You grew up during the golden era of video
games...you spent countless hours and countless quarters trying to put
your initials up on the high score screen. Now you want to relive
those experiences without waiting to play that Galaga game...no more
bumping elbows with attitudinal adolescents. Face it...you want to
buy a video game. I'm here to tell you from the start, and you can
ask anyone else out there with the same incurable sickness that I have
contracted...video games are like Lay's Potato Chips...you can't have just
one. More addicting than crack, more expensive than owning a Ferrari
(well, maybe not THAT expensive, but you get the point), more frustrating
than waiting in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles... Don't
say I didn't warn you.
OK, lesson number one. If you are
looking to buy your first game, decide first what game you want that to
be. You don't necessarily need to limit yourself to ONE particular
game, but narrow it down to two or three. You will never find what
you are looking for if you are looking for everything.
Second...relax...people are buying and
selling video games every day. If you don't have the game
immediately, you will be able to get it sooner or later if you are
persistent enough. Don't rush into this and spend too much money for
too little game...trust me on this one...if you doubt my experience in
this area, check out my PacMan page...
Next, do some research. Know what
you are buying. If you aren't quite sure what the third level of
Q*bert looks like, download MAME and play it. By doing so you not
only remember if you really liked the game after all AND, as a bonus, you
will know what to look for when you are shopping for that special
game. If the graphics don't look right or the sounds don't sound
like they did in the MAME version, then something is probably wrong.
Why? Because MAME uses the same code that the original versions of
the arcade games used...you're PC emulates the original game. If the
game you are considering buying doesn't look and sound the same then there
is probably something wrong with the game.
Also, scan the completed auctions on
e-Bay. See what the game you are looking for is selling for.
If the auction was completed recently, you will probably still be able to
see pictures of the games that were sold. Keep in mind that the
price of a game will vary with the condition. Look through the
newsgroups. A lot of games are bought, sold and traded in the
rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (RGVAC) newsgroups. Generally
speaking, these games are less expensive than the games auctioned off on
e-Bay.
OK, so now we are relaxed, we know what we
want to buy, and we have a general idea of what we should be paying.
Now all we have to do is find the game...there are several ways to do
this, with several methods and varying degrees of immediate
gratification...and expense.
Let's start with the method that will
allow you the least amount of immediate gratification...e-Bay. In
fact, this might be the most frustrating method of buying a game.
Here is how it works for those of you uninitiated (read: yet to be
screwed over) to an e-Bay auction:
E-Bay...
Scenario 1: You search
through the 4000-5000+ arcade items in the Collectables-CoinOp section of
e-Bay and find the game you want to buy. You bid on it and someone
out bids you. Lather, rinse, repeat. You keep bidding until
you have the high bid with two minutes left in the auction...then someone
swoops in and outbids you with too little time for you to return
fire. The launching of a SCUD in this manner is known as "sniping"
in the e-Bay world. The unfortunate person who thought that he had
the auction won usually looks down on this practice, but the seller and
the winner don't seem to mind...funny how that works out.
Scenario 2: You search
through said games...you find the game you want. You bid on the
game. You win the auction, you mail your money order, the winner
receives your money, you either (1) never receive your merchandise (2) you
get, shall we say, less than what you paid for or (3) you realize that in
the heat of the moment you bid way too much for the game...which is
probably why the snipers were laughing at you and watched you win the
auction.
In my experience, the best method for
avoiding either one of these scenarios is to lurk about stealthily...find
a couple of games that interest you during the early stages of the auction
(most auctions run for seven days, although some run for as little as
three, some run 11 damn days!) and take note of who is selling the
game. Even if it is the bestest, most funnest (grammatical errors
intentional and for emphasis) game you have ever seen and you want it more
than Hillary wants a divorce, DON'T BID ON IT YET! Relax...plenty of
time...Look at it this way...if the high bid is $200 and you bid $300 with
six days to go, chances are you just made the seller another $100.
Someone will out bid you...repeatedly. Instead, do some research on
the seller...look at his feedback, see if they are bashing him in the
newsgroups. The people who frequent the newsgroups can be stingy
with praise, but nobody there is quiet when they get screwed. If an
e-Bay seller is dishonest, you will hear about it in RGVAC, and the
easiest way to search for that dirt is to use deja-news. There, you
can search the newsgroups for any mention of the seller's shady
dealings. Research the average price of the game so that you know
what your limit should be and DO NOT EXCEED IT! Also, keep in mind
that unless you happen to be lucky enough to win an auction from a seller
who is relatively close to where you live, you can tack on another
$100-$200 for the price of packing and shipping the game to where you
live...if you live close enough to a major airport that is. A $200
game suddenly doubles in price...and boy will you feel stupid the first
time you get buy a game for $200 and end up paying that extra $200 to
actually have it in your home...
Summary...find your game early, do your
research, be smart and bid late in the auction. I won't say that I
haven't sniped one or two, but if it works for you, then so be it.
It isn't illegal nor is it against the writings of the great e-Bay
muckety-mucks. Do unto others before the do unto you I always
say.
RGVAC...
Next on the list of decreasing immediate
gratification is in the newsgroups. The pace is a little more hectic
here as the games usually sell cheaper here and the sell faster...no
eleven day auctions here, buddy. If someone advertises that mint
PacMan cocktail table that you want then you better be all over it.
The good ones don't last long here. Generally speaking, though, the
people here are a bit more open with the flaws that the games have and
will usually provide better information than the auctioneers on
e-Bay. Here, "mint" usually means "mint"...on e-Bay, "mint" usually
means that someone stuck some chewed up Wrigley's on the control panel no
matter what the seller says. But if you get in early enough, you
might be able to negotiate a better deal for yourself while at the same
time seeing if this seller has been flamed in the past. Generally
the individuals who are a little on the shady side don't sell very often
in RGVAC...they know better. But it never hurts to do your research
just to make sure. One common problem applies to buying in RGVAC as
well as e-Bay...shipping. If you can't pick it up, you get to pay
Forward Air to deliver it.
Side note...you can also find games by
searching on the web. A lot of people sell their games from their
home pages and they are usually the same people in RGVAC. Follow
some of the links on my links page and wander around...just make sure you
take notes and bookmark interesting sites as there are way too many of
them to remember...
Distributors/Operators
OK, I think this would have to rank tied
for first as far as immediate gratification is concerned. But this
form of immediate gratification will cost you...a lot. Here's how it
works...stay with me here...you get out the yellow pages. You find
whatever category arcade distributors are listed under. You call
said distributor. You inquire as to the availability of the game you
are looking to purchase. If the distributor has the game, you will
usually have to pay him or her a visit before you will be quoted a
price. Here is where it gets ugly. There are three things you
will need to do before you get there: (1) Do some stretching...trust me,
you will be bending over soon. (2) Stop by the bank and clean out your
checking and/or savings account. (3) Wrap your head...make sure your jaw
is good and secure...you will have sticker shock like you have never
experienced at a used car dealer before. Case in point...Amy and I
went to a local distributor that had a Centipede that we were looking
for...being into the whole immediate gratification thing, we figured we
could take it home that afternoon. Well, we could've...for
$1895! Needless to say, we continued our shopping.
I am not trying to make a blanket
statement about distributors, just relaying my experiences...
Arcade
Auctions
To me, this is the ultimate mix of instant
gratification, excitement and bargaining. If you can find out the
time and place for the next auction in your area, by all means, check it
out. Check the newsgroups as people usually post this info
there.
Here's how the process works...the auction
usually opens two or so hours before the auction actually starts.
Bring a long extension cord and you can play the game or games that you
are interested in before the bidding starts. Narrow down your
choices and make notes. When the bidding starts, the auctioneer
starts at one end of the row and moves right along. Just try not to
get too caught up in things and over spend. Generally though, you
can find what you want and a lot of stuff you don't. And, as an
added bonus, you get to take it home immediately...and I mean
IMMEDIATELY. Rule of thumb is that you have three hours after the
completion of the auction to haul your stuff away...so bring a truck, rent
one if you have to. Nothing more fun that watching someone trying to
stuff a Nintendo cab into a Nissan Xtrerra. One thing to keep in
mind here is that the auction companies usually tack on a "buyer's
premium" of 7-13% depending on your method of payment...(hint - bring
cash!) Even if you don't buy anything here, it is still a fun way to
waste a Saturday. Maybe not the cheapest way, but fun
nonetheless...
Anyways, if you have made it this far
without dozing then I hope you will have picked up some tips from my
experiences, and if so, then I have accomplished what I set out to
do. If you haven't made it this far...watch out for me on
e-Bay...snipe snipe :)
But remember...I warned you. Don't
blame me when you are collecting cans on the side of the road to pay for
that new Defender PCB... Good luck!
