It can be both, actually

That’s why they’re called collectors...

The game is essentially worthless the second you open it.

Financial speculation combined with a hobby they’re passionate about.

Then solder in new capacitors. Do you think people who collect old cars for instance never work to maintain them?

Rich people are different.

It’s the same as collectors of other things. I’m sure they do have a collection they play, but they like to keep the mint items they have mint. The same thing happens with people who collect cars, guitars, books, etc etc. 

But emulation is forever.

Yeah. Even assuming that this latest rise in retro game prices is just a speculator’s bubble, the bubble still seems to be years away from bursting. 

Honestly I have tons of consoles and open cartridges that I have no problem using, however I still use the flash carts with roms loaded on it instead of the original cart. 

To be fair, most game collectors were not collecting things to play them all. They were collecting for alot of the same reasons, it's just moved beyond the smaller players.

This is disgusting.

Rich people ruin everything.

Slabbing video games is just crazy, considering non-disc based items have a lot of electronic components that are definitely going to fail over time. Take for example the Turbo Duo System or Sega Genesis. Either unit needs at least 50 electrolytic capacitors to run, and when they fail, they leak and corrode the…

She is the best.

I would love to see some BRRRRRT strapped to this piece of ...concept.

No 30mm BRRRRRRRT, no deal.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Feel this image macro (showing my age by saying that) is mandatory here.

The Grave of Fireflies is the real voight-kampff test.

The Grave of Fireflies is the real voight-kampff test.