Bregalad wrote:
Okay, the fact to buy a game is that you most likely want the cartridge to play it. Having the box and the manual sure is nice, especially on rare games. But having them seled is damn useless since you have not any acess to the game itslef nor to the doccuments that comes together, so its just like if you bought nothing.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I find this concept fascinating, so excuse me while I ramble a bit.
The key point of attraction to most collectors is rarity. The more obscure and hard to find an item is, the more valuable it becomes. In the case of a sealed game pak, shrink-wrap and all, you have to consider that they haven't mass-produced those things in years, and probably never will again. Its value has nothing to do with its usefulness as a game, although it would be worthless if the game inside doesn't work.
Kind of like wine collectors - recently a 120+year old bottle of wine sold for $100,000. How do you know it's not vinegar in there? Odds are, the collector will never know as to check would produce an insanely expensive antique bottle and some possibly spoiled wine.
Now from the standpoint that you wanted to play Fire Emblem, and don't have a copy, its value is strictly in the "does it work" category. The fact that its still in its box would have a nostagic value, or maybe a "never been used" kind of value to it, but that's all. The real deal is: can I play that game I've wanted to check out since I read about it in 1994?
This is like the guys who own Model-T cars and still drive them around town. Original parts only add to the utility and authenticity of their hobby - so things are value-less if they can't be used.