This thread is getting me thinking about the more recent gen and what will be worth more in the future.
Are any PS5/Xbox series (physical) games playable without downloading more content? I've not seen any myself but I've not had many. So even though physical games are now rarer they probably won't be collectible if they don't work.
The 360/XBO/PS2/PS3/PS4/Wii was too popular, too many games sold I reckon, but I may eat those words. Xbox original could be a good little future collectible though.
It can be a bit of a problem with more recent games and the trend (forced or otherwise) to a more digital/stream/download world. So many games now require an internet connection and a server handshake before you can play them, whether the game is an online experience or not. And, of course, there's the issue of day-one patches and security updates, etc...
That said, a lot of the collectable titles (worth significant money) are those that remain boxed and unopened. More recently, I've been thinking along the lines of titles such as Halo: Master Chief collection with the special box set and figure. Perhaps items like that will be worth more down the line, assuming they are kept in mint condition and unused. Which I think is a bit of a shame personally but I'm not into collecting from an investment point-of-view. I'm probably sitting on a fair few quids worth of hardware and software ranging from the late 1970s to the modern day, but I couldn't give two hoots! 🤣
Some rare titles in good condition can be worth a bit, too. I have a good-condition copy of Radiant Silvergun (Sega Saturn) which only sold about 50k copies back in the day. Whilst not mint, it's still probably worth about £150 in the current market. I need to pick it up actually as it is still at my sister's place with a few other bits!
I guess it wasn't their fault that the knew no better.
The C64 trounced the shitty Spectrums in every conceivable way. Preying that with each game load from tape, that the flashing colours around the screen border were the correct ones?! Was it blue and yellow for it to be working fine and then green and red when it wasn't?
It's amazing what some talented folks can make a 40+-year-old machine do these days - the C64 is still a very popular platform for many of us older folk! 🤪
The above runs on actual original C64 hardware (or an emulator) and would have been inconceivable back in the C64's heyday. It looks so simple and basic compared to what we have now but the technical achievement is staggering.
And that SID chip. The likes of Rob Hubbard et al could really make it sing.
I have a few SID chip playlists that I listen to now and again.
I'm amazed at times, just how long that certain magazines stay in print. More so in these days of digital content and people tending to prefer reading on multiple devices.
I read an article over the weekend that mentioned Acorn User magazine - and somehow that stayed in print until the very end of 2003. Even with (at the time) ground-breaking hardware such as the Archimedes - those had been released in the late 80s and quite a niche item back then. To have a publication dedicated to the Acorn line of computers still in-print well over a decade later, was surprising.
The Acorn Archimedes was something else!