RF Generation Message Board

Test markets in New York and Birmingham with plans to expand later.  Don't expect prices to go down any time soon.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2015/04/15/gamestop-to-offer-classic-consoles-and-games

"Back to the Nintendo Entertainment System".
Damn, I can't flip 300 cartridges of Combat?

I think of this as a bad thing... What if they start throwing them away?

Do you really think the casual consumer cares about that? They just want to trade in their old games that they just have lying around. Who cares what happens to it after that?

It makes more sense to sell them elsewhere, if trade-in value is as bad as I hear. :shrug:

You don't realize... THERE IS NO WHERE ELSE FOR CASUAL CONSUMERS IN THE US. Hell, I only have 1 shop within 20 miles of me now that will sell retro games that's not a flea market, and I only know about it because the guy is a vendor at one of the local flea markets. Just about every single brick-and-mortar store has closed up shop, since they can't get high enough margins. This guy mainly stays in business because he gives extremely low trade-in values, and marks up popular games by 50% or higher.

Sucks but it's true. Where I live now there is exactly one retro game store "near" me and it is Digital Press. I have the utmost respect for Joe and what he does, but I doubt Gamestop's prices will be any worse than his. It'll just make it more convenient for someone like me if I have the itch to hunt for some old commons in person.

The other huge question is where in the hell are they going to put all this new stock in their tiny little stores?

The plan currently seems to be to sell them online, and only online. So their stores filled with the generation shift, still jam packed with PS3 and 360 shovelware and all the new releases, won't change. They could throw them away, but we all know they would want to cash in on the price bubble, so they could throw away 300 Combat carts and nobody would bat an eyelash.

The question is who is going to dig them up in 30 years?

You're right. I read that wrong the first time.

The end times begin.

I know we're all going to lose our minds over this but there was a time not too many years ago when FuncoLand and other stores like GameCrazy sold everything, and life was just peachy. ;)

I didn't realize there was such a lack of retro game stores.  I live 63 miles from the nearest "city", and the only places to get retro games right now are a pawn shop and the Goodwill.  However, another small city 20 miles further down the road has a retro game shop, and they're opening a 2nd location in that city with the pawn shop.  Another city about 70 miles from me has one, and if I drive the 2.5 to 3 hours to the larger cities, there are multiple retro game stores.  All this, and I live in central Nebraska, where most people can't remember anything before the PlayStation, and wouldn't even know what a Sega Saturn was, outside of a handful of us retro gamers/collectors.  I've been lucky to find these shops over the last couple years, I know.

The thing about casual consumers is, there's always Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Shopko, K-Mart (if any stores are still open), Costco, Alco, etc.  Sure, those stores are not as gamer-focused as GameStop is, but they serve the need.  Sometimes, they even have better prices on new stuff than GS has.

@GrayGhost81 - excellent point about the tiny stores.  Some GS locations, like the one I sometimes frequent, are decent size, but yeah, some of them are practically "hole in the wall" size, and sometimes they're very cramped shopping mall locations that wouldn't befit that kind of expansion.  Honestly, we would have been better off if we could have retained Funcoland and EB Games locations, or if Funcoland stayed and remained retro and modern, and something like EB Games or GameStop could have been current gen and MAYBE last gen only, much like they are now.  I lament the death of great old places like Funcoland, Game Dude, and others like them.  I remember buying my NES, complete in box, as an adult at an EB Games store in the mall.  But then I could also go in there and buy the latest PlayStation or Dreamcast game, and I often did.  Thankfully, it seems like the small retro game store chain is making a return, at least in the midwest.  There are at least 3 or 4 here in Nebraska, and when I visited friends in Texas last spring, there were several in that area as well.

I live in Central Florida, and there's a constant, steady stream of tourists and college students...and yet, places can't seem to stay open. A lot of it is bad business practices, but they're just not generating the amount of trade-ins they need to justify the rent at most of these places.

I used to order from Funcoland all the time, and I have no problem with them selling online like Funco did back in the day. My only problem is not being able to know the condition or have images before purchasing, and the fact that GameStop will LITERALLY be able to dictate prices for the market, since retro titles are no longer in mass circulation.

definitely a bad thing if your local thrift stores/craigslist have been the go-to for game hunting. where i live that's how it used to be, you could easily find large lots of games on craigslist/usedvictoria and great deals at thrift stores. now there are 6 (soon to be 7 i think) retro game stores ON TOP of 3 or 4 EB Games locations. there's almost 0 available deals locally now as the stores all charge full market value for games, some of them even more than that because they include "shipping" into their local prices.  most people dump games there because it's much easier than selling yourself. to those who are used to amazing deals like the stuff we see zagnorch posting regularly, expect that to become much less common or at least take more effort to find them.

"Retro" used to be a bigger deal for retailers, because it was the only option for consumers to play lots of games on a budget.  Now, every new title deflates so quickly that you can play all the current-gen games on a budget.  Meanwhile, a retailer like Gamestop can flip the same disc four times and raise some cash every time.

The bolded part is what scares me the most, and you're absolutely right.  GameStop sets the tone for the rest of the industry, because they are the one go-to company in the US for current gen stuff.  If they suddenly take on retro games, we could see super-common PS2 games start selling, disc-only, for $5 - $8 minimum, if only because GameStop's OWN stock of that title is low, but totally ignoring the # of copies floating around out there, or the game's market value otherwise.  Suddenly, the pawn shop where I'm buying CIB PS2 and Xbox games for $2 each, and GameCube games for $4 each suddenly spike their prices because GameStop did.  That's good news for mom & pops and small chains, assuming they can either make better money on the titles they have because more people go to them, OR if they raise their prices to be in line with GameStop, and consumers decide they just have no choice but to eat the increase.  It's bad news for collectors, especially ones like me who have limited disposable income, and rely on these kinds of retailers to score good deals on stuff.

That game store I mentioned 70 miles from my house - I was in there this last weekend, and saw Dig Dug for Game Boy.  I knew I wanted it, but didn't want to pay their listed $20 price for it.  I asked the guy who runs the store if there was any movement on the price, and he said there wasn't really, that they try to be competitive with general market price.  Then he brought up Amazon and was showing a loose cart at $17.49 + 3.99 shipping.  He offered to knock it down to $17.99 for me, since I was buying several carts, which was nice, but I have to wonder about the buy-back.  They probably acquired that cart from somebody who didn't know what they had, and that poor sap probably got no more than $2 in-store credit for trading that game in, so they made nearly all profit from that transaction with me.  Anyone else feel like they get ripped off like that from time to time?

...are you kidding? I used to get kicked out of stores all the time for pointing out the pricing discrepancies, and just about everyone here that does resale has a policy of "How much do you think it's worth?" for trade-ins. I used to carry around a binder for my collection, and was kicked out of numerous stores because they thought I had a pricing guide, even when I showed them what I was carrying! Most people undervalue their games 10-fold, and the resaler gets a profit and the person trading it in is blissfully unaware of how poor of a trade it was. I've seen $90 RPGs traded in for $2 because it was an "old PS1 game".

I've learned to steer clear of calling people on their bullshit prices, and instead just try to talk the price down and ask for bundle deals. If they don't want to come down on the price, and I REALLY want it, I'll start quoting off known sales and prices, and mention that I know he needs profit off the sale - trying to make an appeal. If the person wants to get cocky with me, I loudly start discussing negative pricing and watch as people walk away, since I know I won't be back anyways.

I've met most of the major resalers in my area, and a few know to stay clear of me and others are more than willing to work with me, but I make it a point not to get ripped off, or to let unknowing people get ripped off in the process. I have no problems ripping off the resalers though, since turnabout's fair play and I know they paid less than what they're offering for something.

Glad to see I'm not the only one challenging some of these mom & pop shops when the prices are a little too high.  My tactic is to tell them that an item they have is something I want, but it's more than I want to pay for it and see if they'll haggle a bit.  I was able to negotiate a vendor down from $25 to $20 for a copy of Mr. Do on the Game Boy (yeah, I know that's a good price), and have been able to get better pricing on other stuff here and there, but with some shops, the clerks aren't able to haggle or negotiate pricing, because the owner doesn't allow them to, so you either pay the price that's listed, or you go somewhere else.  If I think a price is too high, I let them know about it.  One shop that doesn't haggle has 3 different original Game Boy Pokemon carts, all priced at $30 loose, which I find utterly RIDICULOUS.  Yes, Pokemon is popular, and yes, now that the collector market is booming, some fools are willing to spend that on a loose GB cart, but I'm sorry, I just can't.  Especially when the labels aren't in great condition.  What's the point of charging $30 for a cart that is in the top 10 most sold games on that platform?  Pure profit, plain and simple.  Nothing wrong with that.  I consider myself a capitalist, and I'm willing to pay "fair market value" for something, but in some instances, it's just not justified.  So for me to ever review the Pokemon games (which I'm dreading, to be honest), I may have to either score some in a lot, or eventually just pony up the money.  Ugh.

Mark up for popular games is common, but that's what Pokemon games still sell for these days. Ask Zagnorch to pull aside some GB Pokemon carts for you - he collects them like they're candy.

I had that problem a few times. Mostly though, people were just curious and then amazed when they saw my binder.

I can't speak for current prices but The Exchange in Pittsburgh, PA was a damned good place to pick up loads of goodies 10 years ago. The trade values weren't too terrible. They weren't great but were certainly better than most. You really couldn't complain though. Their prices were dirt cheap. Basically it was everything under the sun for $0.25 - $2.00 except for "popular" titles (more like well known, Super Mario Bros. for instance). I paid $5 for Chrono Trigger ffs!

I think the biggest concern with GameStop now will be that rare titles could be overlooked and tossed. I'm imagining a lot of "I've never heard of this, nobody will want it." *tosses rare cart in trash*

@ MetalFRO: What Shadz said. I leap on just about any Pokeymans game I find for flippage at all the thrifts and discount-media shops I frequent... and there are a LOT of them in my neck of the woods. I'd be more than happy to offer a very reasonable asking price for any one you're looking for, should I stumble upon any in the future. Oh, and if you're looking for a TI-80s-series graphing calculator, please let me know.

Hey, that reminds me: I gotta do up my latest Small Scores post. Just wait 'til ya see what I picked up yesterday!

BRB

How is this surprising? GameStop is staring down the barrel of extinction with more and more talk of an all-digital future. They have to find a market in which they can stay relevant and profitable. They also have to adhere to market prices, as eBay won't just magically go away, and smaller sellers won't be willing to sit on product for eternity if their products are priced out of the market.

My real concern is the GameStop employees themselves. If they see an $800 game come in for trade, do you think they will really just happily send it off to corporate?

So you're saying I should put in an application for GameStop, and just have them funnel the paycheck towards retro trade-ins?

Not exactly, but you can bet that if someone knows what Stadium Events is and it gets traded-in, that they are immediately taking a smoke break and not coming back.

Not in the market for any TI-80's - I still have my TI-82 from high school if I need a fix :D

But yes, I would very much appreciate the "hook up" on some original GB Pokemon cartridges at a more reasonable price.

Metal it sounds like your complaint is more about the market than the game stores specifically...unless you come across sellers who have no idea what they're doing, those prices you mentioned don't sound bad they're just normal for the current market. what i was saying was basically that, that when game stores go retro the prices you deal with go from "we just want to get rid of this old junk" to "hey we now know everything you know about how much this is really worth so now we're not ripping ourselves off anymore!"

To some extent I suppose you're right, though sometimes it's with specific stores more than the market in general.  Sometimes the market price for a game is based solely on demand, even if the supply is always there, and it bothers me.  As I've said on this forum before, I'll never give $35 or more for a LoZ: LttP loose cart, because it's in the top 10 selling SNES games of all time.  That means that, even if lots of SNES players still have their original carts, there are plenty to go around in the wild, and it's only that much because it's freaking Zelda.  I've seen some stores sell original NES Zelda carts for $45 or $50, even though they're in fair condition, which I think is too much.  I get having high prices on carts that were misprints, small print run, rare, etc. but for common games like those (or Pokemon), it seems excessive to price them that high.

And yeah, obviously there are fewer and fewer people who take the "old junk" approach, because the Internet has taken a lot of the guesswork away from the average person, between Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, etc.  Perhaps more at the heart of the matter is, who is the trendsetter in these situations - who is creating the price points that drive everyone else to similar pricing?  Is it eBay?  Amazon?  Price Charting?  I realize my question must be rhetorical at some level, because the likely answer is all of the above, and then some.  But it would be nice to get a better handle on why some prices are out of control, and some stuff is priced so low you'd think every game store had 80 copies.

I think you might be vastly underestimating the demand of some of these titles. As someone who runs a game store I get asked daily for things like Zelda and Pokemon and they consistently sell out within hours when priced around $30. Only collectors are going to be looking for things with small print runs, misprints, rare circumstances around releases, etc. Nearly everyone who just wants a Super Nintendo or Game Boy, either to play or collect, is going to be looking for those top 10 best selling games. They may be extremely common, but there is massive demand for things like Zelda, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Donkey Kong Country, Mario, etc. Rental Exclusive games, limited distribution games, misprints, oddities, and the like are extremely niche. I dont doubt I could sell 50 or more Zelda LttP games before I could sell something like Little Samson or Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak in the same amount of time.

^ This is exactly what I see at Flea Markets. A copy of Super Mario Bros. 3, marked up to $60, will still sell and even move NES systems on its own because people want to relive nostalgia or introduce it to their kids. No one wants to purchase or play some game they've never heard of. Sure, Werewolf is fun, but it's not going to sell NES systems, and it'll sit in the corner for years until someone decides they like werewolves and picks it up, having no clue what the game is.

Werewolf also appeals to USA enthusiasts. May just be the most patriotic game of all time!!

[img width=640 height=479]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7613/16991715597_8f52e694b2_o.jpg[/img] (https://flic.kr/p/rTuZ4K)

Yes, but the cover is a disgusting yellow with red text, and it's confusing - he's supposed to be tearing himself out of the NES cartridge:
[img width=423 height=473]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-027/gs/U-027-S-07250-A.jpg[/img]

I talked to the employees at the newest GameStop here, and they heard the news about retro trade-ins. I jokingly mentioned what Duke said about someone having a rare game traded in and quitting rather than take the trade, and the response was "A rare retro game? Oh, like .hack?" Guys - we're seriously living in a world where the common customer now considers PS2 retro, and .hack is considered rare. Seriously, .hack is "rare" and "valuable" enough to quit over?!

Really, quit your job over .Hack?? Quitting your job over a Silent Service trade in is a given though

I'd totally quit my job over Ben Franklin and a few of his buddies. Especially since I can earn that in a day! Jackpot!

Granted some .Hack games are worth some cash, but maybe my worries about insightful GS employees making off with rare NES games are overblown after hearing that.

"Insightful GS employees"?? Say what?!?!?!

It makes me wonder how little they're actually being paid.

Peanuts. That's what. I have two good friends that worked at GameStop (actually how we became friends). Their pay was shite, they took a lot of garbage from corporate, and the job just plain sucked. Most GS customers are complete idiots too which didn't help matters.

At one time (back in the Funcoland days) you would be fairly well off, but that was in the age of commission.  It was dog-eat-dog at times, but what sales job isn't?  You could learn how to sell and still manage to keep your soul.  Plus back in the late '90s nobody shopped at Funco during the summer vacation months, so it was a cool two or three months of getting paid hourly for playing games.  Now the only incentive to work there is the "rental" policy.  I don't shop at Gamestop anymore, but that is purely based on principle on their corporate policies.  If I want a retro game I'll use the RFG network.  If I absolutely need it I'll go get ripped off at the local game shop instead of GS, where I don't have to say no to a million different pre-order offers.

It just hit me:  Since GS will be going retro soon that means they'll start with the game cleaners again.  Anyone remember those times?  And you thought the lines moved slowly now.  Just wait until you get two or three cleaning demos in a row.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Pat & Ian were discussing this subject on their latest podcast and they brought up an interesting point. Gamestop isn't entering a video game market they are entering a collectors' market. This brings with it a whole lot of different rules. What is there to stop anyone from creating repros of Earthbound or Metal Warriors and selling them as real?

I found that discussion to be very interesting as well. Here's that particular conversation if anyone is interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzSrXmtEAEQ

^^ This is probably a good assessment of this whole debacle.  Unless they're going to start rolling out retro games in physical locations so people can see what's available and pick items up off the shelf, I don't see this being successful for them.

I feel your pain, there's a consignment shop here and the old-dude running it (he has a stall up front by the register) wanted like $200 for a Slim PS2 and like six or so dirt-common games. it was a lot that I'd guess he'd be lucky to squeeze $75 out of.

Yeah though, even the upper-end .Hack games (mainly the Rebirth ones) are only worth like $50 AFAIK. It's nothing to scoff at, but I wouldn't call it a holy grail by any reasonable measure.

On topic, I can see this screwing up the market and making VERY HARD to find anything in the wild because most people are going start dumping their stuff there instead taking it to Goodwill or messing with Pawnshops and Yardsales.

I guess it was only a matter of time....

 Posted 21 August 2015 - 01:59 AM
Howdy all, long story short - I ordered a copy of Chrono Trigger from Gamestop and they sent me a cart with a Madden 95 chip inside. Buyer Beware, GS ain't checking what they're selling.

https://www.cheapassgamer.com/topic/348415-psa-i-got-punked-by-gamestop-retrogaming/

That was quick. I was expecting it to be a bit until people took advantage and swapped the circuit boards.

I would love to see this and all the soon to come gamestop fails compiled in one place.

See also Chris Kohler's copy of Splatterhouse 2...for the Sega Mega Drive LOL.

http://twitter.com/kobunheat/status/638877842336432128