Guest Submission by Titanus

Recently, I was browsing some of the local online gaming bazaars, having a look at the games and other products being sold inside. Surprisingly, many of the so-called “old games” can be considered new, having been on retail for the past one or two months.

I briefly consider the value of the really old games purchased in the late 80s and early 90s. Back then, the game packaging usually includes a hefty-sized colour manual, a cloth or leather map, or even goodies such as a comic book or newspaper clippings. With the advance of graphics, sound and multiplayer capabilities, there seems to be something truly lacking in the $59.90 boxes we usually buy from gaming shops.

What do we get today then? Well, a thin black-and-white manual, PDF files, CD in jewel casings (or, in the lack of one, paper jackets), and…. That’s about it. Once in a while there are the one or two colour maps, but then they are made out of paper. I hardly think that cloth or leather are expensive.

With that in mind, I would like to say that PC games are sadly lacking in long term collectibility, what with the low prices of recent games being resold, and the apparent lack of quality in today’s game packaging. Is it surprising that PC game piracy still remains rampant after all this time then? Perhaps the situation would change if the publishers aren’t so bent on only making money.