How To Save Money When Collecting Retro Video Games

The retro market is bonkers, but there are still ways to dive in and have fun!

Music Credits
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Lon Lon Ranch
Pikmin - Forest of Hope
Pokemon Snap - Gotta Snap 'em All!

#Retro #Nintendo #VideoGames

[Akuzastar]

They used to be so easy to find "in the wild" or easy to collect.

Now people are just money hungry 🤦‍♂️ people who don't even like games are buying and selling.

Top tip number 1, only collect your childhood, don't buy something that's expensive, because it's expensive.

[dajcomputer]

For those on a budget or like collecting, it's okay to NOT have the original stuff. Wii Game CD cases work for Gamecube CDs that fit perfectly. Many sites have printable original box art with proper dimensions (you can even make your own!) and then add to the box. I have a full GC collection with boxes and custom art using wii cases (white instead of the black cases). Blank Wii cd cases sell for half the price of GC case/boxes.

[dannewhall]

recently got into restoring my old consoles from when I was a kid, then wanted to start collecting some older video games and their consoles. The biggest problem I have with collecting older video games/consoles is how vast it is, like their is no end point because of how much money you'd have to dump into it. I think trying to define a range of what you want to collect can really help make it seem more achievable.

[fleedledeedle]

"Re-sellers do not raise prices maliciously"

God I wish I had Zion's good natured faith in people in these trying times.😞

[geoffreyhogueison]

At retro game stores, generally the rule of thumb i go with is 10% over price charting is the limit. If a game is more expensive than that, I wont get it. Also usually, a retro game store has either great selection but terrible prices or great prices but terrible selection.

[scgamemaster]

Waiting is genuinely one of the best things, I got a ps2 game that I feared I was gonna have to pay hundreds for just the game, but just randomly I found it for about $50 complete in box online selling from a used bookstore. My favorite part of collecting oddly isn’t the game itself but that you can have a story for everything, looking for it, finding it, and the game itself.

[nintendubs]

Zion, loving this type of content. Very cozy and wholesome (and useful) 😇

Keep talking about the things you love 😁

[Lofnix]

Hey Zion, I just wanted to say that I really love these video game collecting videos you have been doing. Whether it's your recent pick-ups or collecting tips like this video, they are always a really enjoyable watch! :)

[RestorationRelaxation]

Part of the fun of collecting for me is trying to get the lowest price possible for games, while still getting stuff in good condition. Helps save money and adds some challenge

[louiehewitt]

Loved the video! In my experience I have been, in the past, a collector wanting to complete a whole set of N64 games. I realised in the end there’s just no point in collecting games that I’m never likely to play so I sold them in bulk for a craaaazy low price compared to what they are worth today but I also paid a lot less for them at the time.

Now I only buy the games that I want to play and plan on playing in the future. If I’m not going to play anytime soon then I just wait it out until I see one come up for the right price. Here in the UK we have car boot sales and charity shops, which are our equivalent to thrift stores as such. I’ve found many games and sold them in order to buy the games I actually want for my collection and with all intention of playing. I’ll never again be the kinda person to just collect for the sake of completing a whole library, it’s just not worth it. Not all games are worth your time playing.

Only a couple weeks ago I found a copy of Dragon Force for the Saturn. Sold it and that financed my purchase for the Zelda Twilight Princess Ltd Edition set for the WiiU 😊

[AzureShore]

Hi Zion, this was an unexpected but welcome video from all of you at Nintendo Life!! I hope we can see more personal types of content like this from you in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to make this!

[Kale]

For people just just starting out, DON’T SELL YOUR GAMES. Games get most expensive years after they come out. I still have a few gamecube games that would have costed 60 a piece but I still have my original copies

[jayd]

Went on a float trip. My friend gave me…GAVE ME… CIB pokemon black 1 and white 2. Also gave me Pokémon sapphire. Didn’t want anything in return. He just said that he had them and they were just sitting in his closet and knew I would appreciate them. I have been looking for all the Pokémon games, so this was just stunning to me. I truly do not deserve him as a friend.

[firebirdstark]

Paper Mario thousand year door was about $40 3 or 4 years ago, and I thought that was nuts. I bought it because I sold my old copy. Now, I can’t believe how much it is. Insane

[NicolausCamp]

Recently, a game collector I know and have bought stuff from before, found himself in a situation where life priorites changed, and he decided to sell off his entire collection. I got myself a little stack of games that I had wanted for a long time, and for a really fair price. Chief among them was Thunder Force V for the Japanese Sega Saturn, a game I in no way could justify the going market rate for, but now I have this gem in my collection without breaking the bank thanks to him, CIB with spine card and everything, and I'm really happy about it!

[bigfly]

Started rebuilding my PSP collection. With most current gaming systems requiring an internet connection, it's nice to embrace the retro and not have to wait for patches or updates to download. Plus, the PSP is such a great handheld in its own right!

[lewisgrant]

My advice for retro collecting. Go for the cheaper games first or try and find games in charity shops then work you’re way up to the more expensive games. And buy and sell. And use expected profit rather than you’re own money.

[mojaveagave]

I go to a vendor at our local farmer's market and buy retro games now. They've got 3 rooms literally stuffed floor to ceiling with retro video games, vintage toys and collectables, etc and you can just sift through cases and boxes of all kinds of stuff and the prices for the games I bought were fair. It's kinda overwhelming when you first walk in with the sheer volume of stuff they've got stacked about, but it's fun to explore and see what you can find.

[andrewmacdonald]

I’ve actually just gotten into seriously collecting games over the last year. I made it a goal of mine is to have a complete CIB of every mainline Pokémon game. I have a lot of them already, but recently I actually got Pokémon pearl, the last 4th gen game I needed! It was pretty expensive everywhere I went, but I ended up buying a loose cartridge on eBay from one person, and just a box and manual from another, and saved a lot of money by not buying CIB at a store or something!

[tcClockworth]

My biggest hurdle in really going all in on collecting is that I don't really have room. My wife and I share a one bedroom apartment and we try to keep things not too cluttered. I'd almost need a whole separate room for it.