I wonder why also. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="confused.gif" /> It's not like we know each other and I am asking you how much money you make or something.
Rusty

Lasanidine,

I think playing through Kofun qualifies as a "near death experience"

Laura

Well, Rusty--I think this is a very interesting thread, as I'm an avid eBay seller/buyer.

So--judging from the price they're presently going for...I'd say VAMPIRE DIARIES or my KINGS QUEST series are the most "valuable" games I own. And I probably won't own them much longer, as neither one of them is a particular favorite of mine and I've been offered a price I can't refuse. The games that are valuable to ME are part of my personal collection that I would never part with, as I dearly love replaying them or just looking at their lovely boxes on my many shelves.

Some of my more obscure games (MARILYN MONROE FILES and HAMLET may be valuable, not because they are particularly great games, but they are practically impossible to find.
Cynch

I guess my most valuable game I guess as far dollar worth would be Flight of the Amazon Queen,but there are several that I treasure very much,one of which GK2 I lost a couple years ago and not been able to replace.I do still have the orginal box it came in tho

I have an unopened Blue Heat. And quite a few others, but that is probably one of the most valuable games I own.
The $500 bid for King's Quest was fake.

I am impressed. I have two I keep running (desktop and laptop) and one old laptop I could fire up if I needed to (wait, I have another old laptop I forgot about, make that two). 6 computers sounds about right!

An interesting thread. Lots of angles. I'm not a collector, I prefer to buy rather than trade (feel I'm funding more games that way.) I'll trade to get stuff off my shelves and to get games which aren't sold any more.

I'll go along with BacardiJim on games are meant to be played. There are games I'd like to play but never will because there aren't that many copies around and the game has become collectable. Not sure I'm missing out on marvellous playing experiences but I'm interested from trying to know how Adventure games have evolved over the years.

Valuable to the world? No I don't have any games which fetch zillions on eBay. Valuable to me? My favourite games like "Legacy of Time" and "Riven" and "Atlantis 2" which I will replay.

Regards, Peter.

BillyBob and everyone,

Posted in new thread instead - see 'old games'.

Gelert.

I'm with Gelert here.
I think games will be recognized soon as piece of art and I can envision museums and public displays in maybe 10-15 years.
Keep in mind that my generation (27 now) was the first that dedicated a lot of time into playing games on home-computers.
This generation is slowly but surely the one that will rule things in a few years (natural cause of life) and we will remember like everyone before us the good things in our youth.
And BAAM! we will want to re-play those old games or look at the boxes etc.

Here is a reply to a question why to collect Lucasarts games (in a Lucasarts forum) I gave earlier this year (Note: The FM-Towns versions of some Lucasarts Games were games produced for a Japanese system (FM-Towns) by a japanese company.
Those versions are EXTREMLY rare and score well over $200 US normally <- The last one on Ebay was not sold for $187.00 US because the reserve was higher).

<start quote>
Let me explain why I collect Lucasarts/Sierra adventure games.
In 1999 I realized that both companies are not gonna honor their glorious past anymore like I hoped before. I imagined HUGE collector collections with all their games ever produced + a lot of extras on DVD-ROMs.
Just think how beautiful that would have been...
Anyways.
I decided to try to buy every adventure game ever produced by those companies to preserve it for the generations after us.
I did and I still do believe that one day we will have museums devoted to computer games. See the kids that played the games back then are the 20-30 years old these days (the one with the money and mostly zero liabilities).
So I collected them and now I have most of my mission done.
I don't feel nearer to the companies or better than anybody else that only played the games from warez version downloaded from the internet.
I'm just happy that the beauty of the old incarnations of those once kickass companies are somehow preserved when one is looking at those detailed old boxes, read the marvelous and witty hintbooks and look through the Adventurer or InterAction magazines (examples about how advertizing is done in a cool way).

I'm not interested in everything LEC related however so I can't value how much the FM-Towns versions of those games would be worth to me.
I stick to PC versions only.
However I did pay over $100 US for the King's Quest VI painting signed by Roberta Williams so I better not judge.

Hope you understand at least my view and motivitation to spend loads of money on those things.

<end quote>

I think other collectors might think the same when it comes to rare out of print games from companies that went under years ago.
Maybe they want to preserve the work of these outstanding companies.
Others of course might have different ideas about the purpose (e.g. getting a lot of money when selling etc.)

Oops ! Sorry Wizball.

Ummmm....Wizball? At 27 you were the first generation to dedicate a lot of time into playing computer games? I was a young adult (19) and playing Zork when it was released in 1980. You were 4. In 1984 I was playing King's Quest, and I had played every computer game I could get my hands on in the meantime. You were then the ripe age 8. I don't think I need to go on, do I?

Not that this has anything to do with your actual point.

It's been said before, but my most valuable game is the one that is the most difficult to replace.
First and formemost, I love playing games. If it was just a matter of hearing about a wonderful game (new or old) and going to the store to buy it, I would not be classified as a collector. Of course, it doesn't work that way. I read the posts about an interesting game, then the hunt is on to find it. Whether or not I will love the game is a different matter. I won't know until I play it. If I don't enjoy the game, I get rid of it (irregardless of how difficult it was to find).
If the game was good enough for me to want to play it again, then it is a keeper.
Of course, the collector in me now wants to have all my keepers in as good a condition as possible, so I'm always trying to upgrade my favorite oldies by trying to find them in the original boxes .

It's from necessity, since I actually play the old games I collect. The slightest difference in hardware configuration, bios setups, memory allocation, etc. will result in a game choking on say a Pentium 200MHZ and run like a dream on the Pentium 133MHZ or 486 66MHZ boxes sitting next to it. Plus you can get these babies now for like 20.00 apiece at any Goodwill. Old gaming computers ready to go for a pittance. If I'm going to have library of old games, I want to be able to play them.

I also keep the saved games in the box so I can return to favorite scenes, or have the ability to go back into the game and help others if need be.

Six computers? All in one room? Wow! You could listen to the music from Faust while playing Syberia left-handed, Tony Tough right-handed and control the keyboard in Shadow of Destiny with your nose.

Some day I want a game room with six computers. Of course, by then real gamers will have a game room with twelve computers.

As BJ has already said, we play the games then pass them on. But, there have been times that I wish we hadn't. I wish we still owned our copies of Grim Fandango, The Longest Journey, and Chaos: A Fantasy Adventure Game. They were all fun to play in their own ways. But, I will never part with my Monkey Island games. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.

We started selling and trading our games to support our habit. But, it is good to know that some of those games went to good homes where they got played and kept or played and resold/passed on. I always hate to know that we have sold a game to a "Collector" who intends to set it on a shelf and never play it. What good is that? Games were created to be played and enjoyed. I really doubt that any game developer went into a project saying, "I want to make a game for people to buy and keep until the price/demand for the game makes them a tidy profit." Any interview I have ever seen usually says just the opposite, "We are creating a game for people to play and enjoy."

BTW, we still have a copy of GK3, unopened, that we are looking to get rid of.

I thought I was bad with 4 computers. 2 in my bedroom, 1 in my sunroom, and 1 at my office. All are used mostly for gaming.

I still don't know if "valuable" on this thread is supposed to be valuable to me or money-wise. To me the most valuable is Thief Gold. In fact, I am thinking about buying another copy in case mine wears out with all the playing.
Have no idea how much games are worth. Have kept all of mine (must be around 150) except the original Prince of Persia and Day of the Tentacles. I think Day of the Tentacles is now a collector's item? Not too swift on my part to give just those two away.
Laura's experience is the same as mine. Always go back eventually and replay games because I forget enough to make them seem like new again.
And, Wizball, I have to also mention that I, along with a GREAT number on GameBoomers, are a generation or more ahead of you and have been addicted to gaming since the beginning. True gamers have no age boundaries. Just a shared love of computer chair adventure!!!!!!

Some thread Rusty.

I know this sounds silly but my games are like "old friends". I have kept every game I have purchased but 3. I'm one of those gamers that replay games. I'm not a "collector" per se`. I wouldn't buy a game to just have it and never play it and I wouldn't spend a lot of money. I guess I'm just a "keeper".

Some of my games have become rare though like:

Alice An Interactive Museum
Celtica
Cassandra Galleries
Obsidian
Rose Tattoo
Serrated Scalpel
Dark Eye
Hard Evidence" Marilyn Mone Files

to name a few. I cherish all my games. I know, it's silly. <img border="0" alt="" title="" src="graemlins/pacify.gif" />

BTW....does anyone know which Obsidian is the oldest? The green box or the blue box?

~Dee

PS I have also kept the computers to play them on.

Its not silly at all Dee. I treasure mine too. I dont trade or sell unless I have a spare copy. I just like having them.

It would be interesting if anyone has knowledge of the value of older games and could post them here. Not that I would sell any of mine, but, I would think twice about loaning any of them out. Someone mentioned that Obisidian was going for $150. Besides the fact that game is really hard to find. Won't ever let that one out of my house!!!!

Obsidian is another game I wish we hadn't let get away. Been thinking lately it might be nice to replay. But at the time we needed the bucks to buy more games.

Same with Sanitarium, but it seems Providence smiled on us in that respect. Going out to WalMart today to try to find one of these $9.44 versions.

Well i do cherish my Police Quest collection.. might not be valuable money wise but personally its valuable to me... i dont collect games.. i buy them and keep them.. cause i know one day i would regret it when id really want to play the game i gave away...

Cheers

~Polo

This is a very interesting thread. It's so nice to read all the different slants people have on their games. As for me, I just buy. I don't think I'm a collector, just a lazy consumer. I have lots of games that I know I will never play again, don't know their value and I guess I don't care. If someone came to my door and asked for them, I would probably give them away. I don't feel like putting in the effort to resell them or trade them.

I'm also a player collector. Right now I have the attitude that after I'm done with one I'll trade it for something else. Did that with Alice Interactive and Treasure Hunter. Sometimes that's the only way to get the chance to play some of them. I may *really* regret trading some of them in the future though, although I'd like to play through as many as I can at least once, so that will take awhile. Living in a smallish apartment has a definite drawback of space though, plus having multiple computers.

Hard to say what the most valuable game in my possession is. I think the game I had the hardest time tracking down is Blue Heat, and I know it fetches a pretty penny. Also, based on those ebay auctions I read about, Vampire Diaries is pretty valuable. Although my box is crushed on it.