Question - what would be the most expensive system

djsim101 · 01-07-2014 08:25PM #1

Well lads, I was thinking about this for a while and it is starting to bug me. I was wondering, if u you started collecting today for a particular "complete" retro system (console or computer) and u had to collect every game (all regions) , accessories, hardware bundles etc which would be a) most expensive b) cheapest.

This is a tough one, for the most expensive, I would have the NES, purely as the volume of games and the very expensive gold carts would bump up the overall price, as for the cheapest, maybe the 3DO / N-gage??

Would be interested to hear from the experts here...

CiDeRmAn · 01-07-2014 08:36PM

Things get expensive with the Snes and MD if you are going got a complete collection.
But then the most expensive cart is on the NES.

As a person who just buys the games he likes and the ones he remembers liking, I have found everything quite affordable, across the board.
The individual titles that cost a fortune I pick up maybe one or two of those a year.
There's such a wealth of games on all formats there's no real need to go throwing down masses of cash tbh.
In fact, sometimes a games value is due to it's rarity rather than if its any good or not.
No Super Mario World is as common as muck, but is also one of the best platformers ever made.
Super Metroid is more expensive but is still the price of a current gen title, and well worth the money.

You can go cheaper again and pick Jap or US over EU games, there's so much choice there.

Retr0gamer · 01-07-2014 08:39PM

No real answer to this. Really getting a complete collection is pointless to me since you end up with so much ****e.

If you wanted to get the best for a system then the most expensive would be the Saturn I'd say or the PC engine. Lots of the best games on both systems are extremely rare and sought after.

I'd also say the neo geo AES but I feel with a super gun MVS things are cheap enough.

I found the neo geo pocket easy enough to collect for with the rarest games not too hard to find and more more expensive ones not really worth buying.

STG.Otaku · 01-07-2014 08:44PM

The AES isn't 100% expensive. A lot of stuff can be picked up fairly reasonably. A handful of titles though could buy you a decent used car for the combined value.

I'd plump for the X68000, PC-9801 and FM Towns/Marty as the platforms with consistently high prices. Not as frightening as the AES for some titles, but certainly nothing on any of those platforms could really be deemed as cheap I would imagine.

The MSX stuff is starting to go that way too alas.

the groutch · 01-07-2014 08:46PM

I'd have to agree on the Saturn, there's none for stupid money bar Panzer Dragoon Saga & Deep Fear that I know of, but lots in the €50-€100 bracket which add up quick enough.

Flaregon · 01-07-2014 09:28PM

ill say a few years down the line the ps2 may become the most expensive, there ton of obscure game on it.

The Last Bandit · 01-07-2014 09:36PM

Given that the PS2 has nearly 4000 titles released, shear volume alone makes it expensive to collect them all !!

Retr0gamer · 01-07-2014 09:41PM

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Given that the PS2 has nearly 4000 titles released, shear volume alone makes it expensive to collect them all !!

Considering there's very few games that will set you back more than 50 and there fact it has more shovelware than any other system finding them all would be tougher than the strain on the wallet. If there were going to be any obscure rarities on the ps2 they would be known by now but it's just too populist.

Flaregon · 01-07-2014 09:55PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Considering there's very few games that will set you back more than 50 and there fact it has more shovelware than any other system finding them all would be tougher than the strain on the wallet. If there were going to be any obscure rarities on the ps2 they would be known by now but it's just too populist.

Zombie virus, Demolition Girl, Spectral vs Generation, michigan report from hell, any 505 game in general lol, fits the bill as obscure.

CiDeRmAn · 01-07-2014 11:31PM

Ibara cost me a few bob for the PS2, and even then I got a good deal.

J_E · 02-07-2014 03:10AM

I'd say the likes of a Commodore Amiga would be quite expensive to build up a collection for - particularly if you want the games boxed.

Retr0gamer · 02-07-2014 07:47AM

Flaregon wrote: »

Zombie virus, Demolition Girl, Spectral vs Generation, michigan report from hell, any 505 game in general lol, fits the bill as obscure.

And you can pretty much pick up all of them for 40 euros especially if you look on the continent for 505 games. I've seen Demolition girl for 1 or 2 euro in a few CEX. The only really expensive ones are a few shooters like Ibara.

CiDeRmAn · 02-07-2014 08:04AM

The Cave conversions on the PS2, particularly if they got no or limited release outside Japan, cost an arm and a leg.
Raiden 3 is relatively cheap in Japan or the US but the Pal edition is expensive.
Rule of Rose is expensive in its Pal iteration too.

pdbhp · 02-07-2014 08:15AM

Can't believe no one posted this yet.

The most expensive systems.......

Are the ones bought in The Rage..... :pac::pac:

o1s1n · 02-07-2014 12:20PM

It has to be the PAL Snes. They'll only get more expensive over time given how badly the boxes age.

Even getting a common fully boxed game these days is starting to get costly.

Flaregon · 02-07-2014 05:32PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

And you can pretty much pick up all of them for 40 euros especially if you look on the continent for 505 games. I've seen Demolition girl for 1 or 2 euro in a few CEX. The only really expensive ones are a few shooters like Ibara.

must get Ibara also Rule of rose and report from hell are about 40-50 euro game each, considering prices are based on rarity and nostalgia it to soon to say a lot of ps2 games wont go up + if u conservatively average each game on the console at 3 euro, you have over 10,000 euro, would say the it's nearer 6 thought, and that just now, Imagine 10 years from now.......

CiDeRmAn · 02-07-2014 06:53PM

Go again for Ibara, I got a serious bargain of about 90 including shipping, generally you won't get it, complete, for less than 120 or so.

Flaregon · 02-07-2014 07:06PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Go again for Ibara, I got a serious bargain of about 90 including shipping, generally you won't get it, complete, for less than 120 or so.

It's on the list so many other games a head of it on the list lol.
but Ive best find it soon before it goes up.

Retr0gamer · 02-07-2014 07:06PM

Sure why get the PS2 version when you can own a PCB :P

Flaregon · 02-07-2014 07:15PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Sure why get the PS2 version when you can own a PCB :P

I Started to own games during the ps2 era, to young to even know what a PCB is lol, enlighten me gentlemen.

Retr0gamer · 02-07-2014 09:02PM

Flaregon wrote: »

I Started to own games during the ps2 era, to young to even know what a PCB is lol, enlighten me gentlemen.

Buying PCBs is the first step to bankruptcy.

Flaregon · 02-07-2014 09:49PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Buying PCBs is the first step to bankruptcy.

then ill stick with the good old ps1 and 2 then so.

o1s1n · 02-07-2014 10:44PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Sure why get the PS2 version when you can own a PCB :P

You could actually get an Ibara PCB for about the price of two PS2 copies.

Flaregon · 03-07-2014 04:20PM

o1s1n wrote: »

You could actually get an Ibara PCB for about the price of two PS2 copies.

Deatils, don't even know was s PCB is

CiDeRmAn · 03-07-2014 04:36PM

Flaregon wrote: »

Deatils, don't even know was s PCB is

Printed
Circuit
Board

It's what electronics are made on, permitting the easy placing of conducting metal tracks on the non conducting board, and then the soldering of components to it in the appropriate places.
All electronic devices have them and, in an arcade machine, they are typically interchangeable, based on a standard called Jamma.
This allows operators to easily change the games in machines.
There are various alternative systems beyond this, like MVS from SNK or CPS1/2 from Capcom, also GNet from Taito/Sony, System 11/22 and so on.

Flaregon · 03-07-2014 07:58PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Printed
Circuit
Board

It's what electronics are made on, permitting the easy placing of conducting metal tracks on the non conducting board, and then the soldering of components to it in the appropriate places.
All electronic devices have them and, in an arcade machine, they are typically interchangeable, based on a standard called Jamma.
This allows operators to easily change the games in machines.
There are various alternative systems beyond this, like MVS from SNK or CPS1/2 from Capcom, also GNet from Taito/Sony, System 11/22 and so on.

So it kinda like a motherboard, fused with a graphic card *cause u slot it into the arcade cabinet* , think ill stick to the ps2 for now, no room for an arcade cab......

Myrddin · 03-07-2014 08:06PM

Flaregon wrote: »

So it kinda like a motherboard, fused with a graphic card *cause u slot it into the arcade cabinet* , think ill stick to the ps2 for now, no room for an arcade cab......

In this context, yes, they are the actual games used inside arcade cabinets. They're collectible, & most of them use a connector called Jamma, meaning if the arcade cabinet has Jamma wiring, you can interchange pcb's like you would carts/discs (but with added effort)

CiDeRmAn · 03-07-2014 09:22PM

Flaregon wrote: »

So it kinda like a motherboard, fused with a graphic card *cause u slot it into the arcade cabinet* , think ill stick to the ps2 for now, no room for an arcade cab......

A motherboard is a printed circuit board, all motherboards are, however not all printed circuit boards are motherboards!
I guess it kinda refers to the time when you might pry open a radio and find a bread board style light perforated board material, into which physical wires and components were pushed, creating the desired electronic circuit.
At this time the idea of a printed circuit board was pretty advanced, instead of having to go around and hand-wire the wiring about the board you simply let a form of printer print the conducting tracks around a non conductive board, then used another device to simply connect up the components in the desired arrangement, all automatic, much cheaper.
Of course, you will still see the use of the former method in hobbiest applications, and you might also see some people using home kits to generate their own printed circuit boards too, using sheets of blank pcb material, conductive material that can be printed and onto the pcb base before being etched away, before the components are manually attached with a soldering iron and a steady hand.

Myrddin · 03-07-2014 09:29PM

A picture says a thousand words

Here's Street Fighter 2 (the definitive version, which is the arcade version)

Some have fancy covers over them, here's Super SF2

The latter are big boards, here's an idea of scale

Retr0gamer · 03-07-2014 10:16PM

Flaregon wrote: »

So it kinda like a motherboard, fused with a graphic card *cause u slot it into the arcade cabinet* , think ill stick to the ps2 for now, no room for an arcade cab......

Not like that at all. The PCB is basically the games ROM chips and the system that runs it all on a Printed Circuit Board. You plug it into a Jamma connector on your arcade machine. Jamma was a big inovation, basically it was to ensure that if you wanted to change games all you had to do was change the PCB, Jamma ensured that it interfaced with the monitor, speakers and controls. Except it likes to mess up a lot.

Question - what would be the most expensive system

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