pktechgirlbackup (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pktechgirlbackup) wrote2011-07-25 09:52 pm
pktechgirlbackup) wrote2011-07-25 09:52 pm
Entry tags:
You win again, gravity
My old assumption was that video game prices followed an S curve: extremely expensive at first, little to no price movement for a while, fairly quick deceleration, then stabilization at the low end (if they don't simply disappear). I based this on: the years and years I waited for the price of Civ IV to go below $50, the $9 I paid for Resident Evil 4, and the $3 I paid for boxfulls of atari games at church garage sales. As it turned out, none of these were good data points.
Based on more thorough research at gamestop, the actual curve seems to be more like a parabola: high at first, plunging downward, and then going back up at unknown speed. 6-8 year old PS2 games are equivalent in cost to two year old XboX 360 games, and double the price of three year old 360 games. PS1 games, by which I mean Silent Hill 1, are at surely-you're-joking prices, if you can find them at all. Admittedly, I'm looking at only the best loved PS2 games (Shadows of the Colossus, Katamari, Silent Hill 2)- but I'm also looking at the best reviewed 360 games. I'm astonished at how fast games move to be collector's items. The only other explanation is that more copies of each xbox game are printed. That could explain why RE4, which is the only PS2 game I want that is still available new, is half the cost of other games of similar quality, despite having 5x the gameplay time.
Based on more thorough research at gamestop, the actual curve seems to be more like a parabola: high at first, plunging downward, and then going back up at unknown speed. 6-8 year old PS2 games are equivalent in cost to two year old XboX 360 games, and double the price of three year old 360 games. PS1 games, by which I mean Silent Hill 1, are at surely-you're-joking prices, if you can find them at all. Admittedly, I'm looking at only the best loved PS2 games (Shadows of the Colossus, Katamari, Silent Hill 2)- but I'm also looking at the best reviewed 360 games. I'm astonished at how fast games move to be collector's items. The only other explanation is that more copies of each xbox game are printed. That could explain why RE4, which is the only PS2 game I want that is still available new, is half the cost of other games of similar quality, despite having 5x the gameplay time.