PCB Market Value Discussion.

[emphatic]

Anyone have experience running a 360 in a Aero City with a 15hz only CRT?
I seem to believe that you need a tri-synch CRT...am I wrong?

No problem, but will be 480i, so some flickering. On-topic: Stunts like putting consoles in your cabinet doesn't make your PCBs less awesome.

[neorichieb1971]

Viletims adapter thingy will surely be more neater. Since it will support more than one console and not just one.

I'm not that bothered about it. I would only buy a j360 if one fell in my lap. Besides if 480i is the only resolution i'm gonna get on my cabs i'd rather get the original PCB's, or play the J360 versions on a flatscreen.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

On-topic: Stunts like putting consoles in your cabinet doesn't make your PCBs less awesome.

It just makes them candy cabs more useful if they do double-duty for both PCBs and console gaming purposes. There's a special charm with using the dedicated arcade PCB format that console gaming & arcade emulation just can't replicate.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[spadgy]

On topic, just like Sven, for me there's just something about PCBs and playing games on them.

Ridiculous really considering I'm a supergun player (but I do have a lovely tated PVM hooked up to my RGB 'gun which makes slightly more acceptable!). But there's something about PCBs. Mostly I do just adore the games, but I'm also absolutely enchanted by PCBs as objects, with all their electronic mystery and chips and neat solder, and I love getting out the various wires and contraptions need to play one, and I love the whole things of attempting repairs and Phoenixing and that kind of thing. I enjoying hunting one down and I enjoy the friendly engagement of a sale and since childhood I've loved getting massive boxes through the post. For me, in a way the inconvenience of a PCB is part of the pleasure of the hobby.

And I'll admit it; I do have a perverse love of the ridiculousness of paying so much for something. I get a small kick out of spending more than I should (this is only a tiny part of why I love PCBs, but it is a factor). I'm not a fan of money, and I'm generally skint, but in that context I see shelling out for a kit or PCB or paying for a bloody cardboard box as a playful 'up yours' to the very concept of money.

And then, more important than all of the above, there's the community aspect. I love lending a PCB to the local aracde, and going down there with CHI and getting The Engineer to install it. I love hanging out at the arcade with the Casino Crew (you know who you are you punks!) and playing our PCBs in public in a real arcade and talking crap in the real world about being shmup nerds.

I love ports too, and I have almost every Cave console game there is, but they ill never provide all of the above for me. That considered, I'll usually always get my money out of PCBs, and always be happy to spend a little more than I should. My reasons for loving PCBs are not identical to everyone's, but I'm sure lots of PCB buyers can empathise with many of the above, and for that reason, I'm sure the market will stay relatively healthy.

Prices will trickle down and ports will have an effect, but the hierachy of how much money we all have will always mean there's people there to pay the big money, and loads more of us to pick up the boards as they drop in value. It could happen, but I can't imagine the market collapsing, because there's so much pleasure to be had, and like it was mentioned above, there's far more expensive very common hobbies.

I've never gone that far beyond $400, and it's been rare. There's plenty of fun to be had picking up great shooters for under $100, and if you concentrate on that once in a while you can treat yourself to something a little bit more silly expensive.

My problem is my taste for the more obscure stuff by NMK, Allumer - that kind of thing. Those boards, when expensive, hold their value, but so few people on these forums seem interested I fear they'll be hard to shift (Dave K already has them all! ) without a long wait!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

In the arcade PCB hobby, there are three kinds of collectors:

1.) The casual collector whom buys PCBs here and there slowly building up his or her collection. It never hurts to score one on the cheap though if it's offered at a reasonable price.

2.) The more hard-core PCB enthusiasts (with money to burn) will spend more $$$ in the three figure and four figure range to get the newest PCB kits on day one of release. Of course, if one waits a bit for the intial prices to come down over time, then he or she will still will be able to buy said PCB kit at a more respectable lower pricepoint. Just like with anything else, some PCBs go down in value or go up due to supply & demand factors, the current secondary market going rates, and the willingness to pay/bid more or less for said PCB or PCB kit on YAJ, eBay, Craigslist, privately listed bidding auctions, private PCB sales threads, various PCB resellers, etc.

3.) And there is what's known as the "super collector" that builds up his or her PCB collection until it's complete -- then it's easy access to play/digress through a said developer/publisher back catalog of PCB releases. How cool is that?

Some of the more obscure arcade shmup PCBs do have said accompanying original arcade paperworks which is just "extra frosting" on the cake", not necessary but is nice to have for completeness (compared to a barebones PCB by itself).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Shou]

Prices have come down due to the following factors:

1) quality of ports/region free games (in some cases)
2) supply of said ports and original PCBs
3) exportation of region free ports and PCBs


No game is going to retain its operator retail price but from a used standpoint, you will see fluctuations upward as supply wanes, bootlegs (ie conversions)/emulation permeates, and popularity of a given trend. Eventually, supply will be exhausted as very few new games are being produced and the desire for retro will die away until it is just antique collectors who are left. Will they increase in value then? Sure, but I am betting the audience who would be willing to pay big #s would be severely limited.

[kernow]

In the arcade PCB hobby, there are three kinds of collectors:

1.) The casual collector whom buys PCBs here and there slowly building up his or her collection. It never hurts to score one on the cheap though if it's offered at a reasonable price.

2.) The more hard-core PCB enthusiasts (with money to burn) will spend more $$$ in the three figure and four figure range to get the newest PCB kits on day one of release. Of course, if one waits a bit for the intial prices to come down over time, then he or she will still will be able to buy said PCB kit at a more respectable lower pricepoint. Just like with anything else, some PCBs go down in value or go up due to supply & demand factors, the current secondary market going rates, and the willingness to pay/bid more or less for said PCB or PCB kit on YAJ, eBay, Craigslist, privately listed bidding auctions, private PCB sales threads, various PCB resellers, etc.

3.) And there is what's known as the "super collector" that builds up his or her PCB collection until it's complete -- then it's easy access to play/digress through a said developer/publisher back catalog of PCB releases. How cool is that?

Some of the more obscure arcade shmup PCBs do have said accompanying original arcade paperworks which is just "extra frosting" on the cake", not necessary but is nice to have for completeness (compared to a barebones PCB by itself).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

What about the 'person who just buys PCB's to play and fuck collecting' ?

[Matskat]

What about the 'person who just buys PCB's to play and fuck collecting' ?

Word.

Give it up for the players!

But seriously, as a person that fits the "phantom 4th" category (a person who buys PCBs just for the sake of playing), I have to comment on the dedication to the hobby that is required to invest in cabinets, superguns, etc in order to play PCBs.

I remember the first time I stumbled upon the world of PCB collecting\playing...I googled Espgaluda II and found some dude who posted pics of his unboxing of a full new kit. It blew my mind.

At the time I could not imagine how someone could just DO that. In my mind it was like an impossible dream to:
1. Get a cabinet
2. Afford a Cave PCB
3. Keep up with the maintainence of a mythical candy cabinet (is a surgeon required?)

Turns out it ain't shit...you just have to get to the point where your desire to play a game that is PCB only outweighs your existing financial responsibility.

THEN $300 for an Espgaluda board actually seems like a great deal!

It's MAGIC!

[neorichieb1971]

I see there is definitely some addictive nature to collecting and playing PCB's. Its akin to buying a 1966 Ferrari or something like that. Your playing something that outlived its life expectency and its still chugging along and your proud to own it. Plus you know that every version of it derived from the original that you now own and possess. A PCB is also the engine of the game. Its one of those rare cases today where you can see the brains in the product as they are exposed. Its like a piece of art making another piece of art. Finally, you know that PCB will never be produced again. Its final print run was likely 5-25 years ago and as time goes on you know more and more of them are thrown away in the scrap heap. We are ultimately the preservers of original gaming architecture. Perhaps in 25 years they will become museum pieces.

[Dave_K.]

What about the 'person who just buys PCB's to play and fuck collecting' ?

Otherwise known as the "Flipper". Someone who can only afford a couple PCBs at a time. Plays them, and then sells them. Likes to buy low and sell high in attempt to buy more. Is the primary instigator of forum hype, and funny enough, anti-hype when looking to buy.

Give it up for the players!

Who buys PCBs and doesn't play them? Maybe importers?