Video Game Collecting - Collectible Games

Collectible Games

The value of most games will decrease for any system, especially an unpopular system or a popular system flooded with many titles over its lifespan. Games that have a limited release will show an increase in price, but games that were once commonly available can become more expensive as demand increases. Many games increase in value for the quality of their gameplay alone, while others are simply too scarce. Consoles will have games that are the "most valuable" for that system, and become noteworthy among collectors. Price vary depending on condition of the box, instructions, whether the item is sealed, how many inserts are retained, and whether the spine card is still present. Some games labeled as "special edition" are often produced in numbers that far exceed demand, especially in the CD-ROM era, where duplication has become cheap compared to cartridges. Some games may be graded similarly to comic books by the VGA which will value a collectible video game by a rating system that increases in intervals of 5 with the max being 100. http://www.vggrader.com/

Some of the rarest games in existence include:

• Chase the Chuckwagon (1983), Atari 2600, NTSC-U, was only available through a mail order promotion from the now defunct Chuckwagon dog food company. Since most buyers of dog food were adult dog owners and (at the time) adults rarely were interested in video games, very few bothered to order this game. Although not the rarest Atari 2600 game, it is a fan favorite among 2600 enthusiasts and in fact the website http://www.chasingthechuckwagon.com is named after a video game term for collecting a very rare game.
• Air Raid (1982), Atari 2600, NTSC-U, 12 known copies. The only copy with package known to exist sold for $31,600 in 2010.
• Pepsi Invaders (1983), Atari 2600, NTSC-U, 125 copies produced.
• Stadium Events (1987), NES, NTSC-U, 2000 cartridges produced., considered the rarest licensed NES game available for purchase in North America. The game's packaging alone has been known to sell for $10,000. One of two known sealed copies was sold for $22,800 on eBay.
• Nintendo World Championships (1990), NES, 26 copies for the Gold cartridge and 90 copies for the regular cartridge. Gold cartridges have sold for over $10,000. The game has been called the rarest and most valuable NES cartridge released aside from promotional cartridges, although it has also been pointed out that Nintendo Campus Challenge is rarer.
• Nintendo Campus Challenge (1991, 1992), NES, NTSC-U. Most copies were destroyed after competitions, except one copy which was sold to Rob Walters in 2006. The copy is believed to be the only one in existence, eventually selling for $20,100 on eBay.
• Nintendo PowerFest '94 (1994), SNES, NTSC-U. 33 cartridges made, only 2 known to still exist.
• Virtual Bowling/SD Gundam Dimension War (1995), Virtual Boy, NTSC-J, the two rare games make completing the Virtual Boy collection difficult.
• Kizuna Encounter (1996), Neo Geo, European version, less than 12 copies (the Japanese AES version is, however, not rare and is identical except for the packaging and inserts).
• The Ultimate 11 (1996), Neo Geo, 10 known copies. Also known as Tokuten Oh: Honoo no Libero. One buyer reportedly paid $55,000 for both Kizuna Encounter and Ultimate 11.
• Bangai-O: Prize Edition (1999), Sega Dreamcast, NTCS-J, 5 copies produced.
• Tetris (1989), for the Japanese Sega MegaDrive/Genesis, 3 to 8 copies produced. Tetris was originally created on June 6, 1984 by Aleksei Leonidovich Pazhitnov on an Electronica 60 at the Moscow Academy of Science's Computer Center. Because of copyrights issues, only a few copies were produced.