GRcade Retro Gaming Chat

[Parksey]

It might have been a little higher than that - 6000 or so - but I seem to remember it was definitely a four digit number.

Can't seem to find any concrete numbers on the internet to confirm it however.

[Trelliz]

I do wonder if the deeply buried smugness that I own such rare, hard to find titles, outweighs the fact that I effectively probably have about £700 just sitting there unused.

I realised that about some of my semi-rare retro games, many of which I don't have the system for anymore. I am not a stickler for absolute authenticity so am happy to emulate retro games (not that i've done much of that recently anyway), so would rather have a decent amount of money for things that only sat there for my own self-satisfaction.

[Parksey]

It's a bit of a double-edged sword though, as if all those GC titles were available digitally, I would probably shift most of them. Though if this was the case, the value of a lot of them would probably plummet. A lot of Nintendo stuff is rare because either the games didn't sale, the console they were on didn't sell, or they didn't produce them in any great numbers. I imagine in the case of Fire Emblem GC, there is a market for people who just want to own them and play them, rather than just have them as a collector's item on their shelf.

[kerr9000]

I do think emulation stops me buying something's, I kind of want Ranger X for the megadrive but don't want to spend tonnes in it, I've seen loose carts for £20 and contemplated it and part of me saying no is the fact I can just use my ever drive to play it, sure if I saw it for £10 or less id just grab it but this makes me realise that in some cases flash cards PC emulation and retro collection discs on modern consoles do have an effect on my purchasing habits.

[Herdanos]

On the subject of collecting what’s that one Holy Grail of a game you’d want in your collection?

For me, the holiest of grails would be finding the collection of N64 games and hardware that I once traded in, at a similar price to that which I got for it.

Having said that... since then I've been able to re-acquire all of the games in that collection one way or another, though some aren't original N64 games e.g. I can now play Paper Mario again anytime, but that's because I own a VC copy on the Wii, which isn't worth anything, and can't really be compared to the boxed original that was in excellent condition.

So in terms of games I'd like to acquire: I've long since adapted my approach and now I only seek the games I'd actually play. For the GameCube, this is pretty much only Mario Baseball and Pokemon XD, both of which I'd happily add to my collection if I found them at a good price. I'd also quite like to happen upon a copy of Cubivore (not released in PAL territories) if only because of the intrigue piqued by NGC magazine's review.

For the N64 I would definitely give Mystical Ninja 2 a go if I saw a copy, though it'd need to be a reasonable price point (there was a unboxed version at a convention a few years ago for £60, for example).

The ultimate holy grail for me would be to find a copy of either Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 on GBC or DWM Caravan Heart on GBA. Kerr, if you're listening... (ooh, purely for nostalgia's sake, I'll add Tiny Toon Adventures on NES to the list)

[jawafour]

For me, the holiest of grails would be finding the collection of N64 games and hardware that I once traded in, at a similar price to that which I got for it. ...

Dang, Dan, I can relate to that pain. My Master System collection... ouch. I eventually got most, but not all, of the games again. Those missing ones still hurt.

...I've long since adapted my approach and now I only seek the games I'd actually play...

I think this is a good shout. Looking back (not particularly far, really ) there have been times when I've definitely been caught up in collecting rather than playing; both for old games and newer titles. I enjoyed searching out and picking up games but I do sometimes think "I'm never gonna actually play that".

I barely buy retro nowdays; sure, it'd be really nice to have that Australian PAL release of Command & Conquer for the N64 but is it worth a couple of hundred quid? Probably not. Would I actually play it? Probably not.

I'll always have that "collecting" bug in me but I'm trying to be way choosier now. More "play" than "collect".

[Gemini73]

I'll always have that "collecting" bug in me but I'm trying to be way choosier now. More "play" than "collect".

Same here. I've now got a commendable video game collection again but unlike before it's [mainly] made up of games I'll actually play or have played to completion or for a considerable amount of time.

I've actually started buying a few choice music CDs just to sate the collector in me.

[Drumstick]

I've no interest in buying games I don't want to play. If I did then I'd be all over the likes of Evolutions Worlds, Gadget Racers and Pokémon XD.

[The Doom Spoon]

Holy grail wise there's no games as such as I own most the games I want. The last one I wanted was Skies of Arcadia. Refused to pay the price for a PAL version so I bought an NTSC copy for almost half the price. I have a freeloader and a couple of NTSC cubes so I'm good to play it either way.

The couple of holy grail items I want is, an original AGS 101 GBA SP and a Panasonic Q. One day!

[Herdanos]

Heck, I forgot about a couple of games on my Hope To Stumble Across At A Reasonable Price List...

Rocket: Robot on Wheels and Mario Golf on the N64.

[Cumberdanes]

I’m in the only buying games I’d likely play boat too. Collecting is cool and all but who wants all the annual update sports shite stinking up their shelf?

That said I may buy a few cheap sports games to use as spare cases if needs be.

[jawafour]

...The couple of holy grail items I want is, an original AGS 101 GBA SP and a Panasonic Q. One day!

It certainly is a good-looking system, Doom. I believe that Pedz has one of the illustrious consoles in his collection!

[OrangeRKN]

I've no interest in buying games I don't want to play. If I did then I'd be all over the likes of Evolutions Worlds, Gadget Racers and Pokémon XD.

Can't believe you have no interest in playing any of the pokemon games lol XD

[Corazon de Leon]

thats why i never get people who try to do total machine library collections as basically that means your going to have to pay loads for certain games that are actually rubbish.

Funnily enough, the N64 is more-or-less the exception to this rule. If you're going for a boxed library then yeah, expect to pay funny money for everything, but generally if you're willing to wait you can get just about everything for under £40 with only a few exceptions.

That said, the more expensive boxed N64 games are inevitably the ones that didn't sell in the PAL territory. For example:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK-Mythologies-Nintendo-64-N64-100-Nintendo-Pal/254097828258?hash=item3b296929a2:g:24EAAOSwmyNdjKpM

But if you're not bothered about the box...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mortal-Kombat-Mythologies-sub-Zero-for-Nintendo-64/303281966389?hash=item469d038d35:g:2r0AAOSwqYZdeKh9

I think for me, outside of the two Australia exclusives(and Holden Adventure Racing, the regional variant of Beetle Adventure Racing that they got), the retro holy grail for me would be boxed copies of the first three Mario Party games. I already have MP2, and you can get MP for anything between £30-50 if you have the spare cash. But MP3...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mario-Party-3-Nintendo-64-N64-PAL-UK-CART-ONLY-FREE-POST/113899557865?hash=item1a84f153e9:g:khcAAOSw2addiLJH

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/N64-MARIO-PARTY-3-p-Boxed-Complete-VGC-PAL-UK/333220682559?hash=item4d95801b3f:g:fv8AAOSwM5Rc9Rg5

[Parksey]

I knew Mario Party 3 was rare, and not surprised about the MK game as I totally forgot it existed until I read that post.

But are N64 games in their boxes that desirable? Even something like Mario Kart, which must have been fairly common. On that MP3 link I saw it was going for £95 boxed with instructions...

[Corazon de Leon]

Because of the gooseberry fool condition of 99% of N64 boxes a copy of something in good nick can go for ridiculous amounts of money depending on what it is. Nobody in their right mind would pay £95 for boxed Mario Kart though.

Mythologies was one of the worst reviewed games on the entire system and sold like gooseberry fool, so that’s why it goes for big cash boxed - no bugger bought it.

I put in some half-assed best offers on eBay yesterday for N64 games that are quite rare, and long story short I now have a copy of Airboarders and a boxed copy of Road Rash 64 winging their way to me and I’m about £65 down.

[Victor Mildew]

Oh my god the copy of retro gamer that just came through the door

[jawafour]

...and a boxed copy of Road Rash 64 winging their way to me...

Now that is a great game, Cora. It barely got any attention at release because it was an older title but I really enjoyed it; the chunky graphics are great and, alongside crunchy sound effects, they help create a rambunctious feel. Brilliantly, you can drive off-course across the environments to do silly jumps and stuff... and this makes for a whole lotta fun! It's one of my fave games on the N64.

[Drumstick]

If it helps, Cora, Mario Party 3 is the best in the series.

[Parksey]

Because of the gooseberry fool condition of 99% of N64 boxes a copy of something in good nick can go for ridiculous amounts of money depending on what it is. Nobody in their right mind would pay £95 for boxed Mario Kart though.

Mythologies was one of the worst reviewed games on the entire system and sold like gooseberry fool, so that’s why it goes for big cash boxed - no bugger bought it. :lol

Yeah, the only reason I remember it is because I think N64 Magazine rated it the worst game on the system for a while maybe. And I bought this random game guides mag which had a full walkthrough of the game with basically a photo of every screen in the game. Basically played through the entire thing just by reading it.

It'll be interesting to see what my N64 collection is like back in the UK. I am a bit of a fusspot so I tried to keep them in good condition. But I did stack them on top of each other and then put them in a cupboard for storage. I know a few of the boxes failed due to being the bottom of a stack and from a run-in with my friend's little sister. Towards the end of the console's life I dropped a lot of my scruples and started buying cart-only games.

Got a few rare ones (and Rare ones, LOLZ). I have Conker's Bad Fur and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 boxed (the latter was basically the last PAL game out right?). Got a few niche ones too like Turok Rage Wars, Body Harvest, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Banjo-Tooie and Battle for Naboo. I have all of the major releases too, though only know if anyone them have any real value.

I have a horrible feeling that them being just stashed in the cupboard above my bed, with loads of other gaming tat and all my old wires and controllers might have not been the best way to store them. I was also only about ten so even though I tried to treat them carefully, I was still technically an idiot with inferior brain power at that age.