Series S/X Do we think physical games for the series consoles will have an expensive market in the future?

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

As I’ve been collecting for Saturn, it’s often come up that the system’s games are so expensive because nobody at the time bought them, resulting in limited quantities even making it out to stores. This has me looking at more modern examples of consoles with a small install base (relatively) and asking: will they have a similar market in the future?

Now, XBox has ALWAYS been the odd man out in terms of collector adoration, but given the low production runs of many of their physical efforts this gen, it’s certainly POSSIBLE that prices will jump.

What’s the main thing holding it all back is the exclusivity thing. Saturn had a unique architecture, meaning that many games which made it on there ended up being trapped on there. Xbox, on the other hand, doesn’t have many EXCLUSIVES if any at all. What it might have is physical copies of games that are otherwise only on PC, which would mean that the only physical prints of certain games are on the XBox. That may be something.

What do you all think? Is there a chance prices may rise in the future, or will nobody ever care and the market for this console will forever be pathetic?

 

[LaserMoose]

It's certainly a difficult question to answer.

We may see a rise simply based off of the "nostalgia-cycle", in which the people who grew up with the Series systems would want to buy for them 20 years down the line. This has been the case for the majority of systems, and we may also see this happening depending on Xbox's trajectory as a console manufacturer.

The Series could end up like the Dreamcast before it, in which people hold nostalgia for Sega when they were still in the hardware market. That being said, the Dreamcast is a more unique console with its controller and VMU compared to the Series systems' more iterative approach as the successor to the Xbox One.

It's also a scenario of supply and demand. At this point in time, very few Xbox owners care to buy physical games, and thus the demand of the discs are very low. A low supply and low demand suggests to me that prices will remain at an equilibrium until demand inevitably goes up.

Due to the lack of exclusives and a future focused on maintaining digital libraries rather than physical ones, I believe that it will take quite some time before we see Series titles get overly expensive.

 

[Nidstang]

Depends on whether the games are actually complete on disc or not. Xbox Series games have the lowest percentage if complete on disc games compared to other consoles. That's really where the value is in modern physical collecting, complete on disc/cart games

 

[iamthemilkman]

I have been noticing that Series games have far less supply since they're not selling. I didn't collect much for the console for the longest time because of two reasons: some games aren't even on the disc (Halo Infinite, Starfield, Indiana Jones, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, etc.), whereas other games were "Smart Delivery" for many years, meaning sometimes the version on the disc was the Xbox One version. I opted for collecting on PS5 and Switch and only bought Xbox games when I found them cheap.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

Yes unfortunately

 

[Ethernoh]

Is there any, like at all, exclusive on the Xbox one? Pretty much all games are multi platform or on PC.
Unlikely, X360 on the other hand...

 

[Trainer Red]

Is there any, like at all, exclusive on the Xbox one? Pretty much all games are multi platform or on PC.
Unlikely, X360 on the other hand...

Killer Instinct Definitive Edition was practically the only one that popped into my mind when I read this post lol

 

[Ethernoh]

Killer Instinct Definitive Edition was practically the only one that popped into my mind when I read this post lol

It's on PC steam, and most of the game you need to download...
Bummer...

 

[Rusk]

Oh definitely, vintage electronics are collectables all around.
Ancient pieces of tech provides ample opportunity to learn history and experience that old era.

 

[iamthemilkman]

It's on PC steam, and most of the game you need to download...
Bummer...

Isn't most of the content on the disc in the Definitive Edition? I'm pretty sure I tried installing it offline and it installs all of the DLC off of the disc like it would if you bought them digitally.

 

[Nidstang]

Is there any, like at all, exclusive on the Xbox one? Pretty much all games are multi platform or on PC.
Unlikely, X360 on the other hand...

The physical market has changed. Most people who still buy physical don't do it to just own the game, or for exclusives, they do it to have the game all on disc, preferably with patches and DLC. It future proofs the game for preservation, in case the game is ever removed from online stores, or deleted from people's libraries.

Close to 90% of all games being released still don't actually require any downloads to play through to entirety. Xbox has more games that actually do require downloads compared to PS or Nintendo, but the market is still there for complete on disc games.

DoesItPlay? - Home

Working to ensure games remain accessible now and always!

www.doesitplay.org

 

[Ethernoh]

The physical market has changed. Most people who still buy physical don't do it to just own the game, or for exclusives, they do it to have the game all on disc, preferably with patches and DLC. It future proofs the game for preservation, in case the game is ever removed from online stores, or deleted from people's libraries.

Close to 90% of all games being released still don't actually require any downloads to play through to entirety. Xbox has more games that actually do require downloads compared to PS or Nintendo, but the market is still there for complete on disc games.

DoesItPlay? - Home

Working to ensure games remain accessible now and always!

www.doesitplay.org

Thanks for the resource. Kinda sad to find out XBOX has the most forced download to play games.

 

[Heinzu]

That's a difficult question to answer. I personally would be happy if there were more such things in the future. But everything is uncertain.

 

[gokusmacksmyds]

I'd say no based on the fact that the vast majority of original xbox and xbox 360 games can still be bought for dirt cheap, im frankly surprised how cheap they are, even exclusives like condemned criminal origins 2 was only $5 when i bought it last week, there is little interest (currently) in microsofts retro consoles.

microsoft also offers decent enough availability for most their titles on both modern xbox's and them going all in on multiplat diminishes the desirability of collecting limited "physical" runs which aren't even physical and don't actually have the game on it.

you'll have 1 or 2 oddities as always but once the servers are gone the discs will be paperweights so i don't predict them being desirable for collectors down the line, whats the point