Should I leave these PCE games sealed?

Today I came across this gamestore near Nagoya that is closing and clearing out its stock for half price. Anyway, it's been going on for a week before I got there, so most of the real goodies have been sold already, but I managed to score a whole stack of sealed Hu-Cards and CD-Roms. None are really rare or anything, but there are some that are considered PCE classics, like Snatcher, Princess Maker, Final Soldier, PC Genjin 3, etc, etc.

Anyway, I never thought of myself as a hardcore collector and I only really buy those games that I also want to enjoy playing. On the other hand, it does feel a little bit strange to tear open these plastic seals that have covered these games for nearly 15 years...

So, anyway, now I'm debating what to do:

1) Open them up and play them as they were meant to!

2) Leave them sealed and put them in the shelf for all to see and marvel at!

3) Sell them on Ebay, then use the proceeds to buy used copies of these games, plus even more games.

So what do you think?

 

Open them, play them....then sell the one's you don't dig.

 

I open most of my games but make sure I store them in a really safe place so they don't get damaged in any way and the games you mentioned are not really worth that much more sealed over mint anyway. Of course out of the games you mentioned you should be able to buy other copys VERY cheaply indeed, so you may just want to put those other ones aside and start a little sealed collection!

I personally have a cabinet for untouched stuff, mostly famicom, saturn and PSone duplicates. Its nice to know you have perfect copies as backups.

So I would go for 1 if you don't want to splash out on non-mint versions of the games.

 

I'd go with 3, but thats just me and my money making ways. Depends whether games are for playing or looking at to you...

 

Open them and play them. I've opened 97% of all my games which all still look new because of careful storing so you should do the same. Ga,es are there for playing, not to be looked at on a shelf The only DC games I have that are still sealed are Bio Hazard 3, Sonic Shuffle and Seventh Cross and that's only because they're all shite Well, Bio Hazard 3 isn't but I've played that on the PSX.

Yakumo

 

I keep my games sealed and play backup copies of them There is no way I'm playing my 100$+ SF 3 Premium disk on console - one scratch and it's lost half of it's value (for me).

 

I leave every sealed 8 and 16 (and some 32/64) bits games i find as they are, but that's just me.

You never know..

it's not like the number of old sealed games increase, it's in fact going down.

 

Logic dictates the numbers should be going down, but more and more sealed 8 and 16bit games seems to be crawling out of the woodworks everyday.
I have never seen so many sealed games on e-bay like I have this year

 

i would sell them and get mint used ones, is just logical

 

are you joking there?

 

Open them up carefully and then reseal them when you want to sell them.

 

Open them, play them. They want to be played, those poor games...sitting there on the shelf, waiting for somebody to come along and buy them. Waiting for the culmination of their electronic lives...to slide into their console, to be loved. It's your duty to play them.

I don't get the point of not opening games. The best part is whats inside the packaging.

 

Indeed, I think exactly alike.
You want to collect stuff not to play it? Then collect everything else except videogames. Games are meant to be played. That (and my unfortunate location) is the reason I never get anything mint when I'm buying used. If the game works, it's enough for me.

Then again, I seriously respect collectors - but collectors that are not gamers are just getting the games to "have" them, and not for enjoyment. It feels like cheating to me.

So, Citcelaid, by all means, do play your games and enjoy them.

 

But collecting videogames is also about preservation. I leave stuff sealed so that I know I have a perfect copy to come back to if I lose or break a game. Particularly of my favourite RPGs on cartridge. I know they will break, but I still want to know I can play them when I'm 70 (hopefully still alive). Thats why I have sealed spares.

 

Then you're not in the wrong, as you are keeping them to eventually be played. Thus, the sealed games are not devoid of purpose, as would be the games that are to remain forever sealed and unplayed for "collection" purposes.

 

Sell the sealed ones & buy used replacements plus extras, surely you would be more satisfied having more PCE games then breaking open the seal. I tell you, I wish I didnt open my PAL Samba De Amigo set, cos I only played it a couple of times & could of sold it at double what I paid for it if I had kept it sealed!

 

Im sure there are small semi-professional machines that could re-seal them
Anyway.. Games are to be played - if you are afraid they might loose some of their value .. just sell them as said and buy used ones.

Heh.. get a shielded-climate-chamber to slow down the deterioration of the game-mediums
Plastic wrappers or cardboard-boxes are a pretty bad protection against temperature, (electro)magnetic fields etc etc...
BTW.. maybe you should also go easy on your hands.. who knows, maybe you will have bad arthritis when you are 70.. from long-term joypad-wrecking in your "wild" years :no (jk)

 

Thanks guys. Here's what I've decided:

1. The games that I already own used copies of (Snatcher, Final Soldier, Dragon Spirit) I'm gonna leave sealed and keep.

2. The games I don't own yet I'm gonna open and play!

3. Tomorrow I'm going back to the store. If I can score more sealed games I'm putting them on Ebay, then buying some recent NTSC-J PS2 releases with the cash.

That's the plan.;-)


EDIT: They also had a bunch of sealed Neo Geo CD games. I dunno much about Neo Geo, but are those sought after? Again, no top tier collector's games, but stuff like Gowcaizer, KoF, Sonic Wings, Top Hunter, etc.

 

If you sell them in mint condition, why not enjoy them.. ^^

 

I vote for #3, makes the most sense.

Put them on US ebay and you'll get a bunch of bites.