standing there I see HUGE box of Nintendo stuff. Just all thrown in there, NES, SNES, Wii, the tons of controllers and games CIB. Like a retro collectors dream. I ask the guy how much he wants, I take a look, do the math and was ready to give him $200....THEN....the wife comes out and goes nuts....starts looking up games on ebay and giving me crazy prices. She's not even looking at sold prices, just listed listings of mint copies. They had some CIB stuff but they were pretty beat. I just looked at the husband...he looked even more pissed now that the wife was messing it up. I dug through, grabbed a mint copy of Wii Mario 25th anniversary and a few NES controllers and left. RGT has is right on the topics he covered...it's just not that fun anymore. I will pick up XB1/360 and Switch games if I find them at a good price but I am by no means tracking them down.
I've never been a collector buying ever drives and optical disc emulators and optimising your video outputs and making sure you have the best controllers and enjoying your setup is the way forward
I understand that Retro Gaming is becoming more expensive. It's normal when it becomes popular enough prices will go up. I still find deals everywhere. It's a fun hunt to find the best deals. This hobby can last a while. Just keep looking. Deals are out there.
You haven't stopped, you say in the beginning that your still buying games (you even plug your pick ups video) and at the end you say "if I do want something I'll look for a fair price"' . You have a massive collection compared to most people and I bet at the end of next year your 'collection' will be substantially larger.
I won't buy any game just to collect it; my video game collection is a quality over quantity collection. I simply buy the games that I love and want to continue to replay. This generally works out to an average of about 10 games per console that I care about. That said, for these games that I love and want to continue to replay, I must own the actual game and play them on original hardware, no matter how much it costs me to acquire it (Yeah, I've spent over $300 for a retro game before). Emulation is never going to be good enough to give me the joy that I get from owning the actual game and playing it on the original hardware that it was designed for and on a CRT TV.
I've found there's still a good way to get solid value in retro game collecting, but it's a long form approach and requires a specific type of gameplan. Obviously when consoles are new and current, prices are pretty high and you're not likely to find the current-most games and hardware for cheap (maybe you can get a premier $60 for $20-$40 with a good sale or buying preowned), and of course as we're seeing now when a console gets old enough it becomes collectible and again prices are as bad or worse compared to when it was new. HOWEVER: there's a goldilox zone where the console is old but not too old that you can find pretty great deals on games. about 6 months before ps5 came out, i picked up 25 ps4 games that i wanted for $165 (picked as many as i wanted from about 3 dozen, and i ended up wanting 25 cuz they were all good games). Just a couple of weeks ago i picked up a 360 slim with 19 games for $85 (i didn't pick those games, they're just what came with the console, but there's only one or two that don't seem to be at least decent). part of it is that people don't care and are just trying to get rid of stuff, and part of it is that the games become ubiquitous in society: the ps4 games i bought from a guy who goes to estate sales, so he was just trying to move the games. he didn't care that he could have gotten more for them individually, he just wanted to move them.
its mathematically impossible for retro prices to ever go down again. these games have far to low prints compared to games today. for example the european version of panzer dragoon saga was only printed 2000 times. thats less than limited run games produce.l how many people start collecting themselves each year for the past 25 years? there are millions now that want these saturn games and there are only a handful available
Great video. All those people will one day just look up at the games and think, wow, I have shelves and shelves of old plastic that I'll never play and I wasted tons of money doing it.
You know what, my bro? I straight up agree with what you’re saying here. I myself have gone down the rabbit hole of collecting all my nostalgic video games that I really enjoyed as a kid. I had them and realised that they would just sit there in a collection, so decided to sell them and not look back. For those that want to emulate and enjoy on a console that can pretty much emulate majority of those classic games and go up to Wii? I recommend an Xbox Series X of S, they are brilliant in every aspect. One place for all of your classic games collection, no hassle or bull.
Couldn't agree with this more. I had dreams of getting a legitimate copy of Clay Fighter Sculptor's Cut on the 64, but that dumb game has skyrocketed into the thousands. I ended up ordering a repo cart, I'm happy and not broke.
Totally agree RGT. I had been collecting dreamcast games and just stopped looking for those gamed anymore because the prices sky rocketed. They were alwsys a little more expensive because of the limited time the Dreamcast was out, but I lost any incentive to collect anymore. The Dreamcast wss special to me because it was the first system I pre ordered on day one and was released near my birthday.
I fell in love with gaming to play the games, then I got hooked on trophies and started playing all sorts of games for the trophies, which at first is cool because I got to play games that I would've usually passed on and found new genres. Then I started collecting and almost hoarding games. It's now got to the point where I spend more time buying/selling/searching for games that I don't have time to play them, looking at a huge pile of games you know you don't have time to play is NOT as thrilling or satisfying as you may think. I'm considering 'quitting' too!
This is why I’ve lately been into Flash Carts/ODEs/Custom Firmware for consoles. You get that authenticity of playing on the original hardware while still getting the advantages of digital game backups. And emulation is also getting more and more impressive each year. It sucks because I would love to have physical copies of a lot of retro games but the prices nowadays just don’t make it realistically feasible anymore like it was 10-15 years ago.
I’m having a difficult time justifying spending hundreds of dollars on disc based games. At some point, all of the disc based games will stop working, even if they’re sealed. Cartridges will last much longer and can be repaired. Not sure when this happens but when it does I wonder if collectors will even care.
And the disc-based consoles break down, too. My modded Playstation broke years ago, so now I have a bunch of Japanese import games that I can't play "legally". I have a PS3, that's supposed to play PS1 games, but for some reason it still enforces the stupid region restrictions. I have read that the cartridges will eventually stop working, too.
Preach Man 😊 I have started buying more Switch games than PS4 if you have noticed that Atlus and the Atelier Gust and Falcom games on Switch are so hard to find if you don’t get them quickly 🤔🤨
I honestly feel you on a lot of these points. I’ve been slowly losing my drive to buy a lot of retro games between the prices and how long it takes to find good deals. Was priced out of finishing collections of series I love like Pokémon and a lot of Atlus games on 3ds even which isn’t that old. I also really like the Jojo manga and anime series and I really wanted to collect the games to expand my collection but with prices like $300 for a physical copy of Heritage and $175 for All Star Battle it’s like what’s the point. I have much better things I could use money like that for like building a computer or something so it honestly just stinks to see the retro market just becoming less and less accessible
it dotn tske long tyo fidn good deal so amnt you dsay oh ever you look all old pokemong am liek 300 dollers worng your nto looknig in right palce it take me shrot time to find good deals
I feel like you feel RGT. In fact I find that selling most of my collection and using the money towards buying flash carts will be better for me and will be less things for me to worry about when things like moving may pop up. There are so many alternatives to use to play most popular retro games too like the Genesis collection or Atari classic whether it be in disc/cart form or buying the preinstalled consoles (but not any atgames consoles because yuck). So yeah man I get you and totally don't blame you.
I think I’m gonna take a little break with trying to go for all the retro games for all my systems and focus on a certain system. I kinda wanna pick up most of the Wii U library before it gets crazy expensive.
Great idea, hut your too late. Have you seen how much devils third, axiom verge, book of unwritten tales ext… crazy prices. All i need is devils third to complete my collection and im still waiting for the price to dip before buying
But you still will end up just looking at them. You'll never consistently play the whole library of any system. complete collections are 100% look at me and what i got...any person that has a rare game ALWAYS says how much it sells for first...
I hear ya brother. I got all the games I remember from my childhood on the systems I had back in the day. When it comes to everything else I'm like , "MEH"
I recently decided I was going to collect Retro games. I created a partition on my hard drive and have most emulators and most roms. Way easier to get.
First complaint: Prices, yes I agree. I was baffled when I actually heard there's an actual working Sega Genesis with HD hardware that RUNS all the cartridges I have sitting around, but the price was almost as much as a new console as of now along with scalpers snatched it all the way to "Oops! All sold out!" and I still did want it to replace the now not-working Genesis 3 I have that is lacking a powersource and can't connect to all the new HDTVs around the house since all the old stuff wore out so bad they had been tossed out. Oh and don't get me started on even up to now's "standards" such as trying to get a PS5 or the newest Xbox Series-X model and these obnoxious prices (thanks, scalpers). I was chosen over 5 times directly by Sony to get my PS5 but every time I got in "oops! Sold out!"
I finally got my hand on a PS5 through Sony direct but still haven’t unboxed it why because I am enjoying my Switch with physical games on the go… if gaming goes all digital I am out
I felt the same way for awhile now. I have switched my focus on multi carts and optical drive emulators to install on my consoles as well as supporting homebrew scene for games I like that come out. I am more than content on my game collection at this point. Thou I gotta say it was so fun (and cheap) to collect in the late 90's
I'm glad I was able to quit retro collecting years ago. I have everything I want. Between still having my retro games that I pre-ordered new back in the day, & the ones I did miss I bought years ago, I'm set. Panzer Dragoon Saga is the only game I missed that I paid a bit of a high price for in 2003, which was still high even then. But that's like a rare Grail. Glad I have all I want in terms of retro games, because I'd hate paying higher prices for common games, *especially during and right after an economic collapse.*
I quit about two years before this craziness happened and am so happy. Ever since I changed my hobby from collecting games to playing them I am so much happier.
Man I was 26 when the Saturn came out. I've been collecting since the second generation and have amassed quite a collection. But after out dad passed away right before he retired and our friend died of cancer at 40 I realized that all that crap was just stuff. Recently I've been selling huge amounts of my collection. My entire Saturn collection,over 100 games and 30 import games,went. Got $1,000 for Magic Knight Rayearth,$800 for Burning Rangers,$400 for Street Fighter Collection,$500 for Mega Man X4 and $400 for Enemy Zero just to name a few. Had offers up to $2,500 for Panzer Dragoon Saga but I'll probably get it graded before I part with the greatest RPG of the 5th gen. Sold my entire Dreamcast and Turbo collection as well and Genesis games like Musha,$800,and others. All the money goes to a savings account for my brother and niece in case something happens to me. Collecting just for the sake of getting complete collections is just stupidity.
I respect your decision to reimagine what is truly valuable after your dad's death and I'm sorry for your loss. On the other hand, I think people place value on subjective things and it's reflective on what is culturally valuable to them, both due to nostalgia but also because they enjoy the ownership and completing a collection for its own sake. Everyone determines for themselves what is valuable to them, from pieces of artwork, to old photos that could only possibly matter to them because of their family history, to mementos, to cherished antiques, to seashells you collected on a trip. For some $500 may be more valuable than an original Mega Man X4, but certainly not to all. Just because prices have skyrocketed doesn't mean collecting is a completely dead concept or that it isn't enjoyable to a great many people.
@@VesperAegis I agree but still,just having things for the sake of having them serves no real purpose. A complete collection of NES games for example,means that nearly all of them are junk games and you're just doing it so you can say you have them all. I guess that doesn't impress or interest me. I really have no nostalgia for anything so I never really understood the whole collection mentality. That's probably why I've been able to part with so much of my stuff,none of it has any importance aside from the ones I actually want to play. As for pricing,well it's like comic artist Dave Sim once said. Something is only worth what people are willing to pay. And of someone wants to pay me $4,000 for Keio Flying Squadron,just sold that and Popful Mail,then that's what it's worth. But I can't disagree that a lot of it is subjective. I just place little value in material objects.
@@kellinwinslow1988 I think you would have to more carefully define "purpose." I still come back to the artwork argument. What purpose does it serve to a piece of abstract art hanging on my wall? For the question of why nostalgia impacts me, it would be because I can vicariously transport myself back to a time with fewer cares and responsibilities, understand where I am now more fully by triangulating my view from there to here. And the same would be true for vicariously transporting myself into the eyes of people who bought those "useless" titles for the NES, were ultimately disgusted by them and threw them in the trash or sold them at a garage sale. I guess for the same reason history deeply interests me. Understanding motivations, understanding points in time, even for the benign and innocuous. Collecting is part and parcel with learning and understanding the world and having a deeper connection with it and the people with whom certain items and material form a part of their lives meaningfully.
@@VesperAegis I would disagree that you need to have the stuff in order to understand the history of where games came from. There is plenty of info out there that is just as enlightening as having the games. Again nostalgia means nothing to me. More often than not it just destroys common sense and people tend to wollow in the past. There has always been some kind of nostalg ia but it's so extreme now it's just a bad word. That's why this is called the nostalgia generation. Probably why collecting stuff like that is so prevalent now. Art of course is subjective but I would never compare any video game to a Van Gogh or a Pollack painting. If I want true art thats uplifting I'll go to Beethoven's 9th or something. Not that games can't be a form of art but they have a long way to go to reach those hights. And in fact I'd even say that games have taken huge steps backwards with all the crappy Triple AAAAAA junk and all the me too games and NFT stuff ECT. I guess I don't feel the need to relive the past by collecting crap like Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde or Hydlide ECT. Your taste may vary.
@@VesperAegis But,even if I have no interest anymore in collections,I appreciate your interest in the hobby. If it gets you to learn about the history of gaming good. Irregardless of what I think you just keep on collecting and maybe someday you can sell a ton of stuff or pass it on to someone. That's basically what I'm doing.
Once you get to a point that you feel satisfied with what you have collected it’s okay to walk away. Trends change and so do prices so you can always get back into it whenever… or not!
pretty much every sentiment you share in this video I 1,000,000% agree with, and I'm processing and dealing with the exact same thoughts and feelings. I dunno if you'll read this comment, but I just wanted to say how cathartic and nice I find both this video, and your channel in general. there was something that happened in the past, maybe something as trivial as a tweet or something stupid that gave me a bad impression at first...and I wanted to sincerely apologize for that. I mean, I don't recall ever tweeting or comment something negative you or anything like that...I dunno really what I'm trying to say so I'll say this: this was very comforting for me, and I'm thankful for it, and thankful for what you do in general. I wish you the best in handling the come-down from retro collecting, lol, and you are DEFINITELY not alone. it sucks to have a passion like this fade, but the state of retro games being so bad is making it MUCH easier to happily move on, y'know? there will always be a way to preserve and enjoy retro games...and honestly...I NEED THE CASH LOL. I am chuckin games left and right on eBay, and I always make a point to drive the price down from what people ask...while also getting what it's worth. keep it up, man. you're awesome!
I'm OUT! lol. How do you feel about collecting in 2022? Lemme know!
it must cost alot to collect retro games
I'm only going to collect new stuff right now. Like Switch and PS4 games.
Fair, you probably already have all the titles you actually want and the only 'missing' things are probably hard to find anyway.
I WATA take a guess.......
Besides the gender reassignment surgery, not buying more videogames and playing what I have is probably my biggest new years resolution
Dude I'm right there with you. I was trying to buy GBA games because my interest resurfaced... Everything is double or more it's original retail price
And only getting worse. It's stupid.
Be careful with GBA games because there's a ton of bootlegs out there
Buy an Everdrive, its all you will ever need.
Also terrible timing to due to the pocket...
@@NueThunderKing collection is kinda different than just wanting to play...
Buying an expensive retro game, 100% of those proceeds goes to the reseller, not the original company. You're not doing Kojima any favors by buying that expensive copy of Snatcher for Sega CD.
Agreed dude!
Excellent point. Which is fine I don't care about people making money. But a 1k+ game is alot of taco bell which will satisfy me more. Plus you can burn a Sega CD game and play it on unmodded hardware. Lol
@@RGT85 True. I love Taco Bell alot. Lol
so true .....for the business of creating and developing games , retro gaming is harmful ..... the good thing we see resurging in past years is the indie developer retro game style that was abandon by the 3d phase
@@RGT85 this is exactly why I love the Dreamcast lol, got one for $100 in the box a couple years ago
This is why emulation is so important for keeping these games alive
Very true but emulation is still considered the "dirty" option
@@bungieborris9111 Only to elitest snobs and coomlectors. Personally I see nothing wrong with roms and I like RGT I used to collect a bit myself but right now the retro gaming market is doing what comics did back in the 90's it will implode and bigly it's not a matter of if but when.
@@bungieborris9111 depends which circles you hang in. If you are around enthusiast who buy these Chinese emulation handhelds and Pandora box consoles/arcade cabinets you good.
Those things only emulate games 20 years older and that’s fair game. The developers have long made their money on them.
@@oOignignoktOo1 true true. I started emulating the games I picked up over the years after my ps2 finally kicked the bucket (yes I got the bios legally and ripped my own games)
Emulation is absolute
Funny when people say, “Don’t worry the retro gaming bubble will break.”
Retro games were dirt cheap 20 years ago because there was a mass consensus that it was “uncool” to play “old” looking games. Nowadays, with RUclips videos showing off how good games were, it’s “cool” to collect and live with old games.
So with the people hoping for a burst in the retro gaming bubble: it will only burst when people, like you and me, turn cheek and think retro games are uncool again.
It's not a bubble in the sense that it will just one day pop and all games will cost nothing... but look at the old systems that were before many collectors time. Atari 2600, Master System and NES... majority of their entire library is extremely cheap and dropping in price (and some very expensive ones that will always be collectors items).
This will happen successively with all systems... I also think people focus on the few very expensive games while the truth is most games for most systems are very affordable.
No I won't be people like us that burst the bubble because they're always be new generations that take interests and people always like old things these games are about to become antiques pretty soon well NES games wait till they're 50 years old then it'll be a true antique
@@nikolas_schreck Weird how that hasn't happened with anything else though... most DVDs, LPs and CDs are 1-5 dollars, that's what you can easily find Atari 2600 and NES games for as well. Most antique stores are filled with cheap junk nobody wants.
The "rare" and pricey stuff will stay expensive, but everything else will lose in value over time.
@@JoypadDivison there's a difference because it's obviously Nintendo and not Atari Atari went out of business so long ago nobody really cares about those Atari games because they just don't hold up the old NES games are always going to be valuable they're like modern comic books dude in comic books are still valuable so they're not just going to devalue because you want them to be worthless so you can grab a bunch of them and hope they revalue up
@@nikolas_schreck I began collecting NES games in 1998. I already have all the NES games I ever wanted (besides a few that are not worth the price and that I don't imagine will ever come down in price), I'm also not interested in them as an "investment" since I never bought them to later sell them... you spun quite a story in your head about my motivation for thinking the way I do... it's based on a few things: conventions with 1 dollar bargain bins with NES games, that wasn't _ever_ a thing before; most who collect have already got what they're after, and if not at least the cheap common ones; and furthermore I think very few people who didn't grow up with it becomes a collector of it's games, very few new collectors, large print runs of all officially released games. Time will tell what will happen but even if it turns out I'm wrong I think people who look at it as an investment are certainly going to be dissappointed in the future (increase in value against inflation makes for small profits, especially if one is doing it now in 2022).
"Why I quit retro game collecting after amassing a $100,000 collection from money I made off of talking about video games on RUclips"
A lot of people don't like to admit it, but it's these big gamer channels on RUclips that are the primary cause as to why these retro game prices skyrocketed. Game room videos, game hunting videos, hidden gem videos, price check videos...they all contributed. I've recently been seeing more and more of these "I quit retro collecting" and "Retro collecting isn't fun anymore" videos from a lot of these RUclipsrs. It comes across to me as damage control...they helped cause the prices to artificially inflate, now they are trying to influence people to lose interest in retro games so the prices will go back down.
This.💯💯
Metal. Jesus.
@@tyguy3876 yeah I don't like that dude. He's deceptive with his contents
its doesnt matter what people thinks about games in this big world ,,there are far more important things in life
@@AndyX Yes, but it sucks when people come through and wreck your hobby then jump ship.
Doing garage sales, thrift stores and flea markets to get cheap games has become an extension to gaming for me. I love finding cheap stuff out in the wild almost as much as I love playing the games.
It's exhilarating for sure. I found a Game Boy Micro for 12.99 at a Goodwill in 2015. That'll never happen again.
@@andrewdowell6474 hahahah 1000% never happening again
Just started looking at thrift stores. Picked up a wii to mod for a retro console and it had a Kirby game in the disc drive, nice bonus!
@gxdfiend where did I once say I don’t play the games I find? lol
Yeah I agree, I really enjoy going out & about to find some games although it's less likely these days as like RGT says everyone has jacked up the prices...
It’s a sad retro collecting scene man - I’ve been out also for a couple years now. I’m focused on building a modern collection with my daughter now. Great topic and video
yep ps1 and ps2 and ps3!! is the way to go, and Nintendo switch!!!!!!
Hey its you!! I love your channel lol
I got a snes mini and genesis and added a cool amount of games to them alot of games I found out about on your channel lol
I remember 10 years ago, I used to go to flee markets, garage sales, and used game stores and just collecting GameCube games that I really liked and where fun. No one wanted GameCube games back in 2011 so most the games where like 5 dollars. Same with ps2. So that was the fun part of collecting in my opinion, finding hidden gems for really good prices.
Now a days, I’ve sold my collection... It’s just not worth it anymore... I’m not paying 200 dollars just to play Skies of Arcadia again, it’s insane.
Farewell, game collecting hobby
Skies of Arcadia is so good. I have it on GC and Dreamcast but always liked it better on Dreamcast. Just emulate it.
That's why you step forward. Xbox 360/One games are currently where GameCube games were back then.
@@shanez1215 In emulation? Xbox 360 was amazing but the One had almost nothing other than Forza.
You can thank channels like metal Jesus rocks for that
@@ebenezerspludge8369 . True to an extent. Xbox 360 is my favorite console of all time though and I love the backwards compatibility with modern Xbox. I'm not really that excited for Microsoft exclusives these days cause I'm not really impressed with how 343 has handled Halo or how The Coalition have handled Gears of War. They feel like The B Team rather than The A Team. Yet I can look past the exclusives due to backwards compatibility and games like Red Dead 2 and Mortal Kombat 11 that are multiplat anyway. I absolutely love my Xbox Series due to the hardware and how I can play OG Xbox games, 360 games, One games, and Series games on one device.
Some people really fall into this trap.
People often confuse playing retro games with collecting, which is a complete shame and way too common.
The point is to PLAY and BEAT these old classics, and appreciating those stones left unturned. The moment I made a rule for myself to play the games I have before buying anything more, for the most part, everything felt better. I could breathe easy and focus again.
Accumulation of the medium without experiencing it is just sad.. imagine doing that with movies or music, or whatever.
Keep gaming! 🖤 one at a time!
Agree. I fall into that trap. But I've noticed that if I beat that game playing it by other means the hype I have to get the original dies down quite a bit.
@@guillermos8447 for me, it somewhat does the opposite… once I’ve completed the love of really appreciating and digesting a game, I get excited to display the game and/or box alongside others.
@@MarMaxGaming You're right. Maybe not all games but you're right on ones that are amazing.
@@guillermos8447 it also depends on the space and display area. There are some solid methods to display them on the wall or facing outward on staircase shelves. It’s nice to use those, bc those displays mean so so much more if you’ve actually played through those games and love them.
@John Hooper yes, this can happen… that’s not necessarily what I’m comparing though. Imagine calling yourself a movie fan, or film enthusiast, when all you actually do is search online and in local shops for bulk deals on movies, just to check them off as part of a collection, and then continue to hunt more down while never even watching them. It’s just kind of empty and pathetic, is all I’m saying. Accumulation isn’t passion, it’s just hoarding and an obsession at that point… it’s understandable and I have empathy for it, which is why I call it a trap.
I stopped collecting around 2018, I feel like that sweet spot between 2014 and 2018 was the peak time for collecting. Now the fun is out of retro collecting, cause it’s become more popular causing prices to skyrocket for retro games.
Exactly before the pandemic.
No one was retro collecting as much as they are now.They didn't care.Now it's just chaos.And it's stupid
You’re so right about that, I started collecting in 2015, and since 2018 prices have skyrocketed. Def Jam Fight for NY has become astronomical in value!
Facts I was able to re buy my GameCube collection cheap during that time got xd gale of darkness for 25 , Mario strikers for 20 every thing was around 20 or 30 max for my games glad I decided back than to get them
Nah peak collecting era was like 1998-2001......Funcoland era, 99 cent NES games, 1000s of carts in store, basically guaranteed to find something at any yard sale
I remember around 2003 or 2004 bringing about 100 NES games to an Electronics Boutique and the manager convinced me that I should keep all of my stuff and that I would regret trading it in......nicest thing a video game store employee ever did for me
Hey, sorry to hear collecting isn't as fun as it used to be and a lot of us are in the same boat as well. Love your videos as always man and best of luck.
Its expensive to collect retro games since covid and wont drop prices anytime soon right n ok was modern games are cheaper however modern consoles are exspensive if you even find one tbh I might stop gaming all together in a few years since things will get worse and we may hit a video game crash 2
I’ve got two game cubes that are missing the controllers and the power supply and they will stay that way until controllers drop in price.
It's refreshing to see someone like yourself speak this out.
My collecting has always been pretty focused, certain games, certain systems, etc.
It's impossible though. I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on a game I already have on my PC.
I miss when they were 30-40$ for a CIB of something.
Then it was a piece, something to cherish.
150$ for a retro game is straight up ridiculous.
I don't care WHAT game it is.
I paid $70 for the Zelda GC collection and that hurt me so much last year 🤣🤣
Nothing can beat collecting in the early 2000s for me....
Prices were good, product was plentiful but not TOO easy to find.
I stopped collecting around 2011.
It's just way overpriced.
I still keep up the hobby aspect.
"The flame is gone, the fire remains"
Same for me. RUclipsrs ruined the hobby and made the prices skyrocket by 2011-12. Flea markets wanted inflated eBay prices.
Your just a cheapskate
I reached this point myself a year and half ago and more so after watching The Minimalist. Josh and Ryan really put the over abundance of collecting in general into perspective and I’m a lot happier finding other ways to enjoy things without hoarding/collecting. Additionally, like you’d ask the markets are becoming savage to a point it’s no longer fun and there are more important things to look forward to. I also agree that emulation is a great way to save space and preserve retro gaming without overrunning your living space with stuff that you eventually run out of room to keep.
Next week we are gonna get a Sega Saturn video where you say “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
@Daniel Hawkins I have no idea what you are saying but I’m just making a reference to The Godfather movies
Well he did say collecting. Nothing about making videos about games.
You should like a hater get your views up
I imagine it's alot easier to quit game collecting once you've amassed such a huge library. You've probably got the majority of titles you want already.
Lol yea pretty bizarre video. He even mentions he has a lot of stuff at this point. A lot easier to quit when you have most of what you want. I too plan to quit...when I have the games on my list.
I can really relate to this. Been going to carboot sales for the last 15 years. I'd always find something quirky or interesting, gaming magazines or boxed N64 games. You name it. It was something I really enjoyed doing growing up, building up my collection and appreciating it. I'd make my family take me there as early as possible, it was my little thing that I enjoyed. I never saw anyone else there that looked like the type to be into retro gaming, but slowly and surely over the years I saw more and more people wandering around all with the same expression of urgency, like they were desperately hunting something out. They'll buy anything retro gaming related, just to flog on eBay an hour later. Not because they actually want to play something or keep anything for a collection.
I remember one time going to a boot sale extra early ... it was 7:02am and there was a guy walking upto cars that hadn't even parked yet .. they were still driving along and he was yelling 'any sega, nintendo or playstation!?" and I knew then that things had changed. My heart sank.
That's actually really sad. Hope you can still enjoy your collection though.
I wish I could go back in time and experience this. I started getting into retro games at the tail end of the cheap era
@@_Conzo_ Your story is exactly the same as mine growing up 10 years ago. Once I saw a guy with a sign on his back "BUYING ALL Sega, Nintendo, and Playstation" with the logos. That's when I knew the fun was over.
Me and my dad done boot sales we called them boot rats 😉 Everyone loves a bargain but the rats robbed people and they harmed the sales in the long run 👍
Like most things, the internet ruined retro collecting. The golden era was 2007-2010. AVGN and these retro collection channels made prices go through the roof. Flea market sellers that would ask $10 for an uncommon NES cart were now asking $60 in 2012. The change felt like it happened overnight.
The neckbeards have ruined everything. It's gotten to the point where it's just gatekeeping. The gameboy player startup disc for the gamecube? It goes for 150$ minimum now. It's not rare, there's no justification, It's just gatekeeping. And that's just one example. It's absolutely pathetic that people are doing this, and then claiming that "i KnOw WhAt I'vE GoT!!!!!". People have even gone as far as charging crazy money for CRT televisions. Those crappy old TV's that most people are giving away or sending to the dump? Nope! "200$. I know what i've got." *sigh*. All that we collectors can do is just hope that eventually more people realize how ridiculous it is.
Glad to hear others speak out about these issues. It feels that its all just done for profits at this point and no passion (the grading incident was the straw that broke the camels back for me).
What resonated most with me was the "im satisfied" bit, I can relate to that.
I invested in everdrives, and abandoned collecting for the most part. I’m happy with my small collection of games mostly obtained in my far younger years, I can’t justify the price of say a Chrono Trigger or Conkers Bad Fur Day when I have them on Everdrives and get the exact same experience.
Flashcarts are the perfect way to tell scalpers to f*ck off
We are exactly the same. I have all my childhood stuff (which ain’t too shabby). However, I went with modded systems with SD cards instead. Some emulation, some hardware hacking. Works well for me.
Exactly. Keep your money to RGB mod your consoles and get an everdrive instead.
Totally aggree. I wont get rid of the stuff I had as a kid, or if its just not worth selling. Between analogue, terraonion and krikzz, we can play stuff as good or better than before.
Everdrives and Optical drive emulators are great. I’ve gotten a few of these and a RetroTink 2X Pro and am super happy when I fell the urge to play a retro game.
I'm retro'ed out too dude. Been retro gaming/collecting for over 30 years now, and these friggin prices are ludicrous.
Not to mention when you realize you don't have enough life left to beat them all, and the friends you remember playing the games with are decades in the past, and long gone. I say only buy the ones that are on your bucket list to beat before you croak.
This is how I feel. I was heavy collecting. Even until a few years ago. I finally realized, I have near 2,000 games now. I can absolutely NEVER in my lifetime play all of these and more importantly finish them. 100 games would keep you busy for years. I am in my mid 40’s now. It is time to only buy those 2-3 games a year I really, really want to play. And start letting a lot of the others go…
@@DangerousDevilOfficial yeah I feel exactly like this. I’m 47 now-I’m categorizing things into what to do/play before I die. It always felt like I had forever to play whatever I wanted. I now feel like I’m on the clock and need to pare it down.
@@jwprimetime9795 well said! I feel this, especially after almost dying in 2020. And now dealing with liver problems that may be liver failure coming on (waiting for results). Time is definitely finite. And I even look at my movie collection (around 9K) and realize I will never be able to watch all of them either. You definitely get a different perspective as you get older. And have brushes with the end. 🤷♂️
This is why I’m so glad we have companies like M2 who take game preservation so seriously and put love into the games they release. They essentially are the Criterion Collection of gaming.
Big agree. Most compilations and retro game ports are handled by lazy devs but anything with M2 behind it is always worth the price. Always.
M2 is amazing I wish more developers would take their retro ports so seriously.
As a gamer that plays a lot of older stuff, I mostly emulate. I don’t care how people feel about it. Ill pass on spending a fortune on games I’ll play here and there.
I’ve been over it for years. Once I figured out how to emulate stuff, I had a really hard time justifying either a) paying jerk offs on ebay or b) spending hours and hours of my life HOPING I find a deal at Goodwill, some yard sale in the middle of nowhere, or other such places. I still love the games I just don’t need the physical stuff anymore.
I agree the game prices have skyrocketed recently. I own the "rare" games that I like. But I won't go out and buy rare games because they are rare. It makes collecting better, if you only collect what you like.
I’ve never understood why these people buy games they never intend on playing just to have it. What’s the point? I’ve always been one to have a curated collection, it’s far easier to maintain as well. I still hunt for stuff and buy it cheap if I find anything to use for trades for stuff I want.
I stopped "collecting things" ages ago. Its like you said, if I want something and can afford it, I'll buy it. If not, I'll let it go. And this goes for so much more than just games. I personally hate modern gaming because its all about just sucking your wallet dry. At least with a retro game, you buy the game and you have the game. But with modern gaming you have to pay for every little thing, and then if a game requires the parent company to keep servers up for it, and then the parent company just decides not to care anymore and they discontinue it, then you spent all that money for nothing. At least with retro games, you get to keep what you paid for.
Why not delve into pirating? As long as you have the time to read, you will always be able to experience the current AAA or indie titles. It goes without saying, learning about proper safety is something to consider and multiplayer games are also another thing to take into account but the average Joe can easily do it.
Yeah I don't like many modern games as well and I still collect retro and I know prices for games are insane but the fact of the matter is there are TONS of cheap ones as well. RGT mentioned Sega Saturn but what about the OG Xbox you know 😄 I get many great games for $5 to $20 all the time 💁♂️
I really dont like modern gaming either. ps3, xbox360 was it for me, only current gen console i play is Switch but only cause it has ports from that ps3 360 era and feels like im playing on a giant suped up Gameboy advance I usually wait for sales, only by base games no dlc, or online subscriptions theyre BS and a cash grab.
Physical retro games will always go up in value especially now with the new gen consoles all going digital and publishers baking DRM into games you'll never be able to sell or trade you're games again so in reality youll never actually own your own games.
I didn’t quit retro game collecting however I decided to sale 90% of my collection. I still hunt every once in a while because it’s still fun for me. Although now almost every price sucks.
I sold close to 2000 games, kept the few I had back in the day/nostalgic for and took that great profit i made and bought flash carts/ODE's/HDMI mods for every system, wireless controllers and put the rest of the money in the bank. Been great to simplify things/de-clutter and have easy access to any game I ever want to play. I have never looked back.
When I hacked my PSP a few months ago, that truly opened that idea up to me. Now my plan is to get flashcarts and whatnot for all my systems.
I think the "collecting" part of retro game collecting is over for the average person. However, I don't think it makes sense to sell your collection now, because you may never be able to get what you have for a reasonable price ever again.
your appealing to the unknown or Argument from ignorance.... i,e ''You know that scientists can't prove that UFO's do not visit the Earth, so it makes sense to believe in them.''....... ''You don't know so selling is bad''........ selling could be great for him. 10 years later a large ressession could hit forcing holders to sell or he could have much more money in 5 years.. Certainly paying 60$ a game is worse when your broke. Then 500$ when your wealthy. Thats why i sold
.. I sold all mine 2 years ago. A had almost every vita collectors edition on the market. all the rare neptunia's,danganronpas,persona golden,muramasa,rootletter,steinsgate, etc etc They just sat there. I mean, I played them often but the boxes n stuff just sat. They cost me thousands and i always was struggling money wise. Buying them back later when i actually have money is easier. Then holding and being poor..... Thats if i still want too of couse.
if i could get some actually use out of the packaging and art books i'd of kept them...
@@MichaelPhillips-jw4bj I'm not "appealing to the unknown," I'm making a reasonable guess as to where the market is headed. Gaming is only becoming more popular and retro games will only get rarer. It makes sense that prices will continue to go up as retro games become more of a collector's item and that means prices that the average retro gamer either can't afford anymore or aren't willing to pay. You saying they should just sell now, because they might become wealthier in the future or some other unlikely scenario is ironically far closer to "appealing to the unknown" than my relatively safe prediction.
@@MichaelPhillips-jw4bj There is almost no financially advantageous decision that starts with "I was struggling money wise." You needed money and you liquidized your assets. If you didn't need the money you would have kept all of those games. I haven't met anyone that sells from that position that doesn't later regret it and attempt to regain some of those losses when they reach a financially stronger position. You won't be an exception, and you will pay more for it. That is exactly what Chasing Fields is saying.
I've been selling my collection off slowly for the past couple of years. A lot of it collects dust and has truly become a burden. I've been collecting retro video games before it even became "cool." There was a point where no one wanted these old games and considered them junk. You could get boxes of cartridges dirt cheap almost anywhere. For the past 10 years, the prices just kept going up and up, now it's to a point where I am ready to cash out. Games I paid nothing for are now worth 100s of dollars. I know this might hurt a little, but it's time to cash out people, there's more to life than video games.
Hey man, read Romans 11, there is a reason for your name. It is for the Gospel's sake. Pray for them bro.
Yeah, I decided to start selling in 2009 and managed to sell all by 2012. Right around 2012 the market started going up like mad
A real collector doesn't care about how much something costs.
As someone that was addicted to video games they definitely are. It’s better to level up in real life then stare at a screen and play video games for hours.same goes for streaming sites.
I always told myself that when I lost my passion for video games, I would sell some of my collection. I'm 47 years old and not there yet. Also thankfully I'm in a good financial position I own a home a small business and thankfully I don't need the money. If I ever sold my collection it would be because I'm not enjoying them. I have a strict rule that I only buy games that I legitimately want to play regardless of how rare or common they are.
I've been out for like 6 years now... and when I stopped things where only half this bad and it seemed like an already insurmountable rise compared to the prior 6 years. Man, those late 2000s to early 2010s sure where a golden age I am glad I put full effort into... too bad that time is gone forever and never coming back. I agree that the bubble is never going to pop, but I would totally accept my collection dropping to 1/20th of it's value in exchange for being able to experience that again.
Retro game collecting is really darned expensive right now. No way I'm paying $600 for a copy of Rule of Rose on the PS2. I might as well play an iso of it via emulation or on a soft modded PS2 console.
I’m only 25 and I just started collecting mainly for the system I grew up with. anything ps1 and up. the most expensive game I paid for was death jam fight for New York on the ps2 for 150 it was brand new. unfortunately it was Japanese port so I had to buy another ps2 just to play it. only been collecting about a year so far I’ve around 300 games rn I’m only collecting for the ps2, ps3, ps4, and the switch.
@@MalikATL Nice! I have the US Greatest Hits version of Def Jam Fight For NY and I paid only $5.00 ages ago. The PS1 has tons of great games and some of those are still going for a low price, with exception to those JRPGs and other games that sell for around 100 to 300+ on the system. Highest amount I paid for a Retro game was $250 for a near cib copy of Lunar 2 on the PS1. Only thing missing was Lucia's pendent.
😆 just sold mine for $550.. Def Jam for $180.. Sold 80% of my colletion and just git a modded ps3 (ps2 ps3) games that i sold... Made a pretty penny on my colletion.
@@vfletes1 a modded PS3 is the way to go! The PS4 has been jb on fw 9.00 but the PS2 compatibility is a hit or miss on that system.
@Zachary Erickson Nice! I would patch the isos and burn them to a disc myself, but that sounds awesome though! Right now I have a 2TB internal hdd in my Fat PS2 to play games off of. I hate having to switch discs all of the time.
Retro games are like diamonds, most aren't rare they're just being hoarded. I know some do have great value but lots of these games are being stacked up in the back of video game stores.
Stacked and also DESTROYED deliberately.
I stopped actively collecting a few years ago. I got pretty much all I would ever want, and TBH, am looking to sell some stuff in the coming year. 3,000+ games across 7 generations of games is a pretty good run, and my complete Wii U Physical collection will stand as my greatest collecting achievement… but let’s face it, the crazy price hikes during the pandemic contributed to sucking the fun out if it.
What are you selling lol.
What do you got
Dude as someone who just wants to play games I remember as a kid. It is hard to enjoy it. Much love my friend! #JoinTheFunhouse enjoy your channel
Completely agree. I will say it again: Speculators and investors ruined a great hobby.
tbf, they ruin everything
Our hobby is protected because these people I can't believe you just learned this by me! If games were cheap then millions would be lost via garbage
@@edotsuki1979 but some games were cheap for a while. And they're still around.
I feel the same way. In my opinion, roms are the way to go now for retro gamers. I feel most collections these days are more of a flex than anything else. Not to say I don't collect, I just hit the e-brake on it.
I arrived at this same conclusion and it wasn’t easy. But in the end, paying some random dude in Michigan $400 for Chibbi Robo is just stupid.
E-Brake: is that hydraulic or air
Great point man. I just roll my eyes seeing flex posts in social media of someone showing an expensive game they don't even like or know with "mail call" as the title. So fucking stupid.
@@DrBizz I swear the real scene is roms. I support the fans. When I see fan translations..I know that's out of love for a franchise. Modern day retro collectors don't care about that.
@@AdamTheKaiju Not even to mention that a lot of the collectors out there put all there games in cases or, god forbid, a graded slate. When pushed, they will admit it’s more about having it on their wall than actually playing the games. I mean come on, you are on the planet around 80 years? How many games can one person actually play?
I quit collecting a couple of years ago. Now I just pick up stuff that I will put time into playing. As a father, I don’t have too much free time so I have to make it count! That being said, I see your point on many of your statements and I understand what you’re feeling. I pick up stuff that I will play and not because it’s rare or it’s a “must have.” I have enough thing on the shelf in the backlog, so no point in continuing to collect without actually playing them. I’ve had a few pricey items in my collection that I let go with no hesitation like complete copy of Earthbound, I’m never gonna play that again, and I’m fine with that. I didnt care to keep it anymore, and that’s perfectly fine! Good luck to you in 2022!
Can't really find local deal anymore it sucks. Everyone one wants top dollar and what it goes for on ebay. It's no even worth my time driving around for local deals. Facebook market place and garage sales are a joke. They want ebay price. So none of that makes sense for me to drive out and meet them, when I can order the same thing from the comfort of my home and have it shipped to my house from ebay. I just laugh at the prices now. They are a complete joke and out of touch with reality. I stopped buying around when the pandemic started as I was busy with other things at the time. Now I feel like I may never finish or get a lot of the games for my collection as the prices shot through the roof.
It's in retro everything collecting. I'm a "retro" (hate that word) toy collector and if I didn't have the things I do now, I wouldn't be able to afford it. And yes...the gatekeeping and elitism is beyond ridiculous.
Facial hair: it’s not for everyone
I’m with you, I had a massive collection of every console and many of the great games for each system from NES all the way up to PS3 and everything in between. I sold it all around 2009 to support a nasty drug habit, and I regretted it ever since as I watched the retro game-collecting scene explode in the years after that. And here’s the best part: for years and years I was the most depressed about my Zelda collection, especially the CiB Ocarina and MM collectors editions. I assumed that I sold them with the box, but last week on New Year’s Eve, my brother called me as he was cleaning out the attic at my mom’s house. He found a box with about 30 Game Boy, SNES, Saturn, Genesis, neo Geo Pocket Color and N64 boxes, among them were 4 Zelda game boxes w/ manual including Libks Awakening, LTTP, Majora and Ocarina Collectors edition boxes. I still have the fuckin’ boxes to all that with no cartridge. I think I’ll take to eBay and buy a few of those gold carts just to have something from my childhood complete with the box, buy a Japanese N64 and an everdrive with a few controllers and call it a day.
Peace RGT85, I feel you on this decision, there are many more good things to look forward to in life and many other ways to spend your precious time.
Im just hoping more "collection" stuff keeps coming out.. the castlevania collection 2 saved me like 150$ lol
that's probably without even buying all of the games in the collection, just the main ones you wanted lol
I really hope they do a Megaman Battle Network collection.
@@ZyferWarriorPrime for real though
... If I tried to get the whole MMBN series (which sold mostly well so it isn't an issue of drastic scarcity) I'd paying over 200 dollars. We had a Megaman collection, an X collection, and a Zero/ZX collection, all back to back to back. But now that MMBN should be up, seeing how it was the next logical step for a collection, it's been 2 years and we've not even got an ANNOUNCEMENT🤦🏽
@@texastech56789 To me it seems like easy money. It would sell well enough to do it even if they just went digital only. It is a significantly different style of gameplay that many never got to experience.
@@ZyferWarriorPrime at this point we really do need a mmbn collection but not only that more collections for older games if possible
I totally agree, I collect figures and Games and the worst thing about it is the people that arn't collectors inflating the prices by buying up tons of copies and putting them on EBay! This to me is so frustrating. I also totally agree on your other criticisms. You shouldn't have to pay the price of a Car for something like a retro video game. Unless of course its like an Incredibly rare game from a tournament or something that was made in extremely limited quantities. That makes sense but not common and slightly uncommon stuff for 200+ dollars a piece. That's ridiculous! I stick with emulators now unless its something that is super Nostalgic. Its sad that is the case but Im not rich 😁
I collect the same plus other stuff but man it’s ridiculous. You got people who don’t even like the stuff and they’ll buy all the supply of action figures up, or buy a few destroy the other packages, then jump on EBay and raise the prices. It just ticks me off the greed these dudes bring to the hobby. I buy at most 2 figures, I saw a dude at target just clear a shelf of pops into his cart while scanning them on EBay to see their worth like damn can you leave one for others?
I'm glad I started my retro gaming collection in the early 2000's when games were really cheap. I remember going on ebay and biding on lots of Sega Genesis games for $0.01 even brought a Sega Dreamcast with a controller and light gun for like $30 or going to estarland and getting games relatively cheap.So after hearing about these prices now I'm glad that all my collecting early
Me too. These days, I mostly collect PC games.
@@schwarzerritter5724 collect PC games?
@@varunsharma9805 PC games are much cheaper than console games. You can get a whole stack for 5€.
@@schwarzerritter5724 it really depends on the game and the format.
@@brianfleury979 Well, okay. Shovelware is still cheap.
I'm right there with you, I previously bought banjo kazooie for my N64 for $40 cause I never owned it as a kid. From time to time I find games from the thrift store or pawn shop whether it's on sale or I have the money that's the only time I'll buy it. Just found and got a 3rd party controller for the switch at the thrift store that works good. Still collect games but for now I'm taking a break and enjoying the games I already have for now.
This has happened to Pokémon, Vintage especially. The old toys that went for $5 at Walmart is now over $80.
The FUTURE of RETRO game collecting sounds like an oxymoron
I collect for fun and nostalgia, and just like RGT 85, the market has become so crazy these past two years that I’m done for a while.
I don’t know why people have to declare so loudly that you quit or whatever. Buy whatever you want. If people want to buy something cool. If you don’t want to buy it, don’t.
I agree. I made the same decision a few years ago, and I'm glad I did.
I'd say there are two overlapping categories of retro game enthusiasts; collectors and players. Most people are a mixture of the two, but it is also possible to be exclusively one or the other.
My compromise is that I collect consoles for display, but I don't collect the games themselves.
I started collecting for Gamecube at the beginning of last year. Covid money made it too easy but I had to stop when I realized I had spent over 1000$ on about 15 games
I feel this man. Game collecting in general whether it's retro or even some relatively newer games has become such a pain.
Even modern consoles are obscenely expensive, like 2-3x retail price for no reason. I refuse to pay scalpers for their price gouging. They wrecked Pokémon and other TCG collecting but now they cornered the retro game market.
Not really a collector but I've seen Bayonetta 2 for the Wii u for $200+. That game came out like 5 years ago.
@@putainclasse1986 sad thing is it’s not even just games/consoles. i was looking for Pokémon emerald box. Just the box. And they’re going for 200+ also. It’s freaking insane at this point
RGT: "I take prestige in keeping my channel wholesome and clean. I try not to swear on my channel." Spawncast: *2.5 seconds into the start of the show* RGT dropping every curse word under the sun! 🤣🤣🤣
But also RGT: I'll curse on the second channel ;)
LOL
"I don't care anymore"
As he sits and talks while hundreds of video games are behind him 😂 I'd be done too bro I'd be done too lol
The whole WATA/"grading" thing has ruined classic gaming.
Apparently, the popular method now is to hunt for cheap modern games like XB360, PS3, etc. You can still find them in flea markets and goodwill where they undervalue them because they're not collectible yet. Then you flip everything on ebay and put your profits aside. Build up enough of a war chest, and you can eventually walk into a retro game store and put down $200 for a game you actually want to keep. Rinse and repeat for the next 10 years, and you'll eventually have a decent collection. Personally, I'd rather emulate.
For the most part I have been importing games from Japan for the last few years. The market for retro games in the States is outta my price range but I've found it far easier to collect the Japanese version of games. I've bolstered my SNES/SFC and Gameboy collections tenfold without breaking the bank.
I agree and have been doing the same!
Yeah. Any console that is broken there is labeled junk and sold for next to nothing.....so long as you aren't outbid
Thank you so much for making this video. I feel the same way and am glad to see more people tired of this.
I just make my own cases and emulate the games. The box/case is the only thing I want. I'll never take my games out the cases so I don't see the point spending stupid money for essentially a case in not great condition.
I still collect (primarily Nintendo) but I've slowed down a lot over the years. The best deals are on broken items I then repair. Cheapest way to collect outside spending hours walking around yardsales or scoping out ebay.
Same here, most of my consoles I paid next to nothing for because they were broken. Easy typical fixes also. Wii...just need cleaned. XB1..just need a optical drive swap. PS3 just needed a HD reformat. At times I will buy them in a lot and sell/dump all the accessories off at gamestop and make money on the purchase.
Just because you’re not buying games by walking around a certain place to find a good deal doesn’t mean you’re not a collector A collector is just someone who gets the things he really wants with no attentions of getting rid of it anytime soon
Very good topic to cover. I am a reseller/ semi collector. I typically keep the good physical copies of the retro stuff but will sell just about anything for the right price. I actually set a timer and keep track of the time spent sourcing the games and money spent on the initial investment, I usually buy them in lots locally. Sometimes at the goodwill outlet but you literally have to fight people for them since covid due to the other topic you covered. The Wata...just like the retro shirt people at goodwill, these people will fight you for a game because they think it's worth hundreds of dollars. I actually have one story of going to pick up a old DLP projector off of marketplace, I get there and this guy is cleaning out his ghetto garage in a apartment complex. He was really cool, he looked like he hated his life and just want to get all the stuff out of the garage. While standing there I see HUGE box of Nintendo stuff. Just all thrown in there, NES, SNES, Wii, the tons of controllers and games CIB. Like a retro collectors dream. I ask the guy how much he wants, I take a look, do the math and was ready to give him $200....THEN....the wife comes out and goes nuts....starts looking up games on ebay and giving me crazy prices. She's not even looking at sold prices, just listed listings of mint copies. They had some CIB stuff but they were pretty beat. I just looked at the husband...he looked even more pissed now that the wife was messing it up. I dug through, grabbed a mint copy of Wii Mario 25th anniversary and a few NES controllers and left.
RGT has is right on the topics he covered...it's just not that fun anymore. I will pick up XB1/360 and Switch games if I find them at a good price but I am by no means tracking them down.
I've never been a collector buying ever drives and optical disc emulators and optimising your video outputs and making sure you have the best controllers and enjoying your setup is the way forward
I understand that Retro Gaming is becoming more expensive. It's normal when it becomes popular enough prices will go up. I still find deals everywhere. It's a fun hunt to find the best deals. This hobby can last a while. Just keep looking. Deals are out there.
I agree to every single word you wrote Bud! It's still fun to hunt some fine deals. I won't stop.
nothing is a "deal" now days if you compare prices to many years ago.
You haven't stopped, you say in the beginning that your still buying games (you even plug your pick ups video) and at the end you say "if I do want something I'll look for a fair price"' . You have a massive collection compared to most people and I bet at the end of next year your 'collection' will be substantially larger.
There’s a massive difference between actively collecting and buying things here or there.
@@BlueRupees ok, in your opinion.
I won't buy any game just to collect it; my video game collection is a quality over quantity collection. I simply buy the games that I love and want to continue to replay. This generally works out to an average of about 10 games per console that I care about.
That said, for these games that I love and want to continue to replay, I must own the actual game and play them on original hardware, no matter how much it costs me to acquire it (Yeah, I've spent over $300 for a retro game before). Emulation is never going to be good enough to give me the joy that I get from owning the actual game and playing it on the original hardware that it was designed for and on a CRT TV.
It's so difficult now, because the prices had jumped up so wildly thanks to people in the internet and some making fake copies of them as well.
Saturn has become an aspirational console to collect for
I've found there's still a good way to get solid value in retro game collecting, but it's a long form approach and requires a specific type of gameplan. Obviously when consoles are new and current, prices are pretty high and you're not likely to find the current-most games and hardware for cheap (maybe you can get a premier $60 for $20-$40 with a good sale or buying preowned), and of course as we're seeing now when a console gets old enough it becomes collectible and again prices are as bad or worse compared to when it was new.
HOWEVER: there's a goldilox zone where the console is old but not too old that you can find pretty great deals on games. about 6 months before ps5 came out, i picked up 25 ps4 games that i wanted for $165 (picked as many as i wanted from about 3 dozen, and i ended up wanting 25 cuz they were all good games). Just a couple of weeks ago i picked up a 360 slim with 19 games for $85 (i didn't pick those games, they're just what came with the console, but there's only one or two that don't seem to be at least decent). part of it is that people don't care and are just trying to get rid of stuff, and part of it is that the games become ubiquitous in society: the ps4 games i bought from a guy who goes to estate sales, so he was just trying to move the games. he didn't care that he could have gotten more for them individually, he just wanted to move them.
its mathematically impossible for retro prices to ever go down again. these games have far to low prints compared to games today. for example the european version of panzer dragoon saga was only printed 2000 times. thats less than limited run games produce.l how many people start collecting themselves each year for the past 25 years? there are millions now that want these saturn games and there are only a handful available
Great video. All those people will one day just look up at the games and think, wow, I have shelves and shelves of old plastic that I'll never play and I wasted tons of money doing it.
You know what, my bro? I straight up agree with what you’re saying here. I myself have gone down the rabbit hole of collecting all my nostalgic video games that I really enjoyed as a kid. I had them and realised that they would just sit there in a collection, so decided to sell them and not look back.
For those that want to emulate and enjoy on a console that can pretty much emulate majority of those classic games and go up to Wii? I recommend an Xbox Series X of S, they are brilliant in every aspect. One place for all of your classic games collection, no hassle or bull.
Sega Saturn pricing is insane. It's going to be the next Neo Geo (crazy expensive)
Couldn't agree with this more. I had dreams of getting a legitimate copy of Clay Fighter Sculptor's Cut on the 64, but that dumb game has skyrocketed into the thousands. I ended up ordering a repo cart, I'm happy and not broke.
Totally agree RGT. I had been collecting dreamcast games and just stopped looking for those gamed anymore because the prices sky rocketed. They were alwsys a little more expensive because of the limited time the Dreamcast was out, but I lost any incentive to collect anymore. The Dreamcast wss special to me because it was the first system I pre ordered on day one and was released near my birthday.
I started collecting earlier this year, not realizing how expensive it would be. I already quit and sold what I had. I feel ya lol 😝
I fell in love with gaming to play the games, then I got hooked on trophies and started playing all sorts of games for the trophies, which at first is cool because I got to play games that I would've usually passed on and found new genres. Then I started collecting and almost hoarding games. It's now got to the point where I spend more time buying/selling/searching for games that I don't have time to play them, looking at a huge pile of games you know you don't have time to play is NOT as thrilling or satisfying as you may think. I'm considering 'quitting' too!
trophies are pointless.
This is why I’ve lately been into Flash Carts/ODEs/Custom Firmware for consoles. You get that authenticity of playing on the original hardware while still getting the advantages of digital game backups. And emulation is also getting more and more impressive each year. It sucks because I would love to have physical copies of a lot of retro games but the prices nowadays just don’t make it realistically feasible anymore like it was 10-15 years ago.
A moment of Silence for our fallen retro collecting brother...
Cant waste life in the past
@@shafserious2805 yeah gotta know when to let go
I’m having a difficult time justifying spending hundreds of dollars on disc based games. At some point, all of the disc based games will stop working, even if they’re sealed. Cartridges will last much longer and can be repaired. Not sure when this happens but when it does I wonder if collectors will even care.
I agree with you, I feel cartridges will be around much longer than discs.
And the disc-based consoles break down, too. My modded Playstation broke years ago, so now I have a bunch of Japanese import games that I can't play "legally". I have a PS3, that's supposed to play PS1 games, but for some reason it still enforces the stupid region restrictions.
I have read that the cartridges will eventually stop working, too.
Preach Man 😊 I have started buying more Switch games than PS4 if you have noticed that Atlus and the Atelier Gust and Falcom games on Switch are so hard to find if you don’t get them quickly 🤔🤨
I honestly feel you on a lot of these points. I’ve been slowly losing my drive to buy a lot of retro games between the prices and how long it takes to find good deals. Was priced out of finishing collections of series I love like Pokémon and a lot of Atlus games on 3ds even which isn’t that old. I also really like the Jojo manga and anime series and I really wanted to collect the games to expand my collection but with prices like $300 for a physical copy of Heritage and $175 for All Star Battle it’s like what’s the point. I have much better things I could use money like that for like building a computer or something so it honestly just stinks to see the retro market just becoming less and less accessible
it dotn tske long tyo fidn good deal so amnt you dsay oh ever you look all old pokemong am liek 300 dollers worng your nto looknig in right palce it take me shrot time to find good deals
you're not out. the bubble will pop. you're a retro gamer. you find happiness in collecting ancient video games. it satisfies you. you're not out.
I remember when silent rob made this video... Like 10 fucking years ago.
I feel like you feel RGT. In fact I find that selling most of my collection and using the money towards buying flash carts will be better for me and will be less things for me to worry about when things like moving may pop up. There are so many alternatives to use to play most popular retro games too like the Genesis collection or Atari classic whether it be in disc/cart form or buying the preinstalled consoles (but not any atgames consoles because yuck). So yeah man I get you and totally don't blame you.
I think I’m gonna take a little break with trying to go for all the retro games for all my systems and focus on a certain system. I kinda wanna pick up most of the Wii U library before it gets crazy expensive.
Great idea, hut your too late. Have you seen how much devils third, axiom verge, book of unwritten tales ext… crazy prices. All i need is devils third to complete my collection and im still waiting for the price to dip before buying
@@ozbarron1803 that’s the thing there’s not tons of those so try to get most of those at cons, but a lot of library is still somewhat cheep
@Zachary Erickson low print
But you still will end up just looking at them. You'll never consistently play the whole library of any system. complete collections are 100% look at me and what i got...any person that has a rare game ALWAYS says how much it sells for first...
I hear ya brother. I got all the games I remember from my childhood on the systems I had back in the day. When it comes to everything else I'm like , "MEH"
I recently decided I was going to collect Retro games.
I created a partition on my hard drive and have most emulators and most roms. Way easier to get.
I think what people should do, primarily focusing on buying games you want to play, not own. Value retro gaming over retro game collecting
First complaint: Prices, yes I agree. I was baffled when I actually heard there's an actual working Sega Genesis with HD hardware that RUNS all the cartridges I have sitting around, but the price was almost as much as a new console as of now along with scalpers snatched it all the way to "Oops! All sold out!" and I still did want it to replace the now not-working Genesis 3 I have that is lacking a powersource and can't connect to all the new HDTVs around the house since all the old stuff wore out so bad they had been tossed out.
Oh and don't get me started on even up to now's "standards" such as trying to get a PS5 or the newest Xbox Series-X model and these obnoxious prices (thanks, scalpers). I was chosen over 5 times directly by Sony to get my PS5 but every time I got in "oops! Sold out!"
I finally got my hand on a PS5 through Sony direct but still haven’t unboxed it why because I am enjoying my Switch with physical games on the go… if gaming goes all digital I am out
I felt the same way for awhile now. I have switched my focus on multi carts and optical drive emulators to install on my consoles as well as supporting homebrew scene for games I like that come out. I am more than content on my game collection at this point. Thou I gotta say it was so fun (and cheap) to collect in the late 90's
I'm glad I was able to quit retro collecting years ago. I have everything I want. Between still having my retro games that I pre-ordered new back in the day, & the ones I did miss I bought years ago, I'm set. Panzer Dragoon Saga is the only game I missed that I paid a bit of a high price for in 2003, which was still high even then. But that's like a rare Grail. Glad I have all I want in terms of retro games, because I'd hate paying higher prices for common games, *especially during and right after an economic collapse.*
I quit about two years before this craziness happened and am so happy. Ever since I changed my hobby from collecting games to playing them I am so much happier.
This is part of the reason why game companies want to go all digital. They want to completely cut out these resellers and acquire more profit.
Man I was 26 when the Saturn came out. I've been collecting since the second generation and have amassed quite a collection. But after out dad passed away right before he retired and our friend died of cancer at 40 I realized that all that crap was just stuff. Recently I've been selling huge amounts of my collection. My entire Saturn collection,over 100 games and 30 import games,went. Got $1,000 for Magic Knight Rayearth,$800 for Burning Rangers,$400 for Street Fighter Collection,$500 for Mega Man X4 and $400 for Enemy Zero just to name a few. Had offers up to $2,500 for Panzer Dragoon Saga but I'll probably get it graded before I part with the greatest RPG of the 5th gen. Sold my entire Dreamcast and Turbo collection as well and Genesis games like Musha,$800,and others. All the money goes to a savings account for my brother and niece in case something happens to me. Collecting just for the sake of getting complete collections is just stupidity.
I respect your decision to reimagine what is truly valuable after your dad's death and I'm sorry for your loss. On the other hand, I think people place value on subjective things and it's reflective on what is culturally valuable to them, both due to nostalgia but also because they enjoy the ownership and completing a collection for its own sake. Everyone determines for themselves what is valuable to them, from pieces of artwork, to old photos that could only possibly matter to them because of their family history, to mementos, to cherished antiques, to seashells you collected on a trip. For some $500 may be more valuable than an original Mega Man X4, but certainly not to all. Just because prices have skyrocketed doesn't mean collecting is a completely dead concept or that it isn't enjoyable to a great many people.
@@VesperAegis I agree but still,just having things for the sake of having them serves no real purpose. A complete collection of NES games for example,means that nearly all of them are junk games and you're just doing it so you can say you have them all. I guess that doesn't impress or interest me. I really have no nostalgia for anything so I never really understood the whole collection mentality. That's probably why I've been able to part with so much of my stuff,none of it has any importance aside from the ones I actually want to play. As for pricing,well it's like comic artist Dave Sim once said. Something is only worth what people are willing to pay. And of someone wants to pay me $4,000 for Keio Flying Squadron,just sold that and Popful Mail,then that's what it's worth. But I can't disagree that a lot of it is subjective. I just place little value in material objects.
@@kellinwinslow1988 I think you would have to more carefully define "purpose." I still come back to the artwork argument. What purpose does it serve to a piece of abstract art hanging on my wall? For the question of why nostalgia impacts me, it would be because I can vicariously transport myself back to a time with fewer cares and responsibilities, understand where I am now more fully by triangulating my view from there to here. And the same would be true for vicariously transporting myself into the eyes of people who bought those "useless" titles for the NES, were ultimately disgusted by them and threw them in the trash or sold them at a garage sale. I guess for the same reason history deeply interests me. Understanding motivations, understanding points in time, even for the benign and innocuous. Collecting is part and parcel with learning and understanding the world and having a deeper connection with it and the people with whom certain items and material form a part of their lives meaningfully.
@@VesperAegis I would disagree that you need to have the stuff in order to understand the history of where games came from. There is plenty of info out there that is just as enlightening as having the games. Again nostalgia means nothing to me. More often than not it just destroys common sense and people tend to wollow in the past. There has always been some kind of nostalg ia but it's so extreme now it's just a bad word. That's why this is called the nostalgia generation. Probably why collecting stuff like that is so prevalent now. Art of course is subjective but I would never compare any video game to a Van Gogh or a Pollack painting. If I want true art thats uplifting I'll go to Beethoven's 9th or something. Not that games can't be a form of art but they have a long way to go to reach those hights. And in fact I'd even say that games have taken huge steps backwards with all the crappy Triple AAAAAA junk and all the me too games and NFT stuff ECT. I guess I don't feel the need to relive the past by collecting crap like Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde or Hydlide ECT. Your taste may vary.
@@VesperAegis But,even if I have no interest anymore in collections,I appreciate your interest in the hobby. If it gets you to learn about the history of gaming good. Irregardless of what I think you just keep on collecting and maybe someday you can sell a ton of stuff or pass it on to someone. That's basically what I'm doing.
Once you get to a point that you feel satisfied with what you have collected it’s okay to walk away. Trends change and so do prices so you can always get back into it whenever… or not!
I've been trying to collect for the Dreamcast for years and it has been a bit of a frustrating journey ngl
Same,I got 7 games,it pain in the butt
Dreamcast is actually one of the EASIER consoles because its community never died off and most who want a DC already have one.
Burn the games and enjoy your self
pretty much every sentiment you share in this video I 1,000,000% agree with, and I'm processing and dealing with the exact same thoughts and feelings.
I dunno if you'll read this comment, but I just wanted to say how cathartic and nice I find both this video, and your channel in general. there was something that happened in the past, maybe something as trivial as a tweet or something stupid that gave me a bad impression at first...and I wanted to sincerely apologize for that. I mean, I don't recall ever tweeting or comment something negative you or anything like that...I dunno really what I'm trying to say so I'll say this:
this was very comforting for me, and I'm thankful for it, and thankful for what you do in general. I wish you the best in handling the come-down from retro collecting, lol, and you are DEFINITELY not alone. it sucks to have a passion like this fade, but the state of retro games being so bad is making it MUCH easier to happily move on, y'know? there will always be a way to preserve and enjoy retro games...and honestly...I NEED THE CASH LOL. I am chuckin games left and right on eBay, and I always make a point to drive the price down from what people ask...while also getting what it's worth.
keep it up, man. you're awesome!