Masterpiece games are considered to have historical value. But can we convert that ‘historical value’ into money? Until last year, the value seemed to be recognized as a really high amount. I looked exactly.
The game cartridge, which was not released, has renewed the highest auction price until last year. The vinyl was not removed and the excellent storage state was maintained and the collectors were pulled. And the reason why the collector’s loaded bullets stayed at home due to the spread of Corona 19 were to the game. Furthermore, the games seemed to be rising because they had no shortage of so-called masterpieces such as Super Mario Brothers, Zelda’s legend, and Super Mario 64.
In 2019, Super Mario Brothers was awarded for $ 10,150, and a year later, $ 11.40,000 in July 2020, and Super Mario Brothers 3 in November, was the most expensive game.
In April 2021, however, the record rose to $ 660,000. Super Mario Bros., which was about a fifth of just nine months ago, broke the record. In July, Zelda’s legend was $ 870,000, and the same month Super Mario 64 wrote a new record in a week. And in August, Super Mario Bros. auctions exceeded $ 2 million. In less than two years, the $ 100,000 game was sold for about 20 times the price of 2.5 billion won.
Of course, if a product with a much better preservation state appears, the price can be higher. However, Watagames was associated with the surge in game auctions. Wata is an evaluation company that judges the preservation value of the game. There are various game preservation evaluations before the establishment of the Wata Games. But all the games with the auction records were rated.
The highest game sales record before the appearance of Wata is known as Super Mario Brothers traded through the auction site eBay. The price of this copy is $ 3,100. It costs about 38 million won.
Those who have gained in the process of soaring game prices were the platform Heritage Auction with Wata and auction. Wata received a part of the market value as a game rating, and the Heritage Auction charged 20% of the price and 5% fee for the seller. This has been suspected of intentionally raising game prices.
When Karl Jobst (video_ ), who also caught the video fraud of the most popular player in the guitar hero, raised this suspicion, Wata immediately issued a statement. They expressed regret that the knife was not in contact with them, saying it was unfounded defamation. However, the co-founder of the Heritage Auction belongs to the advisory committee of Wata. The controversy has increased as the new evaluation company Wata and Heritage Auction have signed an exclusive contract. In addition, the suspicion has grown as Wata sells the game they have rated and sets higher rating than the actual storage level.
Nine months after the suspicion, the case eventually broke out in May this year.
The ending of the case will be covered by the lawsuit, but the certainty is the copy of the classic game, which is called a masterpiece at the bidding of the game. Super Mario Brothers, sold for $ 2 million, the highest price ever, was awarded at a rally auction site, which has a system that allows them to invest like stocks as if they were stocks. The New York Times also claimed that a $ 100 investment in the game had a net profit of $ 950. In this process, there was no historical value or purity of the game. There was only a rating on a soaring price and a rating table evaluated by a new company.
Super Mario Bros. Copy’s best winning bid is 38 million won or 2.5 billion won, and the influence on the game will not change much. On the contrary, the fact that the game is used as a means of speculation is obviously hit by the hobby of the game collection and the purity of the media.
Nevertheless, these auction prices have attracted much attention not only in Korea but also abroad. This was because the auction was more than the auction and the pure value and record of the game.
The game with a few high-value games is completely stored and enshrines on the bookshelf as a collection of collectors. There is no institution that will properly evaluate the historical records or the value of the game company. The game awards are increasing in earnest, and the scab of winning a few GOTY awards, or the main awards wins, only soothes that. Rather, the strings left in Wikipedia are used as a standard for judging the value of the game.
The advantage of media content that can leave the record forever is not very good. If you have only a running device, you can play again at any time, and you can leave it to be able to enjoy it in a current generation by reprinting, but in reality it is not. The classic IP, which is torn, for reasons for development, distribution rights, etc., has no way to play and play. If it’s not a game that can find your rights, it will disappear at the cartridge stage without proper recording.
Games that have already been digitized here can also be limited to play. Even though it is a game purchased with download content, if the server is closed due to the appearance of the next generation console or sluggish sales, it will be difficult for buyers to play the game again. The illegal ROM file, which has no choice but to be a copyright infringement, has become the leader in the game’s record.
That’s why the investment of European strongest embracer groups, which have been called by gearbox, coffee stain studio, and crystal dynamics, are more noticeable.
Embracer Group recently announced a project called ‘Embracer Games Archive’. As the name suggests, it is a project to preserve and keep video games, consoles, and related accessories. It’s been a while since it was released to the public, but I archived more than 50,000 games and devices in Sweden’s Carl Stard. Although it is currently in the collection stage, the Embracer Games Archive said that it would be released to the public later and share it with game fans in a more valuable form.
David Bostrom, CEO of Embracer Games Archive, said that it will continue without stopping because it is a valuable legacy to protect and convey the game for the future.
The Strong, a non-profit organization in the United States, established the World Video Game Fame Hall in the name of the National Play Museum in 2015 and offers a game with historical value every year. In Korea, the Nexon Computer Museum in Jeju Island is archiving computer history and game records. In addition, at the main awards ceremony, we are not just a game developer, but the characters who have influenced the entire industry and reflect the value and meaning of the game they have worked on.
Obviously, there is a move to re-evaluate the value of the game and preserve its history. However, it is a platform company that ends a download server on a problem of profitability. A game company that cuts value only by bringing IP development rights. From a business point of view rather than a game, a company that is interested in ash. Those who slow down the results of effort and devotion are still there.
And if the industry does not speak the voice of this behavior on this behavior, it would not be strange if the game price inflated by speculation will be listed again at any time.
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