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The Art of Purchasing Used Games
From Press The Buttons, an article entitled Acquisition: The Art Of Purchasing Used Video Games. In it, the author lays out useful tidbits for getting the most from your hard earned gold pieces. From the article: "Yes, you could go all willy-nilly and toss a handful of game paks into a shopping cart down at the local Electronics Boutique, but the most obvious way of obtaining a used video game is not always the most economical. Allow me to share with you a few rules I have learned over the years about locating and acquiring used video game entertainment."
Why does this person regularly play a Virtual Boy?
Perhaps the headaches he gets from it are what caused him to think that common sense is newsworthy.
...but is it art?
FTA: "but if you're shopping online for used game paks from today's modern consoles and portables, be wary of the seller's location. 99% of the time any game being sold from China, Hong Kong, or some place you've never heard of is not a legitmate game pak."
;)
I won't even try to imagine how much the shipping cost would be from China or Hong Kong (which, incidentally, is part of China). I think the $10 Splinter Cell 9 + $59 S&H may just turn me off. You?
Digital Sailor
'Keeping the second hand market pirates afloat is NOT a worthwhile tactic."
I'm confused: Did I miss a part of the article where he recommended buying 'backup copies' of games, or are you confused about the legality of selling used software?
"Derp de derp."
Did you RTFA?
Digital Sailor
Keeping the second hand market pirates afloat is NOT a worthwhile tactic.
So buying second hand cars is a threat to General Motors?
Trolling is a art,
Only if you're buying those Chinese "pirate" cars like Bluicks and Plontiaks, or the ever popular Fjords.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
I happen to enjoy my Plorsche, thankyouverymuch.
Trolling is a art,
This guy doesnt know what hes talking about. As a very serious game collector I think that even casual gamers should over look this article. Most is silly useless dribble, how does this get onto slashdot?
'It's been a slow few days as far as gaming news goes, so I thought this would be a good time to share an article I wrote...' I agree with you, but at least he justifies it right at the beginning of the piece.
Despite the article's intentions, it's not really that informative and honestly, not that pertinent. From the sounds of it, he's on about buying NES Game Paks and proper care of them.
Personally, I usually -only- buy games used. EB, Gamestop and other such chains normally keep a decent Used Games selection in stock. I've also been pleased with purchases made over Amazon's Marketplace as well as eBay, as long as you use Common Sense when purchasing. Blockbuster also sometimes has decent prices on used games.
shame on us / for all we have done / and all we ever were / just zeroes and ones
While Gamestop/ebgames is not the best place for buying used games, how in the world does Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cost $10?? Gamestop sells it for 25 CENTS.
This fluff piece was so devoid of helpful tips created a vaccuum it actually sucked useful knowledge out of all of the articles around it.
All the author seemed to care about are the most common Nintendo games-- Zelda and Mario. Is it really that hard to figure out how to get a deal on those? I mean, they only made millions of those carts... Why not tell us how to find something off the beaten track, like rare Dreamcast RPGs?
He suggests buying new games that bundle or repack the classics on different systems (e.g. the original Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy.) Never mind that many retro gamers want to own the original cartridge on the original system-- it's not just about the actual game (why not just use an emulator?), but recreating the experience. A game boy doesn't play the same as the NES.
His advice for eBay buyers is ridiculous. Of course you check the sender's location, that's eBay 101. Anyway, I don't recall ever seeing a flood of used game (or used anything!) sellers from China-- at most, there might be one or two UK or Australian sellers on a page.
I could go on, but it's just too sad. Need we be subject to college newspaper quality articles just because they're about games?
Number one on my list is shopping at thrift stores. It's not as good of a source as it used to be, but that's how I got most of my Atari 2600 collection. You still have to leave your brain in gear, as they often price games without consideration to the game itself, so you could see a $4 SMB/DH next to a $4 Bubble Bath Babes. Okay, so maybe you won't find a Bubble Bath Babes, but I found a Chase the Chuckwagon and a 5200 Meteorites at the same thrift store. If you're one of those crazy "one of each" collectors, carry a list with you to avoid duplicates, and check the rarities so you don't pay too much for those commons. At least lately, thrift stores have been finally catching on that nobody wants to buy those endless copies of Sega sports games, and have been pricing them at a dollar. If they're complete and I don't already have one, or if they're in a good condition Sega CD jewel case, sure I'll pay a dollar for them.
Also good are flea markets and pawn shops. Pawn shops aren't all that great for older games, but sometimes you can find an out of the way place with a good cache of stuff. There's always at least one guy at a good flea market with a bunch of cartridges. And I mean a real open-air flea market with people who only sell for one day or one weekend, not those stupid indoor flea markets in an old Wal-Mart building.
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
Garage sales, garage sales, garage sales. You can pick up old cartridges by the bucketload for a few dollars at most garage sales. You can usually make a reasonable but small offer on the whole bunch and walk away with a crate of goodies. Plus these usually happen about the time that college students move out, so head on over to a college town around the beginning of June and get some steals.
Going out-of-business sales and police auctions are your friends. A lot of people have a lot of old or used merchandise sitting around, and if you keep your ears up you can get some amazing deals.
If you're going to E-bay, check the lowest price that the game has gone for in the past year, and stick with that price over time. Don't go over. It's easy to get swept up in bidding wars, but if youre patient the price always comes down to something reasonable. I've seen Ikaruga go for as high as 60 dollars the month before I picked mine up for 25.
And if you don't really want to have it, but just want to try it, go with redoctane or another online game rental company. They're a lot cheaper than picking up a series of titles that don't deserve to be played for more than a day or two.
The ______ Agenda
I purchased a used gameboy advance game off ebay. Turns out the save feature was non-functioning (this was an rpg). So I stayed up for 30 straight hours to beat it! (ok that didn't happen but hey who knows..) Around the same time the seller was banned from ebay so I knew all hope was lost for me. Biggie.
When buying a used car you can't expect the same thing from a new one...
...) and new game is where the money goes :
Whith electronic device, the only loss from age is the hype.
The only difference when buying recent game between second hand (or third, fourth,
In a case, you pay the developper for their job, in the other you pay a shopkeeper...
Sources of secondhand games:
- EBs/ToysRUS and other high-profile games retailers
- Pawnbrokers and other standard secondhand stores
- Op-shops, thrift stores, "Good Sammy's" and other charity stores
- Garage Sales
- Swapmeets/Trash 'n Treasure/Flea Markets/Car Boot Sales, or whatever they're called locally in your area
There. I guess that makes me an effing genius.*So buying second hand cars is a threat to General Motors?*
yeah. they would love to somehow get a good ban on using cars older than 4 years.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
So buying second hand cars is a threat to General Motors?
By God Yes!
It is bad enough that they don't get paid their due everytime the driver gets behind the wheel - they don't even get compensate for the use of their intellectual property by passengers!
When you buy a car, you buy the box it comes in and a license to drive. You don't really own the car, its just leased to you!
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
...insightful, not funny.
(ROFL was my first reaction too, but I really think he deserves some karma...)
Bah, finally got mod points and something I /feel/ deserved modded and what do I do?
:(
I hit the wrong option and post this to undo my mod effects.
My apologies.
These guys have terrible prices for used games. Usually they are only $10 less than new! I find flea markets the best place for used games, I picked up my sega Nomad and several games for cheep cheep! In Canada there is a store called Microplay that sells used games, they are usually priced well.
"The first thing you should do is slam it into your game console, right? No! Clean that game pak first, otherwise you'll be playing that game with everyone who has ever played it before. You never know how the previous owner(s) treated the game."
I do this the first time I have sex with a woman. Clean it and wrap that rascal!!!!
-Dipster
I'm one of those people that usually only buys games used. I'm a lowly university student -- I can't afford to pay full price unless it's a game I'm REALLY looking forward to and want to support. However, I noticed a month ago that, oddly enough, the used PC game section at the EBs in my city (Winnipeg) have disappeared. I wonder if they've gotten too worried about pirating?
I've come to know and love Barterbee.com. It's a trading site where once you sign up, ($5 a month) you get 5 points. You trade a games for X amount of points and you can buy games for X amount of points. I've been able to come across some good finds, especially people looking to just unload all there old NES games. They give you mailers and if only costs the postage to send out the games.
This is news?
the online video game rental service generally has the lowest used game prices on current games, with shipping less than $2 per unit. On top of that, you always get the original game box/manual in new condition, as it is never sent with the rental game. And if the game is DOA, they will replace it.
There are alot of people who would like to be me. I just haven't met them yet.
Why not just download all the NES, SNES, N64, PSX, etc., games you want to your PC? It's not like you're harming the game companies by copying 10 year old games.
Also, I own SMB DX and it's a neat game but to say that it's the right way to go is not entirely accurate. I agree that the "Classic NES Series" reissue of SMB is a ripoff at $20 but SMB DX has a few nearly fatal flaws. The biggest is this - the resolution of the GBC wasn't good enough to represent the entire screen, so you actually have to pan up and down manually with the D-pad. This is really a problem in some areas (like when the bad guys are off screen or you don't know if there's a platform at the bottom of the screen to land on). Plus playing a GB/GBC cart on a GBA has the issue that either it's the square screen in the middle or it's unnaturally stretched. In addition, SMB DX is loaded down with a bunch of weird crap that little kids in Japan must have loved, but which make little sense here. However, I still like it simply because it has the Japanese SMB2 on it (the lost levels).
I'd still prefer to play the original SMB on the GBA if it were, say, $10 (which it of course will be eventually)
Schnapple
The Fjord is a Viking car, not a pirate car.
Unless it is a cheap knockoff from Shanghai.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.