The Macroeconomic Perils of Retro Gaming

Lately, I've been hooked on retro games. I've beaten Mega Man 4 through 7 and X, and today I beat Final Fight, which, by the way, is one hella arcade-cheap, quarter-swallowing, beat-em-up that I only got through with Nintendo's Restore Points.

I've been enjoying retro games in two ways: original media, and Virtual Console. One method does not benefit the original developers or publishers, while one method does. One method is more nostalgically and viscerally satisfying, and one is less so.

I don't know the economics of the Virtual Console. What percentage of the sale goes where? Nintendo must take a cut. Does the publisher get all the money? Do developers who have long-left their publisher still get royalties? Who knows? Whatever the case, the fact is that someone somewhere, whether it's a publisher or developer is still getting paid for their work they did years ago, which is a righteous thing. With the booming popularity of Steam and smartphone-app-stores, digital distribution is as big as ever; people can get paid for their work long after the first few months of the initial early-adopter, hype-driven market. This is good.

Then we have the collector-market - buying used games from people online. The original people responsible for the work don't get paid, and the money just circulates between retro gamers for the rest of time. Sure, it's awesome playing on a real console, with a real game and controller, not to mention having minimal input-lag on a CRT with analog video. But I got to thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather support the devs and pubs rather than collectors.

It was a fun ride. I bought a bunch of stuff in the last month or two, and my wallet was not happy, but it was worth it for it helped me come to my senses.

There is always a choice. You can pay a hundred dollars for a rare game on ebay or you can dig through your favorite console's digital store and support a great game you have not discovered yet or buy an old classic with VC, PSOne Classics, Steam, GOG, etc.

Collecting is nice. Having nice, old, or shiny things that bring you back to your childhood is good and all, but what is better is living in the present, and the future. Support gaming now while it helps developers today.

I remember months ago MetalJesusRocks saying he didn't have a Wii U yet. I wonder if he still doesn't. What I do know is that eventually he will get one, when it becomes cheaper, and the money will go not to developers but to other collectors or hoarders who wish to sell their systems and games. This is unfortunate.

Buy official, legal, digital versions of old games if you must play oldies, but otherwise, let us all try to keep gaming alive forever.

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