IrishNinja
Member
*bro-fist* i think ive a later model SNES (one with the sticker on the left corner), looks like i dodged a bullet when my OG unit died
true, but the form factor is so much better!
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SNES Game Collecting (Tips, discussion, and info for like minded collectors)
- Thread starter DidntKnowJack
- Start date
*bro-fist* i think ive a later model SNES (one with the sticker on the left corner), looks like i dodged a bullet when my OG unit died
true, but the form factor is so much better!
My tips of the day would be:
Melfand Stories: it's a standard sidescrolling hack & slash game (so if you like the genre...). The game is nothing groundbreaking but it's overall nice (character design by "Famitsu covers" guy, colorful graphics, nice tunes, path choice and nice hardware tricks).
Ihatovo Monogatari: this is an adventure game and thus it is text-heavy.
The gameplay is nothing exceptional (standard fetch quests...).
However what's peculiar about this game is the subject: the game is based on famous japanese writer Kenji Miyazawa and as such it has a world and story vignettes that you rarely expect in a commercial game.
Also arts and music are very good.
You can learn more on Ihatovo Monogatari in the HardcoreGaming101 article (ah ah didn't know the site was banned here).
The firemen:
Well ok, it isn't japan-only but the PAL version is much more expensive.
The game is basically a third-person shooter but centered around firemen.
This is surely an hidden gem for the system.
BTW a few posts above I cited Super Drift Out.
The game is more similar to the original arcade game (top-down view) compared to Neo Drift Out.
If one prefer an experience more similar to the Neo Geo game, he could try Rage's Power Drive.
Dr Stabbingworth
Member
Earthbound for Wii U this year. Curious how this will affect cart prices, if at all.
I hoping it does!
sixteen-bit
Member
Guardian Heroes is a counter example. Even more perplexing is the XBLA version is better than the Saturn original, but the second-hand pricing has remained firm.
I doubt it does, actually. You'd be hard pressed to find people who are looking for the physical game just because they "... want to play it." If people really just wanted to play it, there are avenues that are fast, free, easy. There are X number of Earthbound carts/books/boxes/manuals/etc. (not including the unsanctioned reproductions).
I'd be curious to know your examples of similar games (see: SNES or games on cart). As this isn't a physical re-release. The best example I can think of is MVC2 being released on XBLA and PSN. That game however, was not nearly as accessible at obtaining a copy "... just to play" as something like Earthbound.
Rygar 8 Bit
Jaguar 64-bit
think they want a physical copy of it if they just wanted the game because theyve never played it before i think they would just dl a rom of it instead of waiting for VC
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
I got a reasonably priced Rakugaki Showtime on PS1 since its been on PSN. Does that count?
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
That's pretty awesome. Curious to see how it affects prices as well. You'd think it'd certainly drop a little. Unless they have to edit the shit out of it and the original un-edited work becomes even more valuable.
Anecdotal, but I totally paid $130 for my copy last month because I want to play it. I don't buy shit I'm not interested in actually playing. I'm sure there aren't a ton of me out there, but we crazies do exist.
Anecdotal, but I totally paid $130 for my copy last month because I want to play it. I don't buy shit I'm not interested in actually playing. I'm sure there aren't a ton of me out there, but we crazies do exist.
Well, define "reasonably priced." You can get a "reasonably priced" Earthbound cart, it's all relative. Then again, maybe you just found the right seller who knew it's reasonable value or caught the auction at the right time - outliers do happen.
That said, PS1 was easier to just copy a disc* and play it on a PC or modified console than those that came after it I'll grant you; but, and I might be wrong here as I'm not too familiar, I would think that games from the cart generation are still easier to "just play."
*I think this is a big talking point for PS1 games. Sure, there are rare ones, but that you can literally just copy one to another disc makes their physical presence somewhat of a joke. From what I've seen, usually the "complete" versions of games are what demands higher prices.
edit: To expand on "reasonably priced" a bit: Typically there is the fair-market-value price, and the collector's price. The latter can be gotten if you find the right collector who just has to have it. Most sellers strive for this price, but won't get it. FMV price is what the typical auction will go for, assuming it's not being driven by collectors. Then, you will sometimes find the seller that just needs money, or "... has to sell" for whatever reason. You can get those below FMV.
Yeah, I'm not trying to say people like this (yourself) aren't out there. It's just hard to find someone who will willingly spend that kind of money and risk getting a game that may or may not work for however long. To that point, I don't think this is the majority of people wanting this game, and thus don't drive the market.
Shadow Hog
Member
Wild Guns and Genesis game M.U.S.H.A. are also available on Virtual Console. Their prices are still sky-high.
Radiant Silvergun is on XBLA. The Saturn version's price is lower than it had been, but is hardly "cheap".
Radiant Silvergun is on XBLA. The Saturn version's price is lower than it had been, but is hardly "cheap".
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
I got it complete for about £40. Last time I checked (back in the PS2 days) it was commanding around double that.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Yeah. I wouldn't expect there to be a huge drop. But, I would think/hope there will be at least a small temporary drop.
Nice! Sounds like you got a good deal considering when you checked last, and hopefully that's still what the market commands and still did. A quick eBay check has this game pretty up and down on price, with only one completed auction recently and it seems like that person overpaid
.Canadian Psycho
Banned
This. There will be a temporary drop, but following the VC release, I'm expecting the game to actually rise in value (especially if they can't clear some of the copyrights issues I'm hearing about).
Final Fantasy II and III sold for more 10-15 years ago than they do now. Both went down substantially when they started receiving frequent ports. Same with Chrono Trigger, though the price on that has crept up a bit again since I last checked.
Complete copies of Earthbound are still going to sell for an arm and a leg, but I doubt you will see cart only auctions fetching $150+ when the game has been re-released.
Some of the other examples that people are listing here are games that had print runs in the 5-20k range. Earthbound didn't sell a ton of copies, but it still broke 100k in North America. It's not that rare. Like Suikoden 2, I expect that the price is highly inflated by demand. Not everyone is comfortable with pirating ROMs or ISOs.
Well the collecting game market in general I think was stronger at that time for bigger named games like that. You could get away with the really niche games at a lower price before there was a larger demand for them - for instance the difference between Final Fantasy and Earthbound.
The latter though is the biggest factor for decline I'd imagine. Not just that there is a port, but because there are frequent ports and the devices that have them are so many.
We'll just have to wait and see when the release happens. Personally, I think there will be a spike in price before the release (see: after this announcement), then there will be a dip after the release to lower than now (prices before this announcement) and then finally a steady'ing off period and the eventual slow climb of prices again.
Why sell it if it's complete? It will only grow in value (to collectors).
sixteen-bit
Member
Donate it to charity as a tax writeoff
Dr Stabbingworth
Member
Someone in the B/S/T thread was looking for a complete copy.
Personally, I expect complete copies to continue to gain value.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Earthbound is something I kinda want to play because of this thread, but its too fucking expensive and unless its life changing... no thank you
Astral/H3X
Member
The whole point of it is that I'm never playing any English SNES games, so why bother? Why not get the infinitely sexier S Famicom, and not worry about mutilating what is already an aborted sibling?
If I really want anything for the SNES there are emulators, which I've relied on in the past.
I hope so. Considering I still want the physical copy, and how download content on consoles seems like it'll have strange transfer policies no matter what.
tiggerkiddo
Member
I think prices will dip a little but hold because it's all about physical copies and combined with how Nintendo does the account system and such...yeaaaaa but we'll see!
Seven Force
Banned
The ones with that sticker are less prone to yellowing?
ShadyLurker
Member
Earthbound is something I kinda want to play because of this thread, but its too fucking expensive and unless its life changing... no thank you
I don't think there's any harm in playing 20 year old games on an emulator. I mean that money your spending on it isn't going to the developer anyway.
An article with a couple of graphs as food for thought: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/how-digital-downloads-affect-values-of-collectable-games
Nothing decisive, but it does generally seem that there's a decent likelihood of a correlation between digital release and a lower price.
Personally I think Earthbound will probably calm back down around the range of 100 for a while. It won't get cheap, but the fact that the SNES cart is the only way to play it right now probably does drive up the price a bit. And like some one mentioned, it's not like the game is actually super rare.
Nothing decisive, but it does generally seem that there's a decent likelihood of a correlation between digital release and a lower price.
Personally I think Earthbound will probably calm back down around the range of 100 for a while. It won't get cheap, but the fact that the SNES cart is the only way to play it right now probably does drive up the price a bit. And like some one mentioned, it's not like the game is actually super rare.
SkyMasterson
Member
Yea, but you have to factor in that those are cd/dvd based games.
Super Nintendo games (or most cart games) are considered more 'collectible" if that makes sense.
ICO did the same thing. Was selling for $50-60 I think at one point, now it's pretty easy to get.
Maybe I'm wrong in saying this, but Playstation or cd based games in general collecting isn't as big as cart collecting is(yet anyway).
That was me!
ShadyLurker
Member
Do any of you watch youtube channels of retro game collectors? I particularly like this guy's videos: BizzNES17
He doesn't collect exclusively for the SNES, pretty much anything retro and even some new stuff, but he definitely gets some cool SNES stuff. Posts videos of game hunting road trips and thrift store runs etc. Here's a vid where he got a BUNCH(90+) of boxed SNES games for $1 each:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgeTmbZ4RUg
Is there any channels you guys watch?
He doesn't collect exclusively for the SNES, pretty much anything retro and even some new stuff, but he definitely gets some cool SNES stuff. Posts videos of game hunting road trips and thrift store runs etc. Here's a vid where he got a BUNCH(90+) of boxed SNES games for $1 each:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgeTmbZ4RUg
Is there any channels you guys watch?
georgetheplushie
Member
I'll watch most stuff on RetrowareTV. Favorites include The Game Chasers, HVGN, Run Play Think, and The Humans Are Coming. Seriously, watch a few episodes of RPT.
I went through a short phase of watching collectors on YouTube. I'll still maybe watch a video on something I'm specifically interested in--I love NES and SNES videos that go real technical with the hardware. Collection videos are really boring, though; I don't care how personal the story of how you came across the $5 copy of Earthbound is or how it's the same copy of Little Samson you grew up with. They just don't do it for me. Recent haul updates are a little better because they tend to be a little more concise, but I prefer to see the finds as they occur.
I went through a short phase of watching collectors on YouTube. I'll still maybe watch a video on something I'm specifically interested in--I love NES and SNES videos that go real technical with the hardware. Collection videos are really boring, though; I don't care how personal the story of how you came across the $5 copy of Earthbound is or how it's the same copy of Little Samson you grew up with. They just don't do it for me. Recent haul updates are a little better because they tend to be a little more concise, but I prefer to see the finds as they occur.
I watch quite a few. Here are some of the main ones;
The Game Chasers
Pat the NES Punk (love all his videos but especially his Flea Market Madness series)
okchief420
Snestastic
tootyuk
JHMDF
DinkyDana
Metal Jesus Rocks
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
No there's no harm in it, but that doesn't mean I particularly care for it, either
ShadyLurker
Member
No there's no harm in it, but that doesn't mean I particularly care for it, either
I honestly don't really either but when the choice is that or paying hundreds of dollars for a cart of Earthbound or Wild Guns etc it's an easy choice, personally lol.
Shadow Ranger
Member
NTSC US games don't run in true 60Hz on a PAL unit (using various converters) do they? Would it be easier to resort to just getting a US SNES? What PAL games would then check for 50/60hz then if used on the NTSC unit?
tiggerkiddo
Member
Generally it isn't and it doesn't help that a lot of disc games are available via other means.
IrishNinja
Member
this is what ive been told/read a few places, yeah...mine looks the same as when it was acquired by a friend originally too, so im most pleased!
Delicious Waffles
Member
Only The Game Chasers, pretty much. I watched all their videos in a few days once I discovered them. Now I'm just waiting for new episodes to release.
Definitely going to check out some of the other suggestions posted.
sixteen-bit
Member
Call me superficial or whatever but production values really matter to me. This means I simply don't enjoy most Youtube channels.
I watch Game Sack a lot though. The good thing about Game Sack is while they're obviously collectors, they don't continually post insipid pickups videos. Instead they'll have themed episodes and discuss games based on the theme. Also, they put real effort into their production.
I watch Game Sack a lot though. The good thing about Game Sack is while they're obviously collectors, they don't continually post insipid pickups videos. Instead they'll have themed episodes and discuss games based on the theme. Also, they put real effort into their production.
Hayama Akito
Member
Question: Someone knows if there is a complete list of NTSC-U games sorted by release date? i know there are a lot of list for NTSC-J chronological releases like Wikipedia or Super Famicom.org but i haven´t found something similar for North American releases.
pseudomyxoma
Member
Yeah Gamesack is a pretty good series, but I think GameChasers actually do put a lot of effort into their videos as well. I subscribe to both
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Okay so after Nintendo Direct I started aLttP last night... Man that sword play is way clunkier than I remember
Edit; please don't NeoGAFShitPosts me
Edit; please don't NeoGAFShitPosts me
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Okay so after Nintendo Direct I started aLttP last night... Man that sword play is way clunkier than I remember
Edit; please don't NeoGAFShitPosts me
That's not a shit post. It's just... really disappointing.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
It will get better post Mastersword. Right?
georgetheplushie
Member
I don't think A Link to the Past's sword is clunky at all. The game is balanced around it pretty well; the large arc you get feels infinitely better than Zelda 1's stab, and spin attacks have an enormous hit radius. Could you explain how it feels clunky to you? The worst I can think is that some bosses are a little awkward to fight, especially with the sword. I wouldn't argue against slightly turning up Link's walk speed to improve the feel of the game (I mean barely), but it would probably throw the rest of the balance off.
Edit: Fixed a pretty big typo.
Edit: Fixed a pretty big typo.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Back when Megaman x2 was released on VC last year, the cart was around $55 or so. There was a very brief drop to around $45. Currently, it is around $65-70.
Rerelease do not affect prices much. There might be a slight temporary downtick on the cart when EB is released, but don't give your hopes up for any signficant drop.
People are paying $30-50 for stuff like castlevania 4 and contra 3 when they have been on vc for years.