G-Mixer’s highlighted examples include Zelda: The Wind Waker, LucasArts’ Full Throttle, Out of this World, Street Fighter III, and Super Mario World.

Then something clicked for me: Pretty much all of these are also collectible titles.

It’s an easy concept, but has huge implications for game collecting, especially those (like me) who are speculatively collecting titles now that may become collectible later on. It goes a long way in explaining why the sports genre is virtually devoid of collectible games, except in the rare case of a visually unique title (Nintendo’s Punch-Out!!, EA’s Mutant League Football).

I shamefully admit that I’ve never heard of Out of this World, and after Wikipediaing it and checking its profile out on Mobygames, I’m stunned that such a unique art style could have been ported to the SNES and Genesis. What blows my mind even more is that this is from 1992. I’m definitely going to have to hunt down a copy and play it. (For the curious, the general consensus is that the SNES version is superior to the Genesis, primairly for the SNES’s bigger color palette.)

My sealed copy came from a Sears clearance just at the very end of Ico’s shelf life for a cool $9.97 and it’s now one of the treasures of my collection. At the time, my friend had just introduced me to the game (months before Shadow of the Colossus’s release) and I was instantly enamored with it. I kept it because of a collector’s instinct that it was going to be a classic.

When I checked the value of a sealed copy a year ago, it was around $65.

Ico’s value has been rising steadily, nearly doubling over the past year. What’s most remarkable is that it seems to be gaining “classic” status on its own merit, through word of mouth on the ‘net. Although Sony’s media blitz for Shadow of the Colossus certainly turned a lot of people on to Ico, that was two years ago, and shouldn’t affect what happens in 2008.

(Chart taken from Videogamepricecharts.com)

Team ICO have already announced that they have a PS3 title in the works, although they’re keeping it under tight wraps until it’s ready. (Hit the link for a teaser screenshot.) I predict that Ico’s price will spike even higher once Team ICO’s PS3 title is out (barring a reprint or re-release, of course).

coupon code: HEYNOW

This is a promotion they’re running on the Howard Stern radio show, and if the past is any indication, it’ll only last for a few days, so act now.

If you have any qualms about their used product quality, I’ve ordered here dozens of times and everything has been usually excellent.

A woman (who appeared to be the store manager) went through the store handing out raffle tickets, promising a giveaway at the jewelry counter. Once the customers gathered around for the “giveaway,” we were instead subjected to a 5 minute sales pitch for really cheap (and cheap looking) “gold” jewelry at a “special price” of $21 for 4 necklaces and 4 bracelets.

At first, she claimed to be taking a “survey” of whether the audience liked each piece or not. I’m pretty sure the survey was just a ruse of social engineering to get people thinking about whether they would like to own each piece. That’s when the “special” sale came in.

The woman claimed it was some kind of partnership with the Home Shopping Network (dubious!) and after we all endured the soft sell of standing in place for several minutes, the giveaway was for one of the bracelets (big deal).

This was obviously not Kmart’s usual jewelry, as the woman literally dumped the stuff into ziplock bags before selling it. You stay classy, Kmart.

I’m amazed that Kmart thinks this is better for business than, oh, say, having more than one checkout open at any given time.

My recommendation is if you get a raffle ticket while in Kmart, just ignore it, because it’s really not worth your time.

Anyway, the whole thing smacked of something scammy, and I’m really curious to know if anyone else has seen one of these pitches in a Kmart recently. If you have, please leave a comment. For the record, this was at the Kmart in Hagerstown, Md., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, around 4 pm.

And as for games, I picked up Square Enix’s Project Sylpheed (Xbox 360) on clearance for $10. I also saw Nights for the Wii on clearance for $10 but left it behind.

Maybe they can dig me up a dirty N64 for 10% off MSRP?

Unfortunately, some stores are rather lazy about updating prices on items. Sure, you can bug an employee to price check stuff for you, but there’s a way to do it yoursef:

You can use the music preview kiosks (the little stands with headphones and an LCD screen, pictured) to price check any item at f.y.e. (Lots of shoppers don’t know this.) You usually have to wait ~20 seconds to watch a commercial, but after that an info screen will load with the current price and screenshots of games.

This trick will work at any Transworld Entertainment store: f.y.e., Wherehouse, Coconuts, Sam Goody, Suncoast (though they usually don’t have the screens), etc.

This is especially helpful on hunting sealed older titles. I’ve discovered good buys like Gradius V (PS2) for $19.99 using this trick.

On a related note, it seems that prices at f.y.e. stores are not quite universal. I’ve seen Xenosaga II for PS2 anywhere from $7.99 to $49.99 depending on the store.

Image: Microsoft

Final Fantasy VII and Guitar Hero III came from a pawn shop on the way home from my ’saling. Needless to say, a $5 copy of FFVII turned a mediocre yard saling day into a great one!

• Legend of Dragoon Collector’s Video VHS — $0.50
• Final Fantasy VII — $5 (pawn shop)
• Resident Evil 2 N64, complete — $3
• Super Mario 64, complete — $3
• UFC Sudden Impact PS2 — $3
• Guitar Hero III PS2 — $12.50 (pawn shop)
• Mega Man X4 PS1, disc only — $1
• Fat DS Mad Catz case — $0.50 (will go well with the $5 fat DS I got a couple of weeks ago)

There are lots of photos, so this one is great even for the window shoppers.

The lot isn’t cheap — the seller is asking $10,845.12 or Best Offer.

I hope my collection looks like this some day. It’s a shame the seller doesn’t have a “group shot” as I’m sure this much RPG shwag all together looks pretty impressive.

HUGE Squaresoft Square-Enix Collection (100+ items!)

The Find of the Day for me was an excellent condition copy of Vandal Hearts for the Playstation. I nearly didn’t stop at this sale because the classified ad listed “glassware, antiques,” etc., which is usually just code for “grandma died and we’re clearing out her house.” This was around 11:30 too, pretty late in the day for 32-bit gems to be just sitting around.

The funniest thing was that this was only game they had (too bad!), and the only other thing I saw that looked like it was made for someone under 40 was a single Spider-Man action figure. Most everything else, was the ad said, was antique.

The asking price was $1 and I happily paid it. This is my first ever copy of Vandal Hearts and it will be staying in the collection for sure. I’ve been on a tactics RPG kick lately, so perhaps I’ll end up playing it someday. (Then, I say that about the other 400 games that I own.) Now just to find Vandal Hearts 2…

Low point of the day: Snobby bitch mom trying to sell PS2 launch titles (those are from 2000, in case you forgot) and Game Boy Color games for $10 each. I held up Zone of the Enders. “This game is $5 at Gamestop.” “Oh no it’s not, I buy games there all the time.” I give up.

• Bust-a-Move, Game Gear, complete and minty — $2
• Pac-Man, Game Gear, complete and minty — $2
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, Game Gear, complete and minty — $2
• Super Columns, Game Gear, complete and minty — $2 (These all came from the same guy who sold me the complete Genesis games two weeks ago.)
• Star Wars: Dark Forces/Jedi Knight Special Edition, PC — $1
• X-Com: UFO Defense, DOS/PC — $1
• Aladdin, Genesis — $0.50 (Much nostalgia for this one!)
• PS2 demos: Jampack, Dark Cloud 2, War of the Monsters — $0.25 ea
• Resident Evil 4 EGM preview DVD — $0.25
• Playstation 2 Kiosk 2-12 Spring 2004 promo demo — $0.25 (So cool to find these in the wild! I’ve never owned any kiosk demo discs before. All the demos came from a guy who used to work at both Software, Etc. and Wal-Mart.)
• Xbox Wal-Mart Demo Disk Version 2.0 — $0.25 (No idea what’s on here. I thought I might pop it in my 360 to find out, but then I remembered it’s probably not backwards compatible. Anybody know what’s on the disc? Put it in the comments!)Find of the Day:
• Vandal Hearts, PS1, complete — $1

Update 07.30.08: I had a friend pop the Xbox kiosk demo disc into his original Xbox, and here’s what’s on it:

Playable Demo:
NCAA Football 2003
RalliSport Challenge

Video:
Madden NFL 2003
NASCAR Thunder 2003
Prima Strategy Guides
Xbox Live - Play Online!
Xbox Now $199
Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Kakuto Chojin
Kung Fu Chaos
Mech Assault
NBA Inside Drive 2003
NFL Fever 2003
Quantum Redshift
Shenmue II
Sneakers
Whacked!
Xbox.com
Xbox Accessories
ESRB Ratings

Warning:
Microsoft Legal

The box is larger than I thought it was, measuring 10 inches on the longest side. The seller says this music box is an edition of only 500, with this one being #044. Here’s the seller’s description:

If you look at the silver part with the six screws and the strips, it is made to look like a piano and as the music box plays, the strips move just like it’s playing a piano (looks amazing). At the front of the music box there’s a gold harp shaped piece that if you move to the left it stops and if you move to the right it plays. The dimensions of its box are 10 inches by 4.25 inches by 6.5 inches. The reason why it’s so expensive is that the music box has 50 NOTES. Most music boxes have only 18 notes, and play only 1 tune. The music box is made out of curubixa wood which is supposed to be one of the best woods for music boxes (curubixa wood is an exotic type of wood : dense and excellent for sound insulation). This is very high quality item. Don’t miss out on this super rare FFVII item. Auction started from $1,000 (no reserve) and buy it now option $1,700.

I keep having an impulse to bid, but then I remember what an obscene amount of money that is.

Final Fantasy VII Aerith Music Box Limited Edition