PS1 game's relative rarity

[hexen]

Something has bugged me for a long time and that is how infrequently I find PS1 games at Garage Sales/Thrift Stores/Flea Markets/Etc. Every Friday, for I don't even remember how many years now, a friend and I go out to stores/garage sales looking for games. In this time, I have found almost everything. You can pretty much name a system and I've found something for it. However, despite finding much more uncommon things, I almost never see PS1 games which I would figure wouldn't be too rare a site. I see tons of PS1 systems, however, which just bugs me even more.

I am curious how often you guys find them and what you think the cause of this odd shortage is.

[matt]

I know from experience that even if you do find PS1 games out in the wild, they are usually destroyed.  Cases cracked, loads of scratches, etc.

[jcalder8]

My guess is that other people are buying them before you get there. I regularly find PS1 games in my travels, of course they are almost always old sports games but they are still there. Also if you find the system at a yard sale ask about games, that could help solve the mystery.

[scott]

GameStop was growing up during that era too, so perhaps a lot of folks traded in games in favor of new stuff. At least you can find ps1 games at used game stores... no one stocks Saturn games around here and I never see them on Craigslist.

[jobocan]

PS1 games are all over the place, I don't think I can go anywhere that sells games without finding stacks of PS1 shovelware (because the good games are always gone).

[hexen]

That isn't to say I never find PS1 games at all. I see them at used game stores and the like. I never see them at Garage sales/flea markets is what I mean - not even crappy sports games. I'm willing to entertain the idea that there have been some that have been bought before I arrived, but it seems unlikely that this has happened every time over years and years. Like I said, I've found games to much more uncommon systems that I figure would be higher priority to snap up.

[disgaeniac]

I'll throw a couple of *Guesses* out there...

(1).  I think that, in a way, it makes sense that you would encounter games from older & more obscure systems more often than PS1 games because PS1 games are still more conveniently *Playable*.

What I mean by this is that PS2's and PS3's are all backwards-compatible & capable of playing PS1 games as well.

In the case of older, out-of-date, no longer for sale hardware...playing games on them would require hardware that is much less common, harder to find, harder to repair, find parts for, maintain, and even find *Others* capable of & willing to work on them for you.

Thus, "games that are more difficult to find, maintain, and repair the required hardware to play them on" = "the games that people will sell quicker than their games that can still easily be played on the more modern consoles that are easily available...and quite possibly, already in their homes".

(2).  I would think (and hope) that as more & more people become more "Internet-Savvy" (in realizing how to quickly & easily ascertain the value of the (PS1) games that they may be considering selling)...that they're going to be smart enough to realize that garage sales, flea markets, etc. are *NOT* the places to put these items up for sale as they can get much better & higher prices for their games by listing them for sale on Amazon, e-bay, (hell...even Craig's List).

-Like I said - just some guesses...

[soera]

I bet some of the reason would be that as one of the initial disk game systems, the games themselves werent used to being "cared" for and as such got scratched to hell to the point of unplayable.

[blipcs76]

I also rarely see PS1 games at garage sales or thrift stores.  I think that most of them are still either stuck in someone's attic or are sitting in storage rooms of video games retailers, since PS1 games aren't really going to be flying off the shelves.

[jcalder8]

I bet some of the reason would be that as one of the initial disk game systems, the games themselves werent used to being "cared" for and as such got scratched to hell to the point of unplayable.

I know that I have seen more than my fair share of scratched PS games. This could have something to do with it.

[drewbaker]

I'm so glad you started a thread about this topic.  For the past 4 1/2 months now I've been finding PS1 & DC games on the reg..  seriously every week.  I've learned a couple secret techniques and been using them ever since, went in with only 24 games in my collection and now I have a total of 176 PS1 games and each week it gets a little bigger.  I even have a buddy on here to vouch (referred me to this website).  I've been posting pictures on my FB of all the bundles and treasures I come across and have been wanting to start a thread on this website to track my progress..  but I've been too lazy..  They're all out there, you just have to know what places might have them, how to haggle, bluff and seal the deal.  I always thought it was all about location b/c I'm in the OC where everything is flippin overpriced, or priced accordingly if you call Ebay a legitimate price guide...  but yeh I've been wanting to post my finds on this forum... just haven't come up with a good thread title yet haha

[george]

I collect games on a lot of platforms, but the bulk of my collection is SNES and PS1.

Here are a few with value only going up -

-Tactics Ogre
-Suikoden 1 and especially 2
-Final Fantasy Tactics (not expensive now, but I see this going up)
-Castlevania SOTN
-Resident Evil 1 Longbox

That's all I can think of. Keep in mind, PS1 is still considered "new" as classic collecting goes. I personally don't get anything that is GH either. Black label only.

[george]

I'm so glad you started a thread about this topic.  For the past 4 1/2 months now I've been finding PS1 & DC games on the reg..  seriously every week.  I've learned a couple secret techniques and been using them ever since, went in with only 24 games in my collection and now I have a total of 176 PS1 games and each week it gets a little bigger.  I even have a buddy on here to vouch (referred me to this website).  I've been posting pictures on my FB of all the bundles and treasures I come across and have been wanting to start a thread on this website to track my progress..  but I've been too lazy..  They're all out there, you just have to know what places might have them, how to haggle, bluff and seal the deal.  I always thought it was all about location b/c I'm in the OC where everything is flippin overpriced, or priced accordingly if you call Ebay a legitimate price guide...  but yeh I've been wanting to post my finds on this forum... just haven't come up with a good thread title yet haha

Can you share some of your tips? I doubt any of us will step on your turf as we're from all over