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Will comic collecting end with our generation?

Started by oakman29,

198 posts in this topic

oakman29

oakman29

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I'm not sure where this thread is going or where the video game stuff came up but dang is it confusing... this is a comic collecting board right? or did I sign into the wrong forum?

 

I know right (shrug)

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Here's another reason; games have become an art form and a story-telling medium in the last 10-15 years; go try Heavy Rain which just came out last week, if you're looking for an example of how certain genres of video games are becoming interactive movies.

 

What kind of story does a board game tell you? Does they have memorable stories, enduring characters, and original scores? Do they provide atmosphere, or get in your head in any way? Do they envoke any emotions or make you think?

 

First, I generally agree with you, games are a far more immersive medium than board games could ever be. My ambition throughout college and for a short time afterwards was to design videogames, or preferrably, interactive virtual environments that weren't necessarily for entertainment, so I've thought about this for a decade or more.

 

However, to compare a game to a movie, or to call it a story-telling medium, i.e. a narrative medium, is the wrong direction--it leads you away from the unique strengths of computer-controlled worlds. A game isn't a story; it's inherently different. It's almost the opposite of a story. In a story, the author narrates on your behalf, whereas in a game, the creator of the game ideally creates a world within which you're able to narrate your own story. Yea, games can be written to force you along the plot of a pre-determined story, but that's not the strength of the medium, I don't particularly enjoy those types of games, at least not enough to remember them long. The ideal gaming world does evoke many of the same emotions and thoughts that a movie or novel does, but not being narrative, it does it differently. It does it in a way that more intricately involves your own ego in a way that narrative fiction can't do at all, and due to that fundamental aspect of the medium, it has the potential to nudge you in a direction to learn and feel things that are far more personal than narrative fiction can achieve.

 

Having said that, the medium hasn't even scratched the surface on its potential, largely because the artistic side of the medium hasn't been developed with the same seriousness as was applied to film in the early 20th century. Research is still being done, so it'll be interesting what interactive media are like in about 50 years. :cloud9:

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I simply disagree that they will be valuable collectibles in twenty years time when different technologies will replace them and pallets of old unused video games start showing up.

 

Since I've played games almost literally my entire life, video game collecting holds some appeal, although I can't get past the disconnect between the cart/box art and the actual game yet, whereas with comics, the cover summarizes and usually exceeds the quality of the art within. However, just from a market analysis perspective, a few things concern me greatly about the video game collectible market:

  • Rarity alone seems to be the overwhelming drive behind the top of the market, which is something I hope I'm wrong about. This doesn't seem sustainable. In 100 years, Action 1 and Detective 27 are highly likely to still be highly valued, but I see zero hope for Stadium Events holding any kind of value after carts are long gone. Hopefully this is just an early fad in the hobby and the Marios and Zeldas are what do end up topping the market.
  • Popular video game characters skew towards very young children. I just can't get excited about Mario or Zelda as an adult--who can?--but in comics, superheroes compel me greatly and likely always will. I can see this changing in time when more compelling video game characters are created, if not for my last concern...
  • The hobby is just beginning, yet the end is already in sight. Can't you buy the majority of games being released today online now? I'm still trying to figure out just how advanced direct digital distribution is, it's farther along than I realized before taking a longer look at it yesterday.

I'll still be taking a look at the hobby, it fascinates me. :D

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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truly if we want our hobby to thrive we have to be proactive and introduce as many kids we can to comics.

 

You're going to have to change Marvel or DC's marketing focus from adults back to children to have any hope of making this happen.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I'm not sure where this thread is going or where the video game stuff came up but dang is it confusing... this is a comic collecting board right? or did I sign into the wrong forum?

 

The video game stuff came from comparative hobby analysis. A great predictor of how long comics will remain collectible is to look at the viability of other collectible hobbies. Examining similar hobbies such as coins, cards, stamps, parasols, board games, video games, pulps, or anything else that people collect and figuring out how and why they have risen and fallen in popularity can yield useful indicators as to how long comics will last.

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ComicConnoisseur

ComicConnoisseur

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Here is the flaw to your argument. Video Games have already reached a price that is above, and beyond what board games go for.

 

Do we know that to be true for the entire history of board game collecting? It could be that the vintage board game market is in the same decline today that the video game and comic market could be in 50 years from now. (shrug) I have no knowledge of there being a board game collecting heyday that is now long past, but I also can't just discount it entirely.

 

Don't know for sure, but I don't think there ever was a heydey for board game collectibility. I think the reason for that though is not that board games are different from video games -- its more that pop culture items weren't all that collectible in the 50s and 60s when board games were big. People collected art, stamps, coins, antiques -- but pop culture items were not generally viewed as appreciable collectibles. Still, for some reason comics took off and board games didn't. Had video games come about in the 50s, few would have viewed them as collectible (and maybe today they would be valuable). But now the cats out of the bag -- pretty much everything is collectible in one way or another -- and so I don't see video games achieving enough scarcity to become a meaningful high value collectible in the future.

The key thing here is the characters if Batman,Superman or Spider-man made there first appearance in a board game, then those board games would be worth more.It has more to do with the characters then the comics. Imagine if all of a sudden DC cancelled Superman and Batman and Marvel cancelled Spider-man and X-men? Comic collecting interest would drop dramatically.

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joe_collector

joe_collector

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truly if we want our hobby to thrive we have to be proactive and introduce as many kids we can to comics.

 

You're going to have to change Marvel or DC's marketing focus from adults back to children to have any hope of making this happen.

 

That's exactly right, as Marvel/DC have no intention (or need) to get kids interested in comics again, when they have all those deep-pocketed adult nerds with things like jobs and credit cards.

 

Kids are poor and stupid, and when you're Joe Q, whose physique tells me he's about a NY minute away from a massive coronary, why worry about the future?

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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when you're Joe Q, whose physique tells me he's about a NY minute away from a massive coronary, why worry about the future?

 

Elegant as always :baiting: Darn shame you poison your responses with unnecessary fluff.

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