Gaming
Games
10 more games that could make you rich
Found at a car boot sale or in your parents’ loft, these games could be your golden tickets!
Rez in action
© United Game Artists
It’s scary to think that deep in a cardboard box in the loft, or round your parent’s house (with all the other “junk” you left there when you moved out) there could be a small fortune worth of games just sitting there. Or maybe you like to attend a car boot sale or flea market at the weekend, scouring the bargain bins for that game case that shines like a diamond in among the zippo lighters and “treasure” found from bottle dumps, and have a pile of games from your adventures.
You see, some games are worth silly money. With more and more people moving towards buying digital games, these blasts from the pasts are rarer than ever in pristine condition, and make us think back to a time when games had proper (sometimes colour) manuals that we could sit and digest before booting them up. The glory days, perhaps, but also potentially the key to your future, as some of these are worth more than you’d expect. Let’s take a look.
Cave Story 3D (3DS)
Value: Around $45-80/€40-70, up to $250/€220
Despite being an excellent game, Cave Story 3D just didn’t have many copies produced for the 3DS market, and that’s why a 2011 3DS third-party game still holds such great value, even while the original remains on sale on the eShop. Sealed copies with the hologram slip cover can be found for $250, but generally speaking, a properly boxed copy can still be sold for more than you paid for it. What a strange world we live in.
Christmas Nights into Dreams (Saturn)
Value: $80/€70 and up
It may not seem as though $80 is a huge amount, but Christmas Nights into Dreams was a free product in Europe. As a cover mounted demo disc on Sega Saturn Magazine’s December 1997 edition (it was given away with some Saturn games in the USA, and bundled with consoles in Japan), there should be lots of these around, but in pristine condition it’s harder to find. Why, you ask? Well, it was a freebie. Can you honestly think of many free discs on magazines you kept locked away in a special box marked “future investments”, in the nineties? No, nor can we. It’s worth noting that this item sells for higher in American markets, though.
Rez Special Edition (PS2)
Value: Up to $167/€150
With the latest version of cult classic rails-shooter Rez coming to PS4 and PSVR, it’s strange to think there was an equally immersive version of the game released on PS2 that is very difficult to find these days. Including a, er, “trance vibrator”, the idea was that you put it in your pocket and it pulses in time with the music, trying to make you feel at one with the hypnotic visuals and sounds you were engrossed in. Sealed copies of the standalone Dreamcast version of Rez are still going for $200 on eBay, too.
Earthbound (SNES)
Value: Starting at $180/€160, up to $900/€800
Although Earthbound has finally come to Nintendo’s Virtual Console on Wii U, the original version of the game is still much sought after and collectible. Indeed, our starting value of $180 is based on an unboxed, cartridge-only copy of the game. Boxed, though, we’re talking $750 and above. SNES boxes being made of cardboard, and the slow ebbing of time means that mint condition copies are harder than ever to find, and with the game never having been released in Europe, it’s even more difficult to get a copy now.
BioShock Infinite Songbird Edition (Xbox 360/PS3)
Value: $200/€180
Many arguments were had after the dust had settled on the BioShock series. Some loved it despite the flaws, while others were quick to point out problems within the narrative. What can’t be argued, though, is that the Infinite had a glorious art style and the Songbird became something we’d never forget. Well looked after versions of this edition (it came with a Songbird statue) go for well past the $200 mark, but eBay has listings for the game as high as $400. Given how popular and hyped this game was, there’s a high chance you’ve got this statue gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, so quickly, see if you can find the box.
Suikoden (PS1)
Value: $140/€125
Released in 1996 (1995 in Japan), Konami’s RPG series about political struggles may well have been ahead of its time. It was also critically well received, despite (for the time) being generally considered to be lacking graphical prowess. Regardless of all of that, both Suikoden and its sequel will easily go for over $100, just so long as they are boxed copies. Market wise, Suikoden sells for more in European zones.
Stack-Up / R.O.B. (NES)
Value: $400-3,000/€357-2,680
Checking auction sites, Stack-Up is a game that has a huge variance in value. Complete versions of the 1985 game go for easily $500, but factory sealed copies are pushing the $3,000 mark. While it’s almost too rare to even begin hunting for, the fact it came in a large box with lots of extras means if you’ve got it hidden away, you’ll spot it pretty quickly. But it’s more about the actual peripheral R.O.B. which came with loads of plastic bits and pieces that you needed to play Stack-Up, which were so easily lost, or even thrown away.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Limited Edition (PS2)
Value: $200/€175
Limited editions are something that’s a very modern phenomenon (think of those statues you get with new games), but that’s not to say they weren’t released as far back as the PS2 era. Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence limited edition is surprisingly high in value, actually pushing nearer the $240 mark. That said, it’s a buyer’s market at times, so be careful if you’re selling this one, it can be grabbed for as little as $100, too.
The Beatles: Rock Band (PS3/360)
Value: $500/€445
While it’s unlikely you have an enormous sealed box of The Beatles: Rock Band in your loft of garage, if you do: don’t open it, it’s worth a fortune! Even if you do own a copy of the game and it’s slightly used, if it’s in good condition it’ll still push $250, which is an amazing price given how many plastic instruments flooded the market in the heyday of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero series.
P.T. (PS4)
Value: $600/€530
P.T. is another Konami title, but a very interesting one. Released during E3 2015 as a demo (Playable Teaser) for Silent Hills, the fallout between Kojima and Konami meant the game not only got cancelled, but the demo got pulled from the PlayStation Store itself. Of course people started selling their PS4 consoles with the demo still installed. The value of the game is tied to the fact people are selling the entire console with it, but prices into the thousands are frequent on eBay, which is absolutely mad. What we’re saying, then, is that if you downloaded PT: do not delete it, it seems like it’s only going to go up in price.
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