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Who would have ever thought that video game systems would one day be considered antiques? And as such, some of the systems that you may have owned and thrown away may be worth a fortune. You can only hope that you have one of these treasures in your closet somewhere. The technical definition of an antique is something that is considered to be a generation old. The accepted time period is 25-years. But not only are some of these game systems considered antiques, but more importantly they have become collectibles. People are willing to pay outrageous sums of money for operational, discontinued gaming systems. These collectors aren’t looking to play these games, they are looking at them as investments; big investments. “Let’s face it, video games are the most popular form of entertainment of this millennium,” says Shim Whisko. “Just before the turn of the century, the video game industry beat the movie industry hands-down in terms of revenue. We all know how popular movie memorabilia has become. The same is already happening to video game systems. I heard that Japanese businessmen are bidding up to $250,000 for a vintage Famicon system with a copy of Akumajyo Dracula. Some systems such as Intellivision have fetched even more at recent auctions,” adds Whisko. Discarding of old game systems is the single reason for their increase in value. The fact that so many people get rid of their old video game systems because they think they are worthless or obsolete is what ultimately makes them a rare commodity. According to Whisko, it appears these systems have only recently become collectibles as the last bastion of their existence, the pawnshops, have recently destroyed all their inventory of these machines.
“Go and figure,” says pawnbroker Al Goldenberg, “I finally get rid of these damn things and then they’re worth a fortune. I couldn’t give these things away a month ago. I had to pay some guy to cart them to the dump for me. Now I find out I could have retired a rich man with the money I could have made off of them.” When it was brought to Goldenberg’s attention that if he didn’t get rid of the machines, they wouldn’t be worth anything. It’s only because of their scarcity that they are worth money. “That’s confusing. It gives me a headache to think about it. It’s kind of like thinking about going back in time and writing my phone number inside the Great Pyramid. Would that make me famous right now, or would I just be answering the phone all day talking to Pharaohs and cavemen,” wonders Goldenberg? “Talk about confusing,” he adds. Shim Whisko was asked to comment on the future of video game systems, and replied, “If I could go into the future, I would erase Mr. Goldenberg’s phone number from the Great Pyramid and replace it with a number from one of those dirty chat lines. Just for a joke, you know?” *This article is presented as an exclusive Cheat Code Central feature titled “Are you dumb enough to believe this?” Please check back each Friday for the newest edition. |
