VGA Seals Retro Games in Plastic... Forever?
Apr. 16
One of the great things about the Virtual Console is that, for many systems, it offers a cheaper and convenient alternative to buying games second-hand than getting loose cartridges second-hand. The collector market has driven up second-hand prices for virtually all old games, and especially for games from popular systems like the Nintendo hardware.
Ebay watching site GameSniped recently reported that the first games graded and slabbed by the VGA - Video Game Authority, that is - have shown up for auction on e-bay, and are fetching unusually high prices thanks to their pristine state. By "slabbed", I mean complete, sealed-in-box copies of the games are placed inside a plastic case that's designed to show any signs of tampering and make the product harder to damage.
Even GameSniped was comparing the practice of slabbing games to the practice of slabbing comics, though it should be noted that it's not the same group of collection experts working on both types of products. The CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) that handles the grading and slabbing of comics is a totally different organization than the CGA (Collectible Grading Authority) that owns both the VGA and similar agencies that perform grading and slabbing services for action figures, dolls, and die-cast car toys. The various CGA grading agencies appear to use CGC-like terms and methods, and that is probably very intentional.
The way VGA grading works is very similar to CGC grading. Send you game-in-package to the authority along with a $25 dollar fee, and they'll grade it, put it in a slab, and affix a sticker describing the contents and actual grade value to the front of the slab. If you ever open or tamper with the slab, then the grade becomes null and void. If you keep it in the slab, it's going to fetch a higher price on the second-hand market.
The rise of the VGA means good and bad things to different groups of collectors, but how will it affect the sort of gamer who just wants to play a classic game? It's long been established that buying loose cartridges instead of sealed, CIB, or even games with manuals is cheaper. In theory, this gamer is equally likely to buy it off of VC or buy a loose cartridge, or perhaps a CIB copy if it's cheap enough. The going theory GameSniped presents is that once grading is a major part of game collecting, all ungraded items are likely to get cheaper and less valuable. Would this make the VC less of a bargain given dropping costs on loose cartridges? Most NES games on VC, for instance, are already overpriced compared to the costs for second-hand carts.If prices dropped further, then most SNES, Genesis, and N64 VC prices would start looking like much less of a bargain.
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