I'd like to discuss the current market condition:

Last year around this time, prices were sky high, AES was booming and so was the MVS...

People were buying and selling like mad.

Consolized 2-Slots were the treat.

Modded AES systems were $450+

.....


Now look at this VOID...

What the hell is going on?

People are getting rid of high profile carts all over the place, ebay is DEAD, there are literally hundreds of items for sale CHEAP and nobody is buying.

Shit, there is a Ninja Masters on there with a $480 BIN.

Don't blame the holidays, becase I've been around, and every holiday the prices seem to jump higher...


I miss the old times, when it was exciting to get your new AES title in the mail...

Why is the market so dead?

I know the modded Xbox is a reason, but surely is not enough to cause this.

Roms have always been a factor.


Have people just got sick of the high demand for these titles and decided to save their money?


It wasn't long ago when EVERYONE was buying up carts like they were free!

Now only a handful if that many are still going strong.


Is it the final release?


Is it the slick new Atomiswave?


Can anyone piitch in and give their reasoning?

TonK said:

Last year around this time, prices were sky high, AES was booming and so was the MVS...

People were buying and selling like mad.

Consolized 2-Slots were the treat.

Modded AES systems were $450+

.....


Now look at this VOID...

What the hell is going on?

People are getting rid of high profile carts all over the place, ebay is DEAD, there are literally hundreds of items for sale CHEAP and nobody is buying.

Shit, there is a Ninja Masters on there with a $480 BIN.

Don't blame the holidays, becase I've been around, and every holiday the prices seem to jump higher...


I miss the old times, when it was exciting to get your new AES title in the mail...

Why is the market so dead?

I know the modded Xbox is a reason, but surely is not enough to cause this.

Roms have always been a factor.


Have people just got sick of the high demand for these titles and decided to save their money?


It wasn't long ago when EVERYONE was buying up carts like they were free!

Now only a handful if that many are still going strong.


Is it the final release?


Is it the slick new Atomiswave?


Can anyone piitch in and give their reasoning?

Click to expand...

Cause there is nothing to look forward to as far as neo geo goes.

Modded XBox's are a bigger reason than most want to believe.

I have a modded XBox, and I have my AES. Rarely do I fire up the AES nowadays, but I play my roms like crazy. They're just more convenient.

I still buy the occasional homecart, and I have no plans to sell the ones I have. This attitude seems to be the exception rather than the rule once one picks up a modded box.

Stinky-Dinkins said:

Modded XBox's are a bigger reason than most want to believe.

Click to expand...

True indeed
playing romz with a neo stick > you

Also, the attitude that "home carts are a ridiculous waste of money" seems to be rapidly approaching the mainstream. Recently I've seen AES collectors selling off their carts and talking about "recouping their investments." It's sad really.

My opinions are below:

I know the modded Xbox is a reason, but surely is not enough to cause this.

Click to expand...

Not totally. Alot of people don't know about moddin the bawks

Roms have always been a factor.

Click to expand...

Yes, that is true.

Have people just got sick of the high demand for these titles and decided to save their money?

Click to expand...

Amongst the casuals out there who were curious, then the answer points to YES. Casuals that are still curious about SNK's work know about the PS2 ports, and that is fine for them.
But among the hardcores, and those who have been with NEO for a long time, then NO.

Is it the final release?

Click to expand...

I think since the last game was released, people have no more new titles to drool over. This lowers the intrigue for the system, and may detract buyers from investing/playing with new AES carts.

Is it the slick new Atomiswave?

Click to expand...

Atomiswave has nothing to do with it. My money says that < 1% of all potential NEO GEO noobs know about Atomiswave, never mind about mainstream gameplayers who think FAGGOT is an adjective.

Its the holidays too. The market will pick up by the end of January, and will start to look even better when the birds return to lay their eggs. Now is the time to buy.

TonK said:

I know the modded Xbox is a reason, but surely is not enough to cause this.

Roms have always been a factor.

Click to expand...

The XBox is a bigger factor than you think. Lots of the folks selling off the rare carts are goin' to the bawks.
But for the most part it is the lack of new titles generating interest.

Will AES prices fall? For many carts, sure, but not the rarer titles I think. All hobbies have a downturn, but the most desirable items always hold their ground pretty well. When the sportscard industry took a massive shit in the early 90s, the old stuff did well still, but no one wanted anything from the 70s-1990. In comic books, same thing. Old Marvel titles did very well, but many companies went belly up then.

I also think a big thing is many people have started switching over to MVS, although MVS isn't doing that well. I haven't had much problem selling my 2-slots, but I haven't really been pushing to sell them either. Consolized 1-slots are currently taking a beating. Just ask Jeff about that.

This is also something of a "market correction", like you hear about in baseball salaries. I think this thread at digitpress highlights what we all already know, and that's the fact that Neo games are $$$$$$, whereas the NES and Atari folks won't pay more that $50 for a rare cart. Everyone always complains about high AES prices, so now that there is no new title on the horizon to continue the tradition of $300+ carts, we will probably see the price on all carts tumble.

If it *crashes* crashes, I'm gonna buy buy buy AES.

fads come and go, but teh coolness of my Neo and it's carts is eternal.

My modded Xbox loaded with roms is not as cool. Sorry.


EDIT:

I'll agree the forum selling seems slow as hell. However, I'm getting more $$$ than 'forum' prices on locally sold AES's. I've sold 3 so far to local collectors, and 4 if you count local dealers as well. I buy them broken, or at least unmodded, and mod them. Then I sell locally through my business and my contacts in the local collector community.

The 'pros' of selling local means you can bypass shipping, offer local warranty, no exchange rate or customs, and the person can see it an action before diving in. They can even pre-test the AES with a Phantom-1, to find out exactly what they are getting.

There are gamers out there who are not that net savvy, or at least NOT comfortable with these big $$$ transactions online. The local market may be small, but it's easier to be a big fish, in the small market.

Anyone in northern Alberta asks someone about getting a Neo, I gaurantee, they will eventually get to me. All lines of Neo questioning in this area, lead to me.

for me, it's that I've pretty much got everything I want in my collection (minus replacing a few bare carts with kits should the opportunity arise).

all the stuff I sold/am selling was nice to own, but it never really got played...and I needed to raise some cash to pay off some expenses.

I don't know the first thing about the AES market, and I arrived fairly late into the MVS game so meh.

but anyway, fsck a bawks. i've seen teh r0mz in action on one and it just has no appeal whatsoever. if that's how people really want to remember the neo, so be it. but I'd say they're missing out big time.

TonK said:

People are getting rid of high profile carts all over the place, ebay is DEAD, there are literally hundreds of items for sale CHEAP and nobody is buying.

Shit, there is a Ninja Masters on there with a $480 BIN.

Don't blame the holidays, becase I've been around, and every holiday the prices seem to jump higher...


I miss the old times, when it was exciting to get your new AES title in the mail...

Click to expand...

No offense, but if you can't get excited over receiving a new game in the mail, it's only your fault. If the reason it was exciting to you before is because prices were high, that's your problem.

I like the idea that the games get cheaper, so that people who want to play the games, can...and the people who only buy to sell later lose their shirt. Let the fans own the games. No more exploitation. Let the gougers and the speculators and the scammers move to the next hot thing. I don't give a mad fuck if the KOF '02 I bought this year for $100+ is "worth" $20 next year. It won't affect my enjoyment, and you know that at that price, people will only be buying it to play.

Let the people who aren't diehards jump ship. You shouldn't let it affect you.

Stinky-Dinkins said:

Also, the attitude that "home carts are a ridiculous waste of money" seems to be rapidly approaching the mainstream. Recently I've seen AES collectors selling off their carts and talking about "recouping their investments." It's sad really.

Click to expand...

Well said.

just wish this had been released. just for the sake of there being 'another' final release.

SouthtownKid said:

No offense, but if you can't get excited over receiving a new game in the mail, it's only your fault. If the reason it was exciting to you before is because prices were high, that's your problem.

I like the idea that the games get cheaper, so that people who want to play the games, can...and the people who only buy to sell later lose their shirt. Let the fans own the games. No more exploitation. Let the gougers and the speculators and the scammers move to the next hot thing. I don't give a mad fuck if the KOF '02 I bought this year for $100+ is "worth" $20 next year. It won't affect my enjoyment, and you know that at that price, people will only be buying it to play.

Let the people who aren't diehards jump ship. You shouldn't let it affect you.

Click to expand...

Well Said
Phix

The market may suck ass but I'm enjoying the hell out of the [consolized 1 slot] system while waiting on it to sell. If it doesn't sell anytime soon, I'm sure I could find someone in my family that would enjoy using it for awhile.

Jeff

D-Lite said:

I also think a big thing is many people have started switching over to MVS, although MVS isn't doing that well. I haven't had much problem selling my 2-slots, but I haven't really been pushing to sell them either. Consolized 1-slots are currently taking a beating. Just ask Jeff about that.

Click to expand...

SouthtownKid said:

No offense, but if you can't get excited over receiving a new game in the mail, it's only your fault. If the reason it was exciting to you before is because prices were high, that's your problem.

I like the idea that the games get cheaper, so that people who want to play the games, can...and the people who only buy to sell later lose their shirt. Let the fans own the games. No more exploitation. Let the gougers and the speculators and the scammers move to the next hot thing. I don't give a mad fuck if the KOF '02 I bought this year for $100+ is "worth" $20 next year. It won't affect my enjoyment, and you know that at that price, people will only be buying it to play.

Let the people who aren't diehards jump ship. You shouldn't let it affect you.

Click to expand...

I like that, well said.

SouthtownKid said:

No offense, but if you can't get excited over receiving a new game in the mail, it's only your fault. If the reason it was exciting to you before is because prices were high, that's your problem.

I like the idea that the games get cheaper, so that people who want to play the games, can...and the people who only buy to sell later lose their shirt. Let the fans own the games. No more exploitation. Let the gougers and the speculators and the scammers move to the next hot thing. I don't give a mad fuck if the KOF '02 I bought this year for $100+ is "worth" $20 next year. It won't affect my enjoyment, and you know that at that price, people will only be buying it to play.

Let the people who aren't diehards jump ship. You shouldn't let it affect you.

Click to expand...

thank you. It'll be great when the prices fall to reasonable levels, so that more people can play and enjoy this stuff. Hopefully, the people who bought this stuff as an "investment" will be weeded out.

DevilRedeemed said:

just wish this had been released. just for the sake of there being 'another' final release.

Click to expand...

Wait, didn't they release Samurai Spirits Zero Special for the Japanese AES, or are my eyes fooling me?

This was pretty much expected though.
Once SSVS was released on home cart, it signaled the end of the Neo.
I myself sold off the excess crap that I no longer played, except for my boxed Metal Slug MVS kit collection. Everything else I can always repurchase if the mood strikes me.

And no, I don't consider emulation or the roms a viable substitute. Convenient yes, but lacking in just about every respect.

TonK said:

I'd like to discuss the current market condition

Click to expand...

Here we go again ..........

ORPHEUS said:

Here we go again ..........

Click to expand...

bokmeow said:

Wait, didn't they release Samurai Spirits Zero Special for the Japanese AES, or are my eyes fooling me?

Click to expand...

that was SSVS COMPLETE EDITION or FINAL, and it had a very brief loke test after which it dissappeared into thin air, as if it had never existsed.

http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~hitokiri/akaSP.htm

if someone could translate the gist of it I would very much appretiate it (is it a 'corrected' version of SPECIAL with lessened violence?)

D-Lite said:

Atari folks won't pay more that $50 for a rare cart.

Click to expand...

The Atari community mostly consists of a bunch of cheap scanberg-types who are out to save their pennies unlike anything I've ever seen before.
There are a few individuals who do buy up the ultra rare stuff at hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars, but they are few and far between and mostly well known in the community. The rest are more concerned about getting 10 carts for a nickel and lament about the fact that some thrift store was selling a loose Combat cart for $1.00.
Also, rom usage is very common with the Atari people. It's actually encouraged.

I love my mom...

Hi there. Rot here.

Yeah, there's been a few people selling up their AES collections recently... for whatever reason... SamuraiX, Neo Fan... are noticeable names...

Maybe they're getting out and trying to get as much as they can for their Games before the dreaded "Crash"...

Well, if there's a crash in the Neo Geo scene or even a correcting of prices... in the AES, MVS or Hardware side... it shouldn't really matter to the real Neo Lovers...

We've all seen noobs come and go... let the fly by night fekkers leave if they wish... I feel its important to remember that no matter HOW much you spend on a game... or how much its currently worth... you can only play one game at once...

And no matter HOW much your collection is worth... if your still a imbecile with no manners and treat people like dirt... you'll prob ALWAYS be that retard of a human being...

I don't mind if my collection is worth XXX% in a few years time... I'm here for the Neo... and the people that play and are in the scene...

On a side note... I :heart: a LOT of guys on the forums... from Fats, Roger, Kurt, Mike, Dave, Brett, Simone, Nate, My fekkin Auntiie with the wooden leg.... etc etc... and I couldn't care less if they play romz or whatever... They be good people... unlike some...

The Market is what it is... whether it crashes or not... is something we can't control... No point bitching or second guessing...

Btw. Some dumbass noob in chat just told me to sell up "While I still could "...

As already marked,some home carts will even increase in price.
I'm talking about rare US home carts in collector's condition.

Most of the japanese home carts could go down in price but we have been looking at this trend for a good while so far,nothing new.

Juts to make an example:Ninja master on jap format,home cart,it is easy to find and offer tops demand.
Still a Ninaj master US home cart would fetch great amount of money,IF in collector's condition and from a legit source.

More,keep in mind neo geo games WILL remain 2D gaming at its finest.
No games from atomiswave could match real neo geo gems,simply why they don't make nowadys anymore the good arcade games,times have changed.
So,if you are paying to get BIG TOURNAMET GOLF or NINJA MASTER,your looking at best 2d games ever made and that will keep high interest from collectors towards the neo geo system.
Infact you can hunt down for a rare NWC gold cart but you get a real sorry game compared to some neo geo gems..games that are STILL being played in arcades.

I think things will come full circle if there is a "crash". Once the games get cheaper the demand will grow yet again and we will be back to where we started. Wait for it.