Re: Game values

On Sat, 30 Jun 2001 12:46:47 -0700, you wrote:

>I think we're dealing with two different value curves: gameplay and rarity.

        I think you're right, and that's kind of what I was trying to get at in
my previous post. (You summed it up better than I did, though. :) )

        We should also bear in mind that the two curves operate at vastly
different rates. IMO, "gameplay" is a sharp bell curve, driven by whoever
is currently entering the hobby in "buyer" mode - which means it will tend
to follow the 20-year "nostalgia" cycle we see in other areas such as
"classic rock" radio stations, fashion trends, and so on; "rarity",
however, is characterized more by a slow, upward slope which will lag quite
a bit behind the "gameplay" curve.

        It only makes sense, therefore, that we would see a rapid rise in the
value of early-80's vector (and raster!) games as those of us who are
children (or teenagers :) ) of the 80's chased after the games we wanted to
play again, followed by a decline in their market value after most of us
had acquired the games _we_ wanted and the newer, younger crop of
"customers" began seeking _their_ fondly-remembered "classics" from the
late 80's-early 90's. The "gameplay" curve for TEMPEST, ASTEROIDS, etc.
has moved on, while the "rarity" curve has not yet become a significant
effect on the market for vector games as a whole (though I suspect it
already has, and will continue to have an effect, on the value of games
which were already relatively rare to begin with, like COSMIC CHASM or
QUANTUM.)

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"There is no virtue in suffering fools gladly, for it only encourages them to
persist in their foolishness." --Kehlog Albran
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solarfox@DON'TMESSWITHtexas.net (Gary Akins jr.)
http://lonestar.texas.net/~solarfox
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Received on Sun Jul 1 22:25:57 2001