[game_preservation] The world's most expensive videogames

[Captain Commando]

Yes, there does seem to be some sort of conflict between rarity and quality.
Generally, the best games are also the ones that have the most copies
available (popularity is usually attached to quality). When rarity + quality
combine, price can go up, especially if it is a rare title in a popular
series (for instance, the TRS-80 Ultima). Games that are easier to find,
like certain SNES RPGs, can sometimes go for over $100 depending on the
title and its condition, but unless it's a particularly rare title that's
factory sealed, chances are you're not going to see one going for more than
$250. Maybe in another 25 years...

But quality and value doesn't always correlate. Moreover, it seems that if
there are very few copies - or only one copy - of a game around, collectors
will be willing to pay much more. Also, sometimes prices fluctuate depending
on whether or not a game was re-released. If the re-release ends up being
better than the original, that can sometimes lower the price of the
original. Sometimes, it can actually jack up the price.

The only other thing that really seems to have consistently high value are
arcade machines, where working models consistently seem to sell for over
$1000. But I don't think you'll never see a single game going on sale for
more than $25,000, say, unless it's a personal transaction between
collectors or done through a sophisticated auction house.

-DM

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 11:10 AM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:


>  Well, not to be snarky, but Spacewar! is more expensive than any of

> them.  I mean, if you want a working copy.  And yes there is a copy that

> works -- Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

>

> (Somewhat tongue-in-cheek.)

>

> The article was interesting, in that some of these games are in the price

> range of rare books. Not truly high-end rare books, but many, say, history

> of science books with 18th-century imprints.  These books are less rare than

> the carts seem to be, so the pricing seems for the most part to be driven by

> rarity, rather than a perception of some other kind of value (artistic,

> scholarly, etc.)

>

> Henry

>

>

> At 07:09 PM 4/5/2008, Captain Commando wrote:

>

> Here is an article I discovered while doing unrelated research. It is the

> ten most expensive videogames in the world. Well, I should say the ten that

> people will let you know about as there are plenty more betas and

> one-of-a-kinds that nobody outside the most serious of the serious

> collectors has heard about. Interesting article nonetheless!

>

>  http://www.gamesniped.com/2007/11/08/worlds-most-expensive-video-games/

>

> -DM

>

> --

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

> "Until next time..."

> Captain Commando

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>

>  Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

>  Film & Media Collections

> HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> Stanford University Libraries

> Stanford CA 94305-6004

> 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>

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>



-- 
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

"Until next time..."
Captain Commando
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