Why Are Pokemon Games So Expensive?

[@mathewricafrente5984]

Honestly, I'm really happy I managed to get legit copies of Platinum, HeartGold, Black & Black 2 for a total of $210 before the prices got jacked up.

[@ajflink]

I still own Pokémon Emerald when it originally came out with the battery replaced two years ago. For the price of it now, you may as well be getting mugged.

[@derekr3895]

I used to buy DS pokemon games for about $7 each. Even when prices were in their $30s/$40s. There is no shortage of supply for these games so the prices being so high doesn't really make any sense.

[@SeethingSimp]

Why "honestly" - you're not venting some controversial topic

[@lordjaraxxus5418]

@@derekr3895 I blame demand.... Every place I go with Pokémon games tend to sell out within a day of being put out in the storefront.

[@Strashky]

that price is already double what i paid for those 4 together when i bought them. just shows how insane prices became

[@slappykyl3]

It is crazy that games that sold millions of copies are now worth 5x their original price. Especially ones that werent super popular.

[@enthused7591]

The population in 2000 was around 6 billion and it's 8 billion now. It'll be 9 billion in 10 years and Pokemon keeps growing in popularity. Plus as inflation causes cash to be worth less and less, old Pokemon games get lost, broken and trashed every day. It's just like buying an old collectible muscle car. They were $2,500 new but cost $50,000 today. Too many people who have money want one, and only 10% of them are still around.

[@1st_edition]

It's not crazy at all lol and they'll go way higher in the future

[@sharkpyro93]

well its not like every single copy sold is being sold again on ebay listings so theres that, vast majority of copies are realistically went missing or thrown away or people just want to take them to their grave, the thing is only going to get even worse as time passes

[@TheRealxVincent]

​@@sharkpyro93 the good news is emulation exists, so the games can still be experienced by everyone who wants to try

[@MaiSakurajoestar]

I thought I lost my old platinum and soul silver copies a couple years ago, then one day my aunt was vacuuming her house and found my games underneath her couch. Was a happy day to get those back, and relieved I didn’t have to buy new ones.

[@AJGAMING004.]

was the save still there?

[@danny9732]

Similar thing happened to me. Thought I lost my case with my ds and copies of diamond, heart gold, black, white, and white 2. Turns out I had just left the case at my grandmas house and she had it in the cabinet under her tv for years.

[@Friendly_Neigborhood_Astolfo]

I am glad I obtained a copy of emerald from an ex-friend back when I was in 8th Grade, helps with transfering pokemon lol.

[@michaelbrown7455]

You wonder why people are learning how to emulate. It's free, simple to download, and contains features like inserts for cheat codes and speed up that the OG copies don't offer. Not being able to evolve Kadabra is worth the hassle.

[@PaKePo]

Exactly. It always put me off from getting the original games the fact that buying them didn't give you access to the whole game. Even after going through the hassle of trading, some 'mons weren't available unless you got to some event somewhere. Plus these bastards didn't even make these events in all the countries in which they sold the games, so #FuckNintendo.

[@Illeea]

with the gameboy, gameboy colour, gameboy advance and gamecube games, trading is supported by the emulators.

[@Mark_dj86]

You can actually get NTEVO (No trade evolution) patched versions of all the games, so you can even get trade evolution Pokémon playing just by yourself. And on emulators! These patched versions remove the need for trading to evolve a Pokémon, and instead replace it with another condition. Like a normal set level. Or reaching a level while holding an item. No balance is altered, just the need for trading removed!

[@21fabe71]

@@PaKePo f Nintendo but you playing lol

[@SilentHotdog28]

You can evolve trade pokemon in a variety of ways, you could use an R4, transfer game file to R4 card, trade to real game + evolve, then trade back (I discovered this at about 13 years old), copy file from R4 back to PC and Bob's your uncle. You could play on an Emulator that allows you to trade. You could use a rom that has built in evolution changes not requiring trades. You could use a program to change your rom's evolution methods.

[@OliverSkatt03]

“I wanna have fun like I used to 20 years ago” *puts unopened game in a sealed case hoping it is worth more money* Nah bro, you sit on the games. You’re not enjoying them like you used to. 🤣🤣

[@SMCwasTaken]

He probably has a big belly hiding in his body

[@pulser08]

Nothing makes me laugh more than when people "collect" sealed product. Like that's not collecting, it's just long-term scalping.

[@snappysausage]

@@pulser08 If you're broke just say so 🥺

[@aaisusgamingchannel]

@@snappysausage "if you're broke just say so" 🤓found the scalper

[@lukaskidd4621]

Sealed games that are older NEED to be preserved. Also, they will be the new antiques.

[@toxicllama2766]

I just got a modded 3Ds with all of these games, I love having physical copies but 200 per game?? Insanity

[@drdispekful747]

Yeah but 3DS’s can brick. If you have physical copies that’s not a worry

[@otomachiunagi4208]

Any system can brick. This being said, it is easier than ever to hack your 3DS now than it was years ago. Your system doesn’t just brick because it’s hacked- it’s typically caused by user error or a bad install, and if you managed to actually get your firmware backed up, you’re fine. So it’s a non-issue. /info /notnegative

[@awildfurret]

​@drdispekful747 That sounds like skill issue

[@sharkpyro93]

@@awildfurret bro how is an electronic failure a skill issue? sht happens and you know it

[@FelixgreenYT]

​@@sharkpyro93Because if you actually mod Nintendo consoles you know how easy it is and how often bricking a device actually happens. For the sake of your argument, came cartridges do also fail so I'm not really sure what you're getting at. The data on my high speed SD card is 99% as reliable as a cartridge if not more.

[@frostbittenwinds9703]

I bought my friend a $60 copy of Platinum literally weeks before the price inflated astronomically in 2020 and at one very brief point in time I had three of the world's authentic copies of Pokemon Platinum--definitely the highlight of my life!

[@trivie]

Found platinum in a local game store for $40 on the exact day swsh released and I'm so glad I got it. What a steal!

[@SilentHotdog28]

Although not as rare or expensive, my friend found an Ebay seller selling a few boxes of Soul Silver, so we picked one up each, I think they cost about AUD$60 back then and are now like USD$150 I believe.

[@lateusbetelgeuse]

bro I usually don't watch this kind of videos... and now I remember why. I felt asleep watching youtube and woke up with your video on and now I feel like I have to spend hundreds of dollars before it has to be thousands in a few years. nevertheless very enlightening your last comment, I'm definitely going for it cuz they're still very cheap (I got my sealed pearl for $22 on ebay a week ago)... it's now or never

[@Anthony-uz5tj]

Nintendo share holders should sue. they are wasting resources fighting copyright in court when they could just port the games for a decent price to switch like its just insane at this point a company hates its customers so bad

[@konata8657]

the way I see it if the game isn't available as a rerelease or something like a virtual console by the publisher and the only way to get it is through secondary market with insane prices there's nothing wrong with pirating the game. or if it's a Nintendo game because that company is one of the worst gaming companies out there

[@guilhermecaiado5384]

Absolutelly not They should reprint the original cartridges and implement retrocompatibility on consoles. Nintendo DS is the most sold handheld because of the retrocompatibility with GBA. Just like PS2 is the most sold table console because of retrocompatibility with PS1 (and the ability to play DVD)

[@Anthony-uz5tj]

@@guilhermecaiado5384 i use my ds more then switch its an amazing console

[@alanbrizan]

there is one problem to that pokemon ds games are 2 screen games switch has one screen

[@Mark_dj86]

​@@alanbrizanMost of the 2nd screen features on Pokémon games can easily be integrated in a single screen though. Like they did in BD SP. That would of course then require a remake, and not just a port of the old game. And emulators allow you to switch between top and bottom screen by a simple button click. This would be easy to do on the switch as well, as it also has a touch screen.

[@kevinnguyen3389]

Crazy how much the prices have sky rocketed. I got a complete LeafGreen in 2017/2018 for $30 (here in Canada). In just a few years, I've seen complete Pearl/Diamond go from $30 to $65

[@jeanpitre5789]

I bought Heartgold in 2013 for like 45 bucks as a loose used cartridge and thought that was a ripoff because it was used, but now I think it's like over 120+ bucks.

[@sovietninja6865]

People are artificially raising the prices out of greed

[@kurs3d280]

I got a near new open box sapphire at a pawn store for 5$ I was so hyped and it was a real copy

[@alicefox7076]

I know for some people having “real” carts are a big deal but I’m WAY happy with my 208 in 1 cartridge that I got for like $20 that includes ALL DS Pokémon games and haven’t had any save problems

[@xrthvr4108]

It has a time bomb and one day it’s gonna stop running games, I suggest you take the SD card out and save the .SAV files routinely once a month

[@alicefox7076]

@@xrthvr4108 nope, had it over 6 years my guy 1 of which was spent in my car in the hot Nevada summer heat…ZERO ISSUES

[@frostjack5456]

​@@xrthvr4108or install ysmenu

[@alicefox7076]

@@xrthvr4108 wrong! Had it over 6 years with no problems

[@JtwasLuck]

@@xrthvr4108 he can also install YSMenu to get rid of the timebomb (if it has one).

[@johnradford1148]

I wonder how feasible it would be for Game Freak or Nintendo to reprint and reissue Gameboy and DS cartridges. Like not make new remakes, but literally reprint new copies of old games. Yeah I imagine that the proprietary hardware and factory tooling to reprint decades old games have long been retired, but given the outrageous prices in the second hand market, there is a sizable market and demand that I think would justify whatever trouble it would be. Plus this would help crackdown on counterfeit and bootleg copies and emulators (no hate to the emulators, Nintendo literally gives us no choice😭). Sure there’s the Virtual Console, but there is an untapped retro physical market.

[@drunkenmmamaster419]

Nintendo is one of the most greedy gaming companies out there , they’d never do something like that 😂

[@Ornithopter470]

That's the thing, there's actually not a significant market for these games. It looks like there is, because the games are expensive, but that's because there are not many people actually selling them. The current price spike is due to the aftershocks of the pandemic and the resurgence of the 3ds as it went EoL.

[@PJNyte]

Everyone should just get a ds or 3ds, mod it, and you can play any game up to the ds/3ds. AND it won't be emulated, as the console will treat it as if it were native, (at least on 3ds consoles, not sure on ds) meaning you can transfer pokemon up through gens.

[@erica1399]

Dsi or 3ds is amazing for this, both easy to hack due to having an (micro)sd card, and indeed run all perfectly, play them like this all the time now despite having most games originally, pokemon white bricked due to age I guess (despite older ds games still working), heartgold has difficulty being loaded, lost black 2, not worth replacing those for what real copies cost, especially seeing as how they don't live forever either, if any friend wants to buy and play these games I'll hack their dsi/3ds and just get the games on there, no point spending hundreds on aging game carts that may end up dying like my white did, like the ds is getting older now too, 2004/2005, that means the earliest ds game carts are approaching 20 years in age, the best way to continue to play these games imo is on a hacked dsi/3ds.

[@erica1399]

Old ds, more difficult to hack/mod due to not having an sd card slot, I guess something could possibly maybe be done with an r4 card, but those are pretty unreliable too, best imo is just getting a dsi or 3ds for this.

[@sploosh0627]

I lucked out, in 2012 I got a loose copy of fire red for $20 but I've gotten the games as they came out since gen 4 and it's a bummer seeing the price shoot up. my suggestion for anyone trying to play gens 1-7 is to just buy a 3ds and homebred it.

[@erica1399]

For gens 1 to 5 (1 - 3 cannot trade) if someone has a dsi it can also work very well, is just as easy to hack/mod and even easier to put games on, but yes 3ds is the best overall.

[@ajflink]

It's almost impossible to get it from online auctions, especially on Ebay, most times below 200 USD because within the last 24 hours. They will delist the item and immediately start a new bidding with a slightly higher starting bid. It's stupid! If you want X amount of money for something, just but that price up for someone to just buy instead of auctioning. Seriously, I got very close to getting Pokémon Platinum factory sealed for only around 165.50 USD. Then, within 3 hours of the auction ending. They delist the item and auction it off again with a slightly different page and one extra image starting at 15 USD more than the original auction. To make matters worse, these auctioneers tend to complain about people complaining about defects in this supposed mint condition items. You posted it as New or Brand New. You have no excuse for people calling you out.

[@jeanpitre5789]

Why is delisting an auction allowed? That seems like it should be grounds for banning an account.

[@ajflink]

@@jeanpitre5789 No idea.

[@TheReZisTLust]

​​@@jeanpitre5789in case someone mistakenly put the wrong info is my guess

[@Juuchan17]

I'm glad I got my copies of mostly all the DS games back when I was able to, like in the late 2000s/early 2010s for decent prices (around $30 for each legit cartridge). This isn't counting the ones I played, but lately I make sure to get the Double Pack on opening night for any two-game generation.

[@cliffturbo2146]

I wish I could go back in time and get them. I now have Soulsilver (A friend of mine gave it to me), but I have more nostalgia for Heartgold for some reason😆

[@MSDGAMEZ]

Youre why people emulate

[@निपुण]

Emulation aint bad cuz i dont want to pay 150$ for like pokemon fire red i just want to play the game and i dont care for physical copy

[@chef_hood]

Emulating is the best. . U can trade between yourself to get the evolves u want and save to a PC and never lose ur teams. . Emulating is THE BEST

[@RikuGenshin]

@@chef_hoodreally how can you trade with yourself cause i just started emulation?

[@chef_hood]

@@RikuGenshin what kind of device are you looking to play on first off

[@RikuGenshin]

@@chef_hood im playing on pc using desmume

[@animosity3771]

ain’t no way bro pressuring us to buy BOTH versions of BDSP 💀

[@SkywalkerOne1977]

XD I loved those games

[@RealClintCapela]

I bought them out of free will before hand (bought a switch to play BD (as diamond was my first ever Pokemon game which I still own though the cartridge label peeled off), then I liked it and bought SP and even sword (which I didn’t enjoy). Also bought let’s go eevee on the eshop, which I regret not buying in person but it was during the holiday season when no shops were open 😅

[@Holy_Crusader]

Bdsp shipped with an entire post game locked behind a day one patch and content missing from the base game, incomplete midi music. It’s really never going to go up in value atleast bdsp will never go up in value. Legends arceus or the legends series games definitely seem to be the type of Pokémon games that will jump up in value drastically, probably even more so then the ds or Gameboy games. Bdsp will never jump up in value simply due to the condition the games shipped in. If generation 3 gets another remake or if generation 5 gets a remake in the style of bdsp it may go up in value (but that depends if the game is complete by the time it ships in store shelves. Reason bdsp came in incomplete condition is because they didn’t have time to update the cartridges before release and had to meet a deadline to have the cartridges up ready for release, plus bdsp only had 1 year of development, it barely got as much development time as legends arceus. But if the next ILCA style remakes are released in good condition then those games may jump up in value, but bdsp will never jump up in value simply due to the horrible condition the physical cartridges released in.

[@Holy_Crusader]

Also while legends games will go up in value, the most valuable legends games will be the revised cartridges, for example I have a revised cartridge of legends arceus that contains the daybreak update on the cartridge so that will be higher valued loose copy then a random sealed copy of legends arceus because you can’t tell if you have a revised cartridge or not unless you open the game and unseal it to check the back of the cartridge. So a loose copy of a revised cartridge of legends arceus will be worth then a sealed copy of legends arceus or a loose copy of legends arceus that is not a revision and does contain the additional free dlc content on the cart (so in other words a day one loose released cartridge of legends arceus will be worth less then a loose copy of a revised legends arceus cartridge that contains the free update on the cartridge.

[@MelancholyJoker19]

I mean, he's kinda right. Especially since they're out of print so fast (in comparasion to other games)

[@MaxihVG]

I'm glad I started collecting the pre-switch Pokémon games just for pure love to the franchise. Never thought the prices would be these high

[@rileyk5228]

Sealing and grading games is so absurdly idiotic

[@iframes2d]

I agree 100%

[@Ningsoong]

​@@s2dI agree 200%

[@SMCwasTaken]

Fr It's basically people gaslighting themselves into thinking a sealed box is worth 1000 bucks

[@OttonFilms]

really depends. An extremely good condition of any game that is 20+ years SHOULD be perserved. 5 million US copies only, 90% of those are now lose and beat up, I bet the percentage of really good condition CIB or sealed pokemon games are in the 1-3%. I constanly play through my games, with emulation now why run the risk of damaging a very good collectable? Its a sort of unpopular opinion but I think it's idiotic to have a simplistic ideology to view CIB/Sealed games as anything more than a collectors item. If you really, really want to play the game with original hardware there are TONS of loose copies going for a fraction of the price of CIB or sealed games. People who are trying to actually play the game aren't paying for CIB/sealed copies lol. I grade games that will never be opened, and are very collectable items. Not to scalp them or resell, just to catelog and keep them safe. Finally, grading works as a system to show conidtion differences. Out of all the CIB copies that survived a child not completely destroying them, one that has high coesmetic damage, should not be put in the same price range as a prestine condtition box. Just like overpay for a low mileage very clean collectable car is much higher than a car that is rusted and high milage. No one is taking away from your ability to play the titles.

[@aporue5893]

@@SMCwasTaken I don't think any game is worth that much [my opinion]

[@primecalibur]

Flash carts are a solid option to play things on the hardware, cheaper than picking up game after game

[@enthused7591]

I've resorted to buying replicas, but if Pokemon would just give us physical re releases of 2010 and older games at $39.99 they'd make a quick billion dollars lol. Hopefully they understand that and put something together. I'd go spend $1,000 on physical games if they released everything from red version through Platinum again

[@somerandomguy8541]

It's not the same for me tbh

[@AJGAMING004.]

@@somerandomguy8541well what can you do these days 😔

[@thelegacyofgaming2928]

@@enthused7591 I only want gen 1 - 3, Gen 4 isn't that special tbh, and I can still play on 3ds, along with the better gen 5 games.

[@enthused7591]

@@thelegacyofgaming2928 I agree that gen 1-3 is the best, but I think newer generations have a lot of character as well and as time goes on and even newer, open world games that feel like they're 4k or 8k 120 fps come out, I think even games that we consider modern today will have a ton of draw and charm to them. I just started Pokemon Shield and I already like it more than most reviews give it credit for. It's a beautiful game.

[@Awesome_Dawson_Films_Official]

One of the biggest mistakes of my life was trading in a legit Pokémon Platinum for $15... Now I'm trying to get a legit copy.

[@ChfHappySack]

I got pokemon emerald when it first came out when I was 10. Played the hell out of it and loved it. A few years later I kinda just fell out of pokemon so I sold it for $5 to some neighborhood kid. Many years later, 2016, I wanted to relive my childhood experience. I bought an authentuc copy for $35. I'm SO GLAD that I did now that I see it sells for $200-$250. I also have an authentic Leaf Green I purchased (also 2016) from a local game shop for $20. It currently sells for about $100. I have a mini investment in 2 simple gameboy cartridges holding a 5Mb file each, valued at $350. That's insane.

[@phillipbotter6470]

Lemme know if anyone buys that for how much yall think its worth lmfao. Shits worth 25 cents. Millions of these games were made. Supply and demand my ass yall are on crack.

[@ChfHappySack]

@@phillipbotter6470 Just went to ebay and searched "Pokemon Emerald Authentic". Filtered the results by sold items. I just saw 10+ listings sold for $190. Eat my ass.

[@SMCwasTaken]

DON'T invest in Pokemon games You're enabling scalpers

[@dellstudio10]

@@phillipbotter6470People do buy them for that much. That’s why the prices are so high. The market determines the value and the market has valued these games at there current price. If they weren’t selling for hundreds of dollars they wouldn’t be listed for hundreds of dollars. Supply and demand is real. If there were more copies available than buyers then the prices wouldn’t be so high. The people that want to own these games outpaces the supply which created the high prices.

[@ultifur]

​@@SMCwasTakenI realised nobody actually hates scalpers, they hate that they can't get involved in the racket

[@Transientimage]

I think the 3DS games will really start to take off in the next year or two. Even the Japanese versions as they have multiple languages on the cart. But games like BDSP I dont think will ever be expensive given the poor reception and the fact a day 1 patch is required for the game to even run at a decent state and unlock many of the features like the underground and contests. Being that the SWSH DLC included games sold so poorly I think those games will be the last pokemon games to ever reach a truly high physical price as the all digital future will be upon us by the next decade.

[@jadon1400]

Then somehow Scarlett and Violet in 20 or 30 years will be 100+ or something😂

[@vitgerivaz]

The problem is that with current generations, You cannot get the whole game on the cartridge. The "Complete" version of pokemon SV only includes the 1st DLC on cartridge and a code for the second. Unless there are future reprints, you will never be able to get the full gen 9 games on a cartridge.

[@filiporvik2782]

I do get wanting the boxes and papers etc, but I’ll never understand collecting games I like in shiny boxes I can’t open to play them. That’s the whole point.

[@teamofone1219]

It’s because of an artificial scarcity not many people are willing to sell their games or don’t even know they have them laying around the house. Resellers are taking advantage of this so they can charge whatever they want and collector will pay any price even if they know it’s bs.

[@ganymedehedgehog371]

No it’s actual scarcity. Artificial scarcity would be if there was a secret stockpile of games that could satisfy demand but is held regardless. There’s more people that want copies than there are people willing to sell their copy.

[@Qwerty10254]

Sounds like very real scarcity to me

[@guilhermecaiado5384]

No, its how the world works. A MClaren F1 is worth 16 million pounds now, and used to be sold by less than 1. Works of art can reach infinite, you cant just buy monalisa. A rare thing that people want costs more Just like a diamond, a real big one is rare and expensive, but a fake one can be made to cut glass as a tool. But to games, the companies could make more and make consoles compatible, and keep preservation, like is being made with movies. But they choose the greed route

[@decegrease]

My man is sitting on a $50 chair holding like a grand in old Pokémon games lol

[@lukaskidd4621]

*A* grand? In his hand, yeah, probably. Behind him? Way more.

[@decegrease]

@@lukaskidd4621 ye that's why I said "holding"

[@ultifur]

They're worth a grand to the small minority of people that would pay that, it's like art collection, the value is in the heads of the community that indulges in that hobby, it's a fake value. to me who enjoys the actual games, it is a free .gba file Google search away that then goes onto my £60 emulation handheld

[@S33A2T1AN]

It is for this reason I will be forever grateful to my old co-worker, who straight up gave me his old dsi with Pokémon Platinum, Pearl, White, Soulsilver and Pokemon Ranger FOR FREE. Even after I tried to pay him for it, he never wanted my money. I’ll always be forever grateful for you, Alan. I can’t see myself ever parting ways with these copies (unless they one day sell for $100,000 each or something lol)

[@heyNathanielCS2]

The reason why prices are going up on random video games are because of greedy resellers not because people want to play them at all.

[@Qwerty10254]

Resellers are selling to actual people willing to pay those prices. It's supply and demand. You can't possibly believe this thing is happening due to resellers alone and not buyers as well

[@heyNathanielCS2]

@@Qwerty10254 I didn’t think about it that way I wish people didn’t buy the game then when it’s $200 oh well.

[@Qwerty10254]

@j.d.714 ah I see, supply and demand doesn't exist. Gotcha

[@Akuxz]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@j.d.714 S&D DOES exist in the second-hand market, Einstein. It doesn’t take a genius or some bullshit economy course to come to that realization. Look at any second hand Pokemon game right now and tell me if you find an CIB copy at MSRP. Since everyone wanted their hands on some of these older games, prices skyrocketed immediately, ESPECIALLY when the pandemic hit.

[@jadon1400]

​@@Qwerty10254Yeah cause sadly some people would willing pay 200+ for a slice of nostalgia

[@CopingContinuous]

I think you let the scalpers and sealed collectors off the hook. YALL ruining it for the rest of us.

[@add69420]

So you buy 2 of each and keep one in the sealed box?

[@CSLow_]

When the pandemic hit, I decided to use it as an opportunity to play through my copy of Emerald and recapture a little of that childhood wonder. Then, I thought it would be cool to raise a team and carry them through to the subsequent generations and play through those newer Pokemon games I never experienced; make my pandemic a sort of exciting, nostalgic adventure/challenge. I traveled to various game stores around where I live and bought myself a DS, 3DS, and a copy of Platinum, X, Black 2, and Ultra Moon. Blows my mind finding out years later how valuable and sought after these games are, but for me the true value of these games are in actually playing and experiencing them.

[@needszeebs6942]

Honestly, the thing I think a lot of people miss is that Pokemon games have always been kinda expensive (at least relative to the other games for said system). I remember buying a loose Sapphire cartridge in like 2010 from a flea market for like $30-$40 CAD. My Silver cart I bought in 2016 for $40. And I got a loose copy of HG in like 2019 for around $60. What's interesting to me is that some games have a significantly wider gap between loose and CIB. Like RBY for example, carts are pretty cheap around $40 but CIB in good condition can be upwards of $400. Whereas Emerald carts are like $200 and CIB is around $500-$600. I think the games that have more expensive carts are games people actually have interest in playing, whereas some of the older CIB games are collection pieces, rather than actually intended to be played (RBY/GSC)

[@quiethate]

Me sitting here getting these games for free on an App Store app.

[@AKRosarioMusic]

How much I’ve spent on each game so far: game/ game case = total $1,443/ $256.13 = $1,699.13 🔵$75 Sapphire/ $10.99 🔴$125 Fire Red/ $10.99 🟢$140 Emerald/ $10.99 🩷$70 Pearl w/case n manual ♥️$125 Platinum/ $54.49 💛$125 Heart Gold/ $54.94 ⚫️$113 Black w/case n manual ⚪️$85 White w/ case n manual ⚫️$145 Black 2/ $42.95 💙$25 X/ $17.01 🔵$25 Alpha Sapphire/ $13.49 🧡$25 Sun/ $14.95 🧡$40/$25 Ultra Sun x2/ $12.99 💙$60 Sword/ $12.34 🔴$40 Shield w/ case n manual GBA cases r custom made cause I’m not paying for that, the rest of the causes r authentic and with manuals

[@TheGodKingOfMusic]

Honestly don’t care if I’m playing a reproduction cartridge or not. I can’t even tell. When you have kids and a family to support but still want to enjoy some Pokémon in spare time, it’s the way to go

[@MarioMasterProductions]

Scott the Woz: "Nintendo" *gets punched in the face*

[@mavrickwatts4030]

I'm a "Gen Oner" but also a shelf collector of Pokemon games. I may not like all of the games/Pokemon but it gives me the nostalgia hit from my childhood back when times where simpler. Same for the cards.

[@edmundandlucy]

I would love a copy of XD Gale of Darkness for Gamecube but the price is so high. Hoping one day for a port of Colosseum and Gale of Darkness for Switch

[@alucard8433]

I got mine a few years ago for 80$ i felt like i got ripped off but kinda glad i only paid that much now lol.

[@philip0544]

Colosseum and XD will never come back, calling it. I'm pretty sure they're the last games tpci would ever rerelease, they don't even like to acknowledge that they exist at all.

[@Omar-uj9xw]

As a proud owner of Silver/Gold/Crystal, Black 2, and Gale of Darkness, I see this as an absolute win 😭🙏

[@pokezillafan312]

Unfortunately my old silver save file got corrupted from the battery dying, I never got BW2 bc I thought Pokémon was for children at that time and my XD disappeared somewhere 😢

[@thelegacyofgaming2928]

I have all pokemon games on cartridge up until the Nintendo Switch. The Switch games are abysmal, and even gen 6 and 7 aren't very good. But the first 5 generations are pure gold. Will sit on those forever :)

[@kh2rp671]

I just got into these pokemon stuff, I was cleaning some drawers and found some game my boys used to play. I'm a ebay reseller and looking for stuff to sell, I found atleast 7 pokemon games. I will keep it now instead of selling.

[@krispychiken5279]

It's worse cause in a few years the 3ds Pokemon games are gonna go for the same prices for no reason, also thank you for showing me Buyee as I've been able to find Japanese Pokemon games for cheap!

[@ilovepepperpizza3152]

Black and white are alr going up to those prices

[@AGS0918]

I feel terrible about having tossed my boxes for Gen 1 through 3 as a kid. It wasn’t until 3ds carts that it remotely looked like keeping the cases was important.

[@supersayianshrek5455]

I'm not paying $1000 for a game I can steal and play on multiple devices for free.

[@ronalburgos3855]

Insane I got pokemon fire red and left green at target for 19.99 each. Even today May 14 2024 I still have them even the boxes. Emerald Rudy Sapphire I got them all those years from e-bay all originals but there were way cheaper then

[@Jesse12489]

Nobody asked you.

[@lynnietoes]

facts

[@takcleberry]

@@Jesse12489 cope

[@VanJR.]

Which is why this wouldn’t apply to you

[@SkullServant98]

I bought my cart of Pokémon Crystal in the mid 2000s from an older kid on my school bus for $5 - a Ziploc bag full of quarters lmao

[@Dhilan100]

As someone who just wants to play games I think emulators are perfectly fine. I do have the legit versions as I grew up with pokemon but the battery doesn't work on most and my save files on ds games have to be checked often so the flash doesn't forget it.

[@TheFriskySquid]

My original Platinum version was lost for 9 years. My mom found it while cleaning up the basement. I'll never know how it ended up there, as I always put my games back in the cases, but I cherish the Pokemon on that cartridge to this day. Just so happens I found a Platinum version at a church sale for $10 a few weeks before my old one was found, so now I have two. Pokemon games are pretty common, but very rare to find at anything below ebay price. Even the prices in this video are outdated, gen 1/2 games go for $50 to $60 now instead of $40. Last year Crystal was $100 now I regularly see them at $160.

[@yaycupcake]

I grew up with Pokemon in the 90s and have all the old mainline games up through the 3DS era physical, except LeafGreen which sadly I lost as a kid. I used to have some of the spinoffs but my parents made me sell them if I wanted to the new games... Sucks because that only got me maybe $20 but if I had them now, I could get much more for them. I kind of want to pick up copies of the old games I don't have, as well as a hard copy of the Switch titles, but I'm also not really a huge collector type, and don't have a ton of disposable money to throw around. That said, if I want to play the old games again, I'm fortunate enough to be able to read Japanese well enough to play one of those copies with no issue. I actually played SoulSilver and Black in Japanese before they came out in English (I think I bought copies at an anime convention) and I did totally fine, and I'm significantly better at Japanese than I was back then. If I do want to pick up old games, I'll honestly probably go with the Japanese versions.

[@colinkamoda9502]

I hate myself for selling all my Nintendo mobile stuff when I was 13. I had crystal, silver, yellow, red, emarld pearl, platinum, and dozens of other games. Had the DS Lite with a carring case, tons of accessories and everything I had was as close to mint as you can get. I sold it for around 35 bucks to purchase the Wii, gamestop, of course.

[@_stardustcolors]

i used to have cartridges of both black and white when i was little (iirc i was given black and my brother was given white) but i don't have them anymore (i lost black a very long time ago and lost white along with my old broken 2ds a few years ago too), so since i now have a new modded 2ds (same model and colour as my old one, original model in pink and white) i've just resorted to piracy atp (please don't crucify me)

[@Calruxio]

When i was a kid i would always get the newest mainline pokemon game and several side games. Over the years i only missed out on Blue, Silver, Crystal, Soulsilver, and Black 2. I still need to get Blue, Silver, and Crystal but i got Soulsilver and Black 2 a couple years ago. I got Soulsilver CIB, pokewalker for a good price (150 i think) and i got a rare untouched copy of Black 2 CIB and came with it's preorder bonus coin. It was a sealed copy but its seal was broken. The plastic layer was ripped off at the corner. The game box was perfectly fine and i picked that up at about $200. I still need some of the more obscure side titles for my collection though.

[@asl6304]

Without the pandemic factor being at play (with people thinking the world was imminently ending and that they would be stuck indoors and so, should have something nostalgic), I can only think of the current Pokemon games' quality and inflation being the cause of still very high prices. I hope at some point to get Black 2 US version with case and manual just for the completionist in me and at around $25 which I'm pretty sure is not happening anytime soon lol.

[@Katieluv2sing18]

Dude i've been asking this question for years! Thank you for this video!

[@PelucheProductions]

I don't have a CIB emerald but, I am happy getting a NFR version with a metroid fusion NFR together at a deal. I even managed to get a SoulSilver pokewalker CIB copy for half of what they go for nowadays, was even nearly all brand new no damage either. So I am happy on that (:

[@lukecruz3336]

One thing I do, it’s rlly rare but people will trade in their games to gamestops for a quick buck. And GameStop doesn’t sell them for resell but pretty close to retail. Just got lucky and got myself a copy of firered for $45

[@markmontes4736]

As a kid I had everything between leaf green up to black and white (including spin offs). Then my idiot self left my ds with case full of games on a bench at the mall within a store and while I was still in the store someone swiped it by the time I walked back across the store, a sad day indeed

[@Marcos0ne]

Thanks man, I still have them

[@cyndawu1940]

Around 2018, I got a copy of Pokemon Emerald for only 20 pounds at CEX UK. I also got Heartgold around 40 pounds in 2019 there too. Its crazy to see how these games have their prices increased so much in just a few years.

[@kalasatwater2224]

Not where I live, I can find them in second hand stores or flee markets for $50 pesos, that's about $3 US dollars haha

[@philip0544]

All fake cartridges, guaranteed.

[@RobotGuy405]

bdsp specifically are already becoming quite spotty when it comes to availability. Anytime I see a Switch game sale with them included they're likely the first 2 games that sell out. The 3DS games as well are all already going for about what they retailed for when they were new, which is only going to go up with the eShop closure.

[@sarielgrace]

I got my white, white 2, alpha sapphire, platinum, and pearl for a little less than $200 from Gamestop from 2016/2017. My brother still has his Emerald and Leaf Green from the original release. Pokemon Yellow was my first pokemon game ever.

[@SamuelSarette]

Good video, like nails on chalk hearing "Pokémon" pronounced with that long E sound.

[@expiredmilk09]

I found a legit Platinum copy that looks brand new, with a manual, and a working game, all for $40 at half price books. This was back in 2021, when the spike had already been in place. I got really lucky. Now I'm just trying to complete my collection by finding and buying missing cases for my games.

[@WarVeteran213]

I have a copy of yellow and silver version if I sold them how much would you think they would be

[@mohimbrood5787]

Complete in box i would say $130-$160 for silver and $200-$250 for yellow. Loose carts i would say $30 for silver and $40 for yellow.

[@idude-tl4pv]

Actually managed to find a game store selling an authentic copy of Pkmn Emerald (Just the cartridge.) for roughly a hundred and twenty bucks. The label was very worn out and it had a hard time reading in my gba. Game store seemed to think it was defective. I popped it open cleaned it and replaced the clock battery (easiest thing to fix.) it now works like it’s brand new. Sometimes you just got to be willing to take a close look.

[@KenjiRyuma90]

I never understood why. Pokémon games have millions of copies sold. I have my originals but I also made repros for my children so they can experience the classic without fear of being stolen.

[@louisebarker3731]

my first pokemon game was yellow in 1998 at age 15. i was a on and off pokemon game buyer till the ds era where i started buying both versions.i’m so glad i bought all the pokemon gb era off the eshop before it closed because a year after it closed i found my original pokemon silver gb cartridge battery had died.😢

[@PaKePo]

8:09 Same, Gold and Silver had my pear yellow Chikorita.

[@ranproxy6912]

I'm so happy I decided to buy HeartGold at GameStop a few years back. As far as I can tell, it's real. Passed the light test and everything. It was about $45.

[@hannah60000]

Was it loose? Not too bad, but ridiculous if it was loose…

[@ArceusRules]

Thank you for this. I appreciate the explanation of this And it makes me more aware of this for my future. Great video. Would love to see more like this.

[@PURPLE_G0J0]

I’m glad I bought every Pokémon game I didn’t own from Gen 1 up to Gen 8 during the first month of the worldwide Covid pandemic lockdown. I needed something to keep my occupied so I decided to complete my collection. It wasn’t until June 2020 when the prices started to get into the triple digits, I got mine in April so I got lucky bc the most expensive game I paid for was a $60 scratched up heart gold cartridge.

[@PURPLE_G0J0]

These were the prices I got my games for: Original Japanese Green - $6 Original Japanese Red - $10 Pokémon Blue - $15 Pokémon Gold - $15 Pokémon Silver - $15 Pokémon Crystal- $20 Japanese Pokémon Ruby- $10 Japanese Pokémon Sapphire - $10 Pokémon Emerald - $30 Pokémon Fire Red - $20 Japanese Pokémon Diamond - $35 Pokémon HeartGold - $60 Japanese Pokémon Black - $45 Pokémon Black 2 - $55 Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu- $45 Pokémon Sword - $50 Everything else that isn’t listed I had already owned from my childhood. What I bought was only the cartridge except for the switch games. I paid for really good box replicas of the games on Etsy for about $5 each, I don’t care if it’s not the original box I just like having something physical.

[@birdofclay9581]

I was happy to come across a copy of Pokémon X for about 25 € last year. Both box and cartridge looked kinda beaten, but the game ran just fine. Nowadays I´m generally more of a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon guy. I got Blue Rescue Team in box about a decade ago (and recently replayed it), bought Super Mystery Dungeon back when it came out in 2016 and found Gates to Infinity for about 10 € (cartridge only) last year. Still haven´t played any of the Explorers games; people always recommend Explorers of Sky, but the prices for that one specifically are rough.

[@johndixonkingdom]

My sons first Pokemon game is scarlet and now he's hooked. He wants to play the old games. Good job i grew up with Pokemon and own them all.

[@PhilippeSymons]

To be honest, I don't particularly care whether it's an authentic copy at these prices. But what I do care about is that: - transferring pokemon to the next gen works - connectivity to games like pokemon colosseum/XD works - The clock RTC works If you can sell a repro that does all of this, I'm buying. However, for the GBA, I've heard the ez-flash omega definitive edition flash cart can do all of these things. Therefore I will probably look at that. For DS games, I think the reproduction carts probably work fine as the DS has its own clock

[@Manueltion15]

I got Pokémon silver on the 3ds back when the EShop was still open. I wish I could get other ones that way

[@TheeJPH]

I remember buying diamond, pearl and platinum for 40 dollars 5 years ago. Now its like 60 for just one of them

[@flummy1692]

I forget how much money pokemon makes… even more annoying how low quality(especially in comparison to the amount of money it makes) they are, obviously not all of their profits go into their development, it probably pays most the salaries of Nintendo works and the development of other games and probably even keeps the lights on too😭, dunno why Nintendo even cares to shutdown the servers of the DS and Wii when they definitely have a surplus of money for the servers

[@parkourguyyy]

I felt unbelievably happy when I picked up a copy of heartgold for $60 at the beginning of the pokemon go craze. only one gamestop in my area had it, and I still have it to this day though I dont play it anymore

[@ironbloodedmyth1204]

I got lucky but mainly it was all through the 2010s when prices were still low but HG and SS would not budge below $40 even back then. Emerald:$15 Leaf Green: $20 (Counterfeit) Ruby and Sapphire:Free 😂 Colleseum:$25 XD Gale of Darkness:$18 Platinum:$25 Battle Revolution:$10 White:$25 Black/White 2: $25 and $35 Conquest:$10 HG and SS:$40 each ....yup they became way overpriced even the old carts after they were rereleased on 3DS but now since the store is down they have gone back up.

[@danielcm4237]

I remember back in 2019 when I bought Pokémon White + Pokémon FireRed (loose) for 303 reais, which converting to dollars is around $60,00

[@marioaugustoribeiro619]

Eu já tinha uma cópia do SS, e White. Aí uns 7 anos atrás eu fui atrás de pegar os que faltavam da terceira e quarta geração. Que sorte que eu acabei dando, pq hoje os preços estão altíssimos kkkkk

[@danielcm4237]

@@marioaugustoribeiro619 Rpz, vc deu sorte msm kkkkkk Da Gen 5 pra trás tudo encareceu. Dos jogos de DS, os que eu peguei foi o Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver, White e Black 2

[@marioaugustoribeiro619]

@@danielcm4237 No momento eu ando revirando a casa procurando onde tá um Emerald original que comprei do meu amigo por 50 conto, espero que n tenha perdido, se n vai ser triste kkkkk.

[@TheSkinnyZ]

I have pretty much at least one game of every generation until the end of the 3DS era. Recently bought a used cartridge only Platinum for 60€ because I never had it back then and felt nostalgic.

[@SlipYoke6081x]

I’m pretty fortunate to have started collecting these games for a while. My platinum is the the one I’ve had the longest, I picked up Crystal from a local shop that was unfortunately going out of business at the start of 2020, $30 or $40 for my sister who didnt play it so I asked for it and got it back lol. Fire Red on ebay, bought a fake, forced the guy to give me a refund and I got a real copy. Leaf Green and Sapphire all came off ebay in 2021. I received another copy of leaf green instead of a poor copy of emerald by mistake so I returned it and the guy sent me a nicer condition cartridge which was really cool. Heart Gold, Platinum, White and Black 2 my sister had for me, I had those with my first stint of pokemania in 2013 or so. I got those back. Black I got from gamestop for $60 but decent. White 2 off ebay, price was a little better back then, sorry guys. I had the entire gen 5, most of gen 3 and what I think matters of gen 4, the 3ds games are still inexpensive but now I want a couple mystery dungeon games on ds.

[@OrderedToThrash]

Been collecting for a long time. I was looking when finding CIB copies of emerald or FR/LG for 50/60 bucks wasnt uncommon and I regret so much passing up on them for reasons like condition cuz prizes are crazy now. For context, in one purchase, I scooped up Black 2, Soul Silver, and Platinum for $40. All CIB except SS which was missing the big cardboard box but that's it. Back then I was like "cool I got a deal" but looking back, in retrospect, it honestly blows my mind. Heed this man's word. Please.

[@perryb3263]

I wonder if part of the reason too, is so many like me who 31, never sold their Pokemon games, and intends to keep them till death, as just recently I bought replacement save batteries, as the ones in the 2nd gen games, do to the clock/ aka RTC, lasted 12-15 years if lucky, where as 1st gen batteries can last up to about 35 years if lucky, and while on that subject, the 3rd gen Pokemon games use a cart battery only for the clock, so that battery going dead alone, wont erase your 3rd gen data, just that the games have game play issues without a working clock battery

[@Pawl0solidus]

For me one of the best ways to buy cheap pokémon games was buying japanese versions, specially because I've been studying japanese for sometime and it would help me practice more of my reading and learn the language in a fun way, the same I did when I was learning english with video games.

[@MLPGamer44]

Even in 2007, my mom got me a emerald cartridge, which was an Australian bootleg and would crash or freeze. I can’t imagine trying to ding an authentic emerald copy today.

[@Trixie_Lavender]

I have Emerald, Red Rescue Team, HG, and SS with their boxes 😱 Pokéwalkers are somewhere. I almost never play them, so it is tempting to sell them and use an emulator if I want to play them

[@minigomes8240]

I got pokemon platinum for 72€ in this year i also got pokemon sun for 25 pokemon omega ruby for 38 and pokemon sword for around 30 and pokemon violet for 45

[@kaox44]

I'm happy with MINT used POKÉMON CIB. SEALED copies runs into the resealed issue. FYI, even "English" version cost more in Japan (most Asian countries)...not sure why.

[@Ameni2d]

I managed to get a complete copy of Pokemon Black in a Cex store for £30….. I was so shocked I screamed in the shop lol

[@whiskeysour1179]

There are some flashcarts that can transfer pokémon from an emulated gen 3 game to legit Gen 4 games. Mine only cost $70, saved me an arm and a leg when I went back to fill out dex for gens 3-5 with transfers. I used an EZ Flash Omega Definitive Edition. It took a little bit of tinkering to get used to the UI and managing data on the microSD, but ultimately it's way better than authentic cartridges.

[@whiskeysour1179]

They also come with built-in cheat engines, which are in much better shape than 20 year old action replays

[@ggletsplay5041]

I grabbed a all of the ds and 3ds pokemon games back a while ago. They were like 20-40 bucks each used. Sad to see the price spikes on all of these for folks who just want to play them.

[@midnightpurple]

Damn. I had all the gba games complete with box, manuals, posters etc. as a kid. First runs too, none of those "players choice" versions. Unfortunately around 2016, when moving out I went on a major decluttering mission. Believing I was done with my Pokemon phase, I threw away all the boxes and either sold or gave away the games 😭

[@missingno81]

One of the largest series of games since 1995 i even own the non rpg games like the card games, rumble & pinball.

[@PALINDROMA.]

I have Shield + DLC cartodge too! Funnily enough, the reason i bought it was because i was tight on money and could not afford to buy Sword and Shield for the longest time (had to quench my craving watching playthroughs on KZbin) and finally was able to buy it and that just so happened to be when those were selling 😸

[@jackmad456]

I’m so glad i bought literally every single pokemon game from Gen 4-7 all the versions, i bought fake GBA carts cos i ain’t spending that much for em and somehow i got the cart but no box of pokemon blue for like £17

[@nuri345]

ill continue to emulate that way when you want your new sealed game it’s gonna cost you quadruple the price 😚

[@superboy3229]

I am really glad that having whole Pokemon official boxes game boy since I was kid. I am thankful my dad, he did explain me a lot about games and don't lost or throw away it and stay keep with recipes when it didn't work it nor broken and take it to return to store. I would care my games with my boxes in my dresser. I have been saved of them for years. My dad paid $40 for a new heartgold at Toys R Us. I glad that having it.

[@timroehm1728]

Thank god I still have my Pokémon Platinum from buying it at GameStop back then when they used to sell retro games there

[@larsnars427]

been holding onto ny sapphire since i got it back in 05😭😭😭 never giving it up

[@paulopacheco7768]

When I learned how expensive this game can be I became very grateful for my mom always telling me to always keep the boxes in case I ever wanted to sell them. Now I have 4/5 gba with boxes and lots of other ds that worth quite a bit