question in the title.

If it has, it hasn't been a devastating impact.

I think common first party games have gone down a bit. But no big deal because most people who collect already owned those before they went up.

Bootlegs have had a greater impact.

Nah.

Tough to say whether they sparked nostalgic-based interest for people to want original carts & hardware, or deterred people from buying carts to instead go with the convenience of these classic emulators. It's probably a little of both. Either way, most SNES & NES game prices have gone down a bit since '16. Another factor to consider is that emulation has been around well before they were released.

Ultimately I'm gonna say that they had no significant impact on prices.

Cart prices are down for a variety of reasons--and I expect they'll continue to drop going forward.

As I've mentioned in other threads, those two consoles absolutely murdered the value for the loose games pre-loaded on them.

Since they're pretty easy to load up with games, I suspect that's had a hand in dragging other loose prices down.

I just love that the minis themselves are cheap now. I bought another used NES classic with an additional first party controller for 40 bucks the other day. The machines are great for little emulator projects and hooking up to an extra TV... Thinking about getting a setup in my car.

Just remember that the pause trick in Rad Racer won't work on your real car if you hit something.  

Might also be due to loose cart collectors evolving or diverting their attention to CIBs, particularly with WATA joining in on the collecting scene.

Price changes are rarely due to one variable alone.

This is "old" (from 2016) so it's not necessarily "correct" but the short answer is "yes - to an extent". Whether those prices have gone up or will continue to do down is hard to say. I'm also curious what affect the collector's edition of Metal Storm will have on the original cart? I imagine it would make the original "less desirable" simply by basic economics -- more supply. But, whether this is a major impact or short term and length... can't tell at this point.

https://blog.pricecharting.com/20...

Metal Storm collector's edition is much more niche than minis. I wouldn't expect it to have as much of an impact on the original cart.

You may be right. Here's the thing, say you were interested in adding Metal Storm to your collection. Do you just look for the original cart? Or do you go for the spiffed up new collector's edition? Or both...? Another way of asking is perhaps - do people that collect NES games care about these new limited editions?

 

Interesting little read there. I wish they would update that.

One thing all minis did is shift casual's preference toward HDMI only. Before they were willing to give composite and even tube TVs a shot but now that is a big NO.

I think the classic consoles were coming out at the peak of the loose/common/popular market anyway so it would be hard to isolate their impact. I thought the retro fever would increase demand for originals as more people started collecting and was definitely wrong about that  

The new release of Metal Storm uses all new parts and doesn't have a Nintendo Seal of Quality. As far as I'm concerned, at best it's an unlicensed game (which I don't collect anyway) but it's basically a bootleg of the real Metal Storm game. Aside from maybe the collector's box, it won't hold value nearly as well as the original, Nintendo-licensed cart will.
 

I think it affected my local market. I turned in a mint Mario 3 to a local store two months ago and it has sat wide out in the open for two months at $12.99. While that's by no means a steal, it wouldn't have lasted more than a couple days 5 years ago. This same store buys/sells used NES/SNES Classic units and I see them come and go.

I collect games for most all systems. The new Metal Storm satiates my desire for getting a copy of that game. I no longer feel the need to get an original licensed by Nintendo version.

If I came across an original copy for significantly cheaper than regular price, like less than $50 then I’d probably add the original to my collection. But otherwise, I no longer feel the need to get this game.

I realize some people here are going to disagree.. to them I say: to each his own

 

I understand what you are saying, but my point is that a small niche group buying this game is not likely to impact the prices of the original cartridge like the millions of minis that were sold and satiated the nostalgic desires of casual fans to play games they grew up with on modern TVs with minimal effort. The latter likely reduced the demand of casual fans for collecting a handful of your most common favorites from that era.

 

For popular commons, yes.

I agree with this - SMB3, for example, was pushing $20 for a loose cart before the classic. Now you can get it for $10-12 shipped. In general, NES prices are down, but I think the classics had a strong hand in killing collection desire.

The thing no one is talking about is console prices. NES and SNES console prices have plummeted. Before the classics, people on eBay would buy an NES for Christmas and let it collect dust. Now, they can buy an HDMI ready NES with the best games and... let it collect dust.


 

SMB, Zelda, Mega Man.... those are iconic.
Metal Storm? Nope. So isn't anyone who is looking fo Metal Storm naturally a niche buyer. I'm in the same boat as Phart, this limited edition is really cool. If the original CIB was $50 why I would I purchase the re-release? But it's not. People are asking way more. So the coice is easy, and I bet this will bring the price down since niche buyers now have more choices. And this is definitely not a bootleg - it doesn't violate any copyrights which is basically the definition of a bootleg.

I think you have a broader audience of officially licensed collectors than those who would be interested in an aftermarket game. They're both niche, but you're talking about a niche group within a niche group. Mathematically, the impact seems like it would be smaller than millions of minis on popular games.

There is no value for me in a rerelease that is not licensed by Nintendo. I'll pay a premium for an authentically licensed Nintendo product as it is a true period piece and I am a collector of games licensed by the hardware manufacturers.

There are bound to be purists like myself, and then others like yourself, as well as others who don't mind bootlegs. With that said, I don't think the existence of a small amount of aftermarket products catered toward a small segment of the niche market is going to have any substantial impact.