Kotaku
By Kyle Orland
In my younger days, I remember selling my entire collection of NES games to a local consignment shop so I could buy some new SNES game. Recently, I bought back that entire NES collection piece by piece in a powerful fit of nostalgia. The experience made me re-examine the way the used game market affects how we gamers personally value our used games.
The economic impact of the used game market is apparent. Seventy percent of gamers play used games, according to a Ziff Davis survey, and retailers make up to 40 percent profit margins on their sale, according to CNN/Money (compared to 10 percent or less for new games). The popularity of trading games only increases during the holidays, as any customer caught in a line behind someone trading in a crate full of PS2 games this season can tell you.
But for the player the effects of selling a game are psychological as well as economic. When players have a monetary incentive to quickly beat and return a game, that's what they tend to do. In effect, the game becomes a commodity that has an ever-decreasing after-market value as soon as it's purchased. Once the market value is worth more than the perceived play value, the disc goes off to the Great Gamestop in the Sky. That copy of Madden 2006 won't be worth too much in 2006, after all.
Call me an out-of-date Nintendo apologist, but I tend to appreciate quality over quantity. When I buy a game, I want an experience that I'll be eager to relive, even if it's just on some idle nostalgia-filled evening with no good new releases. I want a well-crafted work of art that will become a part of my permanent collection, not just a disc that will be quickly consumed and belched back into the marketplace.
I'm not saying we should prevent people from trading in games. I believe a customer should be able to get the fair market value for their used game. Personally, I've sold back many a clunker that I couldn't envision ever wanting to play again.
But I urge those of you considering trading in your memories for the promise of the latest and greatest to first decide what you want to get out of the games you buy. Are you an art collector, looking for the most rewarding experience, or a commodity dealer, looking to maximize the monetary value of your pastime? Decide carefully, or in ten years you might find yourself re-purchasing your entire PS2 collection in a fit of nostalgia.
Comments
I totally agree. In my younger years (cough cough, 12-15), I sold many games I wish I hadn't. I've ended up buying most of them back (for way more than I sold them, too); but some, I know I'm gonna be paying a lot for. Take, for instance, the following three games. Suikoden 1, Suikoden 2, and Tactics Ogre. I want so badly to play Suikoden 2 again, NOT because it's a collector's item, but because it's fun. And now I work for the enemy, I mean GameStop. I see people trading in so many games, at times, I wonder why they even bother buying the games if they're just going to keep them for a week. Props to Kyle for this article.
I only sell games that I end up beating quickly with no intention of playing again, or games that I generally don't like... These are usually the same thing. For example, Ultimate Spider-man got sold back almost immediatly, it was a four hour game that was worse than it's predecessor. However, I buy used games frequently. For like $40 I can either buy a single new game, or three used games. If I can find three games I'd like to play that I've missed over the years, you better believe I'll grab them up over the single new game.
I never really sold my old games until the sweet EB games trade in deal for your old ps2 games to PSP games. After that I realized that the stuff only takes up room. If I wasn't so lazy i'd sell any game i'm done with. It's very rare for me to go back and replay a game. I guess in the end I don't really care much for gaming nostalgia.... games are simple entertainment, not precious memories =p
Yeah I definitely own every NES game still...and when it came time to sell the N64 you know I held onto my 3 favorite games...limited release gold Zelda cartridges! The New [and best version ever] Tetris? Hell yes. When Revolution rolls around it will be interesting to watch the "resale" of old classics we've all probably got emulated lol.
I had the opposite problem. I sold the games that I spent waaaaaay too much playing, like Civilization II, Age of Empires and Jedi Knight Outcast. I realized collectively I must have spent at least three months playing each of those games. That's almost a year of doing nothing! I could have started a business in less time.
There's a good reason that I never sell my games. I got in on the Genesis, and even though my (model 2) Genesis is dead, I feel no need or desire to sell the system. Same with my Saturn. My PS1. My Dreamcast. It will happen with my PS2 and Gamecube. Hell, even my friend's X-Box original (for Panzer Dragoon Orta of course). That said, I also buy most of my games used, and got my DS used - from a guy who was selling it for a PSP. Who got the best end of THAT deal?
I've been saying this for years, but everyone looks at me like I'm an old fool. The first time I went back to play Super Metroid and realized that I didn't have it anymore because I traded it for $10 towards some God-awful travesty of a game for my N64, I realized that trading games is often just not worth it. The neat thing is, I was able to relive my fit of nostalgia through the advent of emulators. While I don't really agree with emulating titles that can still be purchased, it's great for reliving all of those "out-of-print" memories (especially so you can rewind and save at any time and finally beat that crazy boss fight at the end of the first Ninja Gaiden). I love the fact that the used market exists, though. I too prefer quality over quantity, so when a game comes out that I know will be amazing (Shadow Of The Colossus) I buy it immdiately. But it's also nice to have the option of "waiting until it shows up on the used market" for games that, even if they are well reviewed, might not really be my particular cup of tea (God Of War). The used market can acutally help you to enjoy your games more if you work it right. To use God Of War as an example again, even though I am pretty sure that GOW will be a great game, I am perfectly fine to wait for it to pop up for $20 in the used rack. Why? Because there have been so many other great releases lately, I can take the full amount of time I want to really play them to death. Every day I wait to buy it, God Of War only gets cheaper in the used market.
I regret losing every single game I've parted ways with, from the C64 on. In my adult years I've been meaning to sell or give away stuff I think doesn't warrant a place on the overcrowded game shelves, but I've only managed to get rid of one Playstation game (Syphon Filter 2).
We love buying used games here in Chilly Hollow. First of all, we are cheap. I've made a game of buying games at less than full price, even ones that are just out. Secondly, out in the boonies often the only copy of something that doesn't sell in the hundreds of thousands only shows up in the Used bin. Occasionally we turn up our noses at a game that later on we realize is a classic and then the only place it's available is from the Used section of a games store. But we never, ever sell games, even the turkeys. You never know when the urge to replay Halo will strike. Thanks to those who sell games (for all the above reasons) but I suppose I am really in the Do Not Sell group.
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