So why do we still pay so much for AES games, again?

[Ramad]

Hey guys.

I've been into the Neo for a while. I have smallish AES/NGH collection, and I've gotten most of the games that I've been looking for. There's a few more that I wouldn't mind getting (Sengoku 3, Spinmaster, Twinklestar Sprites), but I know that I won't be able to, because they simple go for too much, now. Which leads me to my question:

Why do a lot of you AES collectors agree to pay such ludicrous amounts of money for these games, still? It just seems to set you up to be exploited. Fraudsters are falling over themselves creating very authentic looking fakes, that folks will end up spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for. There is absolutely NO way that I would go after a copy of Metal Slug now, english or japanese, because you really have no idea if it's real, and its going to cost you at least $1500 USD to find out.

Its not just Metal Slug. ANY Neo game of "value" is suspect. If you're willing to pay 600 dollars for a game, someone else is willing to pay $150 to get the MVS version, sac a Top Players Golf or Fatal Fury, and get his buddy at Kinko's to print out a label, manual and case insert.

What's sad is this board seems to help encourage folks to increase the prices of these games, and keep this silly "elite" status that Neo games seem to have. The Neo price guide, the bloated prices at the Neo Store, fellas selling "personal ex-SNK employee collection games" for TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars? Ridiculous.

Why do you still pay so much? What makes you say "$1000 for an almost 20 year old game that I could buy for a fraction of the price in another format? Sure! Why not?"

 

[Colorado Rockie]

Why do you still pay so much? What makes you say "$1000 for an almost 20 year old game that I could buy for a fraction of the price in another format? Sure! Why not?"

Collector's prefer originals. That's pretty much it.

And you can get Spinmaster for relatively cheap

 

[theMot]

Its the same for any type of collectable, the rare in demand stuff is going to increase in price. Aes carts are a desirable format and there is demand for them hence the price increase. Why are city properties more expensive than rural ones? Same reason, supply and demand.


People have to stop looking at aes carts as games anymore, they are now collectables.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Cause there still seems plenty of crazy folk(mainly Europeans) that think these games are good value and to 'complete sets' that will in all likelihood, remain unplayed.

 

[ChuChu Flamingo]

Blame the newbies who have more money than sense.

I haven't been here as long as other people (my join date on here was a little late, was lurking for a few years) and even I have seen prices go up dramatically.

Just look at all the people who buy a expensive AES game on here, to only flip it later on. It is disgusting.

 

[Dr Shroom]

Because we're all idiots with more money than brains.

 

[xb74]

Like the others have pointed out, it could be that the aesholes have driven prices up beyond reach of us mortals.

 

[Dampfwalze]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Nintendo-SNES-Earthbound-NIB-Brand-New-Box-VGA-85-Archival-MINT-/300752541355?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item46063f96ab

 

[theMot]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Nintendo-SNES-Earthbound-NIB-Brand-New-Box-VGA-85-Archival-MINT-/300752541355?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item46063f96ab

The disease is spreading! It will only get worse too for cardboard box games like the snes, most games are already hard to find in good condition. Imaginw what it will be like in another 20 years. At least neo games are generally in very good condition, probably a lot to do with the older audience they were aimed at and the fact they are mostly in sturdy cases.

 

[Dr Shroom]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Nintendo-SNES-Earthbound-NIB-Brand-New-Box-VGA-85-Archival-MINT-/300752541355?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item46063f96ab

 

[Ramad]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Nintendo-SNES-Earthbound-NIB-Brand-New-Box-VGA-85-Archival-MINT-/300752541355?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item46063f96ab

That also is more of the exception, than the rule. Earthbound, Mega Man X3, and Dracula X seem to command stupidly high prices, that I'm surprised people pay. But then again, There's probably a reason why that Earthbound auction has 7 offers, and no purchase as yet.

Meanwhile, If you look on ebay for AES games, There's a seller in Japan that is selling conversions for about $450 dollars a pop for the top tier expensive games. Twinklestar Sprites, Ninja Masters, Metal Slug, etc. They look fantastic, and because they're far less expensive than the authentic cartridges, I won't be surprised if they sell.

Which in turn, I have mixed emotions about. Now there will be more conversions out in the wild, and NOW they have manuals, and higher quality printed inserts. If the seller isn't exactly upfront about the conversion, and passes it off as authentic, its now up to the seller to have to determine if the cart is legit. Shitty.

But at the same time, I just want to play the game on my Neo, and have it look nice on my shelf. I'm not looking to pay for my kid's college with games (hmm, maybe I should!!!). So what if its a conversion? It works. Its far cheaper, and as far as I know, a conversion is just the MVS version of the game shoved into an AES shell. If this drives prices down, should I be mad?

 

[tony starks]

Simply put, just go with the MVS route, homecarts are a waste of time and money.

Starks out.

 

[Tokyo]

Simply put, just go with the MVS route, homecarts are a waste of time and money.

Starks out.

That's Real!

 

[Aldynes]

I think the price inflation is happening to all 8 bit and 16 bit systems; and to a lesser extent the 32 bit machines. Many people in their 30s and 40s have fond memories of these systems and want to get them back. The internet has also made serious collecting much easier with all the reference databases and auction houses. My primary collection is SEGA and I'm amazed at the prices some of those games command like Eliminate Down and Gleylancer. The Neo Geo gets even more outrageous I think because it was starting from a higher price point in the 90s so the floor is much higher, and the machine has such a mystique that many can't resist. I for one have had my machine since '94 (bought it used from Funcoland) and have recently been filling in games where I can. I have no interest in MVS because quite frankly it doesn't look good on the shelf and I'm not interested in refurbishing a dusty cart with a half peeling sticker.

 

[FalcomAdol]

MVS has the counterfeit problem too, but usually the sellers hawking them are pretty open about whether it's a boot or not (they make some kind of remark in the sale that it's a "plus" version or "not original" to cover their asses with buyer protection).

The homecarts are so expensive though, that that uplift makes it feasible to spend more money counterfeiting. I guarantee some of these counterfeits/conversions cost more money to produce than SNK ever paid when they first produced them in volume. Ultimately, the buyers eager to part with their earnings created the level of demand needed and the opportunity to create (by high prices) incredibly authentic seeming counterfeits.

That AES buyers are also quite loathe to crack open their carts to check the authenticity means it's that much more difficult to detect the fake. Most MVS owners don't seem to be bothered by slicing that little silver sticker and just popping it open (when the carts aren't already transparent).

You have an audience willing to pay huge amounts of money, who doesn't want to take the easiest route to determine authenticity. No kidding there are cagey scumbags willing to prey on them. Even if those kind of buyers are the minority of the AES buying public, they're making the situation bad for the low-end buyers.

 

[Ramad]

Simply put, just go with the MVS route, homecarts are a waste of time and money.

Starks out.

Here's the problem with that.

MVS users have had sort of a feast for the past decade, because of the absolute flooding of the collector market of MVS carts from arcades closing down and clearing out their back rooms. You could get most of the major games for a few bucks, because well, they were everywhere.

That's going to start changing. Probably within the next few years.

Now with most of the big arcades gone, and SNK/Playmore not supplying more stock for the MVS, that well is going to dry up. You'll still see the most common games, the King of Fighters and Samurai Shodowns and Metal Slugs going for cheap. However, MVS exclusive games like Strikers Plus, and Nightmare in the Dark, Puzzle Bobble, and Shock Troopers will start jumping up in price as they get harder to find. Games like Twinklestar Sprites and Magical Drop 3 and Pulstar are already getting expensive, and will only get more so when they get more and more scarce. It doesn't help that converters who are looking to cash in will be hunting these games down so they can put them in AES shells and sell them for 5-10 times the price that they bought them for.

 

[Dampfwalze]

That also is more of the exception, than the rule. Earthbound, Mega Man X3, and Dracula X seem to command stupidly high prices, that I'm surprised people pay. But then again, There's probably a reason why that Earthbound auction has 7 offers, and no purchase as yet.

But at the same time, I just want to play the game on my Neo, and have it look nice on my shelf. I'm not looking to pay for my kid's college with games (hmm, maybe I should!!!). So what if its a conversion? It works. Its far cheaper, and as far as I know, a conversion is just the MVS version of the game shoved into an AES shell. If this drives prices down, should I be mad?

I don't understand your problem. Are you a gamer or a collector?
Somehow I get the impression that you are a collector, but you whine because of the expensive home cartridge market prices.
If you choose to collect Neo Geo games, you should be willing to spend a lot of money for the sought after titles. (Metal Slugs, Pulstar, Blazing Star, Twinkle Star Sprites, etc. etc.)
If your only goal is to play some SNK games, you have a wide range to choose from: emulators (free), SNK collections on PS2, single ports, download titles, MVS system, Neo Geo CD.... all less expensive than buying home cartridges.

"The prices are way to high!" says the buyer.
"The games are dropping in price." says the seller.
you may hear this from the same person, depending if he's buyer or seller.



And for the conversion: if you like to buy one, do it. It's not a crime.

*edits*: fucking typos, etc.

 

[fernandeath]

I'm a Neo Geo CD owner so I don't spend too much money on one game.
The most expensive one I have is probably Panzer Dragoon Saga (I paid around $180).
But I'd rather spend in 'quantity' instead of 'quality'. I mean, with $300.00 I would pick 3 X360 games + 4 Wii games instead of 1 rare game.

 

[FalcomAdol]

I'm a Neo Geo CD owner so I don't spend too much money on one game.
The most expensive one I have is probably Panzer Dragoon Saga (I paid around $180).
But I'd rather spend in 'quantity' instead of 'quality'. I mean, with $300.00 I would pick 3 X360 games + 4 Wii games instead of 1 rare game.

I think this is a totally reasonable approach.

I've been able to get some "high price" MVS games recently at very low prices. Some of this is about waiting until that opportunity comes along to snag what you want at a reasonable (to you at that moment) price.

 

[Tacitus]

Just think of what the entire AF3 shitstorm is going to bring. Interest, bad or good, brings in new collectors/buyers.. prices go up. There will never be MORE original games, and condition continually worsens... THe bubble will burst eventually, like any other collector hobby. Just hope you're still alive and kicking when it happens.

Want to see what happens? Look up the pedal car hobby.

 

[Tokyo]

Every AES game comes with a free sample of lube. Because at some point you are getting fucked.

 

[Electric Grave]

I'll tell you why; Damn collectors, they're a disgrace to video games. Well at least we'll always have MAME and that's enough to keep me smiling 'cause the day I'm done with this hobby I won't miss a thing and it's all thanks to emulation.

 

[Igakajook]

I have stayed away from the neo for a long time because of the prices of even the cheaper games. Getting interested in a neo game is scary because you may never find a cheap enough copy to play.

 

[hyper]

The home system is superior aesthetically.

The artwork, packaging and feel of home carts are just something MVS carts can't reproduce, so

I think that collecting the best games in the best condition is something the more diehard, especially wealthy, neo fans strive for.

Purchasing games as an investment, however, is absurd.

 

[silverstar]

I would think that this AF3/PS2 debacle would tend to bring prices on the high-tier AES games down. If counterfeits become so hard to spot that would make people less willing to spend big bucks on any particular game for fear of getting a fake.
I like AES games, but I stear clear of the expensive games (I'd say my limit is around 300 US$ for a game). If the titles go for more than that for AES I look for the MVS version instead.