Kind of inspired by this listing (via Gamesniped) - http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Flintst...3124?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item417f103634 It got me thinking... How good are these games that command hefty price tags? Now I have to be honest, I haven't actually played that Flinstones game linked above so maybe it is rock solid entertainment, well written and worth a play - but something tells me it's probably rubbish - most licenses back then usually were. How good is something like Stadium Events? I mean technically, compared to other games from around the same time - what kind of scores did these games get in reviews? (if they were even reviewed?) I figured it's one of those "ask the experts" questions - and maybe others can chime in and point out some heavy weight sellers that are in fact pretty bad games to actually play... Just curious! (and no, I have no affiliation with Gamesniped - that's just where I stumbled across the auction that got me thinking...)
IMHO, concerning normal released games, the rarer a game is, the less likely it is an actual good game. Rarity I think is due to scarcity, which could be tied to how popular a game was when it was released. Less popular = Less units produced + Time = scarcity. Games can also have a limited production due to being released in only certain regions and/or being exclusives (like the Flintstones game, which was a blockbuster exclusive). They can also have limited release due to controversy (like GTA San Andreas + Manhunt) Some are cancelled entirely because of it (Thrill Kill). or recalled for legal reasons (NA Stadium Events). Most of the power pad games are uncommon because they didn't sell that well. Niche games usually don't. They had limited appeal. A game example that was a great seller but was poor has to be the famously bad ET for Atari. It sold extremely well for the first few weeks because of the great movie license, that is until everyone knew how bad it was, then Atari couldn't give it away. The fact that the game sold very well at first is why finding ET is extremely easy today despite being horrible. Atari refused to take alot of them back, and people became disillusioned with Atari because of it. alot of people still hate the company name today. If these kinds of games were reviewed I think theyd would highlight their lack of mainstream appeal. Id like to add that in general back then magazines weren't as prolific for games and most gamers didn't use em. They relied on word of mouth or playing at a friends house for game suggestions. Generally this system worked well, and its still used via forums Its especially useful these days were media can be biased and paid off by game companies.
There are infact good games that have been price tags. And there are crappy ones. The prices are mainly driven by collecting and speculation, not how good the game actually is. If you have any interest in playing any expensive title you are better off using a flash cart, "reproduction", or ROM. An example of a good game that costs way too much is Little Samson on the NES. The game is pretty good. But it costs a few hundred dollars. Is it worth it? Not a chance. It's a shame though because through gossip and speculation it obtained this mythical status as being extremely rare and valuable and now if you wanted to play it you'll have to do something other than getting an original cartridge. Not that it matters that much. I have not played Flintstones but the game should certainly be decent. It was part of a group of late Taito published titles that have ended up quite expensive if I recall.
Flintstones is a decent game yeah, but 750-1k for a loose cart? No way! I had no idea about its price and i have loose US cart collecting dust since 1995, basically we finished this game with friends 2 or 3 times and then it was forgotten, same for the first game (complete PAL cart though).
Yeah, some of those late release NES games are ridiculously expensive. Kid Klown, Bonks Adventure, Rescue Rangers 2 and TMNT Tournament fighters, are all pricey. That doesn't include the unlicensed stuff like Sunday Funday and Bible Buffet. The late Taito games and Flintstones are seriously overpriced. I think NES collecting is IMHO overpriced period due to Nintendo's mainstream appeal. To alot of people, Nintendo IS the gaming industry. Just makes guys like me who collect Sega stuff happy.
Thrown in the shitmess are games with reprinted labels. NES collecting also has become a bit risky. Anyone here own these expensive titles?
So how do those games stand up as 'quality games' - are they worth playing? Well coded? I realise price is determined (more often than not) by rarity - but I'm more curious to know if these high priced games are actually any good - or are they throwaway junk that an idiot could have coded in an afternoon?
Surprisingly, some of those games play pretty good. Kid Klown is a re-branding of a mickey mouse game, but its alright, nothing special though. Bonks Adventure is half decent as well. Rescue Rangers 2 was good, but the first was better. TMNT: TF filled a niche for 8 bit fighters that wasn't really there, and was the weakest of the NES TMNT games. While technically impressive, I wouldn't put it past the first one even. These are examples of expensive games that are half decent though, to really get to the real shovelware, you'll need to hit up the unlicensed ones. Stuff like Action 52 (which I owned as a kid) is downright unplayable, most of the games on that cart don't even work right. I guess that's what happens when you base a proper release on a pirate cart. Just about everything Active Enterprises made was junk. The Wisdom Tree games are pretty bland, but some command high prices (Bible Buffet, Sunday Funday). again they're a niche release so they'll have limited appeal. Camerica games were 50/50 with some of the licensed titles like Micro Machines pretty good, while stuff like the Quattro series was pretty much just subpar compilations. Camerica used Codemasters for most of their better stuff. Color Dreams was a crap shoot too, some of their games were good, (I remember liking Master Chu & Drunkard Hu for its original oriental theme) but most were mediocre. And pretty much anything American Video Entertainment made was crap. All of these games are likely expensive today due to either limited appeal, or limited production run. It could also be rare because alot of em were shovelware crap. There are exceptions to the bad unlicensed stuff too, most of the Tengen games were both original and pretty good. I remember playing Skull and Crossbones as a kid and finding it very difficult, but so was the arcade game.
Also if the game is on a rare add on that didn't sell well it tends to be pricey as well. Most N64 DD games command a premium, even though all the games (only 9 I believe) were pretty decent.
Sega Rally for ngage is horrible but it has sold for $250 to $450 sealed. It was an Australian exclusive. Starcraft 64 isn't good but they did the best they could considering the hardware limitations. It never should have been ported to the N64 in the first place. Boxed PAL copy was an Australian exclusive and it sells for over $700 depending on condition.
Also combined that Australian bidders a lot of them don't do their search and end up having a bidding war. Whenever there's a bidding war it's just two collectors who want it more than anything, saying an item is 'worth' that much because of a bid war is weird. There was a good talk about this on Pat's podcast.
Burning Rangers. Now it's not the most expensive Saturn game but it's not the cheapest ether. Don't get me wrong I love the game for what it is, but it's not exactly a technical masterpiece.
Some expensive games are good ... Snatcher. Panzer Dragoon Saga. The Punisher (Megadrive). But for the most part I would tend to agree that rarity is more likely to indicate poor quality than good.
Radiant Silvergun is expensive, and it's a pretty good game. It's not Stadium Events-level expensive, but not cheap.
Radiant Silvergun is a good example of expensive. Although, in my honest opinion definitely not the rarest and most expensive. It is definitely not a hyper duel or a shinrei jusatsushi taromaru expensive(Those commend high prices). It is imo what I would call the "earthbound" of saturn import collecting. It commends a high price, but really is not that rare. I have pretty much seen them go for 150 pretty much all day with their original spine cards, and its been like that for quite a few years. One of the rarest saturn import games is truly pretty crappy. That title being Eyeful home, which was pretty much a real estate software game showing off houses in japan(at least something like that to my recollection). It is truly crappy, and only 50 or so were ever made, thus commending high prices than even the other 2 games I mentioned above.
I kind of agree with people (such as Yakumo) who say that Radiant Silvergun is a little overrated. It's definitely not the best shooter of all time. However, I still think it's a really good game, regardless of its reputation. You're right that it's not the most expensive of Saturn games, but $150 is more than what I'd normally spend on a game. Another game which is kind of expensive (boxed, anyway) but really good is Sutte Hakkun. That game was originally released on the Satellaview, later on the SF Memory Cassette, and then eventually on its own stand-alone cart. It's a really fun game, and quite challenging as well.
