Retro Video Game Collecting as an Investment?

[RyuHayabusa]

I collect retro games because I love to play them. I remember looking through all my old issues of EGM and Gamefan wishing that I could play all these cool looking games, especially the import games I saw in the Diehard Gamefan and Tommo advertisements. Now I own a ton of those games and I'm always on the lookout for more. I won't deny that it's nice to see some of the items I own increase in value, so if something were to happen I could always get a return on my investment. The unfortunate flipside to that is it makes collecting that much more expensive. But, video games have been a big part of my life since I was like 6 or 7 and they always will be.

[vestcoat]

I collect retro games because I love to play them

vs.

so if something were to happen I could always get a return on my investment.

[RyuHayabusa]

I collect retro games because I love to play them

vs.

so if something were to happen I could always get a return on my investment.

And? It's not like I'm hunting down boxed copies of valuable yet shitty games just to flip them on Ebay. It's just nice to know that my collection has a significant monetary value in case of an emergency and I had to come up with some cash fast.

[DarkKobold]

I collect retro games because I love to play them

vs.

so if something were to happen I could always get a return on my investment.

And? It's not like I'm hunting down boxed copies of valuable yet shitty games just to flip them on Ebay. It's just nice to know that my collection has a significant monetary value in case of an emergency and I had to come up with some cash fast.

Video games aren't exactly an asset with high liquidity. While in an individual crisis, you may be able to convert the assets to cash, if the crisis is more wide spread, such as an economic downturn, you won't be able to convert them back into cash, without taking substantial losses.

In reality, the reason most people ask "Are video games a good investment?" is not because they want to build up a 401k built out of Magical Chases, which is what most people assume.  It is more that they want to internally justify spending large sums of money on what boils down to toys.

Spending $100+ on a single video game that is over a decade old would be impossible to justify to your internal conscience if the game were to lose all value immediately. However, if you tell yourself "Hey, in 10 years, I can sell it for $200, and I'll have made money!" All of the sudden you've justified a reason to spend $100 on something that isn't the best decision for your personal financial stability. I would say the majority of the video game market, especially the VGA-graded market, falls under the greater fool theory of economics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory

The problem is, just with baseball cards and comic books, the market WILL dry up. Liquidity on anything other than the rarest of the rare will disappear. So, if you purchase a game for $100+, you are better off assuming you will NEVER get that money back. If you still feel justified with the purchase, then do it. But don't use a false assumption of a perpetually growing market to justify a purchase.

[ApolloBoy]

If you see video games as an investment I think it's time for you to find a new hobby.

[seieienbu]

If you see video games as an investment I think it's time for you to find a new hobby.

Perhaps you might suggest something along the lines of day trading investments.

[Necromancer]

Q: Investment?
A: I invest my time in playing games.

Good plan.  It pays dividends in smiles. 

[esteban]

Q: Investment?
A: I invest my time in playing games.

Good plan.  It pays dividends in smiles. 

Indubitably.

[rag-time4]

I collect retro games because I love to play them

vs.

so if something were to happen I could always get a return on my investment.

And? It's not like I'm hunting down boxed copies of valuable yet shitty games just to flip them on Ebay. It's just nice to know that my collection has a significant monetary value in case of an emergency and I had to come up with some cash fast.

Video games aren't exactly an asset with high liquidity. While in an individual crisis, you may be able to convert the assets to cash, if the crisis is more wide spread, such as an economic downturn, you won't be able to convert them back into cash, without taking substantial losses.

In reality, the reason most people ask "Are video games a good investment?" is not because they want to build up a 401k built out of Magical Chases, which is what most people assume.  It is more that they want to internally justify spending large sums of money on what boils down to toys.

Spending $100+ on a single video game that is over a decade old would be impossible to justify to your internal conscience if the game were to lose all value immediately. However, if you tell yourself "Hey, in 10 years, I can sell it for $200, and I'll have made money!" All of the sudden you've justified a reason to spend $100 on something that isn't the best decision for your personal financial stability. I would say the majority of the video game market, especially the VGA-graded market, falls under the greater fool theory of economics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory

The problem is, just with baseball cards and comic books, the market WILL dry up. Liquidity on anything other than the rarest of the rare will disappear. So, if you purchase a game for $100+, you are better off assuming you will NEVER get that money back. If you still feel justified with the purchase, then do it. But don't use a false assumption of a perpetually growing market to justify a purchase.

Kobold, you bring up some interesting and important ideas here. Well said.

I have given these issues some thought... I tend to view things exactly as RyuHyabusa. I collect for fun, but the collection does have monetary value as well should the need arise.

Kobold, you make a very good point, I think, about the loss of liquidity for all but the 'rarest' items. There are relatively few games that have solid resale value, and relatively many will sit and sit with little or no value. The past few weeks, I've finally gotten around to selling some extra Famicom Disk games that I imported from hit as a speculative investment with the intention of repairing the disks and putting them up for penny auction on ebay. The only games that are selling for any amount of money are games like Mario, Zelda, and Castlevania.

[roflmao]

I really like this thread.  I hope the variety of opinions don't get crapped on too much, just so more people would be willing to post. 

I've kept a lot of the games that I originally purchased, but I've fallen into the same trap as others and have sold off a console collection or two only to quickly realize the error of my ways.

Nowadays I'm really not looking for much, but the games I am looking to pick up fall into pretty much two categories; games that I feel nostalgic over and am willing to splurge on a bit if I happen to have the money and games that I've never played but sound interesting.  I'm not going for a complete collection, but there are a ton of games for the PCE that I'm just now finding out about.  I'm not willing to spend much on an unknown game (usually $10-15 shipped) but every once in awhile I'll bite if I keep my eye out for awhile (usually 6+ months) for slightly more ($20-25).

[Gladiator316]

I'm glad everyone is liking the thread. Ive read every comment and I like to see that
 there are plenty of people who collect video games think like me, and view them as games.
Games that should be played, not stored away hoping to gain monetary value. I'm sure I will get a lot of rants
for this but i've opened a brand new Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, Chrono trigger, Guardian Heroes (saturn) and a Neutopia....
Sometimes it just feels good opening a brand new old game...even if its worth money.

[jelloslug]

Video games are the new baseball cards.

[Gladiator316]

Video games are the new baseball cards.

Its funny, I used to think all the comic cards I bought and owned would be worth something one day but never video games...I have boxes among boxes filled with Fleer Ultras and marvel master pieces, etc from 91 and up...I really should hit up egay and see if they are worth anything..LOL

[turboswimbz]

I'm glad everyone is liking the thread. Ive read every comment and I like to see that
 there are plenty of people who collect video games think like me, and view them as games.
Games that should be played, not stored away hoping to gain monetary value. I'm sure I will get a lot of rants
for this but i've opened a brand new Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, Chrono trigger, Guardian Heroes (saturn) and a Neutopia....
Sometimes it just feels good opening a brand new old game...even if its worth money.

Well Said.  I'm all for people making money on games if they so choose.  But I love to play-em' and open them.    especially since I never got a new turbob ever.

[Arkhan]

It's not an investment if you never plan to get rid of the stuff.

It's more like f*ck YEAH GAMES BUY EM PLAY EM UAFHAISDFUHASIDFUHAISDFHASDFVHVBJNZ;CKBN34ERGFJBNM