Future retro

corblimey

I was rooting around my attic last night (I moved house about 6 months ago) and I found my old GCN and my XBox. They're still in good nick but I doubt I'd get more than a few quid for each. So I wonder if there's any point in keeping them for a decade or so and hope they come back into fashion as retro machines a la the Saturn, the "Genesis", the NES, etc.

I know it's impossible to determine what will be fashionable in the future, but someone somewhere will surely be interested in playing the odd game of Halo II in 15 years time. Or have this generation of consoles been so widely sold that even when they come back, there will be such an over-saturation that they will be worth even less than they are now?

KdjaCL

I thinnk like movies it be certain games Ico Sotc, special editions halos, Zelda on for GC with the extra disc etc:



kdjac

Trode

corblimey wrote:

I was rooting around my attic last night (I moved house about 6 months ago) and I found my old GCN and my XBox. They're still in good nick but I doubt I'd get more than a few quid for each. So I wonder if there's any point in keeping them for a decade or so and hope they come back into fashion as retro machines a la the Saturn, the "Genesis", the NES, etc.

I know it's impossible to determine what will be fashionable in the future, but someone somewhere will surely be interested in playing the odd game of Halo II in 15 years time. Or have this generation of consoles been so widely sold that even when they come back, there will be such an over-saturation that they will be worth even less than they are now?

In the long term, I'd say the Gamecube would be worth more than the X-box, the underdogs in console generations tend to be more desirable as retro items.
That said, the growing trend for backwards compatibility and technology to download old games cheaply on to modern consoles could well put a dent in the whole market by the time either of them is worth anything. If people no longer need the old consoles to play their games, the only buyers you're left with are the hardcore collectors, and they'll probably have those machines anyway.

corblimey

Interesting point, trode, but I suspect that the bc for the current batch of next gen consoles will be forgotten when next gen+1 comes along. There's no way Xbox 360 squared will need to support old Xbox games, it may well support Xbox 360, but that should be it. And since I'm talking about 10-15 years down the line, the only way to play Classic Tomb Raider Legends (;)) will be on the original Xbox

Trode

corblimey wrote:

Interesting point, trode, but I suspect that the bc for the current batch of next gen consoles will be forgotten when next gen+1 comes along. There's no way Xbox 360 squared will need to support old Xbox games, it may well support Xbox 360, but that should be it. And since I'm talking about 10-15 years down the line, the only way to play Classic Tomb Raider Legends (;)) will be on the original Xbox

True as regards compatibility with the physical games, but currently online distribution is getting to be a big thing, with at least 2 of the 3 next-gen consoles(and if MS and ninty are doing it, Sony will be in about two months) offering the facility to download older games directly onto your console and played through some kind of emulator. In 10-15 years, X-box 9 jillion may not take your Halo 2 disc, but if current trends continue you could well be downloading it through your quantum data connection onto the console anyway. Or directly into your brain or something. Who knows?

Retr0gamer

I doubt the xbox and PS2 will be worth much in future. They are both common as muck and for the xbox there are very few notworthy games. The GC as well will be cheap since the games are fully playable on Wii. I think the big retro gconsole from this gen will be the Dreamcast. It's already going through a saturn type revival at the moment. There are plenty of rare and underrated gems on it and lots of classics unavailable elsewhere. There have been very few rarities this generation. It's always the neglected consoles that seem to come back in fashion such as the saturn and PC Engine.

Suikoden 3 was heading towards rarity until Konami had the good sense to re-release it multiple times. Gradius V didn't sell many copies but is probably the best shmup ever made and probably in the best 3 games on the PS2. That will fetch a fair price in years to come. ICO with the artcards and possibly the excellent Gitaroo Man are the only ones that I'd regard as rare and valuable at the moment. There is one Rarity that will fetch a nice price in years to come on the xbox, Panzer Dragoon Orta. Despite being far and away the best game on Microsofts big fat black box it sold a miserable amount of copies. I treasure my promotional copy

Ever since ICO got rereleased there hasn't really been a 'radiant silvergun' or 'panzer dragoon Saga' of this generation. However I've a feeling that Suikoden 5 is getting a little bit underrated at the moment just like Suikoden 2 did and since it isn't selling that well it may just become a mush sought after game.

trout

have to agree ... dreamcast is odds on for future retro classic status (does that make sense?)

and yes ... i would still say that if i didn't have 6 (that's SIX) fully functioning dreamcasts in my grubby little hands.

soul calibur on the dreamcast still looks incredible today, and it's impossible to ignore the sheer fun of games like crazy taxi

as it has proven hard to emulate (so far) i think working dreamcasts will be worth their weight in gold in years to come ... maybe

corblimey

Wouldn't the DC belong in the same era as the N64 and the PS ie, retro now? I own the console myself, and love it and my collection, but it's still a machine that has dated quite badly in relation to the current crop of (next-)gen. Shenmue, for example, huge for its day, still looks and plays great today, but it still pales in comparison to the likes of say Saints Row and Dead Rising when it comes to the gameplay, the size of the world, the variety of 'interactivity'. And I'm sure there will be releases on the Wii and PS3 that date if even further.

trout

it could be argued either way ... i think dreamcast is same gen as ps/2 and overlaps with xbox, just as many people think it's previous gen ... the lines are blurry, given that dreamcast launched a year before ps/2, but arguably had more advanced technology and functionality (web browser, keyboard/mouse, dev kits ...)

not sure how you would even measure this, or do people 'just know/agree' what gen a console is ?

my argument would be the dreamcast was ahead of it's time, and killed off in it's prime ... if you look at how long the ps/2 had in the limelight, the natural lifespan of the dreamcast would/could have been comparable

never thought there were degrees of retro before ... but i wouldn't fall out over it. dreamcast was an example of the art, no longer state of the art ...

how can you not grant classic status to the first console to bring soul calibur into your front room ?

CiDeRmAn

Don't think the machines will be the things of envy at all, given the size of the market and the vast number of consoles sold since the PS debuted.
The games on the otherhand will be the very things to go from commonplace to collectable.
For example, Silent Hill on the PS is very thin on the ground, as is Kula World, Kurushi and of course Castlevania SOTN.
The PS2 already has the rare things, Gitaroo Man for example, but there are many more potential titles, games that never sold well despite rave reviews, Killer7, Katamari Damacy, and watch as they are snapped up from 2nd hand racks in Gamestop and soon cease to appear but once and a while.
Look at Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes on the GC, rare as hens teeth, Battalion Wars here is very hard to find.
Xbox not so much though as its main titles of renown are owned by everyone with a console, Halo/2, DOAX and so on, but one can imagine that the likes of Stangers Wrath could become collectable eventually.

But collectable and Retro are two different things so in a gen or two they will bleed into one as the PS2 becomes the object of nostalgia, as the N64 and DC are now, then warm memories will be conjured when you catch sight of a copy of Rez or the edge of the well worn MGS2 box.

BlitzKrieg

Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes on the GC, rare as hens teeth

you sure thats not an ireland thing? Twin Snakes is as common as muck over here in cambridge, much to my own profitable delight as i sold on copies to my friends in ireland.

CiDeRmAn

Well, seeing as you are in a generous mood, any chance of sending a copy my way?