Board 8 > How much is too much to pay for a video game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

There's a second hand game store down the road from where I live.
The other day, I noticed they had a Neo-Geo console for 200,000 yen. ($200 approx.)

I was so tempted to buy it.

I loved Neo-Geo arcade games as a kid.
Art of Fighting, Super Sidekicks, Metal Slug, King of Monsters... etc..

But, what good is a console without games?

So I got on a train and took a trip to Super Potato in Akihabara.
It's one of the biggest retro gaming stores in Tokyo.
Massive, massive collection... but a touch overpriced.
I wanted to get an idea of how much actual Neo Geo games were.
Like, what am I investing into here?

Well... the answer is... A LOT!

Metal Slug, boxed.... is $7,000!!

Who in their right mind?????

Well, long story short, I didn't buy the Neo-Geo console.
Surely only shelf collectors, who made a killing in crypto-currency, would or could buy that.
And then maybe never play it. v_v

$7,000 for a game. Fuck me...
Sure makes $50 for Super Back to the Future II on Super Famicom seem like a bargain now.

Sorry, the picture is a little blurry, but that's also Maximum Carnage on Sega Mega Drive for $6,000 too.



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For a few games I would be willing to probably spend up to $200, but that would be a pretty short list.

Original hardware (or analogue systems when available) + flashcarts have become my go to for playing older games without going completely broke.

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Yeah... I think the max I ever paid for a game was $130 for Halo 3 Special Edition when it came out.
And that was only because it was launch day and my closest mates were getting straight online and I wanted in on that too.

Paying more than $100 for a game hurts!

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One tip if you actually want to collect Neo Geo games is to get a consolized MVS (the arcade hardware modified to connect to a TV) rather than the original AES console. The MVS cartridges are a LOT cheaper. Metal Slug X, the $7000 game in your photo, goes for about $100-$150 for example. The games are just way cheaper and way easier to find across the board, and there's a number of games that didn't even come out on AES at all.

They won't look pretty (MVS carts just have a simple monochromatic spine label) and they won't be boxed bc MVS carts didn't come in retail packaging, but if you really need it you can get blank shockboxes for about $11 each and print out custom covers for them.

Ya that's too much

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xenosaga posted...

For a few games I would be willing to probably spend up to $200, but that would be a pretty short list.

This is pretty much my take, maybe something like $300 for one or two games. Otherwise I like to be around the 60-80 mark.

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Wait hold up, is that Metal Slug sealed?? I have like 30 Neo Geo games (including multiple Metal Slugs) with their boxes

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Snake5555555555 posted...

This is pretty much my take, maybe something like $300 for one or two games. Otherwise I like to be around the 60-80 mark.

Yeah, I think my highest in recent years was $75 for a loose Dragon Warrior IV and I don't think I'd go for much more than that, maybe $100 max.

I mean it's relative, I guess if I saw an NWC for $500 I'd have to consider it for resale value alone but I don't normally get involved with those sorts of things.

Also to answer the topic, I paid $100 for Suikoden II like 10 years ago.

The craziest thing is it was from a really old man on Craigslist, and he wanted to talk about the games when we met up before he sold it to me.

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MrGreenonion posted...

One tip if you actually want to collect Neo Geo games is to get a consolized MVS (the arcade hardware modified to connect to a TV) rather than the original AES console. The MVS cartridges are a LOT cheaper. Metal Slug X, the $7000 game in your photo, goes for about $100-$150 for example. The games are just way cheaper and way easier to find across the board, and there's a number of games that didn't even come out on AES at all.

They won't look pretty (MVS carts just have a simple monochromatic spine label) and they won't be boxed bc MVS carts didn't come in retail packaging, but if you really need it you can get blank shockboxes for about $11 each and print out custom covers for them.

That is... definitely a big difference in price. 0_0

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Wait hold up, is that Metal Slug sealed?? I have like 30 Neo Geo games (including multiple Metal Slugs) with their boxes

It seems you're sitting on a gold mine. 0_0


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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Also to answer the topic, I paid $100 for Suikoden II like 10 years ago.

The craziest thing is it was from a really old man on Craigslist, and he wanted to talk about the games when we met up before he sold it to me.

Haha. Sounds like something from an weird anime.


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proof that time travel exists

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If it's a game I intend to play then 50 is probably max but that would be very rare. I usually wait for games to drop in price before I buy.

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The price of the console it's on + the actual normal retail price of the game
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Ya know I don't think I've ever bought a game for over 100 dollars. Path of Radiance was close, but I bought Tales of Symphonia at the same time, so the guy at the store gave me a thirty dollar discount.

I guess I did spend 105.00 on Let's Go Pikachu + the Poke Ball plus. But that was more for Meltan/Mew than it was for the game lol.

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I was talking to a guy at a secondhand store in town here and he said they have people paying $200 for specific games, like Alundra or the Lunar games on PS1.

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Paying above retail price for anything is just contributing to really gross distortions that only work to keep good games out of the hands of people who want to play them.

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The most Ive paid was $100 for a used copy of Xenoblade back in 2013

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i paid $200 for panzer dragoon saga back in 2003. It was one of the first games that became like a "gateway to collecting the expensive stuff". Its been way surpassed for that title by things like little samson, flintstones surprise at dinosaur peak, etc. But ya.

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