Retro game prices are nuts, but have they hit their peak?
gaming·@retro-room·
0.000 HBDRetro game prices are nuts, but have they hit their peak?
 For the past five to ten years, retro video game collecting has grown from a hobby with a small following to practially an industry within gaming itself. Travel back to fifteen years ago and retro games were common, easy to find and dirt cheap with pawn shops, game stores, flea markets and garage sales full of them and even better, they were practically giving them away. Then somewhere around 2008, the retro collecting hobby took off. Game stores dedicated to retro collecting started popping up all over. Conventions centered on retro games became fairly common. YouTube has cultivated many big retro-gaming focused channels that have increased exposure and desirability for these old games. This perfect storm has led to an explosion in the prices of retro games. Take a rare title like *Little Samson*, which is one of the most expensive games on the NES today at a whopping thousand dollars. The game could have been picked up for just $50 ten years ago. Many other games, across practically every 'retro' platform have skyrocketed. # What goes up, must come down *** However, it seems that we may have reached the peak over the past year. Prices for games seem to have either stalled or started tracking downward in price after peaking in the past 12-18 months and for the most part, it seems the trend will continue. So what's going on? My best guess is that many of the collectors who've entered the hobby in the past decade have either grown tired of collecting and started selling their games, which increases the supply and satiating demand. Additionally, many dedicated collectors have already acquired many of the titles they wanted or needed for their collections. In essence, the supply is increasing and the demand is tapering off. # Let's look at some examples ***  Games on the NES seem to have peaked about 18 months ago and are slightly coming down in price.  Super Nintendo typically courts a slightly younger collector market, so the trends typically lag behind older systems. Prices seem to have leveled off.  Again, prices seem to have topped out around 18 months ago and for the most part have stabilized, with a small dip and bounce very recently.  The original Playstation skyrocketed right at the start of 2016, but about 6 months ago took a drop just as drastic as its crazy rise and seems to be still coming down in price.  PS2 has seen very little fluctuation in prices during this retro price spike. Either gamers haven't aged into the bracket where these games are getting snatched up for nostalgia, or we're seeing younger generations hold less interest in collecting games. Then again, the PS2 library was so massive that the whole library would have to move upwards to move the needle. A small number of rare games spiking in value isn't going to effect a console with nearly 2000 games in the library. As for individual high-priced games, here's a few examples of expensive NES games that are dropping in value:     # Should I stay or should I go now? *** The current market for retro games presents a few options. Should I sell my collection now while it still has a lot of value and gamble that prices will continue to fall? Is this a good time to start collecting or should I wait until prices have fallen even further. Honestly, its all speculation but my gut feeling is that most of the newer collectors and bored older collectors are starting to move on and drive down both prices and demand, while increasing supply into the market. The drop in prices will probably continue. I recently sold off my Nintendo 64 collection due to lack of time, lack of nostalgia for the system and wanting to 'cash out' while prices were still high. I think many other collectors are doing the same and we're going to see these trends continue for the next few years until prices truly level off and stabilize. ### What do you think? Has retro collecting mania passed its peak? Could interest in these games be re-ignited by pop cultural influence (like the upcoming *Ready Player One* movie? Let's discuss! <center>  ## Thanks for reading. As always, upvotes, resteems and comments are appreciated! ## </center>