Am I Finished Collecting Retro Games?

[@DrBizz]

Good commentary on this man. I'm with you 100%. Collecting is a chore and prices are insane. There were really important games I wanted that I just crossed off my list because of the cost. I have been setting up my Everdrives, ODE's and softmodding my original xbox and PS2 to easily play anything I want and I don't regret it.

[@zachammer666]

Hey man! Great video! First time watching you here. I have also decided I am done collecting as I just rounded out the final (thankfully cheap) games for my SNES collection. Luckily for us, there are amazing ways to continue to enjoy the games of our youth through, what I do at least, everdrives and optical drive emulators. Now I collect the consoles and with a single mod or cartridge purchase I have everything at my fingertips. I know there is an allure to having the originals but after awhile I just realized that the developers are seeing none of the payouts people are giving for their games and that has alleviated the guilt I used to feel by going the route I am on now. Heck, you can even take out the console purchases and just buy or build a MiSTer. The device is absolutely amazing and is cycle accurate with so many consoles. Best thing, no excess of wires and clutter of consoles, just a tiny little box. Don’t get me wrong, I will never tear down my crt setup with the OG consoles, but it has never been easier to find a way to play the games we all love than now, even with the market being completely fudged. Cheers!

[@signorpaldoni]

Honestly, I've never understand guilt about playing roms from games that you can only buy from resellers. I've been hearing the words piracy and guilt since the late 90s about the roms situation. It is honestly BEYOND stupidity. Of course dev won't see a penny...those games are not on the shelves anymore. Want to support devs? Buy remasters/remakes and so on. And even then you're still supporters nowadays devs, probably not the ones who worked 30 years ago on your fave games. Know that I m a collector and have no everdrive or similar for any of my systems. I just always found the ROM WITCH HUNT funny and stupid at the same time since the late 90s. Neckbeards who convince other neckbeards to buy games from them so they can profit off reselling.

[@ChronoMoogle]

Collector of SNES/SFC and all Nintendo handhelds here. I fortunately picked up most things I wanted before it became this crazy, so for me it’s just a few games per system left. I’ll not gonna buy at the current market value though, so basically yeah, I am also done with retro collecting.

[@perryfan49]

Wow man! Ten years is incredible so congratulations to you two!

[@StefanHomberger]

Thanks! Really 9 1/2 right now, so almost 10.

[@RetroReminiscence]

Great video! Just found your channel. I’m enjoying it. I went hard on collecting for the NES and after awhile my passion for finishing it, almost went away totally. I got so focused on collecting I forgot to play them. I’m glad I changed up my focus and started playing again. Prices now for retro stuff is just out of this world. It’s sad honestly since so many people want to collect now but are “priced out”.

[@StefanHomberger]

Very true; I think it can be easy to do that. I had a similar experience with movie collecting. There are only so many things you can experience, and I now only keep things in my collection I know I truly will come back to. I ended up trimming down most of my different collections and my wishlists.

[@jsyoshi8394]

Even goodwills and thrift stores have crazy prices sometimes

[@StefanHomberger]

Very much so. I occasionally get lucky, but frequently stores around me will even have sports games for $20.

[@matthewgaudet4064]

They charge retail or higher for used books, which is disappointing. So i'm sure they aren't great on old media, i've seen ridiculous prices on DVD and laserdiscs as well.

[@StefanHomberger]

Same. It all depends on the store. Our Salvation Army stores are insane. They frequently have used Blu-rays price anywhere from $16-$30 (and it's always super cheap, common titles). I'd say 90% of our eBay inventory comes from going to Goodwill Outlets bargain bins and paying by weight.

[@Nicomanism]

I got lucky to find Vagrant Story at a retro shop for $15 in May 2021. Oddly enough, the register started telling me to buy new PS3 games. And I was kinda shocked cause she listed new ones for $20 each. They weren't the generic titles: they were Drakengard 3, Deception IV, God Of War collection, iNfamous collection, and much more. Man what a find .

[@leeartlee915]

The thrift stores in nicer areas of the country have been pricing games at eBay prices for years. It’s just that the rest of the country is finally catching up.

[@Nicomanism]

Honestly, life isn't about being behind four walls and hoarding around plastics. Life is short and you got to choose to enjoy what you want to enjoy. I don't choose to go for a complete USA collection for whichever system. I'll go for games that interest me. There are too many people preoccupying by the "panick-buy" situation for not just games: its books, electronic albums, any materialistic item. Blame Covid, blame the KZbin retro enthusiasts that target to the casuals that only want to obtain that game for clout cause it has an "expensive price tag" or whatever. It ruins the fun for those who have been into it like myself a decade ago. You also need to know what games are worth your time, worth your purchase, especially knowing ports. Ports are imperatively for whichever you solely focus on ( unless you use MAME, there's no incentive to invest in retro game collecting ). Also, I am not big into collecting movies as I am into books, games, and electronic EPs. Funny enough, most Daft Punk albums have skyrocketed in price after their departure; which leaves me to not want to invest their discography. Already have heavy hitters from them and man I don't regret it lol

[@Nicomanism]

Well for Playstation 3, for example, when CEO Jim Ryan threatened to shut down PS3 PSN store, a lot of hackers & modders began to bring back the mention of the CMOS battery issue thats present on PS3,PS4,PS5. To condense the CMOS Battery issue, Hikikomori Media did a full disclosure on the CMOS Battery issue on PS3. It is totally worth watching and very informative. Because, any digital game you purchased on PS3 PSN store cannot be accessed if your CMOS battery is fried. Even when you insert a new CMOS battery like you can on a Sega Saturn, you still DO NOT have access to your digital purchases already on the hard drivw because the PS3 needs to be "specific on you have the authentication on that digital purchase". On top of that, Sony's license for you to download and play PS3 digital downloads are essentially "limited rental" experiences. In other words, once Sony stops supporting PS3 PSN store forever, you can't be able to play your PS3 digital downloads. Sony mentioned they're working around for PS4 CMOS battery issue. But, Sony never mentioned about fixing the CMOS PS3 Battery issue. Therefore, thats the reason prices on PS3 are skyrocketing. Also, you can't install your PS3 game like you can with your Xbox 360. Only PS3 will install your useless trophies, and other unnecessary things that some gamers don't care for. With your 360, you install it to hard drive and play it on there. Only the 360 disc is required for it to be read as a DRM disc; instead of using the 360 disc drive to spin the disc. PeteDorr never nor bothered to mention the CMOS battery issue on PS3. He knows this. He chooses not to mention it in any of his "videos" because he, like many Retro Game KZbin collectors, wants people to panick buy the "hidden gems" / "sought after" titles on any platform. In actuality, you can still get Fatal Frame on PS3 PSN Store for $10 . However some games like Siren Blood Curse is heavily censored on the digital worldwide release; whereas the physical copy contains all 12 episodes, fully uncensored and isn't watered down. Yes there are some imports, made in physical format, that are the definitive versions to play the game as opposed to buying the digital version. So yeah to any collector, get the games you enjoy. Do not buy that game thats already available on PS4 with additional content and is considered the definitive version. Theres a lot of games I like to own; though my time in life is more valuable than hoarding plastics like a lot of collectors love to do. Enjoy what you have and move onward in life.

[@ipadjaviercabello5507]

I understand you love retro games but please don’t give up. I lot of new gamers. This is part of offer and demand. Price will no go down just up.

[@zombee38]

i always thought that is madness to keep adding and adding games every week. If you were assured that you could live 800 years then it would be ok but nope most of us would only reach 80 years old if lucky. I got rid of all those time consuming RPGS so now i just play quick arcade games and i'm happy with that !

[@leeartlee915]

Personally, I think people having entire basements full of games is obscene. How many games can one person even play?

[@matthewgaudet4064]

I'm trying to get Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid 1. Original releases.

[@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader]

Prices are insane. I gave up on retro titles years ago and now the late 90’s and 00’s are shooting up again. N64 common staples are now going for over $50.

[@StefanHomberger]

Yep. Games I would consider common now are $30-$50.

[@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader]

@@StefanHomberger n64 seems to be getting it worst right now. I’ve seen a SSB cart priced at $80, Goldeneye and Starfox $50 range. The local shop had a Bomberman64 2 cart which I know is rare but didn’t know it was worth $235!

[@StefanHomberger]

Around me it has mostly been the PS1, Gamecube, and Dreamcast that have spiked beyond reason. RPGs on any system have as well.

[@jeremywebb9284]

As I get older, now in my mid 40s, I wonder how many more hours I have available to play the massive amount of content I have procured over the years. It's a struggle to enjoy long JRPGs for instance, because I have 3 children who need me more than I need to save a fictional world. I am planning a massive retirement retro gaming lifestyle, but will I really want to do that with the remaining years I have with my wife at that point? These are things I ponder now days. I love my games, and many represent a large value monetarily, however my time increases in value, year after year at a far greater rate.

[@StefanHomberger]

Exactly. As I get older, I get very selective about what I buy & spend my time with. There's no way to play/watch/read/listen to everything that looks interesting. You have to pick & choose.

[@Cody6698]

I saw a copy of Einhänder for the PS1 for 174 dollars. The prices are insane!!! Unless it's a game I really want... I skip the purchase. I think the industry needs to realize the value of nostalgia.

[@MrLivewire1970]

20 years ago I passed on buying Panzer Dragoon Saga for $100 because I thought that was too much. I have my share of rare games but boy do I regret passing on that title.

[@StefanHomberger]

So many games like that. Games that I told myself, "Maybe I'll pick that up someday. It's cheap" that are now worth $100+, and games that I sold years ago for something like $20-$50 bucks that are not worth hundreds.

[@StefanHomberger]

I wish I had picked up the Gamecube version of 'Skies of Arcadia' years ago. I have it on the Dreamcast, but wanted to check out the GC version too. I want it, but I sure as heck don't $200 want it.

[@MrLivewire1970]

I have the same version, I also have Code Veronica on the Dreamcast, but wish I had the Gamecube version too but $200+ is hard to justify. Although I'll probably kick myself years from now if I don't.

[@TurboNutterBastard]

@@MrLivewire1970 Why spend $200 when you already own the best version of the game?

[@Anvity333]

Tons of retro games are available on this generation of systems. I'm fine with my PS4 and occasionally the switch for the rest of my life.

[@RandomTube-is6gt]

I'm just so glad that I built my 3ds collection as I went because the price of 3ds games have skyrocketed. Especially anything Atlus

[@charlieretro]

I’m going after Wii games now because there cheap I wish I did this with the Game Cube games years ago before they went up in price

[@leeartlee915]

My opinion? Used games were traditionally way under priced. Being able to buy a perfectly great cart for $3-5 was insane. Now, games going for over $100 is just as insane but I think that some buyers got lulled into this false sense of what a used game “should” cost.

[@leeartlee915]

Personally, I think we are living in the best time to play retro games at any time in history… it’s just not smart to want the physical media. Think about music. How many people are still buying CDs? Almost no one. Sure, there are the couple of weirdos who have a ton of vinyl records but the majority of us just use streaming. People just need to adjust their thinking. Owning a bunch of plastic is not the same thing as wanting to play older games. It’s materialism, not wanting to play video games.

[@mjcook3922]

Prices won't come down until more people get sick of seeing the insane prices. I quit collecting Nes and Snes a few years ago. I got back into the hobby after a long decade hiatus. Fortunately I bought most of my collection pre 2008 when prices were cheap but I became shell shocked by the prices since 2016. I focus on PS2 and Wii games instead.

[@StefanHomberger]

Sadly, PS2 & Wii prices have gone insane as well. I noticed at least 20 PS2 games in my collection that I bought within the last 10 years that have gone from less then $20 to anywhere from $60-$300!

[@leeartlee915]

I see this comment all the time. “Fortunately I bought when prices were low” is the most pointless comment ever. It’s like saying “Man, I love living in Malibu. Good thing I bought property when it was cheap”. So stupid.

[@mjcook3922]

@@leeartlee915 No. It's good advice. For example start buying PS2- PS4 and Switch games now and after the next gen arrives and pay rock bottom prices before another ridiculous nostalgia wave hits. The same goes for the housing market and the stock market. You buy low and sell high.....not wait until the middle of a sellers market trying to collect when prices are at the peak.

[@leeartlee915]

@@mjcook3922 I mean, sure, I agree: if you are gonna buy something, try to buy it when it’s cheaper. It’s just so obvious that it’s pointless to say. It’s like “you know, you’ll live longer if you don’t get shot”.

[@mjcook3922]

@@leeartlee915 If you want to spend all your money on over priced video games be my guest. That's your strategy. Not the methods of someone a bit smarter. Usually people that give flack on this subject are salty resellers trying to protect their bottom line.

[@ocirontariocryptidinvestig8010]

I know its a random system but keep you're eye out for game cube games those are getting crazy expensive now. people are selling collections smaller then mine for 1000s. but man I don't bother with collecting new games I still prefer older systems

[@StefanHomberger]

Yep, we run an eBay store and always look out for Gamecube.

[@StefanHomberger]

I sold some of my personal Gamecube games for a good amount as well.

[@bringbackmy90s]

I do not believe in modern systems, only the 90s... Yes it is intense to collect, and you cant have it all, its too much, yet part of the experience

[@StefanHomberger]

I prefer older consoles as well, but if a $150 game gets a port for a newer console I can pick up for $20 or so, it doesn't make sense to me to buy the older copy.

[@perryfan49]

Do you have Jackie Chan’s Stuntmaster for PlayStation?

[@StefanHomberger]

I do not. I remember renting it back in the day.

[@misterneckbreaker88]

collectors have the pokemon syndrome 'gotta catch em all' it doesnt help with high profile youtube channels hyping up games. hidden gems, overlooked games, secret good games, underated games. just games can emulate all these retro games boo hoo cant have it physically rotting on a shelf as a trophy.

[@bargaintuesday812]

If the game is digital, it's preserved.