Do you think the Youtube community hurts the hobby?

[RetroByte]

I noticed that as soon as a hidden gem is featured on a popular Youtuber's channel, it shoots up in price.  Wasn't this the case with Hagane?

I also believe that Little Samson and Flintstones 2 skyrocketed in price as soon as the Game Chasers had them featured in one of their episodes.

Do you think this stuff ultimatly hurts the hobby?  Ever since the Youtube retro boom of 2008, it seems like you can never find a decent deal anymore.

[Duke.Togo]

It certainly increases the awareness of these titles, as well as the demand. Many of these people will be in the hobby short term until they find the next thing to move on to, so in the long run it won't matter a lot.

For the short term, it just makes sense to avoid some of these flash in the pan titles, unless having them in a hurry is worth it to you.

I remember when the story of Tengen Tetris first got big, and loose carts were selling around $100 - $125. These things cool off over time.

[SirPsycho]

It can have a short term effect. I watch the AVGN and other youtubers and every time they come up with a list of underappreciated titles the price jumps upwards quite drastically in the short term.

For example, when Mike Matei made his list and The Guardian Legend was his #1 underrated NES game the price shot up from less than $3 up to almost $20 before cooling off.

[wildbil52]

I don't watch any of the youtube retro game stuff but I do notice when prices shoot up.  I got screwed on a Spiderman Web of Fire that my local store got in and was selling for $350 due to several recently completed $400+ sales on ebay.  Now the game has settled back at $200-210.  There has been one on ebay for weeks not with a buy it now of $250 with free shipping and no one is biting.

I agree that people get a little crazy when something is hyped but it almost always goes back to normal.

[Missionfailed]

It hurts it just as much as ebay. remember the old days at flea markets when games where sold to get rid of and not for profit.

[Crabmaster2000]

I think its actually a great thing. The more people that are interested in retro games means more wonderful folk like yourselves to chat with, more carts being circulated, more information being circulated, more trade partners, etc.

I think a price increase is a fair trade off for the in flux of new people it brings into the community.

[techwizard]

i agree with crabmaster, i just think some of the price hikes are rediculous. and the worst part is if you only recently looked into a game to buy and weren't aware of it's previous value, you might end up way overpaying just due to this hype.

that being said i do really like the retro scene on youtube, especially collector channels like finngamer's.

[Izret101]

You can't really ever overpay for a game unless you are only looking to flip it.
Whatever amount you payed is what you felt it was worth.

Don't like prices don't buy it. Or better yet hope that something you do own gets mentioned by one of these youtubers and make a fortune off of the sheep who follow them.

[techwizard]

i just meant in the sense that if you felt the prices you saw were the norm and didn't realise it was a recent trend.

[Sauza12]

A lot of these Youtube game reviewers (Like Spoony, AVGN, ect.) have introduced me to a lot of games I might have over looked before.  Sure there's usually a spike in prices on line, but since I usually get most of my stuff from yard sales and thrift stores it usually doesn't affect me.  As long as their funny I say bring 'em on.

[cverz2]

I don't know if Youtube has hurt collecting.  But I do know websites like Yahoo, MSN, etc.  REALLY hurt my collecting when they published that EBAY auction for a Nintendo and a dozen games selling for 13,000.  Of course the only reason for the high price was the Stadium Events CIB.  But that hasn't kept idiots in the St. Louis Region from thinking there old video games are GOLD.  I used to get TONS of NES, SNES, N64, etc. on craigslist.  But now everyone wants 75-100 bucks or more for their NES and a couple games.

[Hungrymoose]

Izret101 and Souza12 said it best.

[Addicted]

Izret101 and Souza12 said it best.

I agree. I have learned a lot from Famicom Dojo and found many great games from Game Center CX, or 16-bit Gems.

[Addicted]

No more AVGN account?

http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesnintendonerd

I wonder if he said the words Shining and Force in a video...

[Shadow Kisuragi]

The videos are still up on his website - Cinemassacre.com.