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As one of likely many gamers here I must rant. I've seen what the market has become for old vintage games and the costs for some systems and I'm sick and fucking tired of it.
I walked over to the local used video game shop and saw some nice systems et al then started talking with the employee, complaining about the crazy price for an Atari Jaguar(almost the new price and the 3DO was high but not nearly as high) I noticed. I started asking who plays these systems at prices like that and he proceeded to tell me most people buy them to have as a showpiece. Now I get buying a nice work of art to have and collect, to show off, because art is something to view and just enjoy; however, video games serve a function...to pick up that controller and play...THAT is where the primary sense of enjoyment is intended to be derived. To treat the system itself or game as a commodity by design then followed by display because of scarcity is the height of being an asshole and a waste of the product.
All I can say is I'm happy that Nintendo released games like "Dracula X: Rondo Of Blood" for the Duo on VCS to drop the price of the physical AND give people the chance to play. The same goes for "Startropics 2: Zora's Revenge", "Ogre Battle 64" and, to a lesser extent, "Sin and Punishment". Oh and the first Mario RPG as well as Castlevania 3.
All this being said we're missing good emulated copies of a number of rare games(in just the U.S. or worldwide). Obvious ones for the Saturn include "Burning Rangers", "Panzer Dragoon Saga" and "Dragon Force"(American copies only) to name a few. While not all rare the entire El Dorado's Gate for the Dreamcast(last game with character designs by Yoshitaka Amano at the time) had some volumes that were more rare than others. Apparently "Elemental Gimmick Gear" was rare in the U.S.
A number of these games are rare/exclusive to a console like "Aliens Vs. Predator" for the Jaguar..."Highlander" for the Jaguar CD. There's the 3rd Zelda for the Philips CD-i(digitized and looks colorful as all get out but definitely needs to be slightly reworked with more memory added), "D2" for the M2(prototype units of the system are around and "D2" for the system was apparently like 95% complete).
All of that stuff I mentioned is just a few games. Just hoping to bemoan this a bit with some of my fellow gamers and hope someone might sell a pure emulation system making VCS pale in comparison.
-- Admin Note: Edited to add Line Breaks (-Piper) --
Comments
Sorry but get over it.
Gamers have always wanted the best stuff and to show them off to score points with others. They buy limited edition and other rare items. It's not just for video games but for others as well. It's always been like this. Now that some people who might not necessarily be gamers are doing this doesn't really mean anything. They may be posers but that doesn't mean that we need to get a elitist attitude about it.
My concern is NOT the limited edition.
Just generally the game itself and having the game be accessible and affordable with a faithful emulation, regardless if you can't play it on the original system.
If they have an original, that's not where my anger stems.
The only collectors item I desperately care about is the Eriko Christie figurine that was given out as a preorder for the Illbleed game in Japan. Part of that is that is the only swag that ever came with the game and the doll looks awesome(plus I LOVE the game) and finally the guy who was the head behind it is dead and I want something to remember him by.
There's hope for us game players yet!
Archival endeavors are improving year over year, as is emulation, and Nintendo isn't the only one getting into the game in terms of bringing older titles to modern consoles, with many arcade games having XBLA and PSN releases.
The video game industry is, right now, still tied VERY closely to the toy industry, and with how young the technology really is many of the manufacturers -- again, much like toys -- still see their products as transient or disposable, with modern-day Activision and EA probably being two of the biggest offenders in that regard with their attitude towards archival of games they've stopped supporting.
All of this is changing, and relatively rapidly. Gaming is bigger now than it has ever been, and the audience covers every demographic there is, with games made to appeal to every demographic too! Like movies or music, games are becoming an entertainment medium that is central to the lifestyles of millions of people around the world, and with that comes both the downsides and the upsides of such a shift.
With both cartridge and disc rot becoming something you have to increasingly watch out for, the older consoles -- the ones that are so treasured, so sought after -- are becoming something that, in truth, have little value to anyone actually interested in experiencing the software they once held. The collecting game, for most, isn't even about the games anyway; it's about bragging rights, or some perceived idea that, if the prices are this high NOW, that they'll be even higher in the future, and while that's going to be true for a while yet... well, look at the market for Beanie Babies.
Physical games are nice. Having a variety of consoles is nice, and there is something special about the right hardware and a vintage copy of the game, same as there's something special about turning on your vintage tube stereo, waiting for it to warm up, and pulling a platter out of its dust jacket and putting it on the turntable. But, if the end result is to enjoy the media contained within, then a FLAC file works just as well, or in the case of games, digital releases, while not perfect, are getting better all the time.
So, let the people with more expendable income than common sense keep spending spending spending on older hardware that is already obsolete and is, inevitably, going to be inoperable. Archivists will save as much as they can, and what they can't save is the fault of the greed of others and, while regrettable, should be seen as inevitable too.
The game industry has a lot of growing to do yet, so as fun as looking to its past is, keep an eye on the here and now too; there's a lot of amazing things you might, otherwise, miss.
Melanie E.
Haven't even mentioned arcade games.
That all of us need to keep an eye on...case in point, Quest Of D, Lethal Enforcers 3, Dance Station 3DDX, Technomotion, Cutie Fatty, etc. Granted a lot of people have been faithfully transferring them to MAME.
I don't know how well all the team based games translate, I mean like the ones that are almost LAN-linked amongst each other.
Haven't even mentioned arcade games.
That all of us need to keep an eye on...case in point, Quest Of D, Lethal Enforcers 3, Dance Station 3DDX, Technomotion, Cutie Fatty, etc. Granted a lot of people have been faithfully transferring them to MAME.
I don't know how well all the team based games translate, I mean like the ones that are almost LAN-linked amongst each other.
hmm learn something new
never even heard of atari jaguar. Course since the games it used were actually PC games i just got a pc at the time.
Back to topic. Its not just games or old boxes. It's old woodworking tools. Some people prefer "original patina" ie rusted solid or siezed tools. Me i fix them up and use them.
Same for cars. Furnature, etc etc.
Thing is once the collector dies most of the collection gets destroyed. Then nobody gets any of it.
Understood but if I'm honest.
Koryo Celadon can be both visually appealing and serve a function and I would definitely use it because it's Eweter or a tea set. A Maebyoung I'm mixed about.
in my world
I actually have the Atari jaguar and aliens vs predator its a good game! In the dark with sound all the way up ! real scary!
but for collectibles ?
I read on a forum one day that Snatcher for Sega CD was valuable? and I remembered I bought that new for 10$!
so I found it in my stash....good as new and ebay-ed that sucker and got over 300$ for it!---lol
Proud member of the Whateley Academy Drow clan/collective
Snatcher is a mixed bag.
It's the only English copy but the American version is censored as well in terms of nudity and other things. "Rise Of the Dragon" got censored too.
It's crazy with Snatcher in Japan...it's about on every 32 bit platform over there. Pretty sure I have "Snatcher" and "Policenauts" both on the Saturn unless "Policenauts" is Playstation only then it's "Snatcher" I have on Saturn. But yeah, it's on 3DO, Saturn, Playstation and I might even be missing one. Each game accordingly has a bit of corresponding fan service. Interestingly enough, apparently the only Sega CD version is the English one.
same thing happened to comics in the 90's
massive collector's boom, then a bust that put Marvel into bankruptcy.
Things will probably level out eventually.
Ditto for the trading card
Ditto for the trading card industry, coincidentally for a few years also tied in with Marvel's supersaturation of the merchandising world...although it was pretty fun to spend my hard earned dollar on a chance of getting a rare hologram card only to get a bunch of useless no-name cards :(
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
I'm feeling a little guilty
I'm feeling a little guilty/smug as I've actually got two of the games you mentioned in the post (AVP and Burning Rangers- though the latter is the Japanese version). I used to be big into collecting, even had a few rare pieces such as a working Vectrex and a Sega Nomad. Though I agree entirely with one thing- high prices shouldn't prohibit people from being able to play true classics. When the game is brand new, then yes, you should expect to turn over the $60, but after 15 or 20 years, will the companies still profit from the games? Slap them on Steam (or VCS, or PSN, or XBL... but preferably Steam) for $5 and let people discover them all over again. The fact that one of all my all-time favourite games, Shenmue, has NEVER been re-released after 16 years is a bloody travesty. I don't care if that sells for £200 used, I'm not parting with my copy until I get my re-release.
Debs xxxx