Why has the cost of Gamecubes increased so much recently?

[DoomsDave]

I'm not sure if this is just isolated to Australia but the price of Gamecube consoles continues to rise here. Why are people buying up GCs when a Wii is cheaper, easier to mod, plays more content and easier to get component/RGB out? Am I missing something? I've got 2 GCs that haven't been used since the Wii came out.

[Pasky]

Gotta collect em' all!

[AndehX]

I love the Gamecube. I have a rare white one, and a black one. Both modded to play imports. I always use it over my Wii because i like to speedrun alot of games, and the Gamecubes dvd drive loads games ever so slightly faster than the Wii does, so I use it for that reason.
Other than that though, I just love the Gamecube. It's one of my absolute favourite consoles.

[ZellSF]

Well there's been some developments which makes the Gameboy Player, exclusive to the Gamecube, actually useful.

There's also a HDMI mod now which means you can get better picture and audio quality from a Gamecube than a Wii (and probably a Wii U too).

I don't think either accounts for a huge surge in interest, but there's your reasons to own a Gamecube.

[Einzelherz]

It's primarily its age. In all things there is a constant price drop until it hits the floor, and then the price begins to climb again. The GCN's floor was probably a year or two ago.

With cars, at least in the US, the floor is pretty consistently 10-12 years after it goes out of production.

[bobrocks95]

Anything retro (yes, Gamecube counts at this point) is going through a gigantic price surge right now if you haven't noticed. The hobby is basically falling apart as more and more collectors buy a shitload of games they don't actually want to play, or people who don't care what they're paying to relive nostalgia grab the first buy it now they see on ebay, etc etc.

Yeah a Wii is the better choice for most, but it's not old enough yet.

[DoomsDave]

Yeah I have noticed prices going up ridiculously across the board and it's kind of frustrating. I guess a lot of these super popular youtubers with giant collections they never play doing "pick up" videos that get 100k+ views are kind of to blame for the surge in collectors. People seem to just want shit to have it rather than play it.

I just don't get why you would buy a GC when you can get a GC capable Wii for half the price.

Well there's been some developments which makes the Gameboy Player, exclusive to the Gamecube, actually useful.

There's also a HDMI mod now which means you can get better picture and audio quality from a Gamecube than a Wii (and probably a Wii U too).

I don't think either accounts for a huge surge in interest, but there's your reasons to own a Gamecube.

I knew about the HDMI mod but what are the developments with the Gameboy Player? Sounds interesting.

[Guspaz]

I just bought a PAL GameCube on eBay two weeks ago for 15 GBP (22 USD). Of course shipping to Canada was a lot more than that, but the point is the cost of the console. That doesn't seem particularly high to me...

I bought an NTSC GameCube in quite good condition (clean and relatively few scuffs) in October for $44 USD.

Neither of those prices seem all that high to me. The PAL cube was not in as good condition (working, but in need of some cleaning, and more scuffed), but it still had no physical damage. The seller had a bunch of them, and there were other sellers with similar prices. Both the NTSC and PAL cubes have the digital port.

I knew about the HDMI mod but what are the developments with the Gameboy Player? Sounds interesting.

Two things:

1) The discovery that Swiss can be used to force the Game Boy Player's official software to output a 240p signal, meaning pixel-perfect Game Boy output with no interpolation. Doesn't help wit the lag, though.

2) The development of Game Boy Interface, a homebrew replacement for the official disc, which supports 240p with pixel-perfect output, 480p with integer scaling, and has builds with more accurate Game Boy framerates (less stuttering) and even a ULL version that is essentially lag-free (at the cost of compatibility with some displays due to the odd framerate). It still uses the actual Game Boy Player hardware, the software is all about interfacing with the GBP and what the Cube does with the video data produced by the GBP.

Personally, I only use my cubes for Game Boy stuff, that's why I got them even though I have no interest in GC games, because it's the best way to play Game Boy games on a TV.

[bobrocks95]

Yeah I have noticed prices going up ridiculously across the board and it's kind of frustrating. I guess a lot of these super popular youtubers with giant collections they never play doing "pick up" videos that get 100k+ views are kind of to blame for the surge in collectors. People seem to just want shit to have it rather than play it.

Yeah I mostly blame youtubers for it. I'd like to dream that it's a bubble that will pop, but even if youtubers move on I think the increased prices will be here to stay.

[Einzelherz]

You can blame others for it all you want, but they're not really the problem. It's a natural cycle when you have a limited quantity product. Popularity has something to do with it, but that's more of a constant difference (e.g. SNES games/consoles have always been more expensive than Genesis games/consoles).

Another constant is aging consumers. The reason car prices lower until 10ish years then raise up again is because people who dreamt of those cars before suddenly can afford them. The same holds true with video games, I'd suspect. Those who grew up with the 6th generation suddenly have jobs and extra income. PS2 prices aren't rasigin but there are SO SO SO many more of them that it won't climb much. There may be a second spike five years or a decade from now when the non-working machine quantity really gets up there though.

I am in no way an economist but these are pretty consistent price fluctuations.

[broken harbour]

This just makes emulation look like a better option every day, been considering unloading most of my retro stuff and buying a nice PC to put under the tv.

I have noticed GC games go crazy lately, the consoles I haven't noticed a huge uptick in price, but certain common titles like even Luigi's Mansion have gone way up lately.

[Einzelherz]

Nintendo first party games always seem high. And if they're reasonable, just give them some time and they'll skyrocket. Often they tend to be the best games for any given system though, so I guess it shouldn't be all that strange.

[kardus]

The game 'Super Smash Bros. Melee' is increasing in popularity even today, it's quite popular and there are even international tournaments with lots of money on the line, and quite a large scene.

As mentioned, a modded gamecube /w gameboy players are probably the best way to play those titles on a screen in 240p.

Gamecube video quality is also considered to be 'superior' to Wii, especially if using the 1st party component cables.

[tacoguy64]

Just like anything retro the prices will go up in time.
Get them now before its too late. I was very lucky to be able to find some of my top GC titles semi recently but i'm still missing out on a bunch of titles I want like the Metal Gear Solid Remake. Also GBA games have shot through the roof during that same time frame.

[bobrocks95]

You can blame others for it all you want, but they're not really the problem. It's a natural cycle when you have a limited quantity product. Popularity has something to do with it, but that's more of a constant difference (e.g. SNES games/consoles have always been more expensive than Genesis games/consoles).

Another constant is aging consumers. The reason car prices lower until 10ish years then raise up again is because people who dreamt of those cars before suddenly can afford them. The same holds true with video games, I'd suspect. Those who grew up with the 6th generation suddenly have jobs and extra income. PS2 prices aren't rasigin but there are SO SO SO many more of them that it won't climb much. There may be a second spike five years or a decade from now when the non-working machine quantity really gets up there though.

I am in no way an economist but these are pretty consistent price fluctuations.

I would be inclined to accept a simple supply and demand explanation if I hadn't seen things such as byuu inadvertently single-handedly jumping a game's price by literally a thousand dollars, or a segment on Pat the NES Punk's podcast where a guy tested a theory by buying a bunch of copies of a $5 gameboy game and now it sells for $30 and will probably never get below that again as sellers jump on the bandwagon.

I don't have much knowledge of other types of collectibles, but at byuu put it, "What kind of market operates like that? A batshit insane one." There's something particular about retro games, and the hole is being dug deeper at an alarming rate.

So anyway, if you want a Gamecube grab a couple now.

[Guspaz]

October 2015: I paid $44 USD for a working NTSC GameCube with cables on eBay
June 2016: Current prices on eBay are $24 USD for a working NTSC GameCube with cables (and there are tons of them around this price)

The prices are not increasing in North America or Europe.

EDIT: I paid more in 2015 because I wanted a specific colour in very good cosmetic condition.

EDIT 2: Luigi's Mansion hasn't really increased in price in the past few years. It's up in price from 4+ years ago, but it hit $42 in 2013, and it sells for $25 today.

[Einzelherz]

You can blame others for it all you want, but they're not really the problem. It's a natural cycle when you have a limited quantity product. Popularity has something to do with it, but that's more of a constant difference (e.g. SNES games/consoles have always been more expensive than Genesis games/consoles).

Another constant is aging consumers. The reason car prices lower until 10ish years then raise up again is because people who dreamt of those cars before suddenly can afford them. The same holds true with video games, I'd suspect. Those who grew up with the 6th generation suddenly have jobs and extra income. PS2 prices aren't rasigin but there are SO SO SO many more of them that it won't climb much. There may be a second spike five years or a decade from now when the non-working machine quantity really gets up there though.

I am in no way an economist but these are pretty consistent price fluctuations.

I would be inclined to accept a simple supply and demand explanation if I hadn't seen things such as byuu inadvertently single-handedly jumping a game's price by literally a thousand dollars, or a segment on Pat the NES Punk's podcast where a guy tested a theory by buying a bunch of copies of a $5 gameboy game and now it sells for $30 and will probably never get below that again as sellers jump on the bandwagon.

I don't have much knowledge of other types of collectibles, but at byuu put it, "What kind of market operates like that? A batshit insane one." There's something particular about retro games, and the hole is being dug deeper at an alarming rate.

So anyway, if you want a Gamecube grab a couple now.

But isn't that precisely supply and demand? The only difference being that the demand can be greatly exaggerated? Byuu really, REALLY wanted this game and caused the price to inflate. I'd wager that was a lot of the problem with Earthbound five years ago as well.

Byuu said, regarding that game, that he'd seen five sales in two years, right? That's pretty low supply, regardless of the rarity.

Several NES games I've been clamoring for are undergoing this as well. Crisis Force was $40ish a year ago and it's $75ish now. The main difference is that a year ago 20 listings would be up and now it's closer to five.

I'm not discounting that people are manipulating it, but the same goes for all limited quantity goods.

edit: this subject is especially amusing to me as yesterday I read about playing Four Swords Adventures using 5 TVs and 5 GCNs/4 GCNs+1 Wii and my brain went "sure, that sounds like a good idea". If I found three more GCNs with Gameboy Players for a ridiculously low price, I'd probably get them in the off chance that I'd do this one day, since I pretty much have everything else.

edit edit: I was just looking up prices on ebay out of curiosity, the Gameboy player seems to be the crazy hot item, more specifically the disc. Sold prices on the disc alone are in the 40s easily with complete systems close to around 80. I bought my system+player local a couple years back for like 20 or 30 I think. Silliness.

[bobrocks95]

Alright, then I blame capitalism.

[Guspaz]

I was just looking up prices on ebay out of curiosity, the Gameboy player seems to be the crazy hot item, more specifically the disc. Sold prices on the disc alone are in the 40s easily with complete systems close to around 80. I bought my system+player local a couple years back for like 20 or 30 I think. Silliness.

The disc makes sense: at the start, there were an equal number of discs and players. The discs are a lot more delicate than the players, however, and are more actively handled. Over time, the discs get scratched, or lost, or thrown out, but the players survived. As such, the discs became more rare than the players, and their cost went up accordingly. Nintendo did (during the lifespan of the console) sell spare discs, but it would seem few people took advantage of that.

We're lucky nowadays that the disc is not necessary, because you can either use an ISO of the disc, or homebrew alternatives. That's not going to apply to casual gamers, though, who will just end up having to pay more.

[Strider77]

I blame Nintards and Collectards... the ones that covet crap like Clay Fighters on the 64 and Aero Fighters 3 on SNES.

[Ikaruga11]

Simple supply and demand. There are a finite amount of GameCubes, and no more are being produced. The demand for GameCube Component cables, GameBoy Players, GameCubes, etc. has risen due the My Life in Gaming RGB Episode on YouTube, retro gaming becoming more popular, and fans back in the day who now have the disposable income to buy them.

[parodius]

In Japan Gamecubes are very cheap and plentiful. Check Yahoo Japan.

[Guspaz]

In Japan Gamecubes are very cheap and plentiful. Check Yahoo Japan.

The same is true in North America and Europe, I'm not sure why everybody is going on about them going up in price... Perhaps Australia, but not everybody else here lives in Australia.

[kamiboy]

The gamecube is 15 years old now, which is just old enough for the kids who grew up with it and had one in their teens to now find themselves in their late 20's/early 30's. Looking back on the good times they had with system with a heart filled to the brim with nostalgia, and yearning for the simpler times of their long lost youth. The writing is on the wall as the saying goes.

Of course the general collector scum mentality that we all suffer from to a degree only throws potent kindling on the fire of greed set to consume us all.

Really, no one who purchases older games and hardware is free of blame. I often look at the mountain of hoarded goods I've been compelled to acquire by my insatiable greed with sadness. Sure, I only buy games that I want to play, eventually, and try to convince myself that I will indeed play them all, eventually, but the rational part of my brains knows how unrealistic those prospects are when counting how many of these games I actually get to play yearly. It would take a lifetime to complete them all, and yet my insatiable hunger craves ever more.

That being said I think we can all agree that people going for full sets are the scummiest of all of us.

[Edward_Tz]

October 2015: I paid $44 USD for a working NTSC GameCube with cables on eBay
June 2016: Current prices on eBay are $24 USD for a working NTSC GameCube with cables (and there are tons of them around this price)

The prices are not increasing in North America or Europe.

EDIT: I paid more in 2015 because I wanted a specific colour in very good cosmetic condition.

EDIT 2: Luigi's Mansion hasn't really increased in price in the past few years. It's up in price from 4+ years ago, but it hit $42 in 2013, and it sells for $25 today.

See the same thing. I just sold 3 gamecubes for $30 a pop with hookups.

I have noticed that there is a fair amount of people asking $60+ for a gamecube. $80+ even. But why you would buy one of those when there's still a ton on ebay for around $30 I don't know. Not like those expensive ones were in all that great condition from what I saw.

[FBX]

Two things:

1) The discovery that Swiss can be used to force the Game Boy Player's official software to output a 240p signal, meaning pixel-perfect Game Boy output with no interpolation. Doesn't help wit the lag, though.

2) The development of Game Boy Interface, a homebrew replacement for the official disc, which supports 240p with pixel-perfect output, 480p with integer scaling, and has builds with more accurate Game Boy framerates (less stuttering) and even a ULL version that is essentially lag-free (at the cost of compatibility with some displays due to the odd framerate). It still uses the actual Game Boy Player hardware, the software is all about interfacing with the GBP and what the Cube does with the video data produced by the GBP.

Personally, I only use my cubes for Game Boy stuff, that's why I got them even though I have no interest in GC games, because it's the best way to play Game Boy games on a TV.

I've got a Media Launcher disc and card that I use to run GBI.LL into my Framemeister. While the picture quality is MANY times better than the default 480i/p, it's still a bit off from pixel-perfect. The image is very definitely softer looking than say model 1 Genesis or a 1CHIP SNES.

[DoomsDave]

Yeah I think I might have jumped the gun with this thread because I only checked what people were selling them for and not what they were actually selling at. It's seems like $20-$40 for a console seems pretty standard. Games have definitely increased quite a lot lately but that's a lot more understandable.

[Ikaruga11]

Yeah I think I might have jumped the gun with this thread because I only checked what people were selling them for and not what they were actually selling at. It's seems like $20-$40 for a console seems pretty standard. Games have definitely increased quite a lot lately but that's a lot more understandable.

Brand new GameCubes sell for $400, especially DOL-001 models.

[ZellSF]

I'd say you deserve to get ripped off if you feel you need to get 15 year old stuff in perfect condition.

[Guspaz]

I've got a Media Launcher disc and card that I use to run GBI.LL into my Framemeister. While the picture quality is MANY times better than the default 480i/p, it's still a bit off from pixel-perfect. The image is very definitely softer looking than say model 1 Genesis or a 1CHIP SNES.

I mean pixel-perfect in that it's outputting the Game Boy pixels 1:1 with no scaling, no interpolation, and no filtering. If you output HDMI from the cube, then it's perfectly sharp.

Over s-video, I'd put the output quality as a little better than my non-1CHIP SNES, but not as good as my PSOne. I've recently swapped the motherboard with a PAL one to get RGB output, but I don't have the RGB cables for it.