Is pokemon this expensive everywhere?

[Hero of Lime]

Like everyone is saying, the big Nintendo games take a long time to go down in price, and Pokemon is no exception. I still remember seeing Twilight Princess selling for about 50 dollars even as recent as 2011, yet it came out in 2006. However you should look out for deals, although I am unfamiliar with Australian retailers and their sales promotions. I'm still amazed I was able to get White 2 for about 15 dollars new at Best Buy when they had a special sale.

 

[Miss G.]

If people like me weren't still trying to catch 'em all the price would drop. I seriously still use my older versions for trades, if nothing else, and other Pokefans do as well. I just bought a used Platinum version for $27 USD after a 10% ProMember discount. Had I bought that back home in The Bahamas the price would've been around $70-80 USD and we don't do trade-ins over there. But seriously Nintendo makes quality stuff you want to keep, so the demand for this stuff stays high and with it, the prices. Be glad that if you DO want to sell yours later you'll be getting a good return on it.

 

[Brendan Stepladder]

I was just browsing some used game stores in NYC today, and was astonished that Pokemon Gold and Silver were going for $55 a pop. They had some really fair prices, too, so I guess that's just market value.

The real kicker is that Crystal was on sale for $10 cheaper in both stores.

 

[Voulan]

I guess most games don't age well in price in the Aus/NZ regions. I was in Harvey Norman the other day and thought I'd look at getting the first Borderlands for the PS3. It was $70. For a four year old game?

 

[SSJBlastoise]

I guess most games don't age well in price in the Aus/NZ regions. I was in Harvey Norman the other day and thought I'd look at getting the first Borderlands for the PS3. It was $70. For a four year old game?

Harvey Norman is usually one of the worst places to look at games. They may have the odd game that is cheaper but you have to be lucky to find them.

 

[MidnightCat]

Yeah, Pokemon games and the more popular Wii games don't drop in price easily. I live in Australia too, and recently I've been buying my DS/3DS games from ozgameshop.com [http://www.ozgameshop.com/search/pokemon/sort-relevance]. Their prices are usually cheaper, sometimes they have sales or coupons, and shipping has been free on everything I've bought so far.

If you're planning to pick up Pokemon X/Y around the release date I'd suggest that you don't even bother looking in a physical shop. Both JB Hi Fi [http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/game/3ds/pokemon-x-version/679342] and EB Games [https://ebgames.com.au/3ds-161083-Pokemon-X-Nintendo-3DS] have the pre-order price set at just below $70, whereas Play-Asia [http://www.play-asia.com/pokemon-x-paOS-13-71-18m-49-en-70-5y21.html]'s price is $60 and ozgameshop [http://www.ozgameshop.com/3ds-games/pokemon-x-game-3ds]'s price is $53.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I got black new for around 30$ at best buy... so yeah that seems high to me :/

Yup got White on release at GameStop for $34 something and that was after taxes.

I was just browsing some used game stores in NYC today, and was astonished that Pokemon Gold and Silver were going for $55 a pop. They had some really fair prices, too, so I guess that's just market value.

The real kicker is that Crystal was on sale for $10 cheaper in both stores.

Since you mentioned Crystal, I'm guessing you are talking original retro Gold and Silver copies.

Yeah, if you need to know anything about retro gaming, it is that they are taking on the mantle of antiques like any other old and popular item. Price tends to go up on demand of course along with the factors of availability and if it has some kind of cult following, like how original cartridges of Earthbound tend to go for no less than $200 a pop.

So, considering old cartridge games, don't be looking for the prices to drop anytime soon, unless you get them from somebody on E-Bay who knows absolutely shit about gaming and the retro revival. It will be very rare to find a gaming specific store that doesn't know what it has when it comes to what it is going for online.

I've got a little chain of retro game stores near me, and the only time I get stuff there is if they have specials and I get lesser known games under those specials, like three NES games for $9.95 from a certain pile. Basically each cartridge has to have originally been marked $4.95 before being put into the pile. Though there are some that are marked much higher, which makes me think that it is a bit of a ploy for people to pick more expensive games because they see it and decide they have to have it, price be damned since it is only a few bucks more.

But yeah, most stores know what they have when it comes to retro games. Like the store I was talking about, I've been looking for a cheap copy of Castlevania 3, but all their copies are listed at $29.95, which is actually spot on for what it is going for online on E-Bay.

The retro revival is definitely gaining momentum, so prices are going to be high, especially because there are people like me who just laugh at people that say, "why don't you just play the game on an emulator?" That is not an authentic experience, it must be played the way it was intended, from the cartridge with the original controller. Plus, from past experience, PC game-pads don't react as fast compared to a console game-pad into the original system.