« The World Of Nintendo, Remixed | Main | Pikachu, I Eat You! »
January 17, 2006
When Rare Isn't So Rare
Like a lot of game fans, I collect video games. Unlike a lot of collectors though, I collect games so that I can play them. I do not keep games sealed for eternity, nor do I scour the Internet for expensive rare games to add to my collection. My collection is whatever I buy or otherwise acquire. While it's fun to think my Virtual Boy library may be worth "something" someday, I'm not planning my retirement based on how much a used copy of Jack Bros. is worth to someone on eBay.
Now here comes Game Quest Direct. This company is reprinting rare games legally and for profit, but is charging less for a new copy than one would end up paying for a used copy. Sounds good, right? Turns out the hardcore/serious collectors don't like the idea of their rare collectibles becoming worth less because more copies of a game suddenly appear in the marketplace.
[H]ardcore video game collectors were irked. Reprints could not be distinguished from the originals, which brought the value down of their collection. That $85 copy of Persona 2 purchased used, dropped nearly 50% in price. Speculators who snagged up copies of Disgaea couldn’t profit from eBay sales. Especially proud collectors weren’t perturbed by the economics, but more that they lost exclusivity of being the only one on the block with these a rare game. In a way Game Quest Direct angered the audience they were searching for.
To be honest, I don't care about a game's resale value on the used market. What I want is to be able to play that game, and if Game Quest Direct can offer me a legit new copy of that game for a fair price, then I'm all for it. Games are not supposed to be locked away in a vault to accrue value. They're supposed to be played and loved and discovered and enjoyed. The hardcore collector who is planning to send his or her children to college thanks to a shrink-wrapped copy of Gundam Dimension War for the Virtual Boy ($1,045 on eBay right now) will just have to learn to live with those of us who want reprints and those of us who actually want to open and play those reprints, resale value be damned.
(Thanks to Nick at Retrogaming with Racketboy)
Posted by MattG on January 17, 2006 at 11:30 AM in General, Retro/Classic | Permalink
Comments
thanks for the link :)
This concept has really made an impact on me.
Maybe we should collaborate on the most expensive games on the (after)market and maybe we can work on having a talk with the company :)
I'd love to have an interview with them :)
Posted by: racketboy | Jan 17, 2006 12:43:28 PM
I love this. I've always been strongly opposed to idiotic ideas like "limited edition" anything. I want a product for it's own value, not some theoretical collectible value based on being hard to acquire. So I applaud this not only by making it easier for people to get games that they want to play, but also because it upsets collectors who leech off of legitimate gamers by trying to keep things rare for personal profit.
Posted by: Belgand | Jan 17, 2006 1:13:46 PM
I just wish this company took requests!
Posted by: MattG | Jan 17, 2006 1:18:41 PM
MattG- I agree with you 100%. I too collect games, but like you not for rarity or resale value but for the purity of fun. I'm always out to find the one game that's not really heard of but equals in fun to a Mario or Zelda. A majority of the games I collect are NES/SNES and with soo many titles to choose from, I usually check out reviews first but, that doesn't stop me from getting a bad game. Bad games need to be played too. Anyway, Cool site.
Posted by: Nes player | Jan 17, 2006 1:27:30 PM
I too collect games to play them and due to some games being "hard to find" (more like easy to find but hard for me to justify the price) my collection feels incomplete. One game that was on my wishlist for a long time was Chrono Trigger for the SNES which used to go for between $80 and $100 until the rereleased PSone version pushed the price of the original back down into reasonable territory. I wish something similar would happen with Earthbound now.
Posted by: Twist | Jan 17, 2006 1:37:14 PM
As someone who makes games for a living, I'll say that I make them to be PLAYED! I find it a bit insulting that someone would think our past creations are a speculative commodity, existing to let them make a few bucks or give them some ridiculous bragging rights for owning the only copy in town.
Posted by: BruceC | Jan 17, 2006 4:13:26 PM
"I find it a bit insulting that someone would think our past creations are a speculative commodity" ironic given that you're paid to make games, many of which fail and few become one of the profitable "hits." Who's specuating, exactly?
Posted by: ironic | Jan 17, 2006 9:23:25 PM
Yes. Thank you Captain Obvious for pointing out that creative industries are also speculative in nature. Same for music, and movies. And thank goodness artists and their backers are willing to take those risks, or original things would be even rarer than they are.
Posted by: BruceC | Jan 18, 2006 12:53:33 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/327670/4060085
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference When Rare Isn't So Rare:
