He closed a video game shop decades ago. His games could sell for $1M | Hacker News Reader

He closed a video game shop decades ago. His games could sell for $1M

washingtonpost.com

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I hope they didn't use Wata Games Scam auction prices as a guide.

Exposing FRAUD And DECEPTION In The Retro Video Game Market

Karl Jobst

2.2M views 2 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A

The Retro Video Game Market Has Officially CRASHED

1.3M views 1 month ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ0GdGkZ5PM

Maybe the market is crashing for games that were selling for four digits and up, but there has been a general tenfold increase in older game and system prices over the past 15 years, and it has really discouraged me. I used to lovingly curate a growing collection. I loved to browse flea markets and used game stores and Craigslist. But in the past five years I've probably bought less than ten games from before the year 2005. It's not just games either - it feels like every hobby is becoming more and more expensive as more people with (somehow) more disposable income coalesce around the things that have a clear presence in the public consciousness.

This has happened in everything from cars to watches to video games. Many wealthy people are clamoring for any asset class they can find.

There is so much money in so few hands it needs to drive up prices of everything to find a place to go.

I think you're mostly right, but a smaller part of it is the real value older technology has for some people.

The recent(-ish) resurgence in music cassettes is of course partially the usual hipster douchery, but it's also to do with how using a walkman makes people feel in control again. The experience of listening on a device that discourages skipping to the next song, switching to an artist that this song reminds you of, checking your notifications, and generally takes choice _out_ of your hands, is both relaxing and at the same time more intense in the ways that matter.

This is the same for video games, DVDs, and other physical media. Obviously there's the fact that you actually own the object too, and a streaming service can't take it away from you.

Years ago I'd walk through pawn shops and chortle to myself seeing their massive collection of old game carts wondering why anyone would want them, jokes on me I guess.

Yeah goodwill in the past 5 years has been a waste of time. They have become too savvy and I think people are collecting more. In 2016 I could go to the two near me and almost guarantee a decent find. I also think people get rid of this stuff in cycles and perhaps that vein has run dry for the generation of classic video game stuff. The same goes for photography and hifi audio stuff.

I do recommend estate/moving sales and regular old garage sales. I have found some pretty solid stuff. The estate/moving sales also have good pictures so you can filter through the bad ones.

I think physical videogames are a good collectible investment because emulators will keep the old games played forever. I don't think pop culture memorabilia is wise - people who pay top dollar for artifacts from movies and musicians. Rare coins have increased in value, but stamps have fallen off a cliff as the pool of collectors shrinks.

Pop culture memorabilia is always a bell curve; as those who were interested in it as children have large amounts of money for nostalgia when older drive the price up.

As they die off, the price begins to plateau and then drop.

That’s why truly smart collectors start events like Monterey car week and Concours de elegance.

The judged competitions artificially keep prices high. Duce coupes now have continuous to growth in value even after their nostalgic generation of collectors has died due to judged competition wins.

Not for a lot of games because if you look at the production numbers, they were in the millions.

The nes alone sold over 60 million units.

Obviously you only collect items that are worth collecting - pristine, rare, desirable. Then the question is if the item will hold value. Rare physical videogames I think can go up in value longterm, because new generations of players will enjoy the games via emulation. They are also easy to vault, can be displayed as conversation pieces, and often have stories behind them that provide a historical background that helps when pitching it at auction. Overall while this is a relatively new asset class, I think it has staying power.

yes but with a installation base of 60 million, the chance that a game was made and became rare is rare.

And if you look at the documentary about the auction scam, you will see what the problem is: there are too many prestine nes cartridges available. Only if you don't know the market it makes sense to invest

https://archive.ph/SCyXk

Does anyone have a link to their youtube video? Keen to find more details.

This one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8QBSK-kRRQ

It's the one linked in the section "In November 2021, Gameroom owner Chris Thompson visited the Odorisios’ storage unit and recorded a video of the stash"

This is the link in the article. It has youtube videos in it.

https://thisisgameroom.com/collections/nebraska-collection?p...

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