GameStop starting to accept and sell Retro consoles & games

Dokstarr

Dokstarr

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I saw this online this morning and didn't see it mentioned anywhere else on the forum.

http://gizmodo.com/gamestop-is-going-to-sell-classic-game-consoles-again-1698087137

It appears GameStop will have a few locations that will start taking all the mainstream retro consoles (looks like no Jaguar, CD-i, etc.) and sell them online or ship to store.

What do you guys think this will do to the value of the games and systems if this takes off?

Will it drive down prices because there will be more back on the market? Will people start digging through their basement and closets if they can get a few pennies for the next Call of Duty and Madden?

Or will the prices go up because GameStop will just charge rediculous amount for everything, bringing up the prices across the board (online stores, fleabay, retro game stores, etc.)

 
I think the prices will be insanely high, but in the small chance the prices are reasonable, this will be good news for my retro game collection. :D

 
If it's like it was back when Gamestop carried 8-bit/16-bit games before, I'd be all for it.  Just cause it's become seemly impossible to find common games now besides sports games locally.

 
Prices are already high, I doubt they will go much higher. If anything this will help kill the high prices because people will just get sick of it and the market will collapse. I don't like Gamestop, but I hate the mom and pop places that are overpriced just as much. I never understand why people curse our the resellers and the corporations, but have no problem paying ridiculous prices at the locally owned stores, they are every bit as much to blame for the high prices.

 
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I can see this being pretty lucrative to GS... a bunch of mom & pop stores have popped up in my area recently and retro games have been pretty good for them. With GS's footing and the whole "trade your old games for new ones", it could pay off big for them.

Of course, for CAGs, it just means more over-price crap. I used like them, but in the last year or two, their prices have basically gone up drastically... usually higher than eBay even after coupons/discounts.
 
Most of the retro shops are pretty pricey, catering to hipsters who don't know the value of being a cheapass.  Gamestop going back into that business is good or bad depending on how one thinks about it. I haven't found any gems in a yard sale for a few years, so having another means of getting some old games is welcome.

 
The Questyen said:
There is no room for people to even move at any gamestop I go into they have them so packed with shit. I can't imagine adding old games to that.
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The retro stuff will be automatically sent to their refurb factory & sold through the website. Nothing will be taking up space in store.
 
This will probably lower SNES prices at least. I think Gamestop is far too corporate to try to play around with higher prices unless it's Earthbound or something, even then if they did get in Earthbounds there's a Wii U code on the shelf for $10 so this should get interesting.

 
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spmahn said:
Prices are already high, I doubt they will go much higher. If anything this will help kill the high prices because people will just get sick of it and the market will collapse. I don't like Gamestop, but I hate the mom and pop places that are overpriced just as much. I never understand why people curse our the resellers and the corporations, but have no problem paying ridiculous prices at the locally owned stores, they are every bit as much to blame for the high prices.
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Only suckers fall for that 'support your local stores' BS. I'm all for giving a local my business if the prices are fair but as you said they always want so much more than a regular retail store. I get it - they have to because they aren't a major retailer who is rich and has buyer contracts but at the same time you're in the wrong business if you expect to charge people x10 what any other place would and have a store full of willing buyers in everyday.

 
Who would ever sell GameStop any retro games anyway? The trade-in value is bound to be less than what online markets otherwise offer. I don't see this program making it past the trial phase. Maybe if they'd started up in rural areas, but not major metropolitan areas they've chosen. 

That said, there are several GBA games I'd love to get my hands on. But I don't see GS making that easier on my wallet than ebay/Amazon/craigslist would.

 
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HelloooNurse said:
Who would ever sell GameStop any retro games anyway? The trade-in value is bound to be less than what online markets otherwise offer. I don't see this program making it past the trial phase. Maybe if they'd started up in rural areas, but not major metropolitan areas they've chosen.

That said, there are several GBA games I'd love to get my hands on. But I don't see GS making that easier on my wallet than ebay/Amazon/craigslist would.
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Why bother asking this when you could ask the same thing about current gen games? The vast majority of people aren't educated on what their games are worth and many seem to think old retro games are worthless. Keep in mind hundreds of retro games are probably brought into GameStop stores every day and turned away. The people bringing those in probably don't care what they get as long as they get something.

 
Doomstink said:
Why bother asking this when you could ask the same thing about current gen games? The vast majority of people aren't educated on what their games are worth and many seem to think old retro games are worthless. Keep in mind hundreds of retro games are probably brought into GameStop stores every day and turned away. The people bringing those in probably don't care what they get as long as they get something.
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No idea what proportion of retro owners are clueless, but you make a good point to be sure. Gaaahhh, the current retro market prices are done for. As if $60-70 for GameCube Twilight Princess and $25-30 for Link's Awakening DX wasn't expensive enough. Sounds like I need to take a break from current gen purchases and patrol craigslist for the last few retro titles I've got to have.

I think GameStop's retro program will be good for the console market though. The chance to get solid guarantees on retro systems would be sweet.

 
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HelloooNurse said:
I think GameStop's retro program will be good for the console market though. The chance to get solid guarantees on retro systems would be sweet.
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I just can't see GameStop really making sure everything is good with those systems. I bet there will be tons of NES with ruined pins, N64's with floppy analogs, and just controllers that don't work well that won't be thoroughly inspected.

 
I think they might end up shipping a lot of consoles to China or some underdeveloped country for repairs. A lot of Sega Genesis units are fubar because of the crappy capacitors Sega used. And model 1s have at least 30 of them to replace.

 
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I kind of doubt TIVs will stay as good as they are when the program goes nationwide. They're giving $10 for Aladdin on SNES. That's not sustainable when the TIV is one size fits all (crappy carts trade in for as much as decent ones).

In any case, I think the only reason this is going to drive used prices up is because the refurb center will destroy a lot of games unless they discovered a new way to "repair" carts. In the old days they sanded the contacts which kind of worked but exposed the cart to quick corrosion. Pretty much any Pokemon game I've found that hasn't worked (outside of battery issues) has passed through Gamestop's refurb center.
 
HelloooNurse said:
No idea what proportion of retro owners are clueless, but you make a good point to be sure. Gaaahhh, the current retro market prices are done for. As if $60-70 for GameCube Twilight Princess and $25-30 for Link's Awakening DX wasn't expensive enough. Sounds like I need to take a break from current gen purchases and patrol craigslist for the last few retro titles I've got to have.

I think GameStop's retro program will be good for the console market though. The chance to get solid guarantees on retro systems would be sweet.
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HelloooNurse said:
No idea what proportion of retro owners are clueless, but you make a good point to be sure. Gaaahhh, the current retro market prices are done for. As if $60-70 for GameCube Twilight Princess and $25-30 for Link's Awakening DX wasn't expensive enough. Sounds like I need to take a break from current gen purchases and patrol craigslist for the last few retro titles I've got to have.
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Wow, really? I'd sell mine for that much probably. I didn't even like The Link's Awakening.

 
Doomstink said:
I kind of doubt TIVs will stay as good as they are when the program goes nationwide. They're giving $10 for Aladdin on SNES. That's not sustainable when the TIV is one size fits all (crappy carts trade in for as much as decent ones).

In any case, I think the only reason this is going to drive used prices up is because the refurb center will destroy a lot of games unless they discovered a new way to "repair" carts. In the old days they sanded the contacts which kind of worked but exposed the cart to quick corrosion. Pretty much any Pokemon game I've found that hasn't worked (outside of battery issues) has passed through Gamestop's refurb center.
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Which scarcely matters to them as they will sell them anyway. I can't count how many GC games I bought from them when they hit 75% off which were destroyed by the refurb they did.

 
Narukami said:
Wow, really? I'd sell mine for that much probably. I didn't even like The Link's Awakening.
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Honestly, I'm not sure how to respond to this, but it seems like a misunderstanding. Here's what I mean when I said "as if $60-70 for GameCube Twilight Princess and $25-30 for Link's Awakening DX wasn't expensive enough."

GC Twilight Princess is an enjoyable game and much better than the Wii version because you don't have to use the stupid Wii remote (imo and according to others). However, Twilight princess is already going for over original retail CIB. GS may very well destroy any cases/manuals to "save space" while still charging the going online market price for the CIB copies. Resulting in a price hike on any copies in collectible condition and disk-only offerings. Some may not care, but to me that suuuucks. Sure, GS may have wised up and realized that people do value the original box art. But my hopes aren't high.

As for Link's Awakening, you're right--it shouldn't be selling cart-only for $20-$30. Especially when most of the labels on the cart are in "acceptable" condition. I expect GS will see the highest going price and match it, regardless of the cosmetic damage to the cart. Doubt I'd find a crap condition anywhere for less than $30 after that. Not cool.

I realize there's the slim possibility that GS may offer lower prices than found elsewhere. In this case, they'd rarely hold any stock traded in (see LoZ: Ocarina of Time 3DS). But that's far better than the alternative, to be sure.

 
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It's only in NY & Birmingham, Alabama and there's either not many CAG's there or they aren't trading stuff in there & reporting back.
 
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