Guess What I Bought for $1.96 Today?

[joe_collector]

Yep, my 16 year old son is already buying games he played as an 8 year old for the nostalgia value.

 

Ask him if he has any desire whatsoever to pay $10K for an old Atari 2600 cart?

[Bruce1971]

Must I repeat my posting?

 

What posting was that, a generic link to a mass abuser's web forum?

 

The "facts" as you so non-eloquently stated, is that a significant amount of Canadians are massively abusing their unlimited "home" Internet plans, often by creating money-making scenarios where bandwidth is resold 24/7 or otherwise transferred for monetary payment (pay newsgroups, warez server, email spam forwarding, etc.).

 

And that is a fact Jack.

 

I agree with your views were the internet is going, but to say a significant amount of users are abusing their bandwidth with money making schemes is pushing it.

 

What is abusing your internet account as a personal user, assuming you aren't a home business user? Internet providers were happy to let people believe that the internet was unlimited and that they could do anything on it. Now they say we are using too much so they have to restrict how much we can use? What a crock of bleep that is.

 

The real reason is because they are worried the internet is going to destroy their profitable cable operations, they want to have their cake and eat it too. The younger generation is tech savvy and are download torrents of whatever they want to watch. Download it on the computer and stream it to the TV. Limit the amount they can download and hopefully they will keep their cable and internet instead of moving solely to internet. This is similar to what happened with home phones and cell phones, it is becoming increasingly common for households not to have a landline. Not surprisingly this is being lead by the younger generation as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

I agree with your views were the internet is going, but to say a significant amount of users are abusing their bandwidth with money making schemes is pushing it.

 

Ask some ISPs, or look at their support forums - lots of people are being cut off and banned due to running "basement businesses" that offload bandwidth to cash-generating endeavors. 24/7 file servers, pay newsgroup resellers, bandwidth sharing, business websites, etc. - if you really don't know about these, then you should take a closer look at the underbelly of Canadian tech society.

 

Too many people are looking to scam an extra buck these days.

 

And I am not pro-corporate by any stretch, and think current caps should be higher, but I have to laugh when people like Thunder-whatever posts all this BS about how "no one has ever abused unlimited home Internet service".

[joe_collector]

Enough about internet bandwidth, and more last-gen games. A buck each at Walmart during their blowout sale:

[Bruce1971]

Enough about internet bandwidth, and more last-gen games. A buck each at Walmart during their blowout sale:

 

I haven't been yet, but their is a multistory vintage video game store here in Japan. I will try to post some picks after I visit this summer. I saw a ton of those 1980's little handheld game systems last time I was at a used mall here, plan on getting Donkey Kong.

[october]

Battlefront 1 and 2 are just killer games, and I still play both of them all the time.

 

Wouldn't mind have sealed copies of those or some of these either (my all time favorites). I bet some a few go for bank at this point. No doubt this hobby has some future appeal.

 

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 PC

Betrayal at Krondor PC

The Lord of the Rings PC

The Legend of Zelda NES

Ninja Gaiden NES

Final Fantasy NES

Contra 1 and 2 NES

Mega Man 2 NES

ActRaiser SNES

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past SNES

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night PS1

 

[homerwannabee]

The huge problem with your collecting of sealed video games, is your collecting what will be considered the Copper Age of Video Game. Golden Age is your NES, and before. Silver Age is your SNES/SEGA Genesis era Bronze is N64/Dreamcast/PS2/XBOX/Gamecube era, and Copper is Xbox 360/Wii/PS3 era.

 

Sorry, but that is pure and utter BS - comics are a special case whereby the major characters at DC have been around since the 30's and there is significant continuity within the major lines. So GA, SA, BA, CA, etc. works to a certain degree.

 

But what other major hobby uses this same terminology? None that I know of, and our family collects virtually everything. You can argue vintage vs. non-vintage, but you cannot ever compare comics to games.

 

Specu-maroons should also be very, very careful about adopting this kind of funny-book mentality to video games, as from my experience, collectors do *not* want to go back 20-30 years and collect simplistic and archaic cart games from before they were born - it's different than comics, as improvements in technology are part of the equation. Comics in 1937 are pretty well the same as comics in 1977 and little has changed in 2011. Check out Pong vs. Uncharted 2.

 

This is actually the biggest challenge for video game collecting, as there are "pockets" of demand for each era, but virtually no cross-pollination. No 12-year old kid is going to grow up and pay $100,000 for some Atari 2600 cart.

 

In fact, right now is the Golden Age of video games in terms of mass market appeal, incredible gaming content, console options, and high sales volumes - console gaming is ubiquitous, crossing all age and gender barriers, just like comics were in the 40's. I see the "Rule of 25" being incredibly strong from this era, and view Atari cart demand as declining going forward.

 

Plus, I am buying what I like, just as I have always done and as with comics, I will always be happy with the games I own. I have absolutely no desire to collect older games like Atari or Intellivision carts, as although I played them, I view these as simplistic artifacts of the past.

Hmm, this is my territory prepare for a smackdown. I have been actively collecting video games for over 10 years now. First off. I did not say anything about the Atari 2600 in my post. The NES is by far the most collected for system today. You do know that? People regularly pay over $10,000 a pop for some of the rarer NES games.

 

You are collecting for a system Xbox360 that is still freaking out. You are collecting sealed games for artificial variants. This would be akin to collecting the chrome cover comic books during the 90's. In fact it is exactly like collecting a chrome cover comic book.

 

Here is the line you will hear more, and more by classic game collectors. "It is the game play that matters, not the graphics." By the way people do regularly pay big bucks even for the Atari 2600 stuff.

 

Someone recently paid over $30,000 for a one of a kind Air Raid boxed game.

Video Life, Magic Card, River Patrol would easily go for over $5,000 boxed if sold today. With the NES sealed Zelda games regularly go for over $500 a pop. See during the NES era and before(Here is the Key so read carefully) Most people did not collect video games. Sealed meant nothing. See with your era. Variant video game covers, and editions are virtually everywhere. Half of those special edition games I bet are still sealed just sitting somewhere.

 

See Super Mario World, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Mike Tysons Punch Out are historically relevant games. They mean something to people. Many of the early games have Iconic characters still around today. Donkey Kong had Donkey Kong 1st appearance, Mario 1st appearance. Zelda had the 1st appearance of Zelda, and Link. Your Spider-man game is the umpteenth time Spider-man has been in a game.

 

Again, I have been collecting for over 10 years. I personally collect for the Atari 2600. Probably a mistake granted. The system to collect for is the NES. Nintendo is still around making Mario games, and Zelda Games, and Donkey Kong games. These characters are iconic. The chopy simplistic graphics is actually a plus in regards to nostalgia. It goes back to a simpler time in most adults lives when they were kids. Also, talk to long time resident Bronty about this. I can guarentee you that he will agree with me that going for the newer systems for speculation purposes is crazy. But of course Bronty would say speculating on any video game system from any era is simply crazy.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Specu-maroons

 

Ah, all the cuddliness of a rabid porcupine...there's the Vince we love.

[binarysunrise]

Download caps and surcharges? I didn't know about those. I have Comcast cable internet. I don't think they have caps and surcharges.

 

I get 20GB a month. They threaten to double my bill if I go over.

[joe_collector]

Hmm, this is my territory prepare for a smackdown.

 

 

I wouldn't be worrying about my financial well-being, buying dollar games from the bargain bin, and then reselling them for $100 cash - its just fun to me, and I would never put any serious money into vintage video games, as I have yet to see any cross pollination from one era to another. You might make some funny money short-term, but in 20-25 years I only see stuff like the Atari 2600/Intellivision/ColecoVision/etc. declining to landfill material.

 

It's like comics today, but at an accelerated rate. The people keeping the Atari/NES market going are old nerds who grew up with them, but kids today find them laughably bad and are the objects of their derision. At a party, some kids pulled out my Konami, Capcom, Data East, and SNK/Neo Geo compilations and had a real hoot at how prehistoric they were - don't even get into the Atari/Intellivision compilations, as they laughed almost to death when they popped those discs in.

"Mr Freeman, did you have electricity when you were a kid?"

 

You, as an adult, say it's "not about the game", but trust me, to them it definitely is. And they are going to be your target market to sell these vintage games to when you retire - good luck with that.

 

Of course, they will feel the same way about the games they grew up with, and want to buy those all back - it's called nostalgia. The only possible exceptions would be for very select characters like Mario, Pokemon or Zelda - you can never go wrong with those, as they may well endure for another 25 years. I buy every old sealed Pokemon game I find on clearance and put them away.

 

But otherwise, technology is a harsh mistress and vintage games will really suffer for it.

[joe_collector]

Specu-maroons

 

Ah, all the cuddliness of a rabid porcupine...there's the Vince we love.

 

What do you want, people are calling me stupid for spending a buck on a game worth $100, and trying to point me towards investing in Atari 2600 cartridges - what would you refer to them as?

[ComicConnoisseur]

Hmm, this is my territory prepare for a smackdown.

 

 

I wouldn't be worrying about my financial well-being, buying dollar games from the bargain bin, and then reselling them for $100 cash - its just fun to me, and I would never put any serious money into vintage video games, as I have yet to see any cross pollination from one era to another. You might make some funny money short-term, but in 20-25 years I only see stuff like the Atari 2600/Intellivision/ColecoVision/etc. declining to landfill material.

 

It's like comics today, but at an accelerated rate. The people keeping the Atari/NES market going are old nerds who grew up with them, but kids today find them laughably bad and are the objects of their derision. At a party, some kids pulled out my Konami, Capcom, Data East, and SNK/Neo Geo compilations and had a real hoot at how prehistoric they were - don't even get into the Atari/Intellivision compilations, as they laughed almost to death when they popped those discs in.

"Mr Freeman, did you have electricity when you were a kid?"

 

You, as an adult, say it's "not about the game", but trust me, to them it definitely is. And they are going to be your target market to sell these vintage games to when you retire - good luck with that.

 

Of course, they will feel the same way about the games they grew up with, and want to buy those all back - it's called nostalgia. The only possible exceptions would be for very select characters like Mario, Pokemon or Zelda - you can never go wrong with those, as they may well endure for another 25 years. I buy every old sealed Pokemon game I find on clearance and put them away.

 

But otherwise, technology is a harsh mistress and vintage games will really suffer for it.

Agreed as Mario, Pokemon or Zelda are the new Superman,Batman and Spider-man.

[joe_collector]

I think I am about done with this thread, as I never intended for this to become a "what you collect is stupid, and what I collect is cool!" type deal.

 

I like bargains, always have and always will, and if I have fun buying two dollar-bin copies of Baldur's Gate 2 at Zellers, and then selling one for $100, I will continue to do that. If I like owning a rarer copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance (a game the kids and I enjoyed immensely) then I will spend my $1.96 and be happy to do so.

 

If that makes me look "stupid" and "ill-informed" to the Atari 2600-crowd, then so be it. I think I can afford to lose $50 on fifty $1 games at Walmart.

[mikenyc]

My wife calls me a nerd for collecting funny books, I should tell her about this.

 

 

 

 

[Ringfinger]

Nice score!

[homerwannabee]

Specu-maroons

 

Ah, all the cuddliness of a rabid porcupine...there's the Vince we love.

 

What do you want, people are calling me stupid for spending a buck on a game worth $100, and trying to point me towards investing in Atari 2600 cartridges - what would you refer to them as?

 

No as long as you are only spending a buck on these games you'll be OK. Just to be the one spending $100.

[joe_collector]

No as long as you are only spending a buck on these games you'll be OK.

 

Obviously you did not see my post and URL link about the $1 Walmart game blowout in the VCC. Old games get blown out around here all the time (especially at The Source and Zellers - you never know what they'll dredge out of the warehouse and all Xbox/PS2/GBA games look the same to them), and I have heard of similar things in Target south of the border.

 

Although I tossed out most of the receipts (at $1 a game, are you really going to return anything?) here's one for the unbelievers that I still had in my wallet (with personal info whited out):

[sl4ppy]

Great thread. (aside from the bickering)

 

A little off topic, but relevant:

 

I've actually been in the game business for over 15 years (a Microsoft game developer for 10), and the trends we are seeing lately are not good if you're a fan of big budget console or PC games....

 

The margin's are not good, and with the absurd growth in popularity of online and Facebook games, you're going to see a huge decline in the number of quality titles on those platforms. With big budget games approach the $100mil mark to produce, its too risky of an investment to take a chance and consequently if it isn't a sequel or tied to some pre-existing IP, it's probably not going to get published... (sound familiar?)

 

Years ago Microsoft had already planned to extend the life of the 360 well past it's originally intended lifespan and you're seeing that now with addons like the Kinect; peripherals that just extend the life of a platform. Don't expect an XBox 720 (or whatever) or PS4 for a very, VERY long time.

 

 

When a runaway hit console game sells 15 million copies, and Cityville does that many users in a single DAY, the money is going to shift. And it has already started.

 

As for the bandwidth discussion, it's merely a commodity. In time it will become virtually free much as long distance has become. The costs of bandwidth decrease almost inversely to Moore's Law... If I told you even 5 years ago that I could have a 50Mb up and down pipe of fiber TO MY HOUSE for under $80/mo, you would called me not_in_tune_with_social_norms insane. Now that's common place with Fios, etc.

[joe_collector]

My wife calls me a nerd for collecting funny books, I should tell her about this.

 

Actually, among consenting adults, collecting video games is far, far, far more socially acceptable than funny books.

[mikenyc]

Playing or collecting?

 

Jokes aside I really didn't know there was a large collecting group for video games.

 

I can see the price of NES games increasing as you have a generation, myself included, with disposable income and a desperate need for the way it was. I'm 30 and got my first NES in 1988. I'm looking to purchase the system again now as I've just bought a house, and will have the comic/football cave to house it.