Comments on Video Game & DVD Collecting | Resale Price Analysis: Chrono Trigger; A Better Investment Than Apple

The game gave you a 25.7% annual rate of return, m...

2010-10-03T23:11:45.138-06:00

The game gave you a 25.7% annual rate of return, much better than your dad's 22.0% return with Apple and 13.6% return with Microsoft!

Great blog, I think Apple is still a good investme...

2010-08-06T14:59:52.719-06:00

Great blog, I think Apple is still a good investment.

@NESOnline - I agree completely. Values on future...

2010-05-10T09:02:43.632-06:00

@NESOnline - I agree completely. Values on future games will not be as high, especially for sealed games. I know lots of collectors know who buy sealed copies of games for their collections so they won't be as rare in the future.

Chrono Trigger is an awesome game, but I wouldn't pay $1,200 for it now so I don't think I got as much entertainment out of it as you.

Hahahaha I love this approach to video game collec...

2010-05-10T08:32:18.832-06:00

Hahahaha I love this approach to video game collecting. Well thought out piece. The only problem is that once more people start collecting it brings doen the overall value of the product. Look at sports cards, once everyone started collecting them in the 90's, it devalued the entire industry since collections were no longer rare.

I think I got over $1,200 worth of fun by opening and playing my cop of Chrono Trigger!

Why is that almost everybody around here take it l...

2010-05-07T12:28:27.358-06:00

Why is that almost everybody around here take it like it's a serious proposition... frackers! Get a life and have some fun!

Wow! So all I have to do is buy decent copies of C...

2009-05-16T05:10:00.000-06:00

Wow! So all I have to do is buy decent copies of Chrono Trigger and shrink-wrap them, and I'll be in the money!

And thus another reason why ROMs/ISOs are totally ...

2008-03-27T10:39:00.000-06:00

And thus another reason why ROMs/ISOs are totally awesome! Buy the game, keep it sealed, and then emulate the **** out of it! HA!

That's horrible. First off, rarely anyone buys a ...

2008-03-27T10:04:00.000-06:00

That's horrible. First off, rarely anyone buys a single share in any company. Even if you are investing in mutual funds, it's more than one share per company. So right off the bat your investment will increase exponentially, depending on how many shares you buy. And just because a collectors item is valued at say $1200, you'll be hard pressed to sell it at that price. Where as a stock will sell at it's listed price....everytime. A video game is NOT a good investment vehicle. Just collect it for the love man! Do it for the love!

I 100% agree with one of the Anonymous posts that ...

2008-03-27T07:31:00.000-06:00

I 100% agree with one of the Anonymous posts that said: "Collect videogames because you enjoy them, not because you expect to get rich off them someday." I don't really think video games are a great investment. Sure there are cases you would have made money but overall I think it is a losing proposition.

Addressing the dividend issue another poster brought up. The returns in the article do not included dividends. After looking into it though I don't think it makes a big difference in the returns. Apple hasn't paid a dividend since 21-Nov-95. Microsoft started paying a dividend in early 2003 but only pays 1.5% currently. Even with reinvested dividends from 2003 on, the return probably wouldn't increase more than 1% point.

RE: The post about our site showing Chrono Trigger at $57. It is true. Our site tracks the average prices though so it usually represents the price of just the game, not a complete game that is sealed (Our complete methodology). We are working to track new game prices in near future.

Your site's video game price chart top Chrono Trig...

2008-03-27T00:06:00.000-06:00

Your site's video game price chart top Chrono Trigger out at about $57

Interesting idea....
Although Apple had the dea...

2008-03-26T21:16:00.000-06:00

Interesting idea....
Although Apple had the dead period up until like 1998 when the iMac hit.

They also just recently took a huge hit when the market overall took a dive this year.

I'm also curious if we will see more sealed Chrono Triggers and if they will top $1000 again.

You would also need to take into account money ear...

2008-03-26T18:20:00.000-06:00

You would also need to take into account money earned from dividend payments (by both Microsoft and Apple stocks). I don't have the inclination to do that at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that would put both ahead, especially in such an extended period of time (with all dividends being reinvested into the stock, of course).

Collect videogames because you enjoy them, not because you expect to get rich off them someday.

Now, where did I put that sealed copy again? I won...

2008-03-26T11:08:00.000-06:00

Now, where did I put that sealed copy again? I wonder if it's behind my 300 shares of Google stock I bought a few years ago. Ahhhh, I'll just look later, those can't be worth much.

The prices in the analysis are split adjusted so i...

2008-03-26T07:45:00.000-06:00

The prices in the analysis are split adjusted so it already takes into account the stock splits for Apple and Microsoft during this 12 year period.

well, it is the best game ever, so I kind of under...

2008-03-26T00:17:00.000-06:00

well, it is the best game ever, so I kind of understand.

However, Microsoft has split 4 times since 1995 an...

2008-03-25T23:18:00.000-06:00

However, Microsoft has split 4 times since 1995 and Apple twice. Therefore 1 share of Microsoft in 1995 is worth $487.20 now while 1 share of Apple is worth $535. That makes the stock investment worth about the same as Chrono Trigger.

I'm not exactly familiar with the stock history of...

2008-03-25T22:55:00.000-06:00

I'm not exactly familiar with the stock history of any of the companies, but I'm wondering if Microsoft's shares split so that the invest would actually have been larger. Just wondering.

If only I had the money to buy more than one copy ...

2008-03-25T18:19:00.000-06:00

If only I had the money to buy more than one copy of games that I buy...

Darn! Video games aren't allowed as IRA investments.