Things Kids Today Won't Get To Experience

[kedawa]

The ridiculous speculator's market for old games doesn't bother me so much considering the fact that anybody anywhere can get full ROM sets for all of the old systems in a matter of minutes.
As long as old stuff is being dumped/ripped/scanned, the high prices only serve to help save things, since less of it will go in the trash.

[Satsuki]

Flipper culture is a response to the extreme overconsumption of disposable goods, causing those of us who sell to capitalize on a system that doesn’t value quality (manufacturing-wise.) I know it’s hit the game collectors particularly hard, because we have such a surplus of pure crap available instantly, so anything with any glimmer of rarity or nostalgia just hits crazy prices. The internet has a hand in this obviously, but some of it has to do with our consumptive habits changing as well, as well as with actual manufacturing. Obviously the manufacturing has a lesser effect on things like games, but in my field of vintage clothes, people are desperate for something that is unique and durable, which cannot be provided unless we grab stuff from the past.

I hate fellow price gougers as much as the next guy (not only am I a seller, I’m a buyer too!) but overall I don’t fault the individual or the internet as a whole. It was fun to walk into an unpicked thrift back in the early 00s, but we experience things differently now. We consume differently. And in like 5 years we’ll be able to 3D print bootlegs of anything for like dollars and then we’ll all be out of business hahaha