Is anyone among VGC still into collecting retro or playing retro?

[Warmsignal]

Can't help but sense that it's not really as big of a thing anymore for veteran collectors among VGC. I know there are people who are still just getting into it. But a lot of us who've been doing it for a while, it kinda seems like there's not much enthusiasm for retro in general. There seems to be more activity in the modern games discussion here. Although discussion in general is down across these boards, retro seems particularly dead.

I know I've seen a number of vets here say that they're wrapping up their collecting and have pretty much everything they want, or they're feeling burnt out and don't game hunt anymore. I suppose a number are still participating in the X amount of games challenge thread, but this sub-forum in particular is kinda quiet and has been for a few years. As far as retro collecting, things are still booming over on Reddit like it's still 2010, but many of those people are not veterans to this, so it makes sense to find them elated to come across a console and a stack of games. I guess VGC is a slice of the game collecting community that is of a particular age regarding the hobby, and it does not really change hands over time. I occasionally notice a few new regulars posting, but not a lot that stick around here.

As much as I wanted to be among the people saying "Okay I'm done collecting, I've got everything I want, it's not worth looking anymore", I can't do that. I find myself still sucked into it. I'm opening my mind up to more, I'm still wanting to collect, and I'm having fun doing it. Because there's always more, and it's always fun to do (IMO). I long for the days of VGC where many of our current regulars engaged more about retro games, expressed more enthusiasm about the collecting hobby, I miss some of the various former VGCers who've since disappeared from the boards. I liked to read about their finds, their adventures, all the trails and tribulations of being a game collector.

Who knows maybe I'm looking back with rose colored glasses, as I do. But sometimes I kinda wonder, do regulars here still actively collect? Are you still interested in retro?

[turf]

I still love retro stuff. I still play a lot of it.
I still hunt for stuff.
I just don’t buy near as much as I did. That’s mostly because of prices. I just won’t pay today’s prices.  I just buy things I want to play right now.

I see folks on Reddit showing off an NES and 5 common games for $100. They’re proud of it and I’m over here thinking they got hosed. I’m still in that ole 2010 mindset. I want something for nothing. When was the last time you saw $2 games?

I guess I should be thankful that I amassed a good collection before prices got out of hand. There’s tons here for me to enjoy.

[justin8301]

I still love retro stuff. I still play a lot of it.
I still hunt for stuff.
I just don’t buy near as much as I did....

This expect for me its that I have most of the retro stuff I want. I still keep an eye out for the few pieces I'd like to add to my collection, but I don't expect to find it at all lol.

[Flashback2012]

I still love retro stuff. I still play a lot of it.
I still hunt for stuff.
I just don’t buy near as much as I did. That’s mostly because of prices. I just won’t pay today’s prices.  I just buy things I want to play right now.

I see folks on Reddit showing off an NES and 5 common games for $100. They’re proud of it and I’m over here thinking they got hosed. I’m still in that ole 2010 mindset. I want something for nothing. When was the last time you saw $2 games?

I guess I should be thankful that I amassed a good collection before prices got out of hand. There’s tons here for me to enjoy.

Copy/Paste. I got a LOT of the stuff I wanted when it was new/current so no hunting down things like Panzer Dragoon Saga and being excited that I ONLY paid $700 for it. 

I definitely missed some and others I let slip through my fingers but there's plenty where I got it right and picked up something when I saw it that's impossible to find and/or incredibly expensive now.

[tripredacus]

My purchases have gone to near zero solely for the reason that shipping from Japan is so complicated or expensive. Also, I am not going to thrift stores anymore although I may start that back up again soon. Especially since the whole world has moved into buying everything online, which is something I have moved away from over the years. Rather be surprised by what I find than just getting what I actually happen to want at that moment.

[Cartagia]

I still love retro stuff. I still play a lot of it.
I still hunt for stuff.
I just don’t buy near as much as I did. That’s mostly because of prices. I just won’t pay today’s prices.  I just buy things I want to play right now.

I see folks on Reddit showing off an NES and 5 common games for $100. They’re proud of it and I’m over here thinking they got hosed. I’m still in that ole 2010 mindset. I want something for nothing. When was the last time you saw $2 games?

I guess I should be thankful that I amassed a good collection before prices got out of hand. There’s tons here for me to enjoy.

[oldgamerz]

I am all out retro, that is why I call myself Oldgamerz

I play and collect only retro games. Because #1 they are all physical, #2 I want the retro experience in my life, #3  they usually cost less than modern games. and other reasons too. My lifestyle and where I currently live have a big part as well. Another reason is because There is an electronic store called Disc Replay, AND a full year around indoor flea market in my home town. Unfortunately that flea market has been closed down since the pandemic started but Disc Reply is still selling stuff


I love retro. I mean I know I'm missing all the new stuff but, most of the old stuff I Never even heard of or experienced either. pretty much all console and even more handheld games are a new experience for me, so I pretend it the 1980's 1990's or the 2000's I guess and go retro.

for online shopping I have an outdoor room for delivering  packages when I do.

 Life don't last forever, everybody dies at random, so I believe in my. signature

[Warmsignal]

See I've come to develop a new appreciation for a lot of games that me from 2010 would have passed right up on. I guess you could say I didn't really know as much about what games where what at the time. I deceived myself into thinking that only certain types of games, certain publishers, certain genres were worth my time to collect. I wasn't as opened minded as I am now. So now it's like there's a lot of games that are suddenly making themselves apparent to me, and I'd like to add them to my collection.

I've kind of adjusted to the prices nowadays. Whenever I notice something is $10 or less, I feel like that's a steal. Even $15, and $20 isn't too bad. That's kinda the new normal for a lot of games. Thankfully, I don't need any of the popular ones, which now go for much closer to original retail and then some. Never would've imagined that a decade ago. I'm lucky in that my local spot hasn't updated their prices in several years, so I have access to a lot of "good" deals by 2020 standards and that of course motivates me to keep going.

Yeah I have a ton of games to play for the rest of my life, but I still like collecting, and figure at some point it's gonna get really unjustifiable. So I might as well continue while I actually can still afford to do so. We're headed in the direction of a lot of otherwise ordinary games reaching beyond MSRP and well into triple digits, and I'm tapped out at that point. I'm tinkering with the idea of paying like $300 for a copy of Klonoa (the original) and I know I shouldn't do that. But I can foresee a day when there are tons of Klonoa priced games out there that I wish I'd paid the $10 or $20 for, and that's when I'm certainly done for good.

[azure]

I still love playing and hunting for retro games. Prices are just crazy right now, I've actually sold a good chunk of games because of this. I've condensed both my collection and wish list down to only what I really want and plan to play. Trimmed the fat if you will. Doing this I've found when it comes to older titles I have almost everything I could ever want, and for the few I don't the games are so crazy priced I can't justify buying them.

[NickAwesome]

Still very much into both, i haven't posted as many pics of my pickups as it's a lot more extra steps here vs just posting from my phone in a fb collecting group. But I'll share some pics of my new game room once it's done- it's going to be sweet. Retro forever!

[emporerdragon]

I'll echo the current statements. While I do like collecting for my older systems and want more, it's becoming harder and harder to justify the costs to myself, especially compared to getting other, newer games or stuff in my other hobbies. Like, I'm far more content in dropping $100 for a board game or a Lego set than I would be for an SNES or GCN game.

[oldgamerz]

See I've come to develop a new appreciation for a lot of games that me from 2010 would have passed right up on. I guess you could say I didn't really know as much about what games where what at the time. I deceived myself into thinking that only certain types of games, certain publishers, certain genres were worth my time to collect. I wasn't as opened minded as I am now. So now it's like there's a lot of games that are suddenly making themselves apparent to me, and I'd like to add them to my collection.

I've kind of adjusted to the prices nowadays. Whenever I notice something is $10 or less, I feel like that's a steal. Even $15, and $20 isn't too bad. That's kinda the new normal for a lot of games. Thankfully, I don't need any of the popular ones, which now go for much closer to original retail and then some. Never would've imagined that a decade ago. I'm lucky in that my local spot hasn't updated their prices in several years, so I have access to a lot of "good" deals by 2020 standards and that of course motivates me to keep going.

Yeah I have a ton of games to play for the rest of my life, but I still like collecting, and figure at some point it's gonna get really unjustifiable. So I might as well continue while I actually can still afford to do so. We're headed in the direction of a lot of otherwise ordinary games reaching beyond MSRP and well into triple digits, and I'm tapped out at that point. I'm tinkering with the idea of paying like $300 for a copy of Klonoa (the original) and I know I shouldn't do that. But I can foresee a day when there are tons of Klonoa priced games out there that I wish I'd paid the $10 or $20 for, and that's when I'm certainly done for good.

We, meaning all of us, can still buy a lot of games, today even online for less than $10 a piece, and sometimes it's even less than that's with shipping included. But Usually for sports games and first person shooters as well as third person shooters, and racing games.

If you guys want an expensive shoot em up, there is always PS2 arcade compilations and plug in play consoles, they come with a lot of otherwise vary expensive retro OR retro style games, and in one package. then there is NES Multi-carts with lots of 2D platformers, shoot em ups fighting games, racing games, sports games, and un-official home brew types of games to play. If you want Atari then I Recommend Atari Anthology and Activision Anthology for the PS2, or? want Intellivision games but can't find an Intellivision console? than go buy a copy of Intellivision Lives. also on PS2.

From what I seen it's mostly RPG and Mario and Nintendo brand games. that cost a lot of money to own, but then there is the NES mini and the SNES mini that can be purchased for the same price as one old loose original game cartridge. and it's compact, why keeps Super Mario Bros 1 2 and 3 when you have an NES mini/classic?

[seether]

The switch is such a great way to play I have hardly any enthusiasm for other platforms, retro or otherwise.

[Warmsignal]

From what I seen it's mostly RPG and Mario and Nintendo brand games. that cost a lot of money to own, but then there is the NES mini and the SNES mini that can be purchased for the same price as one old loose original game cartridge. and it's compact, why keeps Super Mario Bros 1 2 and 3 when you have an NES mini/classic?

You'd be surprised at what games have become pricey or expensive within the past year or so, and especially since Covid. The funny thing is that NES and SNES haven't changed much.

Titles that have increased over 40% since March 2020:

PS2: 105
GameCube: 103
PS1: 91
XB 360: 76
PS3: 63
Xbox: 41
PS4: 36
Dreamcast: 31
N64: 27
SNES: 25
Saturn: 23
Genesis: 16
Game Boy: 11
Wii U: 8

This is not necessarily first party games, or RPGs. Pretty much any genre is fair game for an increase now. I've seen racing games going for over $100, depending on the title. Lots of 5th and especially 6th gen stuff is on the rise, as well as some 7th gen already. Quarantine and crisis relief money is definitely having an impact on the market, and not just the niche parts of it. I mean people are paying out good money for games like Def Jam on the PS2, at this point you shouldn't be surprised to see anything spike.

[98dgreen]

Keep in mind 6th is considered retro now by a lot of people.