Welcome back, everyone! Happy New Year! As we all anxiously await the latest crop of new games this year, I thought it would be nice to reexamine some of the best retro gaming news/rereleases last year. After what appeared to be a serious dry spell, classic video games have been getting a lot of attention in the past year. Like the revival of vinyl records in the music industry, gamers both young and old are falling back in love with the classics. But it’s not just nostalgia that is drawing fans back into the realm of retro video games. To look at this latest trend as merely a walk down memory would be to overlook what made these classic video games classics in the first place. When great game designs, stories, and visual aesthetics are combined into one package, the finished product can withstand the test of time.
Not only have great games from the 16-bit era been re-released, like Super Star Wars and the Mortal Kombat Arcade Collection, but there are also some classic PS2 games that have made their way back into the limelight. Dark Cloud and Twisted Metal Black are available for digital download on the Playstation Network. And for fans of the GTA series, GTA3 was recently added as well. Avid fans of the video game developer Rare, XBox Live has a collection of 30 of Rare’s top classic video games.
Some of you may consider GoldenEye to be a crude first person shooter by today’s standards, but it is often credited for popularizing the FPS genre on consoles. Unfortunately, no word on whether this classic will see the light of day on a new console.
The second highest selling SNES game of all time, Donkey Kong Country, is available once again on Nintendo’s latest console. Donkey Kong Country was touted for its groundbreaking visuals (though some criticized it for its lack of innovation), and it still retains all of that 16 bit charm that made it such an industry darling at the time of its release in 1994. The aforementioned Rare collection includes other great titles like Perfect Dark, Battletoads, and Banjo-Kazooie.
In other news, the classic NES game, Stadium Events, is experiencing some recent price slumps on the internet. Like most trends, items that were once rare and sought after can drop in price as the market gets flooded. This can be said of the classic NES Stadium Events game. This listing history from eBay shows that a PAL (European) version of the game sold for $579.00 back on October 20th, but then the same item sold for $249.99 on Dec 18th. That’s nearly a 50% drop in 2 months. The NTSC (North American) version remains one of the most rare and sought after games. It still continues to garner a higher price tag. The reason for the price drop for the PAL version is likely due to a few factors. For one, the excitement that the game garnered when it sold for such outrageous prices had people digging through their attics and garages, bringing more games to the surface. Another factor is the super inflated prices that the game sold for created something of a slight market bubble. A factory sealed copy sold for $35,000 a year ago, one of only two known factory sealed copies. This had buyers frothing at the mouth for a chance to get their hands on a copy of Stadium Events. Many of the PAL cartridges were selling for far more than they should have and now it appears that the prices are beginning to return back to reality. We’ll keep you updated if anything drastic happens with the game in the future. But, this may be the best time to get a “bargain” (or as close as it comes) copy of the game online.
- Atari Vintage 80’s Dig Dug Promo T Shirt
- Factory Sealed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles PC Game 1989
- Vintage TurboGrafx Turbo Express Handheld – Typically sells around the $200 range depending on the quality of the unit. The Express pictured below has a BIN of $380 but comes bundled with tons of games and other goodies.
- Rare CIB Vintage Video Sport Hockey Game System by TCR – Own a piece of history with this super rare find!
- Chrono Trigger SNES Cartridge w/ Dust Cover
