bigbadboaz wrote:As for the idea that these machines will essentially be pointless as time goes on and they are superceded by something else, I'm not so sure. I might have predicted that BEFORE Analogue came on the scene and had so much success. Rationally, the argument that there's no real cachet to a clone machine makes total sense, but these guys have managed to build a serious reputation and now have a brand of their own. The secondary-market insanity with their recent consoles is the biggest indicator here. Rational or not, their units are rising in value just like the actual classic hardware that actually should rise in value. I can't say for sure, but Analogue consoles might stay collector's items in their own right.
I believe the secondary market prices are simply because of the good functionality + artificial scarcity, not the inherent collectability of their consoles. I believe there's a small group of people who...
1) have tons of cash on hand
2) are super fans of a specific console and want the best
3) don't want to be bothered with getting into the technicals themselves or with mod shops
...to make the second hand market insane, but if a competing product was released that worked just as easily, even if it wasn't so pretty looking, I think we'd see the costs drop dramatically, just like for any other consumer electronics device that isn't necessarily collectable.*
I think Analogue is simply manufacturing in such low volume that these people go nuts and open their wallets, because these people know that Analogue won't make enough compared to the demand. Normally, Analogue would have everything to gain by manufacturing enough to meet demand -- they'd sell more units! But they're in it for the long game: sell a tiny bit of units, build hype, release something new with a tiny bit of units, build hype, rinse, repeat. This tactic allows them to milk those wallets with high margins because they're constantly hot, creating high prices compared to what people would actually value the systems at outside of the fringe.
Also keep in mind while we're comparing Analogue products to real hardware, it's been years since they've released a product that directly competes with real hardware mods with the same features. Kevtris abandoned Hi-Def NES, so NES no longer has an HDMI mod kit, and SNES/Genesis/TurboGrafx don't have HDMI mods available, so if your endgame is real digital HDMI then your options are basically Analogue or MiSTer (or in the case of NES and you are cool with 720p, RetroAVS). Anecdotally, I myself am trying to move everything to true digital HDMI; I am only settling for the OSSC with RGB at this point, and I'm really looking forward to purchasing a product with a feature set like the Analogue, but won't bring myself to buy into their tactics.
*As a similar example, look at the secondary Framemeister market. Over the last few months, Framemeisters have sold from $500-$700 on eBay, more than they were brand new, and there's nothing especially collectable about a Framemeister, but the alternatives all have drawbacks (OSSC is more technical and less compatible, the GBS is more technical, and the Retrotinks aren't as feature rich) so there's still a small group of people willing to pay the price for the small number of units that do exist. If Micomsoft made a successor product, the secondary market prices would crater. Likewise, I think if something like the MiSTer existed in a consumer-friendly form free of diving into technicals, my belief is that people would forget all about the Analogue consoles in due time and they won't ever be significant collector's items.
Fudoh wrote:I can have my spicey orange Cube with its GBA player sitting on one shelf and actually use something else like a GBA consolizer or an Analogue Pocket in its dock for playing.
But if a better product than the Analogue Pocket came along later, would you or others still purchase an Analogue Pocket to put on your shelf to show off?
Anyway, this is all just my opinion. Time will tell if something better will come along, and if so, whether people will still care about the Analogue stuff years down the line.