Getting Influenced

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

1 hour ago, FireHazard51 said:

I wonder what your opinions are on companies that republish those games, digital or physical, and then the retro copies plummet in price.  I'm way more aware of this happening because I do watch those "hidden gem" videos and then try and find them as remakes/ports for cheap.  And then find out they are only available on the original console and how expensive it is.  As soon as a there is even and announcement of of an official digital release of the game  those old physical copies drop over night.  Nice thing for collectors .  NES should just make cheap digital copies of all of their stuff so the market can tank.  Not like Nintendo is making any money from those 3rd party resellers.  

In a more modern sense this happen with physical release of games that get put on the PlayStation Plus free monthly games list.  When that happens I'll do a double dip.  Get the digital for free and by the physical for cheap in case I like the game 

Lets track it for super mario rpg

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by MrWunderful

[GPX | 1,370]

I think YouTube played a part, but I think anyone of a respectable standing among the gaming/collecting community can cause an influence. I think what we say on NA/VGS has some follow-on effect if we keep perpetuating the discussions. What we say and do on Pawnstars has a follow-on effect.

Basically what people read and see can influence them. The more “followers” or more popular the person, carries a likely greater level of influence.

[spacepup | 2,404]

I've thought about this a lot over the years, and basically, I try to think about the broader picture.  We are all connected, and what we do or don't do, isn't just trapped inside a little bubble that only affects us.  Our actions (or lack of actions) affect others around is in ways we can't even fully imagine.

Everyone who purchases a game, sells a game, talks about a game, watches a video, makes a video, makes a post on a video game forum, shares information, consumes information, etc etc., has *some* marginal impact on the market for video games.  It's just... well, a part of society.  People making videos about games, even rare games, may upset some people because it could theoretically raise the price, but also, it gets the word out and helps more people become aware of the game who may actually want to play it.  

Video games are such an important part of my life, and have brought so much enjoyment to me over the years, that I want others to enjoy them as well.  I'm ok with some games becoming more expensive, if part of the reason is that more people know about something fun and get a chance to enjoy it.  

Also, people enjoy this hobby in different ways.  Some people enjoy by playing games, others, collecting.  Others, competition.  And some, enjoy making videos about games.  All the things we do - wherever you lie on that spectrum - affect other people and the market in some way.  It's just the nature of things.

The only thing I guess I could parse out as being less....desirable, is if someone *intentionally* tries to inflate game values for personal gain - which probably does happen some.  But the overall availability of interesting content out there, and the benefits it may bring to the hobby - either with existing parties or new ones - I think does more good than harm, looking at the big picture.  

[AirVillain | 490]

I remember it was discussed that every Mike Matei play-through would result in a spike, haha. There was a weekly play-through video I thought but I can't seem to find them on the Youtubes. 

Fuckin' Sqoon? I forget what game it was, but ppl were losing their shit because it spiked. Some obscure, not great, shooter... 

The conversation has become quite broad. I remember a time when we (I think collectively?) were cautious of posting threads on NA about games because it didn't want to be seen as a "hype thread".

I remember specially making a thread about Bucky O'Hare on NA and I tried to make a joke about it by saying I was jumping on the hype train before the pricing gets too crazy.... but I did legitimately just want to discuss the game. 

Can't think of any glaring examples from Youtube or "influencers", but I don't want a ton of that stuff or track it. 

[AirVillain | 490]

On 7/9/2023 at 10:41 PM, RegularGuyGamer said:

What about the God Teir controller thread on NA?

I loved hyping that thread. Only because I stumbled upon the aforementioned god tier controller (no secrets ) without having any clue WTF it was in a lot and had to take it apart and clean it to get it to work, so it was a major success and holds a special place in my heart. 

Jokes, everyone else, it's the Sansui Joycard. 

Did that guy own like 80 of them or something? Buncha sealed ones? 

 

On 7/10/2023 at 10:46 AM, T-Pac said:

I generally don't begrudge content-creators when a game gets more expensive after they highlight it. We all want to share the games we like, and it would be pretty self-defeating for the community to restrict that for someone just because they have a wide audience and could potentially influence the market (which I doubt they do on purpose most of the time).

Sure - I get frustrated when I end up paying more for a game I want because I saw it on a popular YouTube video. But by the same token, I may have never discovered that game if the YouTube video didn't share it with me in the first place. 

[T-Pac]

T-Pac over here sitting on a MOUNTAIN of Dragon Spirit carts. 

Probably dozens CIB and sealed, too. Even unopened shipping packs. 

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

6 hours ago, AirVillain said:

Did that guy own like 80 of them or something? Buncha sealed ones? 

I remember it was a ton. I had actually bought one from him before that thread so I was glad to get one CIB or w.e when I did. I still agree that it is the supreme NES controller and it's my favorite one to get sweaty with.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

I like Sqoon, great..nah, but it's good.  The price is a laugh, so I've got the FC version in the mail instead.  No reason to hurt yourself when others will line up to the trough.

[Sumez | 2,959]

On 7/11/2023 at 3:49 PM, T-Pac said:

Does the passive aggression of that comic count as a negative post?

[T-Pac | 7,550]

5 hours ago, Sumez said:

Does the passive aggression of that comic count as a negative post?

*sweats nervously*

What? I ... I don't know what you're talking about - everyone is happy and smiling! You just weren't looking hard enough!

[T-Pac]

[fcgamer | 4,725]

I agree somewhat with what @spacepup said, but not entirely. I feel there's a responsible and an irresponsible way of making videos / reviewing games / preserving items and so forth, a way which can maximum any sort of benefits while at the same time minimalizing the negative effects.

I spoke about it before regarding the "preservation" of homebrew games and people just stealing and dumping ROMs that were released a few months earlier and still being sold, versus dumping lost prototypes of unreleased games that are thirty+ years old.

Similarly, with the videos, I've seen a ton of rubbish videos made more or less for the sole purpose of getting the content creator hits, likes, subscribers, and ultimately $$$ for his or her YT channel. Click-baity titles, tons of inaccurate information, etc. That's just garbage and doesn't help anyone, aside from those looking to cash in and then justify why their game is actually worth 5K monies.

Similarly, presenting rare items without context, again, it sort of just promotes this sort of situation where the lowest level folks try to use that information to justify poor prices. Rare =/= expensive, necessarily.

While I think ultimately the sharing of information can be good, it's often best to keep it close to your chest until you actually get whatever items you are searching for. Doing the leg work and discovering something is rare or an amazing, yet overlooked game should come with the privilege of getting said item at all, or at least for a decent price before all the sharks and copycats start trying to snap it up.

[Tanooki | 4,934]

What @fcgamer said, there's a good way and bad way.  If you're like just doing something such as:
- Long play to help others, or for fun to watch
- A documentary type piece (Gaming Historian)
- An expose, compare, contrast, history mix up like Jeremy Parish (X WORKS series)

Stuff like that isn't going to pull the notice of people looking to grift and exploit the stuff.

When it's done like an episode of: Storage Wars, American Pickers, Pawn Stars, Auction House whatever, the sadly normalized hidden gems, must own games for X, and those types...that's flags the scum to swarm and scatter and cause short term hard up hikes that either retract some but never return or just keeps it up and up.

[DarkTone | 985]

On 7/9/2023 at 11:28 PM, Tanooki said:

If you flash back a dozen years almost a dead to rights move was Cinemassacre and the realization they could monetize their video game collections by making hidden gem and rare gem videos and spamming them to YT and any media caring to cover it as a buzz piece for clicks.  You could back then track when they'd drop another gem video to seeing what was a $10 game become a $100 game and largely would just escalate and get worse, a few would peak for a week or month then flounder largely but not all the way back.   Take a game like Hagane, pre-video it was in a good $50-70 range, post video it went upwards of $250+, fell back slightly after the rise to around $200 and then went back to escalation.

Yet on the other end of the spectrum but same system Run Saber about a $10 game, video popped it up to over $40, but soon lost down to $20 and took another 2-3 years to get back to $40 and upwards since in the $60-70 range until the asinine pandemic pricing hell ensued ($150) yet even now retracting back into the 70s.

 

Around their time the lame Game Chasers used to manufacture videos to do hidden gems at flea markets for a dollar style pricing WOWZ for subs.  Go find their old video where at the same place I think they got both Flinstones 2 and Samson for almost nothing, so called crapped their pants in amazement, and that got everyone fishing for such amazing rares. They were already high though(for then), but got utterly absurd after.  It's why then (NA back then) and now I detest clowns like this because it makes it harder on both game players and collectors when they fish for speculators and investors to increase their collections values.

Woah! Did the game chasers ever get called out for it? Or even confess? 

[OptOut | 8,884]

2 hours ago, DarkTone said:

Woah! Did the game chasers ever get called out for it? Or even confess? 

They never faked anything, it's just salt.

[AirVillain | 490]

On 7/15/2023 at 7:45 PM, RegularGuyGamer said:

I remember it was a ton. I had actually bought one from him before that thread so I was glad to get one CIB or w.e when I did. I still agree that it is the supreme NES controller and it's my favorite one to get sweaty with.

Yowza! Had no idea, haha. 

I guess I just agreed with the thread so much that I didn't think it could be nefarious. 
 

4 hours ago, OptOut said:

They never faked anything, it's just salt.

No matter what.... the Samson episode is the one that spiked LS out of range for me. 

Haha, fuck. That's my own stubborn fault, though. Should have bought it at $60 on eBay "back in the day". 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

7 hours ago, OptOut said:

They never faked anything, it's just salt.

The hilarious part is @Quest4Nes is the one who tried to come up with a convoluted story about fakery and Billy registered on NA to refute him.