Crash Bandicoot 2 for PS1 costs $80 used

[Exist]

I bet the original is even higher, and even more if it's new. I was so surprised to see that my PS1, PS2, and Gamecube collections are astoundingly valuable. I still have all those working consoles thankfully so I can revisit them at any time, but it's too bad that people who don't want to emulate or need the console/disc to emulate (not sure if you do) have to pay so much just for a single game and a decades-old console. Like, Mario Party 6 for GC goes for like $150. Spyro Year of the Dragon for PS1 goes for over $200. Check on Amazon if you don't believe me. Isn't that crazy?

[Illusion of Progress]

With a lot of these older physical games from many console generations ago, what you're really paying for is less the game itself, and more the "value" of the limited supply of the physical medium of it. It lets you play on original hardware, or perhaps have something rare, that may be in good condition with accessories (manuals, boxes, etc.). It'd probably be even a bit higher if no re-release existed for it at all.

[NBOX21]

The sad part is, these games are available on the PS3 store for about $8 each, at least until July 2nd when the store gets shutdown for good preventing you from buying them at all, while also not letting you play them on newer consoles. Meanwhile, I can buy Sonic Adventure DX on Steam right now for only $6 without the need to track down a disc from 2004 for it, which even those only go for around $10 online, or $20 for the PC Collection.

Originally posted by Exist:

Spyro Year of the Dragon for PS1 goes for over $200.

That's just sad. THAT much to play what is arguably the best 3D platformer ever made?! All because companies can't properly preserve their games in the long run, and no, Reignited Trilogy is not a suitable substitute considering how much Sanzaru messed that game up in the remake and Activision not patching it at all (the PS1 game got patched BTW) despite all the bugs.

[Ceceli Δ]

No, it's no crazy. It's called retro game collection. I have tons of original Game Boy, Gamboy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS games in my collection. Although I'm selling them. I'll make some profit and resort to the very expensive flash cards.

[Casurin]

That entirely depends on where you life and where you are looking for it.
I just checked and Crash 3 ( still in its original wrapping) is available twice for under 30$, also found a collection (1+2+3) for 80$ (too high imo) - all in like 2 minutes.

But yeah, PS1 games now started to rise in price (also..... covid is part of that).

I'm glad that i still have all my games in good condition - and that i had extreme luck with some of them.
FF7 PC-Version with just the cover cracked for 10$, FF9 brand NEW for 10$ a couple years ago, and Crash Teamracing+Nitro-Cart for 15$ - new, 3 years ago, cause i thought i had lost my original copy.

[Exist]

Maybe Amazon not the best place to shop for this kind of stuff. It would be so cool to have FF9 for PS1. Or Yugioh Forbidden Memories for PS1. But I’m lucky to own MoH Underground. I love old games, very happy that I can play games like Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy and Ghost Recon on Steam

[Illusion of Progress]

Originally posted by Exist:

It would be so cool to have FF9 for PS1. Or Yugioh Forbidden Memories for PS1.

Final Fantasy IX isn't that rare, is it? Been a while since I checked but it wasn't extraordinarily expensive last I saw on eBay. Got a replacement copy there around 15-ish years ago (original, non-Greatest Hits) simply because it's my favorite game. It's in pretty good condition (no/low scratches on the discs). I don't even remember what happened to my initial copy from back when I was playing my PlayStation; I just remember I lost the third (and maybe forth) disc, it was pretty scratched up, and it was a Greatest Hits copy. I think we bought it from a rental store at a discount and it was already in rough shape.

And I remember YuGiOh Forbidden Memories; I used to have that back in the day but I don't have it anymore.

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by Illusion of Progress:

Originally posted by Exist:

It would be so cool to have FF9 for PS1. Or Yugioh Forbidden Memories for PS1.

Final Fantasy IX isn't that rare, is it? Been a while since I checked but it wasn't extraordinarily expensive last I saw on eBay. Got a replacement copy there around 15-ish years ago (original, non-Greatest Hits) simply because it's my favorite game.

Hearing "Greatest Hits", that's probably the reason why it may not be as expensive for you considering NTSC copies of games are often cheaper to come by. I, however, am from the PAL region and those copies tend to be much more expensive. Instead of "Greatest Hits" like in NTSC, we called them "Platinum" indicating their popularity.

[Casurin]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

Instead of "Greatest Hits" like in NTSC, we called them "Platinum" indicating their popularity.

I see many FF9 for 15-20€ here for me, but also a lot of sellers that think they can sell their PS1-games for like 50€ or more.....

[Exist]

Now that some of you have mentioned ebay, maybe I should check there for better prices. I am just so used to Amazon's amazing customer service that I have been willing to pay more on Amazon, because I know ebay can screw you

[Illusion of Progress]

Originally posted by NBOX21:

Hearing "Greatest Hits", that's probably the reason why it may not be as expensive for you considering NTSC copies of games are often cheaper to come by. I, however, am from the PAL region and those copies tend to be much more expensive. Instead of "Greatest Hits" like in NTSC, we called them "Platinum" indicating their popularity.

Ah, may be. It's been some time since I actually looked but I'd be surprised if it was valuable here now. Sounds like it started to jump up over there already. Every locale is different. The "bathtub curve" of supply and demand catches up to almost everything. I remember buying a used Pentium III era PC in the early 2000s for $100, when it was 3 or 4 years old only (can't do a similar thing today; hardware was just advancing so fast then). Had to almost give it away in the early-mid 2010s, selling it for like $10 to $15 or something. Today, Pentium III stuff on eBay is more "retro" and people want the premium for it.

Is it the same way there, where the Platinum versions are considered less desirable (to some people) compared to the original? Like, people will take either version here, especially if they just want the game, but if it's NOT Greatest Hits, it's a little something extra it has going for it. Once a game sold enough copies, all subsequent ones would be Greates Hits or Platinum, so only a limited number of originals were made (though, this also applies to games that never even sold enough to get those new versions, but the original is less common for the ones that do).

Originally posted by Exist:

Now that some of you have mentioned ebay, maybe I should check there for better prices. I am just so used to Amazon's amazing customer service that I have been willing to pay more on Amazon, because I know ebay can screw you

Definitely worth at least looking at IMO, even if you don't shop there, just to know what your options are, but depending on your country and seller, your experience may vary. Ebay is usually used so less guarantees. I've heard horror stories. I used it most in the early 2000s, before I was an adult or had a regular income, so I'd use it to get cheap PC parts or games there, or the odd random thing. Personally, never had a bad experience there yet, but in the recent years, I've only used it once or twice. PC hardware shopping migrated to Newegg, and games, well.... here on Steam.

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by Illusion of Progress:

Is it the same way there, where the Platinum versions are considered less desirable (to some people) compared to the original? Like, people will take either version here, especially if they just want the game, but if it's NOT Greatest Hits, it's a little something extra it has going for it. Once a game sold enough copies, all subsequent ones would be Greates Hits or Platinum, so only a limited number of originals were made (though, this also applies to games that never even sold enough to get those new versions, but the original is less common for the ones that do).

It's not that. What I meant is that PAL copies, regardless of if they're Platinum or not, tend to cost more than NTSC copies mostly due to how the gaming market was in the different regions. From my experience with retro game collecting, Platinum and black label copies tend to cost around the same, with the only difference being the disc art (or lack thereof on Platinum discs).

[Illusion of Progress]

Hm, I wonder if less copies were made for those regions?

[Doktor Mandrake]

Originally posted by Ceceli:

No, it's no crazy. It's called retro game collection. I have tons of original Game Boy, Gamboy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS games in my collection. Although I'm selling them. I'll make some profit and resort to the very expensive flash cards.

Some of us was buying old consoles and old games before it became "cool" and it was actually a lot cheaper then before this whole "retro" gaming thing kicked off

[Illusion of Progress]

Originally posted by Doktor Mandrake:

Some of us was buying old consoles and old games before it became "cool" and it was actually a lot cheaper then before this whole "retro" gaming thing kicked off

Yep, that's the "bathtub curve" for ya. Once something is not just a little old, plentiful, and unwanted, once supply drops and time passes, it becomes more valuable. Applies to most things with physical aspects; not just gaming.

Bought a used Pentium III era PC (from around 2000) in the early 2000s (around 2004) for $100 on eBay. Over a decade later, in the early 2010s, I had to nearly give it away for like $15 to $20 I think. Now, stuff older than the Pentium 4 is considered "retro" for retro builds for retro games, so if you search them up on eBay, they are far less plentiful and usually the seller wants to frame it as "retro" and get more for it.

Just how it goes.

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by Doktor Mandrake:

Some of us was buying old consoles and old games before it became "cool" and it was actually a lot cheaper then before this whole "retro" gaming thing kicked off

And you know why the "retro" gaming market took off in the first place? Most likely due to these three reasons:

1. The Wii had a service known as Virtual Console, while the PS3 had several PS1 classics available for download, which most likely introduced many newer gamers to a lot of these retro games that were way before their time, not to mention giving older gamers a chance to check out a few hidden gems they may have missed out on the first time around. Both services may have likely kicked off the retro trend.

2. Nostalgia. It is a very powerful tool, and there are a lot of people that track down these old games and consoles because they had them back in the day, most likely sold them and want to relive their old memories. Since these companies aren't doing it for them, we have to turn to tracking down old console units and old copies of games that are no longer being manufactured.

3. This may be due to personal taste or something, but most of the newer games just aren't as good as they used to be in the old days, like we saw with the Tony Hawk games where the series went downhill after the Underground games. Split-screen games were also disappearing faster than lightning strikes, too many games being released incomplete and/or unfinished and stories used to be cool and full of depth, even in family friendly games.
Nowadays, all of these things are very rare and hard to come by, usually only found in indie games, and most of us pretty much have to turn to the retro market just to be able to experience them in the first place since they're not making them anymore.

I could be wrong about one or more of these things, but this is the feeling I get as to why retro gaming has become so popular in the first place.