Why is PSX so hard to collect for?

I don't get it. Best selling console of the generation, largest library of games, and still finding the stuff has proven as difficult as Saturn or Dreamcast.

Sure I come across the occasional Crash of Cool Boards games and plenty of consoles, but finding quality is impossible. The difference in finding both quality and quantity between ps2 and Psx is night and day. I've amassed a beefy ps2 collection in my 4 years of hunting but my psx remains puny, hardly any growth beyond my original stash.

Maybe the systems sold like hotcakes but I get the impression 95% of the games sold like crap.

What games are you looking for? Just about every used game store I've walked into has the essentials such as all the Final Fantasy titles, Chrono Cross, Star Ocean 2, Symphony of the Night, Metal Gear Solid, all the Resident Evils, all the 2D Fighters, all the Spyros, Tomb Raider 1 and 2, Tekken 1-3, Wipeout, etc. Some stores I go to even have imports and new games. So what exactly are you looking for that's so hard to find?

I can understand Working Designs stuff, but thats expensive and hard to find in the wild for all systems they published games for.

Don't know where you are living, but my area has lots of thrifts with lots of PSX games. Most in the $1-$3 range. I have gotten stuff like FFVII and Lunar: Silver Star Story for $1 a piece.

PSX is the stuff I find most often in the wild around these parts.

There are collectors and resellers out there, it's a small cutthroat world for likes of them. I have my own shares of troubles looking for them cheap in wild for years, I do have very good PS1 collection now.

PS1 CIB games are very hard to find since they would put them in CD holders while throwing cases out back in the day when it first came out. Some might throw games away without testing if disc is in VERY bad shape that they won't want risk getting money back or something.

I won't say it sells like crap, it just there are way too many good PS1 games ends up in many collectors and resellers' hands now. One yard sale that I went to where I got Silent Hill book guide from nice lady told me that she sold Silent Hill PS1 game very early in the morning before it open but she forgot to put book guide with it hours later (so I got it for free).

Irony, I went to this other yard sale where it looks like full of junk and too many kiddie stuff, My mom almost skipped it but I stopped her and I said give this one a shot since there wasn't very many yard sales on that day. I went in and came out with a near mint Silent Hill CIB PS1 game and other valuable near mint CIB PS1 games that I got it for dollar a piece.

I find more CIB PSX games out there than anything else, and they're usually really cheap. That's part of the reason I've been focusing on that particular console lately.

I don't find the ps1 hard to collect for, the games are usually fairly cheap and quite common to find used. if a us release of a game is out of my price range then i'll just import the jp version for a fraction of the cost since if it's a racing game, fighter, shmup, platformer the language barrier isn't usually a issue.

Oh and one more thing, I have talked to handful of people that I know have old video games in their house few years ago. Some told me they would just sell rather them on ebay in a lot instead of putting them in wild where they can run off with cheap tags on them, they like auctions better so they will know they would get high value price for it. I actually never told them that they're worth some money, I just only let them that I would be happy to take them off their hands if they want to get rid of it. Only two of them sold old video game stuff to me while other three hang on to them instead and one sold it on ebay for handful of money.

EDIT: They're not resellers and collectors, they just have them for long time.

The problem is quality. Every PS game is in terrible shit condition. Of my 500ish, probably 85-90% of them are beat to hell. Buying PS lots is a major crap shoot - more than ANY other system. In order to get anything nice you almost certainly must pony up for singles from other collectors which gets pricey even for the most mundane titles.

I have 166 PSX games. Most of the games I still want for the system are just because I'm not made of money / haven't gotten around to it yet. I think the system is very easy to collect for. It has tons of cheap games, and the more expensive games are mostly RPGs with a few other cult-following types. The rare games for the system are not really that rare in my experience (speaking of US only). The true rarities are some variants and stuff like the Lightspan releases, which only the super hardcore collectors would ever care about.

the only thing I don't enjoy about looking through ps1 games in local stores is having to sift through the large amount of crap just to get the good games.

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Originally Posted by SpaceFlea

The problem is quality. Every PS game is in terrible shit condition. Of my 500ish, probably 85-90% of them are beat to hell. Buying PS lots is a major crap shoot - more than ANY other system. In order to get anything nice you almost certainly must pony up for singles from other collectors which gets pricey even for the most mundane titles.

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This. Even other here, in good old useless Blighty, you can find cheap PS1 games; but chances are the manuals are missing/ripped, the cases cracked or gone, and the CD is scratched up to oblivion.

You really have to search around or get lucky to find something decent; both price and condition wise.

Case condition isn't that dramatic of a problem with the PS1 unless it's an early tallbox case. Since it uses Standard Jewel Cases you can easily swap the case out with a any CD case. That's what I do most of the time with Dreamcast and PS1 games. If the Case looks damaged but the manual, inserts, and discs are ok, I buy it and swap out the case. This is a luxury you unfortunately don't have with systems like the Sega CD, Saturn, etc.

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Originally Posted by SpaceFlea

The problem is quality. Every PS game is in terrible shit condition. Of my 500ish, probably 85-90% of them are beat to hell. Buying PS lots is a major crap shoot - more than ANY other system. In order to get anything nice you almost certainly must pony up for singles from other collectors which gets pricey even for the most mundane titles.

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My experience is pretty much the opposite. I've payed very little for the majority of my PSX games, and they're typically in terrific condition.

If you're hunting solely in the wild the reason would be that the PS2 was more recent and its DVD cases more substantial, making them more attractive to most people, less likely to be forgotten/overlooked/tossed in the closet with junk, &c, and a bit less susceptible to injury than the PS1's CD cases. Long and jewel boxes almost require active care not to have been broken over the course of 15 odd years. The PS1 also became retro in many peoples' eyes sooner, hence more salable.
But it partly comes down to what you're hunting for. There are plenty of good commons you may just be passing up; perhaps you're unaware of their quality, perhaps you stick strictly to greats. As for less common and higher end games, well you're not going to happen on Persona often but I've had several opportunities to purchae Brigandine in brick and mortars.
And what are these quality PS2 games you're finding so easily? I deem it by far harder to find anything worthwhile for than the Dreamcast (don't buy US Saturn games but that seems to be the runaway hardest found) and I'm equally picky towards both: there are only about twenty US DC titles I like and at a stretch sixty PS2. Skygunner, Okami, Shadow Hearts, and I suppose comparably the .Hacks which I don't care for will be found in the wild but something like Steambot Chronicles would be right out.

actually I just saw a complete copy of persona for ps1 a few days ago, but for $65 the store can keep it.

Am I the only one who's noticed this; some shops are now matching their games at Ebay BIN prices?

It's kinda hilarious walking past a charity shop window and seeing a Spyro being sold for £35.

Yeah I've started noticing this too. Ebay BIN prices are the cancer that is killing retrogaming.

the stores charging ebay prices is nothing new, one of the local stores I got to automatically thinks that if it's a fighting game or a rpg for ps1 that it's instantly worth $40 to $70. what some of the stores don't realize is there's a difference between what someone will pay on ebay and in a actual store.

so it's not surprising that this store that has 6 copies of lunar, several copies of most square rpg's, can't sell any of them because no one is really willing to spend ebay prices in person.

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Originally Posted by SpaceFlea

The problem is quality. Every PS game is in terrible shit condition. Of my 500ish, probably 85-90% of them are beat to hell. Buying PS lots is a major crap shoot - more than ANY other system. In order to get anything nice you almost certainly must pony up for singles from other collectors which gets pricey even for the most mundane titles.

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Originally Posted by The Jackal

This. Even other here, in good old useless Blighty, you can find cheap PS1 games; but chances are the manuals are missing/ripped, the cases cracked or gone, and the CD is scratched up to oblivion.

You really have to search around or get lucky to find something decent; both price and condition wise.

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Condition is not really a concern when finding PSX games in the wild. As long as they have the manual in good shape, along with the reverse artwork and game disc, mint condition is easily attainable. K-Mart still sells the thicker CD jewel cases in 10 packs. That solves the issue of cracked/broken/scratched up cases. Scratched PSX game discs can easily be taken to any rental place that has a PC tower type of resurfacing machine. That makes the disc look brand new. Many of my minty PSX games were in horrible shape when I found them.

We don't have the likes of a Play and Trade or any Indie game shop around here anymore. So its all yard sales and thrift, and there's a bit of a dry spell this year for any games. But psx particularly has been scarce here since I started.

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Originally Posted by tz101

Condition is not really a concern when finding PSX games in the wild. As long as they have the manual in good shape, along with the reverse artwork and game disc, mint condition is easily attainable. K-Mart still sells the thicker CD jewel cases in 10 packs. That solves the issue of cracked/broken/scratched up cases. Scratched PSX game discs can easily be taken to any rental place that has a PC tower type of resurfacing machine. That makes the disc look brand new. Many of my minty PSX games were in horrible shape when I found them.

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Actually its become harder to find jewel cases with clear spines. Most have black spines.

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Originally Posted by SpaceFlea

The problem is quality. Every PS game is in terrible shit condition. Of my 500ish, probably 85-90% of them are beat to hell.

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So fucking true, every time I buy a PSX game from eBay its a gamble, will it be scratched to hell or decent?

It's been hit or miss in my experience, some stores in this area are amazing (estarland) while others like a PlayNTrade (the few that existed) mayhave a lot of amazing games, or a lot of crap games, or hell maybe just a few games that are almost all garbage.

PS1 games seem to be the most common thing I come across at my local thrift. I normally get them for about $2.50 each, sometimes up to $5 depending on the game. Anything that isn't essentially a sports game gets a cursory glance, anything the piques my interested even slightly normally gets a purchase. I normally don't fret a scratched disc as long as the label is okay, and loose discs are never a purchase unless I know it's rare or still worth the couple of bucks.

Sometimes I make out like a bandit (mint original FF7 and Thousand Arms for $4 each), sometimes it's a wash (Mary Kate and Ashley Shopping blargle..). It's still fun to get them all home and play them for a bit though :D

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Originally Posted by WarmSignal

Actually its become harder to find jewel cases with clear spines. Most have black spines.

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Did you see my statement about K-mart? They are the completely clear jewel cases. 10 pack for $3.99.

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Originally Posted by StarMist

If you're hunting solely in the wild the reason would be that the PS2 was more recent and its DVD cases more substantial, making them more attractive to most people, less likely to be forgotten/overlooked/tossed in the closet with junk, &c, and a bit less susceptible to injury than the PS1's CD cases. Long and jewel boxes almost require active care not to have been broken over the course of 15 odd years. The PS1 also became retro in many peoples' eyes sooner, hence more salable.
But it partly comes down to what you're hunting for. There are plenty of good commons you may just be passing up; perhaps you're unaware of their quality, perhaps you stick strictly to greats. As for less common and higher end games, well you're not going to happen on Persona often but I've had several opportunities to purchae Brigandine in brick and mortars.
And what are these quality PS2 games you're finding so easily? I deem it by far harder to find anything worthwhile for than the Dreamcast (don't buy US Saturn games but that seems to be the runaway hardest found) and I'm equally picky towards both: there are only about twenty US DC titles I like and at a stretch sixty PS2. Skygunner, Okami, Shadow Hearts, and I suppose comparably the .Hacks which I don't care for will be found in the wild but something like Steambot Chronicles would be right out.

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I've found all of those ps2 games in the wild plus shadow of the colossus, ico, persona 3, most .Hacks, all FFs, every odd RPG you could think of in the wild for Ps2. But for PlayStation I can't even find the staples. None of the resident evils, FFs, etc... not even any odd titles to take a shot at. Dumbest thing I ever did was pass a long box Kings Field up because it had no manual. And about flipped when I finally found Silent Hill in a baggy one day.

I suspect it's more a regional thing than age. N64 has always made itself abundant here, I nearly completed that collection in a little under 2 years in the wild.

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Originally Posted by WarmSignal

I've found all of those ps2 games in the wild plus shadow of the colossus, ico, persona 3, most .Hacks, all FFs, every odd RPG you could think of in the wild for Ps2. But for PlayStation I can't even find the staples. None of the resident evils, FFs, etc... not even any odd titles to take a shot at. Dumbest thing I ever did was pass a long box Kings Field up because it had no manual. And about flipped when I finally found Silent Hill in a baggy one day.

I suspect it's more a regional thing than age. N64 has always made itself abundant here, I nearly completed that collection in a little under 2 years in the wild.

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Where exactly do you live?

I have too many options for buying PS1 games with places like Half-Price Books, Movie Trading Company and Entertainmart having a very good selection, including the hard to find titles. I just saw Parasite Eve selling for $19 at Entertainmart on Monday. I may pick it up on Friday, if it's still there.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

Where exactly do you live?

I have too many options for buying PS1 games with places like Half-Price Books, Movie Trading Company and Entertainmart having a very good selection, including the hard to find titles. I just saw Parasite Eve selling for $19 at Entertainmart on Monday. I may pick it up on Friday, if it's still there.

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you must have a great half price books, the two here barely carry any gaming related stuff anymore and i usually end up going to another store to look.

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Originally Posted by Hidden_Darkness

you must have a great half price books, the two here barely carry any gaming related stuff anymore and i usually end up going to another store to look.

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I picked up a complete Virtua Fighter for the 32X, just a couple of weeks ago.

I might have a better selection, because of where I live. I think HPB is based in Dallas.

But yeah I have noticed some places are really hit and miss for PS1 games, so I can agree but at the same time I've had decent luck so I don't know. Might be the area indeed.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

I picked up a complete Virtua Fighter for the 32X, just a couple of weeks ago.

I might have a better selection, because of where I live. I think HPB is based in Dallas.

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the funny thing about that is, there are several stores near both the half price books over here that have tons of ps1 games. the last thing I found at half price books were a couple 32x and sega genesis games back in 2006 but since then they rarely get new gaming stuff, I guess it's because of all of the other pawn shops, thrift stores and gaming stores near them.

If I find retro games at all, most of the time it's ps1 - and then it's mostly sports games. Though numbers of ps2 sports games in charity shops do seem to be on the rise, too :yuck:

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Originally Posted by WarmSignal

But for PlayStation I can't even find the staples.

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What island do you live on?

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Originally Posted by Hidden_Darkness

the funny thing about that is, there are several stores near both the half price books over here that have tons of ps1 games. the last thing I found at half price books were a couple 32x and sega genesis games back in 2006 but since then they rarely get new gaming stuff, I guess it's because of all of the other pawn shops, thrift stores and gaming stores near them.

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I think it has to with the size of your metroplex and the region. I've been to Madison about 15 years ago, it's pretty much like a large town.

I reap the benefits of HPB having their donation center right off of Northwest Highway in Dallas. That store is huge, with floorspace much larger than your average Best Buy. They always have a decent selection of console games and accessories.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

I think it has to with the size of your metroplex and the region. I've been to Madison about 15 years ago, it's pretty much like a large town.

I reap the benefits of HPB having their donation center right off of Northwest Highway in Dallas. That store is huge, with floorspace much larger than your average Best Buy. They always have a decent selection of console games and accessories.

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yeah, madison isn't that big when compared to other cities in other states. if there was a hpb that size over here, i'd probably be in there every day. I still enjoy going to the hpb over here, but for finding retro games I have better luck at other stores.

I dunno, I think I made out pretty not-too-bad today.

--All Complete--

Crash Bandicoot (Black Label) - $.80
Atari Anniversary Edition Redux - $.80
Wipeout 3 - $.80
Air Combat (long box) - $1.80
Ridge Racer (long box) - $1.80
Twisting Metal (plastic long box) - $1.80

nice deal on those games, I can't find the black label crash bandicoot for less then $17 over here. I did find the jp version for $3 so I might grab it instead.

Around here, most places don't stock PSX games simply because it's not worth their hassle since 90% of the games are worthless. Many places do have the occasional Lunar or Square RPG and want too much for them, naturally. There is one good shop that has a ton of PSX games in good conditions. They know the worth, so no real deals are to be had, but they do at least price them fairly and not by Ebay BIN prices.

The only challenging this about collecting for the PSX is that the library is so deep.
Just when I think I own any game that might interest me, a few more seep out of the depths of internet forums or overseas eBay sellers.

Most recently, from NeoZeedeater's "suggest one game" thread, I became aware of Tiny Tank. I don't think I'd ever heard of it before. I've always loved tank games and have searched them out across all systems. Combat, Countermeasure, Granada, Assault... so how did I miss Tiny Tank?!?
'Cause Playstation's library is just so huge, that's how.

I can find millions of PS1 games. I have no idea which are good or not. I enjoyed Driver, Odd World Series, ONE, Syphon Filter, Grand Tourismo, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 1-2. Other games I have no idea.