The State of Retro Gaming (Part 1)

By Edward “24bit” Chirico

2013 was the year of Retro Gaming!!!
(A pic of Nate's actual game room)

       2013 was there year of Retro Gaming! We got to see remakes of games that we thought we would never see the light of day again.......Duck Tails might be one of the best capcom games of the NES’s (Nintendo Entertainment System) life span and we the new generation of gamers got to see this game in all its glory remade in beautiful HD. It didn’t stop there, we got remakes of Final Fight, Galaga, Wind Waker and Kingdom Heart’s just to name a few.  The virtual console is booming with the likes of Earth Bound, Super Metroid, Mario RPG, Secret of Mana and all the Final Fantasies. YouTube has been blowing up with retro game reviewers, pick up videos, and speed runs. People have been using these outlets to help donate to charities that reach number’s up to 200 000$ in a single week. This is something never thought possible 10 years ago.     

       As I said, this is the year of Retro Gaming... unless you are a "Retro Gamer". On the flip side of this. We also seen a hike in prices that are completely unreasonable for example Earth Bound has hit a point of $250.00 for a loose cart on average and $500 CIB (Complete in Box). Demon Cress is hitting $125 loose or $250 CIB... and games like Final fantasy 2, 3 and 7, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana are demanding prices of at least $150 CIB. Not only that, but the availability of these games have dropped at an alarming rate. This is due to two reason’s. One, because everyone wants to get their hands on these games and Two, "Resellers" buy these games up in bulk to resell at a higher price, it’s a way of controlling the market. With higher demand, lower availability drives the price up. A classic case of supply and demand. So what does this mean for us collectors? Well we now need deeper pockets and a lot more resources, i.e.the internet to get the games we are looking for.

     The internet is a double edge sword. It has some great merit to us collectors. It allows us to get in touch with one another and do trades so that we can get the games that otherwise would not be available, to us in our home town. That might be the biggest plus to the internet. The negative to this is the resell websites. Yes it is true you can get anything you want on these website’s, But at what price? Most of the web pages that sell retro games are aware of the fact that the only reason people are coming to them is that they cannot find the game where they live. And this is something that they use to their advantage by hiking the price of the game well over 30% above value. Now not all web pages do this. Some are local retail stores getting rid of over stock and generating sales they wouldn’t be able to in their town. And that is something to absolutely support “you can tell these by their prices, and contact information”.  It’s the reseller websites that you need to avoid. You can tell these not only by the effort they put into advertising “if it’s a banner you find on an unrelated website, chances are its a reseller and just stay away” but in the pricing. A good thing to look for is the common games and there pricing. Try looking at Mario 3, if its $35 or above chances are you found a reseller. (This is just a current price; this may change in the future)  Mario world should be at around $19-$20 at most. The reason I pick Mario games to do my judgement is that these games were mass produced in the millions and can be found just about anywhere.

   When I started collecting games they were at worst (cartridge based anyway) 15$ for games like Gargoyles Quest (now $90), $5 for Mario 3 (now $25), $2 for Bases Loaded (now $10), I only paid $40 for my Earthbound (now $250)... and to me that was a crazy price so I digress. Get educated about the games you want, and don’t over pay. Enjoy collecting for the fun of the game; let’s face it that’s why you started in the first place. It was never about how much money they will be worth... And of course, make sure you play them.

  In conclusion I urge all of you retro games to unite with one another, become social, talk about what your town has to offer, do trade’s with one another help everyone around have a easier time collecting. I know when I first started this; I wish I had the resources that I have now. I will see you next time with part 2 of The State of Retro Gaming, when I talk about the "last generation" systems and how they will be collectable, and where we are heading in the "next generation" market. 

As always this is your 24Bit Gamer saying always push the continue button

Edward “24bit” Chirico is RetroGamersWinnipeg's group coordinator and a regular article contributor. He's an avid video gamer and reviewer.