Line goes up??? The state of Japanese game collecting in 2024

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Why are Japanese games so expensive after 10 years? What's going on in the collecting scene in 2024? I talk about this and more...
Response to this video: • My Thoughts On Import ...

[@NinjaChris77]

Many factors play in for sure! One of em is just retrogames getting older and more rare and importing getting more popular with every year. But i do also wanna blame the western mentality when it comes to Retrogame collecting, wich has turned into mainly a money focused thing latley sadly! I see so many people now having youtube channels doing retrogames content just based on what they worth for reselling instead of what the games are about. Western people swarming over to buy cheaply from japan and resell in the US/EU and ofcourse the japanese sellers adapt to that. And i know what im talking about btw, cause i been in the scene since 15+ years and i never seen that many japanese Gameboys, Games, Controllers, ... on my local Cragslist, its craaazy!

[@ROCKMANZORO]

yeah, i've been lurking on the gamecollecting subreddit for like the last 10 years or so and back then you would barely see anyone posting lots/collections with japanese games in there. posts with japanese games definetly increased over the last 2 years to the point where i see one almost everyday. and like you already stated, a lot of 'collectors' see games as an investment rather then enjoying the game for what it is, which is really sad tbh.

[@NinjaChris77]

@@ROCKMANZORO It wasnt like that when i started collecting seriously in like idk, 2012 maybe. It got REAL bad with all that grading hype and all the scam wanna be investors. Its at a point for me where im not even taking it serious anymore, if i find something i dont have for a cheap price, i get it, but its not like back in the day where you can just afford buying retrogames left and right. Like, ... i used to buy OLD GAMES, because they were OLD, and CHEAP! Now it doesnt even matter anymore if you get a old in box game or a new game that released 2 weeks ago.

[@234trhbgfdert]

"... western mentality ... mainly a money focused thing " - wow a really important factor. When I was collecting in 2016, I only bought a few that interested me. Even though I had others with great prices, I didn't buy them. Lately (2020->) everything I see at a great price I take without thinking.

[@MysticGargoyle]

I think the global market changes constantly, and it contributes to many things like economy and so forth. Here in Norway where i live for example, there has been a drastic decline in retro games interest overall. But consoles like the PS3 has picked up steam, because it's harder to emulate and it's still cheap at the moment. Another current factor is that consoles like the Switch, get's re-releases and compilations of old games very often, and can be bought for a fraction of the original retro versions. It's certainly interesting to hear that Japanese retro games has been rising so much lately, good topic!

[@234trhbgfdert]

Hello, in Norway people have problem with space, money for hobbies? They gamers have some againts emulation? (Ex: Prefer real hardware, laws againts emulation)? What is the time line in game history, people starting in Atari, NES, PS1? ( Or maybe start with PC Gaming and move to console in PS2 ?) Sorry for the english, i am just curious about the situation ")

[@MysticGargoyle]

@@234trhbgfdert Well i stated several reasons for that above. Norway is at the top of the world financially, but still people like to get most out of their money. Of course there are still people here that collects old retro games, but it has declined a lot since before and under the pandemic. Reasons for this is mainly that prices has escalated to such high levels, that many don't find it worth purchasing it anymore. Many has moved on to collect for the PS2/PS3 etc, because we can buy those games for cheap unlike Saturn, Megadrive, SNES ++ Then we have consoles like Switch and PS4, they get more retro releases than ever, like remasters, ports and compilations of expensive retro games. That makes the buyer decision much more easy, when it comes to pick up the Switch version of some old game, or pay €500 for the original. Then last we have emulation like the PC, Raspberry Pi and FPGA alternatives like the MISTer.

[@JolliAllGenGamer]

There are a few more consoles I would like to get from Japan, but some are so expensive now like the X68000 or Pikachu N64.

[@thisoldjapanesehouse]

I'm not a collector per se. But when I see a good deal I often take it. When I first came to Japan over a fifteen years ago I picked up an unused Famicom MIB with about 100 boxed games. I still have them and the Famicom is still unused. (got another one for free that was still working so i use it when I play). From time to time I look for games but I've noticed that prices have really really appreciated. Especially for CIB which is really the only way to buy them. 絶対とは言いませんが、ハダカカセットは入らないと個人的に思います。

[@brokenm4n]

Ive been steadily buying classics complete in box with my € at 5-10x less that their PAL release in the same state, for that japanese is still the way. For obscure low print runs, like TCGs and many collectibles, they entered in a collectors market during covid, if you aren’t rich or really interested in the object as a whole, just emulate it !

[@xjaysonzx]

Yeah I agree, and your point about people being able to easily buy and procure Japanese games and have them shipped internationally is unfortunately a huge downside to the collecting scene in my opinion. I enjoy game hunting for specific or interesting things when I go to Japan. I would not want to simply pay some importer for the game because there’s no fun in that. Getting them while there and exploring is all part of the experience and it attaches a very potent memory to that game so that every time I see it in my collection I’ll remember everything else I did on that trip. If left unchecked all the Japanese games will end up outside of Japan lol

[@shinmegamitalks]

Its ok... you can say Pete Dorr.😂 I definitely agree with you J. The market has been shifting due to a combination of youtubers and knowledge outflow hitting youtube. And yes the the party is almost over, i give it another year and a half before it becomes another mainstream thing.

[@234trhbgfdert]

Not just Japanese Games, many people with differents interests are going to Japan

[@fazares]

very true...nowadays ebay is choke full of japanese ebayers...japanese games are quite popular indeed

[@ignskeletons]

American dollars are colonizing the local Japanese retro games. The American copies are prohibitively expensive for some which now look for alternatives like foreign language copies that are cheaper. If enough people do this though it ruins it for locals who now have to compete with much higher prices, especially when USD is outpacing Japan's local currency on exchanges.

[@Lares575]

So, noone is mentioning the fancy car our boy is at? Nice leather seats ;)

[@kurisu3000]

Well, it doesn't help when Western youtubers like you keep making videos about the prices now does it?

[@thisoldjapanesehouse]

Even Japanese KZbinrs comment on it though, to be fair. ファミコンゲーマーきゅうぞう did a good video on this topic a year back.