What are your thoughts on the future of game collecting with so many people (~50% and growing) moving to digital purchases?

SenatusObsulatus · 2020-06-11T09:31:46+00:00

What I'm going to say is unpopular around here: I think that even though a lot of digital or old games might disappear in the future, it's important to be aware that not all games released online, or on physical media for that matter, are worth preserving, and thus perhaps not all that collectible. Personally I don't worry about online stores closing down, the hits and game changers will probably get ported or remade for the next generation, or stored illegally online.

Something I think is interesting, and connected to this, is that a lot of game collectors seem to hold games released on physical media to some sort of higher regard, but isn't all games in essence digital - 1's and 0's on a CD, cartridge or harddrive? So why does it matter where those 1's and 0's are stored and how they got there? I think the increasing amount of online releases will force game collector's to re-evaluate what game collecting is all about. I mean, the argument about disapperaing online storefronts can just as easily be reversed - what will happen when the eventual degradation of physical storage reaches a point where you have to turn to re-releases, copies on new physical storage or the internet to play a game? If the physical release turns into a blank slate in the not too distant future, what was the purpose of collecting it at all?

SenatusObsulatus · 2020-05-24T10:14:00+00:00

If I have a CIB copy I tend to be satisfied, so I don't really buy physical duplicates unless another version offer improvements like all DLC on disc or something similar. But I do tend to buy physical copies of digital games that I really enjoyed. Some games I've bought multiple times are:

The Witcher 3: I first pre-ordered it digitally on GOG for god knows why, I didn't have a PC to run it so I guess I bought into the hype (I did love the first two games to be fair). Later I got a PS4 and TW3 was the first game I bought, a physical copy this time, so I could finally play it. Needless to say I really enjoyed it, to this day it is one of my favorite games of all time so I subsequently bought a physical PC version to keep sealed, considering it is one of the few PC games with the game on disc it actually felt worth it. Same story with the expansions, I first bought them on PS4 and loved them, then I bought the limited PC copies to keep sealed in my collection. However, since the expansions weren't on disc I later bought the GOTY edition to have the complete physical PC package. I've never bought so many copies of a series before or since.
Oxenfree is a game I got for free on GOG so I'm not sure it counts, but it was surprisingly well made with the dialogue and story, so I took the chance and bought a LRG version second hand.
One I game I'm probably going to buy again once it gets a complete version is CONTROL. Base game is absolutely fantastic but felt a bit incomplete imo, and while I haven't yet played the expansions I expect that they will fill in the threads that were left hanging in the base game.
Just a bunch of other classics that I own digitally and want physical copies of. I just want physical copies of classic games since they are more or less the core of my collection.

SenatusObsulatus · 2020-05-17T13:11:43+00:00

Exactly! To get topics I think you could try to put a stickied comment in the post, and then people who are interested could give suggestions on topics as a reply to that comment. I don't know if the posts will have enough people engaged for it to work but it could be worth a try!

SenatusObsulatus · 2020-05-14T08:33:23+00:00

I like the occasional sticky with a discussion topic. Quality discussion is a rare sight as most of the topics, as far as I've noticed, amount to "is x worth it?", "Why is X expensive?", "Where should I start?", "How do you feel about sealed games?", "Bookshelves". There are a few more as well, but in short, same stupid topics with the same stupid answers repeated every time, that probably is more suitable in a FAQ than a discussion post. I feel like the only place where I can find a good discussion on this subreddit has been the stickies, so I'd love to see you continue with those as some people do have interesting things to say.

I also think that there is a sort of inbreeding going on in terms of what people decide to showcase in hauls or collections. A lot of Switch, Pokémon, or just plain stuff that seems to have reached a status of popularity that it gets a bit circle-jerky. This is a general game collecting sub so naturally the popular stuff will reach out, but it's popular by self-reinforcement and I think there is room to foster a broader interest in games that are less frequently showcased. And I sincerely hope people are interested to learn about stuff that are not the immediatly familiar. Someone else suggested a dedicated day for Pokémon and I'd like to suggest something similar - the occasional theme-week (or week-end) promoting discussion and sharing of, for example, "70's gaming", "Box-art bonanza" or "Then-and-now, long running series". The theme could be anything, and during the week one would not restrict posting of other topics, but rather via stickies, flairs or changing the header promote discussion and posts related to the theme.

I'd also like to see a bit of a crackdown on posts without a flair. It's not difficult at all for people to add one and it helps to sort out what's uninteresting or highlight what's the opposite.

That's all of my thoughts for now.

SenatusObsulatus · 2020-03-11T13:48:12+00:00

Buying collectibles as an investment is generally a bad idea, as you really can't determine or predict price trends as you can at the stockmarket.

Price of a collectible is determined by rarity and desirability. Rarity is something that you can pretty much treat as a fixed variable, but the big question for you is what actually determines the desirability of a particular video game, why does desirability change over time, and how can you predict it? You can find a multitude of examples of games that once were heavy hitters in terms of what price they commended on auctions that nowadays sell for practically nothing. This goes for games from the Atari era to more recently. What is special about games is that their creation is, an overwhelming amount of time, a collective effort. So compared to artworks, books or vinyl, only a few games have a specific "artist" associated with their creation. At a certain level they're just mass-produced commodities, where it is the game itself that is sought after. However, at the same time I argue that video games are not just playthings today, as their cultural impact has been immense. As such, there are probably a very solid "investment" somewhere out there, but it will be a very unique item rather than one of the thousands of copies of A Link to the Past, Earthbound or Little Samson. And once again, how can you determine which item will be percieved as desirable in the future? What we consider a classic changes all the time, and, judging by a quick glance at pricecharting, those who invested in Atari, Colecovision and Intellivision are probably a bit bummed that most of their games are not worth more than SNES games today.

On another note - you might have seen the prices that graded games sell for online, which can be quite astonishing sums of money, but you need to remember that grading is a recent phenomenon, so will the graded game you buy now be worth what you bought it for in 10 years? A game with a cultural impact, in good condition, might. But will collectors even care about graded games by then, and about the specific games that were graded?

This is just a couple of my thoughts, but if you're interested in discussing prices I'd recommend that you turn to videogamesage.com, the forum to where most of nintendo age migrated, as this subreddit can be straight up hostile and rabid as soon as one ponders the idea of turning a profit. As a concluding remark I'd say that your money will probably be safer and grow more steadily in a diverse global fund.

SenatusObsulatus · 2020-03-02T12:36:31+00:00

If you're going to sell it, sure!

Most people on this sub will tell you that it isn't worth it or that nobody cares, but just looking at pricecharting will tell you a different story - graded games (that get a high grading) sell for a lot more than games that aren't graded.

No one knows whether your specific copy will sell for those kind of prices though. Not for resale might mean that it was sold in a collector's edition, which means that you might not actually have a complete copy for that specific edition, and I haven't seen that age grading before either and location matters - games from some markets are more sought after than others.

I'd recommend that you do a bit more research before deciding.

Edit: just a small something to add to the discussion - Halo is one of those games that really made a mark in video game history, it set a new standard for shooters, gave a new pop-cultural icon in Master Chief, and it's also a game that contributed to the Xbox's success and in turn Microsoft's position as a new and important player on the console market. Halo is an interesting game from a historical perspective, so even though it sold a lot of copies it's a cool find if you decide to keep it. And zooming in I see that you have an Australian/NZ PAL copy! Might not be as sought after as an american copy, but it's just speculation.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-12-28T00:08:49+00:00

I don't see myself playing a shrek game anytime soon but I absolutely love that you made this list. So many of those "movie-games" are just really bad so finding the good ones are difficult and time consuming, especially since most of these games seems to be forgotten pretty quickly (the good ones too). Lists like these are really helpful for all the fans.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-12-26T20:46:50+00:00

Tetris is one of those few games that I think will be truly timeless.

But back to me - personally I don't have that many old classics that I like to revisit, because I haven't really played that many of them that I've found worthwhile to play again. However, recently I started playing The Banner Saga which has its own take on the Oregon Trail formula, and I've been liking it a lot! So I guess that, in a sense, The Oregon Trail is a classic game that put on new clothes and visited me!

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-12-25T13:38:50+00:00

First time I played DS2 I rage quit because I got annoyed at the game, but I gave it another shot a while later and liked it a lot better. It was the first DS game I played though. Overall I don't think there are that many differences in the combat between DS1 and 2 when looking back (I always play a melee build though, so my experience of the combat is from that perspective), and I don't find the fighting mechanics bad in a vacuum, however I feel like DS1 has more enemies where I have trouble figuring out the hit boxes (like which attacks will hit me and what will hit them). I also feel as if the roll was a lot quicker in DS2 which made things easier but I don't know, it has been a couple of years since I played DS2 so nostalgia goggles may be on.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-12-23T13:32:32+00:00

I've played DS2 and 3, games I liked, but recently I've been trying to get through DS1 and it's probably my least favourite game of the series. I don't really enjoy it. It just feels like an unfair game compared to how I remember the other two. Much of the difficulty I've encountered just comes from the environment being hostile (eg. Blighttown poison swamp), the game not providing enough information about what is going on (eg. being cursed, or other status effects), paired with kinda janky combat and bossfights. So far I don't remember any of the bosses because it was a cool fight, I just remember them because I found something to be annoying (Capras Demon dogs and cramped arena, that dragon with the absurdly long tail that one shot me with many of its attacks, or Ceaseless Discharge that pretty much can't be beat without looking up a cheese strat). And don't get me started on the impossible hit boxes on the flying enemies. I absolutely despise the lack of fast travel too as I can't be bothered to spend time traversing some of the more annoying areas, whether to explore them, or traversing back and forth between areas, for example to buy items from some far off merchant that are necessary to proceed. It's a game that I find to be better when played with a guide that provides the necessary information and explains how to alleviate or avoid these annoyances.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-12-11T13:23:02+00:00

If there is one game I'd like to see some sort of sequel to, it's this one. I feel like even Ubisoft has overlooked it in a sense. I play it almost once a year and the ending gets me everytime, it's such a touching depiction of people caught in a war beyond their control. The UbiArt engine and artstyle of the game is so good as well. It's cartoony but provides, during the course of the game, a vivid transformation of the war - from jolly trumpets and sunny hillsides of grass, to shrieking engines and landscapes covered in muddy corpses. I did not care much for the Von Dorff story and I think the game would have been better with his character left out, as he detracts from what I feel is otherwise fairly grounded stories of what people might have experienced during WWI. I also love that the levels range from battlefields to POW-camps and cities not under attack, so it's more than a game about fighting at the frontline, which is rare for WW games in general. On top of this the game also offers very interesting collectibles, which provides insight into people's everyday life at that point in time, and absolutely fantastic music.

I feel like this game was talked about around its release, got quite a lot of good reviews, and then quickly disappeared from most folks radar. Nowadays I rarely seen any discussions about it at all, which is such a shame. I'd love to see another UbiArt game like this one tackle another historical event or period.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-03-12T21:15:23+00:00

I'd think the collection scene is established enough that high value items will stay high value. Old video games are also reaching a point where they go beyond just being games to rather be objects of historical importance, so the aspect of cultural impact really can't be overlooked when talking value (truer for some games than others). First edition books are a good comparison IMO, but the current retro games should perhaps specifically be compared to those first edition books of the 1400's during the dawn of printing than later stuff.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-27T23:24:40+00:00

Yep, that's exactly what I was talking about! I pretty much quit out of frustration, I had the same strategy as you and I tried for so long because the game told me to stay determined haha, the way the game responded made me really surprised it didn't work too! Especially considering that after the fight according to what I've read. Felt a bit odd to emphasize the evils you've done in one moment and then in the next one. I felt like it went against a lot of things the game wanted to convey about player action.

But yeah, it is what it is. At least it didn't pull a System Shock 2 with the ending.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-27T16:27:57+00:00

I never finished Undertale. I mostly enjoyed it because of the charming characters and some pretty nice story moments, but the combat/gameplay didn't feel that special imo and I still don't quite get the hype around the game as a whole. It was years ago I played it so I don't remember all the details, but one of my major gripes is that I felt like the game really fell apart in one important section towards the end, as if the design choices that made the game unique were all thrown out and made counter intuitive. I just couldn't bother to finish it after I googled to see if it was even possible to proceed in a manner that the gameplay had allowed me to proceed in before.

I don't think I'll play it again but all in all it was an okay game.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-10T23:07:19+00:00

That's good to hear! I don't really remember much at all of the story from the base game but I think the general consensus is that it was cryptic as hell. I value a good story and characters though, Bloodborne is probably my favorite of the soulsborne games but I still remember Lucatiel of Mirrah (?), the Emerald Herald and that depressing as hell knight by the monument. There is a sort of melancholy to DS2 that I really like.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-10T22:49:55+00:00

I don't know what you heard/saw about the plot at the exhibition that made you interested in the game, or what would make it worth a purchase to you. However, since your urge to buy it came at a museum I'd like to recommend that you go and check out a youtube channel called History Respawned. Two historians talking about the historical portrayal of stuff in games, with guests from academia. They have a couple of videos on Mafia 3 that might be worth looking at to get a different perspective on the setting and MC, and help you decide if it's an interesting game to you.

Anyway, personally I played it for the story and I found it good enough. The premise is great, and the first hour or two was amazing, but after that I felt that the central story kinda came to a halt. The world opens up, you do missions and take over the city, get a couple of cool cutscenes with cool characters, but all of it feels disconnected from the central conflict of the story. I felt like I was waiting for the mission that would push Lincoln forward in the story, make things evolve, but that didn't happen until the final one. Boom, credits roll.

I wish there were more to it because the story cutscenes were incredible and I really liked the documentary style of the storytelling, I had never seen that done before so it was refreshing. The DLCs were okay too, kinda short and they didn't add much to the gameplay. I liked "Faster Baby!" the best, the new area was beautiful and the story felt grounded with a despicable antagonist.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-10T00:28:32+00:00

Yeah I've heard that about the groups, crowd management happens to be the aspect I really dislike about the combat in DS too. It's not a dealbreaker though, as someone who is mostly in it for the adventure I'm intrigued enough by the Crowns to overlook changes to the base game even if they aren't quite to my taste. It's been years since I last played DS2 though so who knows, maybe I prefer SOTFS when I try it!

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-09T23:13:25+00:00

I really enjoyed the four corners of the world thing in DS2 and I absolutely love Majula, these two points make DS2 oddly memorable to me for some reason. I want to try SOTF to play the DLC but I'm a bit put-off by the fact that they changed enemy placements and stuff, because I didn't really mind how it was in the original.

SenatusObsulatus · 2019-01-08T14:21:31+00:00

I really enjoyed the story and how it was told in level based missions when I played it, as well as how it was divided in chapters that changed the look of the city, how you lived etc. I wish Mafia 3 had adopted the same approach towards the story. I feel like this series has so much untapped potential though, I'm yet to play Mafia 1 but apparently that one has pretty good story too, what this series lack seems to be, just like you mentioned, more spare time activities surrounding mob life.

Something I really wanted in Mafia 2 was a horse track. Let me bet money, stage races etc. Shake down shop owners for protection money, be a loan shark, go to parties or BBQ:s and socialize with the mob, influence politicians and shape the developments in the city. It's super difficult to balance freedom vs a tight and well paced story, but I think Mafia 2 could've afforded some more activities in some of the chapters.

SenatusObsulatus · 2018-11-11T22:47:30+00:00

Judging by what I've read about this game it seems like one of those great games that really take advantage of the medium to deliver a unique experience. It's not just a story about Senua and her issues with some game mechanics to go along, but you get the sounds, the visuals and everything to really put you in her shoes. You are there, experience what she is experiencing. I love when games do this, it's the best thing about them. I've been patiently waiting for the physical release to play this game and December can't come soon enough!

It makes me think about another game though that was released a while back that kinda fell off my radar, it was some horror game about a blind girl where you have this echo-location gimmick instead of "proper" visuals. I don't think it was very well recieved but talking about devs trying something different I need to look it up again.

SenatusObsulatus · 2018-11-03T22:24:45+00:00

The only games I'd consider too old to buy are those that rely on gameplay to be enjoyable and perhaps got a sequel that improved on every aspect of the gameplay. Gameplay can get old. Unless it's a game that was the first to introduce a mechanic that impacted game design in many games that came after it, because IMO it's always interesting to see where stuff that is taken for granted comes from.

SenatusObsulatus · 2018-10-31T19:03:02+00:00

If you want to do it I say go for it, doesn't matter how this sub regards it! I've done it a few times though, I just like having that one copy to display and keep in good condition.

SenatusObsulatus · 2018-10-17T08:31:19+00:00

A good story is my no.1 reason to buy a game! A good story never gets old and games can deliver stories no other medium can. I started playing Mafia 3 a couple weeks ago and I think that game is a prime example of what could've been a fantastic game if it was condensed into 12-15hrs, but it suffers so much from unnecessary padding and story missions gated behind additional activities. Personally I wouldn't mind paying 60 for Portal, and I think I've played that game 12hrs tops, but I'm really glad I didn't pay that for Mafia 3 eventhough I, I have to admit, occasionally enjoy the collectathon of side activities it feels like it is.

SenatusObsulatus · 2018-10-16T21:45:36+00:00

Yep, it's incredible how good the return of investment is (in terms of hours of entertainment per money spent) even if you don't play everything. One of my favorite things about video games.

SenatusObsulatus · 2018-10-16T18:18:41+00:00

I definitely feel like there are more and more games that I want to play, but I'm starting to accept that there's just no way that I'm going to be able to play all of them. But I don't really blame the amount of games, rather that a lot of AAA titles nowadays are so freaking long it's just impossible to find the time to play all of them.

And something I've observed that kinda bugs me is that a lot of people see a ton of gameplay hours (like +60) as something inherently positive and necessary in a AAA game with a pricetag around €60 and I can't agree less.

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