After months of thinking about selling a few games I have collected over the years, I finally decided to take the plunge. Most of the games I own as physical copies are not too special. They mostly hold sentimental value for different reasons. However, then I have some games whose mere existence on my shelves annoys me. Well, not really. I’m not entirely fair here. They are just purchases made in the spur of the moment. Mostly, I got the titles cheaply with curiosity as my guide. So, let’s see what I have managed to sell after two weeks, and how much it has earned me.
Let’s start with the PC titles have I sold so far and then continue from there. I will also convert the money to euros to make it easier for everyone to follow. The euro and the dollar are kind of similar in value too, which is perfect for this post. I have managed to peddle away five PC titles so far. Time to start with the least surprising one.
PC
Thief II: The Metal Age (Big Box version) = €25
One of the few big box games I have decided to sell. I have nothing against the Thief series per se, but the sequel game never grabbed me like the original. Having a second box without owning the first just feels wrong. It just looks off to me on the bookshelf standing there alone. I blame autism, and so should you. I’m not buying the first one to remedy the issue since I have seen what it goes for. It’s not cheap, let me tell you. So, off it went. Now, €25 is not too much, yet it’s a nice sum to start with. I have seen it listed for €200, but then again I have seen the same people trying to sell it for that sum for years…
Star Wars: Tie Fighter & Star Wars: X-wing Alliance (Both Big Box) = €49 (for both)
Now, these games are not bad at all. Star Wars: Tie Fighter has a legendary status, considering it’s a good game with a heavy simulation approach, liked by many. The box even comes with a short novel about a rookie Empire Tie fighter pilot. It’s interesting, but way too brief to give the setting the justice it deserves. Star Wars: X-wing Alliance I never got into, as I found the engine switch made it feel very arcady compared to the older titles in the series. So, why did I decide to sell? Well, tie-fighter comes on floppy diskettes, and I don’t have a reader anymore, making it feel a bit wasted. And as said, X-wing Alliance didn’t engage me, so keeping it around feels “false” as something nostalgic. However, the biggest reason is that Star Wars is more or less dead to me since Disney has massacred the franchise. This might come off as odd, seeing as I have a Star Wars section on the site. What can I say, I still enjoy the games, but I don’t necessarily want to keep Star Wars on my bookcase if that makes any sense. Off it went, and €49 is nothing to scuff at, providing a nice sales boost!
Fallout & Fallout 2 = €9 (for both)
This was a weird one to me. I decided to list them on a whim, because who wants to buy two DVD cases with only the CDROM and no manual? Well, plenty of people apparently since it ended up being wish-listed by many. Then one dude decided to snag them both. Good for him, I guess. It feels like I missed something here and maybe lost some potential earnings, but oh well. Maybe it’s the Fallout fever from the TV show that spurred people on, who knows?
That’s all for the PC games, which netted me €83. Not a too-shabby start. Now we get into the console games. I think the used console games market is much more stable, at least when it comes to the low, and middle-tier titles – as in that they will sell. On the PlayStation 2, I managed to sell three games.
PlayStation 2
Splinter Cell: Double Agent = €2
Weak start, I know. But millions are selling this game. Either it was a hell of a success, or people don’t enjoy it all. Either way, it had to go. I remember buying it for cheap to test out the differences from the Xbox 360 version. And while I heard this and the original Xbox version was more in line with Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, with it supposedly having stealth in a similar vein, I didn’t feel or see it. I didn’t hate it, but I think I prefer the 360 version when compared. So €2 seems apt.
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy = €4
Hey, the earnings are twice as much as of Double Agent! On the game itself, man, what a disappointment. I remember checking reviews, thinking how awesome and fun it looked. What’s not to like? The main premise is shooting dudes in dystopian-looking sci-fi bases while also being able to throw around objects and men alike with your cool telekinesis power. The PS2 version was recommended because of the “tight” controls. Tight… sure. It probably has the most awkward control system ever. I don’t recollect exactly what was wrong, but I gave up very early. It just frustrated the hell out of me. I remember having to fight some random mooks on a steel staircase and it was the hardest thing I had ever done in a video game thanks to the controls. €4 is fine for this.
The Warriors = €10
I bought this game purely for nostalgic reasons. I remember it being a fun brawler, made in a cool setting – namely the cool 80s movie that it’s based on. What I didn’t consider was that the fun came from playing it with a friend, and sharing a sofa and screen. Now playing it solo, it just didn’t have the same appeal, and the extremely poor frames on the PS2 are just off-putting. How we put up with this back then is a mystery, but now it’s pure suffering. It’s extremely sluggish, from movement to the fighting. So, it had to go.
Project Eden = €4
Project Eden has a great CGI intro (one of my favorites) and a great dystopian setting. The gameplay isn’t bad either, but the PS2 version pales comparable to the PC edition. So, while I have nothing against it per se, I find keeping two copies of it feels unnecessary. And hey, 4 bucks!
And that is all for the PS2 sales, giving me €20 for everything. The majority of my sales will come from the PS4. However, being PS4 games they are not worth much at all on an individual basis. 99% of titles sold on this system are just a DVD case with nothing else than the game CD. No manuals, no extra flair, or anything like that, so there isn’t much collecting other than the actual game. Let’s start.
PlayStation 4
Heavy Rain & Beyond: Two Souls Collection = €8
Decided to buy this since I enjoyed David Cage’s Detroit Become Human, which made me curious about his earlier titles. And what can I say? These two titles felt overly aimless and pretentious, especially Beyond Two Souls. While Heavy Rain had a far more interesting story, there were just too many annoying quick-time events for the most dumb things. Like making food, cleaning, and other mundane tasks. It takes forever and removes all fun from the game, slowing down the pacing to a crawl. Eight bucks is more than fair for this collection.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey = €7
The worst Assassin’s Creed I have ever played. The combat is atrocious and feels very floaty, with a leveling system that makes the enemies bloated health-wise. People complain that the combat in the old Assassin’s Creed was way too easy, but at least it didn’t feel like you were fighting fantasy monsters way out of your level with a dull bread knife. It’s also loosely connected to the franchise at large, which makes the overall game suck even more. Boy, I’m glad I managed to sell this off, and that I got something back for it too.
Shadow of the Colossus = €13
Heard good things about this game from the days of the PS2, so I thought why not give the remastered PS4 title a go? A big mistake, because from playing it, I felt nothing, except being bored out of my mind. It’s another game where I don’t understand the appeal and the cult status at all. €13 felt more than fair to get rid of this.
Horizon Zero Dawn – Complete Edition = €7
Welcome to the world of Ubisoft open-world design, and it’s not even a Ubisoft game. Man, this game was absolutely not for me. I didn’t like the setting. The protagonist rubbed me the wrong way from the start and the open-world design felt extremely yawn-inducing. Getting even seven bucks for this felt like a blessing because being thrown into the trashcan would have been next otherwise.
Yakuza 0 = €5
During the years I have heard many good things about the Yakuza series, so why not start at the beginning of the storyline with Yakuza 0? Well, it’s another blunder by me, as this title is just a little too Japanese for my taste. It was also terribly linear for something I thought would be an open-city RPG. I didn’t get far, so the game may open up later on, but from the time played, I just went from cutscene to cutscene, effectively putting me to sleep. I have to say thanks for the five bucks seeing that I already have a better sleeping aid around.
Days Gone = €8
Days Gone is genuinely a game I like. It’s a zombie apocalypse adventure with an excellent story and fun gameplay. Being chased by murderous hordes never got old, leading them through traps and watching them get blasted into smithereens. However, the PS4 version suffers from extreme texture stuttering if you are on the normal PS4 hard drive. Very annoying, and ruined much of the gameplay, which the PC version has none of. Now owning it on PC made the PS4 copy superfluous, so it had to go the merchant heaven, giving me a sweet eight bucks!
Sinking City = €11
Just like Days Gone, Sinking City also suffers from the same texture streaming issue, but it’s even worse in this game since it happens constantly. Making any kind of traversing suck the joy out of it. I don’t know how these PS4 titles even got released in this state, but here we are. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order suffers from the exact damn thing, making me question why you would even buy anything on consoles since the titles don’t work as intended. Besides that, Sinking City wasn’t that interesting. It should have been, but when the game runs defense for Innsmouth fish people to score a few virtue points, it becomes too baffling and destroys all the remaining immersion. Scoring eleven bucks for this is more than fair.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order = €7
And here we got the Jedi Fallen Order. As mentioned, this also suffers from serious texture streaming, unfortunately. It ruined most of the experience since it requires good timing to dodge creature attacks and make jumps over hazardous environmental obstacles. Beyond that, I found it not to be that great, to be honest. Deemed to be another game in my collection that would never get touched again, so a bit of a waste. What not is wasted is the seven euros I got back for it.
Outcast: Second Contact = €7
Outcast is a pretty good game, and a remaster that actually keeps to the original. However, seeing as the PC version is better thanks to mouse and keyboard, the PS4 edition loses out automatically. Also, being a remaster, it did have the effect of “been there, done that”. That should teach me to not buy any remakes or remasters again since this feeling is a common theme. Give me that sweet seven bucks, thank you.
Bloodborne – Game of the Year edition = €7
Bloodborne is a favorite to many, and one of the few exclusives still left on the PS4 system. The setting seems cool, seeing as it’s Lovecraft-inspired, but I just couldn’t get into it. The gameplay was just too fast, and I didn’t like the aesthetics that much. Just like in Dark Souls 3, everyone is tall and lanky, and everything just comes off looking a bit weird. At least compared to the older games. I really tried to like it, but it’s not for me. Seven bucks is not much, but it’s better than nothing for something that I will never play again.
With that, the PS4 sales netted me €88. Not bad, not bad at all, considering it all comes from games I never intend to touch again. I don’t see much worth collecting them either, besides owning the actual game CD seeing as they are boring as a package with zero flair. Manuals have gone the way of the dodo, even on consoles, which is a shame.
All in all, it was a nice little endeavor that granted me around 191 Eurobucks. I’m surprised at how well it went. I have to say, it feels pretty good earning some money back from games that I don’t want to keep on my bookshelf anymore, instead of just trashing them, or putting them away in some dark corner of the closet. I’m also glad that I could make someone else happy with my so-called junk. Otherwise, it seems that the pricing of older titles has dropped. From what I remember going back a few years, games in general were much more expensive, even the more common titles. Now, the rare ones are still pretty expensive of course, but it seems if you start to collect now, you can get a pretty nice collection for cheap. Just don’t do what I did and buy stuff because it’s cheap. Only buy games you actually want to play & keep. Anyway, that is all from me, until next time!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 