Summary

• Physical games are becoming scarce due to high prices and digital trends.
• Limited physical editions are not a guarantee for digital-only games.
• Collectors face high prices for older games due to rarity and seller tactics.

I always buy physical games over digital versions unless I have no other choice. I love having a physical game collection and displaying them alongside my figures and other nerdy merchandise. Sadly, it’s becoming more and more difficult to keep up a physical collection nowadays, whether it’s because of outrageous second-hand prices or 16🎃8澳洲幸运5开奖网:new titles not receiving a physical launch a🐻t all.

Even when it’s announced that digital-only games are getting physical editions, it’s not guaranteed they will actually become a reality. I’m still waiting on that Hi-Fi Rush physical edition from𝔍 Limited Run Games.

Fewer and fewe🌌r people are buying physical games, too. No one wants to wait for a physical copy to arrive - they want to play games digitally the second they’re available. I can’t blame them either, as I’ve experie🅺nced numerous delays waiting for a physical copy of a new game to be delivered. The pain of waiting an extra entire week for my copy of Resident Evil 4 Remake to arrive because of stock issues is not something I’d wish on anyone. So why not go digital? It’s quicker, more convenient, and in the modern landscape, sometimes cheaper.

Good Physical Copies Are Becoming A Lost Art

Besides displaying them, there are also fewer reasons to buy physical games. Very, very few have anything other than a disc or game card inside the cas💎e now. I was pleasantly surprised by Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition having actual paper inside the case, but this is very much the exception. Lots of my physical Nintendo Switch titles don’t even have artwork on the inside. Some don’t even have a simple reverse of the front cover image - the inside is just white.

A lot of manuals a😼re now either available in the games themselves or can be accessed on🍌line via a URL or QR code instead of being printed and included in the game case.

Companies clearly aren’t giving away anything for free these days. Want a physical map of the game? Gameplay tips? That’ll be £200 for a collector’s edition, please. Plus an extra £50 for🐻 the strategy guide. We used to get these things bundled in for nothing! Now, it’s just a piece of plastic to keep the game in. At least the artwork on the outside usually looks nice.

But new copies are nowhere ne🔜ar the bigꦏgest problem collectors face today.

Why Are We Paying More Than £60 For Nintendo DS Games?

It was recently my partner and I’s fifth anniversary, and she’d been wanting a physical copy of Dragon Quest 4 on Nintendo DS for a while, so I bought it for her. So, tell me why the cheapest option available was around £60, with plenty of listings going above £100? Dragon Quest 4 isn’t even 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:one of the rarest DS games.

Any DS game worth buying is pretty much👍 the same story. I’ve basically resigned myself to never owning a physical copy of my favourite Pokemon game, SoulSilver, because I’m not paying more than £100.

How did we get to this point? I remember paying £5 for a second-hand co🅺py of Pokemon Emerald at GameStation as a child. For a legitimate copy of that game now (as you also have to wade through the thousands of fake copies), you’re looking aꦇt between £130-£200.

Sellers are preying on peo♈ple’s nostalgia and desperation, with there being no other option for collectors to buy physical copies of older games.

It’s Only Going To Get Worse

As the years pass, we’ve seen each new generation of games go up higher and higher in second-hand value. 3DS games will be next o🐠n the chopping block, with some titles a༺nd systems already asking for obnoxious prices to own them at all.

As more and more people choose to buy digital, fewer physical copies will be in circulation. Those who do have physical copies to sell will, of course, bump up the price because it’ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚs a rare find. That’s not even mentioning the games that get a limited physical run, which will naturally be even more rare an🦩d valuable in the eyes of sellers. We’re stuck in a cycle and there doesn’t seem to be a way out.

As a physical game collector, all I can do is continue to buy my games physically when they come out, and look out for good secon♉d-han♊d deals, rather than giving in to the price-gouging sellers. I hope you’ll do the same.