The pre-owned and pre-order king, GameStop, has once again decided to delve into the world of videogames made before the year 2000, debuting their retro section with a small selection of games bearing huge pricetags. Former Funcoland clerk Dave price-checks the retailer’s current prices against what he paid a decade ago.
Hi all! Dave here. While I can’t possibly match up to Brett’s plethora of Toys R Us talk, I too have toiled in the world of retail for many years. I was a sales associate at GameStop for a half-decade, starting right before Black Friday in 2000 (back when it was called Funcoland) and departing right around the time the Xbox 360 launched in November of 2005. Throughout that time, I amassed a decent collection of retro games thanks to a then-sizable employee discount and moderately priced titles. Because the adhesive used for pricing stickers back then has the strength to plug holes in the Hoover Dam (I’ll put a better comparison here later), I’ve kept the stickers attached on the majority of my old games. When GameStop’s select list of newly available retro games became available, I compared and contrasted with my collection’s at the time of purchase. For most of these games (presented in alphabetical order), you’ll find that the old-school prices were a bit easier to stomach.
GAME: Alien Trilogy (PlayStation)
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2005: $4.99
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2015: $12.99
GAME: APE ESCAPE (PlayStation)
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2003: $12.99
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2015: $14.99
GAME: Bangai-O (Dreamcast)
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2003: $12.99
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2015: $29.99
GAME: Contra (NES)
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2003: $17.99
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2015: $29.99
GAME: Crazy Taxi (Dreamcast)
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2000: $17.99
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2015: $9.99
NOTE: Prepare for a few higher price tags that are in the old-school non-computer-printed style. The higher prices are due to the purchase taking place in the late 2000-early 2001 timeframe, relatively close to the actual release date.
GAME: Donkey Kong 64 (Nintendo 64)
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2004: $7.99
PURCHASE PRICE IN 2015: $19.99
NOTE: Do you think GameStop store associates are going to tell customers that this game needs an Expansion Pak?
Seing that Resident Evil longbox reminded me of all the playststion games I traded in for next to nothing at my local EB for Soldier of Fortune 2 pc. Just noticed yesterday that my local Walmart is now selling used games. And their prices are very competitive with GameStops, so I am excited to see if they can cause a rift in the used game monopoly. Either way we the consumers win, unless……Walmart goes the way of Blockbuster’s Game Rush; then Gamestop only gets stronger via the Highlander “There can only be one” rule!
shocked at that zombies ate my neighbors price. i remember my grandma (yeah nuts) had that game and me and my cousin tried to play it as like 7-8 year olds. Tough game then.
Overall, not many of those are super crazy. I mean it’s been like ten years so possibly supply available to sell may have decreased hence a price increase in some titles. I wish somebody would get off their ass and re-release DK64 somewhere whether it is on xbox or wii u.
Another fun thing to do is go to amazon and do searches for new copies of old games. I can’t remember which one but I saw some that were hundreds of dollars. Nuts.
DK64 is actually on the WiiU Virtual Console as of a few months ago. Price isn’t that great (just like the other virtual console games), but it’s the only place I know where you can play the game that’s not on an actual 64.
As always… Don’t step foot into a Gamestop.
I mean the acquisition of these games must have cost something, it’s the difference between retailing and liquidation.
I’m so Jealous you have a copy of Tengen Tetris, I’ve always wanted a copy of that.
I’m not really into the retro collection scene, but from what little I’ve experienced personally in that horrible, awful “business”, none of these prices seem that bad.
I’m 100% I’ll go to my grave not understanding why people hate Gamestop (Or EB Games as it is here in Canada) so much. Their prices are completely fine. I have yet to see Amazon sell games over two years old at close to in-store prices, I’ve never once, in the past decade of my regular visits, been propositioned with pre-orders, subscriptions or the like, although that could that could just be down to provincial or national law preventing this. Their satisfaction return system is gracious. they don’t fuck you over nearly as much as any other store and the buildings are always clean. I dare you to find me a better game retailer, and if you do I will eat every hat I own.
Hey Dave the trick to getting rid of the yucky sticker goo, when you try to take the old used sticker off, is a product called “Goo-Gone”. I used it my self when I used to buy lots of used games at Gamestop. If they weren’t that interesting I would take the stickers off and resell them back to Gamestop. Usually if you tried to sell an already used game back to them they would give you less than if you were selling a game that was just from your collection.
The *mic drop* for Zombies Ate My Neighbors was great. I normally save my receipts for most of the 360 & One games.
My best comparision is for Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Gold Edition. Which includes the DLC characters on disc. Since Marvel pulled the DLC from the marketplace in December 2009, this Gold Edition is the only way to get all achievements. I bought the game for $25 back in 2007, now it sells for $60 on eBay.
Ten bucks for the first Sonic? Shoot me!