There is something more in the physical price increases of games than the imminent closure of PlayStation Store, but it does not help
PlayStation 3 games have become expensive lately, as have many other old games, which are rare, really desirable, like what an adult would play and enjoy in 2021, or not allow, both of us.
I’m not about to sell anything, but it’s to the point that I’ve found myself reviewing all my collections with surprise after seeing the prices the games get right now. In some cases, especially my DS library, these are titles I haven’t played (much less thought to play) for years. I know myself well enough to know that abandoning them would end in an eventual lament, but it’s tempting.
It’s a similar story on other consoles, including my bestie, the GameCube, and while it’s not necessarily a new trend (the pandemic has made a lot of retro gaming prices), it’s worth watching the PS3.
After Sony announced its plan to eliminate the possibility of buying digital games for PS3, Vita and PSP later this year, I was about to catalog my existing purchases, find out my long-standing gaps and start buy digital copies (so far mostly PS1 Classics) before the store closes in July. I was so fixated on this initial goal that I hadn’t fixed so much on supplying myself with physical copies of PS3 games. In retrospect, it was a mistake. It’s probably too late for me.
As ResetEra has pointed out, some PS3 games have become expensive, even some that are readily available on other platforms and can be purchased digitally at a reasonable price on the PlayStation Store. This is not an exhaustive list or anything, but there are some recent prices that stood out to me:
It’s moments like this that remind me of “Oh shit! The PS3 is turning 15. I’m dust.”
Personally, my YouTube feed has been filled with lists of hidden gems worth picking up on PlayStation Store, as well as popular games that are surprisingly expensive on discs but are digitally cheap. With all this information towing, I’ve been thinking more about my PlayStation 3 in the last few weeks than having bought the system at the end of its life cycle, no joke. I finally got a second DualShock 3.
I’m barely the only one with a renewed focus on the PS3, and this is reflected in the high second-hand market prices. The recent drama about certain games that can’t download patches is surely adding fuel to the fire. Many of us are looking to locate our libraries, and in this generation of consoles, that means more than just buying a game, putting it on a shelf, and keeping it up to date.
If you’re a motivated shopper, start researching and do what you need to do before you feel even more pressure as we move toward closing the store. If you’re open to parting ways with some of your less-loved games for the right price (inflated-like-hell), it might be time to take a look at your library.
This doubles for full copies of PS1 games such as Suikoden II, Tron Good, i Clone.
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