Big Trouble In Retro Japan
Nov. 25th, 2015 07:08 pmSomething weird is happening in the retro gaming scene. Prices for games on certain systems have skyrocketed while others have gone down significantly and it makes little sense. Recently I've been pricing out the value of various games I own, as well as games I'd like to purchase and found some things that are quite odd.
Super Nintendo games are ridiculously overpriced right now. Super Mario World, a game that came packed in with every SNES and sold 13 million copies (more than any other 16-bit game by far) is selling for $25 loose, no box, no manual. There are over 400 available on ebay currently.
Seriously WTF. Want the Super Famicom version of Super Mario World (the same game)? That will only cost you $8. Want Sonic the Hedgehog, the biggest game to compete against SMW? That will cost you $7, and sometimes you'll even get the box and manual with that. SMW for the SNES, a game everyone already owns and is more abundant than any other 16-bit game, has zero reason to be selling for more than $5, and yet it's being offered up for 5x that everywhere.
Meanwhile, almost all Sega Genesis games are fairly inexpensive, especially the common ones. It just seems the SNES has ridiculous prices even though it has 50 games for it that sold over 1 million copies each. It makes no sense.
But alas, all hope for cheap SNES games is not lost. About 10 years ago the price for Final Fantasy VII on Playstation was well over $100. I remember thinking at the time, "$100 for a game that sold 3 million copies?". Well, now the game generally sells for $25, which still seems excessive given its print run, but is much less than the ridiculous prices charged a decade ago.
Perhaps in 10 years SNES prices will come back down to earth as well. One can hope anyway.
Super Nintendo games are ridiculously overpriced right now. Super Mario World, a game that came packed in with every SNES and sold 13 million copies (more than any other 16-bit game by far) is selling for $25 loose, no box, no manual. There are over 400 available on ebay currently.
Seriously WTF. Want the Super Famicom version of Super Mario World (the same game)? That will only cost you $8. Want Sonic the Hedgehog, the biggest game to compete against SMW? That will cost you $7, and sometimes you'll even get the box and manual with that. SMW for the SNES, a game everyone already owns and is more abundant than any other 16-bit game, has zero reason to be selling for more than $5, and yet it's being offered up for 5x that everywhere.
Meanwhile, almost all Sega Genesis games are fairly inexpensive, especially the common ones. It just seems the SNES has ridiculous prices even though it has 50 games for it that sold over 1 million copies each. It makes no sense.
But alas, all hope for cheap SNES games is not lost. About 10 years ago the price for Final Fantasy VII on Playstation was well over $100. I remember thinking at the time, "$100 for a game that sold 3 million copies?". Well, now the game generally sells for $25, which still seems excessive given its print run, but is much less than the ridiculous prices charged a decade ago.
Perhaps in 10 years SNES prices will come back down to earth as well. One can hope anyway.