It seems homebrew retro gaming has caught the eye of investors, scalpers if you want to call them that. The very nature of these releases is they are limited in quantity, often no ROM is made available, and are rare from the start. This combination has caught the eye of people wanting to make a buck, rather than the games actually being played. I know, I sound like an old man here, and I lived through the 90s boom in comic books and the fiasco of keeping them sealed or not. It seems homebrew retro gaming has finally started gaining the attention of the “make money over enjoying it” crowd.
Prices Are as Volatile
Anything, thinking this may be a great investment should probably rethink their stance on their financial future. The prices are all over the place, there are super highs and super lows, sometimes less than the original price.
Obviously, this is not ideal for investing but, the upside is 10X+ your money in many cases.
Depending on where you purchase the homebrew title from, the price could be $30 to $100. Also, the actual product runs the gamut of just the cart (cheaper, sometimes) to complete in box (often the costliest).
Considering these homebrew releases are rare from the start, you may not even be able to get in on the pre-orders. This has greatly increased their value on platforms such as eBay.
Look at games like Super Russian Roulette (affiliate link) for the NES which has nearly topped $1,000.
Ghoul Grind Night of the Necromancer on NES (affiliate link was originally a Kickstarter project for $55 that nearly broke $250 on eBay.
Even Atari 2600 games such as Galaxian Arcade (affiliate link) nearly broke $600.
Rikki and Vikki on the Atari 7800 (affiliate link) and the title that spurred this article, is on its way to easily break $500 in bidding (as of this writing it is at $491 with 27 bids).
Let’s Get Physical
If you are interested in homebrews for Atari platforms, with a smidgeon of other platforms, then check out the AtariAge store.
Other platforms such as the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis are harder to pinpoint a website to easily participate with. Maybe Kickstarter?
Ramifications of This Change
Homebrew releases are hard to get already as it is. Add in those that only want to flip these later and it is harder for fans to get them.
On top of that, how many homebrew developers will be able to contain the pull to hold a copy or two of their $50 homebrew cart for selling on eBay later? Thus further reducing the number of carts/copies available to fans that want to truly support the developers and more development of new homebrew games for old consoles.
I know this has been going on for years but it seems lately, it is compounding as prices are skyrocketing. The general retro gaming market has seen a bit of a hiccup and prices dropping for many releases, are homebrew titles next for those that are only interested in making a quick buck with games?
