Page 16 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #6

collectible. Underground. These CDs are available
In the last years of the Atari 2600's life- via subscription only, not to the general
span, the console was popular in Europe. public, and therefore may be more col-
There were many games released there lectible in the future. Again, one uncer-
that never found their way to the states. tainty is the ease of copying CDs, thus
Problem is, as the games were designed for increasing the supply and reducing the
use with PAL televisions, even if you man- price.
aged to obtain one, you would have prob-
lems using it with an NTSC television. As RELATED MERCHANDISE
the Sega Saturn died out in America, Japan When Pac-Man came along, the
was the only place you could still find new marketing machine went into full gear.
games for it. Thus, these foreign titles be- There were lunchboxes, records, card
came hard-to-find collectibles. games, board games, a Saturday morn-
The availability of mod-chips and import ing cartoon, phones, dolls, T-shirts, key
game dealers means that U.S. gamers chains, bed sheets, and more. Ditto
probably won't have a hard time locating you encase it in plastic and carefully archive with characters such as Q*Bert, Ms.
PlayStation games released only in Europe it, right?) Older readers might keep and take Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Mario. As
or Japan. Still, they may yet become col- good care of magazines, but younger readers the industry grew, companies also
lectible as conversation pieces. toss them around, cut them up, and eventu- started to publicize their games to the
Finally, don't forget the draw of game ally trash them. If it weren't for World War II press and the public at large with card-
packaging! Sony games have been re- paper drives and mothers throwing them out, board cut-outs, posters, and all sorts of
leased in several different types of packag- for example, old comic books would be a gimmicks.
ing-long cardboard boxes, long clear plastic dime a dozen. My Dad still regrets putting Some popular games aren't charac-
boxes, black plastic molded boxes, and CD those 1950's Mickey Mantle baseball cards in ter-based (Gran Turismo, and Madden
jewel boxes. Even the jewel boxes have the spokes of his bicycle. For similar reasons, for example), but there are still many
variations-some games which came in a many classic videogame magazines are in icons from the PlayStation generation of
double-sized case were later released in a demand. We were kids and didn't know videogames-Lara Croft, Crash Bandi-
single-sized case. The odds are good that enough to save them at the time! Which are coot, Solid Snake, Croc, Gex, Spyro,
someone will be looking for a particular the most collectible? First issues, last issues, and so forth. Not all of them have
variation. alternate cover issues, and fan-club publica- spawned action figures or other non-
tions not available to the general public such game merchandise, but many have. If
PERIPHERALS as Atari Age, Atarian, Activisions, or Imagic's kept sealed in the packaging, who
Peripherals are valuable in the world of Numb Thumb Club News. knows what a Meryl action figure from
classic gaming primarily because they are Many of the big magazines today-EGM, Metal Gear Solid might sell for years
no longer on the market. If you break your NextGen, GamePro- have been around for from now? Of course, you would have
Atari 5200 joystick in 1999, you can't obtain quite a few years and are well-established. to deny yourself the fun of playing with
a replacement from Best Buy can you? As long as videogames continue to be a prof- the toy yourself, so you might have to
Some peripherals are also valuable be- itable form of entertainment, these magazines buy two of everything. And, if you've
cause they never caught on with the public, will likely continue to exist in some shape or ever been to E3, you know that gim-
such as the Amiga Joyboard or the Mattel form in the future. Think about holding onto micky items are quite plentiful. I'm look-
Power Glove. Many were quite expensive premiere issues (#1), anniversary issues ing at a foam beverage cooler that says
when brand new, but as the systems (#50, #100), or last issues just as before. "In Odd We Trust," a miniature football
phased out, enterprising collectors pur- Other issues aren't likely to be as sought af- helmet with the GameDay 2000 logo on
chased lots of boxed joysticks and paddle ter, unless they contain something unusual- it, and a CTR key chain even as I write
controllers waiting for the chance to sell such as Diehard Gamefan's slur-filled Japa- this. They aren't leaving my office any
them again. nese-bashing College Football review in 1996 time soon, but someday they just might
Sony's use of a similar Dual Shock Ana- (long story-don't ask!). be the object of someone else's search.
log controller with the PlayStation 2 may Although Sony does not have a fan-club A quick search on eBay will show
change the collectible market somewhat. If print publication, it does have the PlayStation you that there is a large collector's mar-
your original PlayStation controller breaks in ket for pre-Nintendo videogame sys-
the year 2005, you may still be able to buy a tems, cartridges, magazines, and re-
replacement for it at the store. Most likely, it lated merchandise. The mere existence
will be the funky-shaped controllers and giz- of an annual Classic Gaming Expo
mos from third-parties that will be in de- (www.cgexpo.com) should leave no
mand. Peripherals such as the Sony mouse, doubt that there are people out there
the ASCII one-handed RPG controller, the interested in this stuff-myself included!
NeGCon, the specialized Biohazzard con- We are already starting to see growing
troller, and the Nyko trackball, which weren't demand for original Nintendo items, and
supported by a lot of software, might be- as the next generation ages, it is only a
come collectibles. The non-dual shock ana- matter of time before the PlayStation
log controller, released for a short period of takes its place in an antique store near
time, is a similar hard to find peripheral that you.
might command a good price.

MEDIA
What do you do when you finish an issue This article originally appeared in PSExtreme
of Classic Gamer Magazine? (We know-- Lara Croft Playing Cards magazine and is being republished by permis-
sion.
Classic Gamer Magazine Spring 2001 16