Over the last few years video game collecting has evolved from a niche hobby to a very popular way of staying in touch with your childhood, because almost every collector starts by buying the games that they played and loved as a kid.

However, some collectors are not satisfied with only having the games from their childhood, and they go on to collect every game for a system or every game that meets their specific criteria (rpg’s, fighting games, press editions etc).

With an ever growing community of video game collectors, the demand for certain games rises and while there are enough FIFA ’99s out there to make sure everyone can build a house with them, some games didn’t get released in such high quantities. The demand for these games is many times higher than the supply, making them hard to find (rare) and sometimes very expensive.

With this settled, let’s talk about why certain games get incredibly valuable, while others are worthless.

The first thing that applies to both collectors and the general 2nd hand game market is, of course, supply and demand as stated before. When there are a million copies sold of a game (ie. Gran Turismo) and no one needs a copy, prices will be very low. As an exception to this rule some games that are very common can be expensive because they are great games that had a big impact on people’s lives (ie. Final Fantasy VII, Shadow of the Colossus).

When we go beyond the general market and dive into the “collectors economy” you find that rarity and notoriety becomes a factor. While some games can be extremely rare, as in only a couple of copies are known to exist, the price depends on the notoriety of the game. If it is a famous rare item like the Australian/New Zealand only Grand Theft Auto: Double Feature (PS 1) or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS 1) then prices will easily exceed €150. But if it’s a lesser known game like Destructo 2 (PS1) or Ocean Commander (PS2) then you don’t have to pay a lot; it’s just finding them is a problem.

For collectors of older consoles like the Nintendo NES and Atari 2600, the bulk of their money goes to normally released games, because back in those days there were no special/collectors/limited editions. As for PlayStation collectors like myself, obtaining the regular released games can be tough and expensive like the examples given before. But it really gets crazy when you go for the non-regular stuff like collectors editions, press kits (that were not for sale and were given to the press) and commemorative editions (to celebrate a certain event). A few examples of expensive non-regular items are: Final Fantasy X press kit (€500), Elemental Gearbolt Assassins Case (a press edition, €4000) and Gran Turismo Commemorative Disc (to celebrate 100 million Playstation discs being produced, €150).

One of the best parts about collecting PlayStation games is that, in collectors terms, it’s still a young console. There are still games and special editions or variants out there that haven’t been found yet by collectors, for example only a few months ago I discovered a press edition of Colin McRae Rally 2 that was unknown to exist. This makes “hunting” for Playstation stuff on places like eBay a lot more interesting: who knows what you’ll find!

The games I’ve discussed in this article are only the tip of the iceberg and I could go on for hours and hours about rare and obscure PlayStation 1 and 2 games, did you for instance know there is a kaleidoscope “game” for the PS1 (Baby Universe) and that there are even rare FIFA variants out there?

If you are a PlayStation collector or enthusiast, or you just want to learn more about collecting for the PlayStation 1, 2, 3 and PSP, be sure to check out our PlayStation Collecting Community over at http://www.playstationcollecting.com/forum/ because that is the place to be! The site has an active community forum, weblog, twitter, facebook, youtube and (best of all) an immense game database with a collection tool where you can manage your video game collection.

Keep on collecting!

Xed / Sjoerd. Founder @ PlaystationCollecting.com

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The global PlayStation family is celebrating a very special birthday this September. On 29 September, 1995, the original PlayStation console launched across Europe with games likes Ridge Racer and WipEout.

That’s 15 years of amazing games, new consoles, E3 bombshells, midnight launches, all-nighters, achy thumbs, annoyed girlfriends, rage quitting, wiping discs with sleeves, converting friends, swearing at enemies, eyes clenched with concentration and the satisfaction of finally seeing the end credits.

To mark the occasion, I emailed the people that have been working here at SCEE since the very beginning and asked for their favourite memories; here are my 15 favourites. I’m also aware that many of loyal readers will also have been with us from the very beginning, so please add to this piece by sharing your fondest memories in the comments.

Ray Maguire, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, SCE UK

So much has changed over the last 15 years. My daughter was one when we launched the PlayStation and now she’s studying for her A-levels and has a boyfriend. There were no social networks; no High Definition and people watched TV as the primary source of entertainment.

Not only was the original PlayStation console new, so was the company. Although most of us came from the games industry, Sony had no credentials in video games and the pundits thought we would fail. As a start up, we had the chance to ‘do it another way’.

The early years were about establishing PlayStation as a brand and although the business today is very different, it’s as much fun and as rewarding as it ever was.

Dave Parkinson, Director of First Party QA, SCEE

The original PlayStation was just under 12 months away from European release when I joined the company and it was clear to everyone, even then, that this machine was going to change the gaming landscape with arcade quality gameplay, coupled with an exceptional line up of launch titles.

PlayStation became a household name soon after, which made you feel proud to be a part of that organisation going through such tremendous growth.

Paul Holman, Vice President of Research & Development, SCEE

Back in 1995, a typical console game could be made in 12 to 28 months by a few dozen people at most. We communicated with them via a cutting-edge BBS Bulletin Board System, which was basically a 486-based PC with a number of modem cards next to my desk. The CD was a new and expensive novelty that we kept in fridges during the ramp up to the original PlayStation’s launch.

Flip forward to 2010 and games need Blu-ray Discs to hold all their content, while teams range from 70 to 100 people, to a tiny crew working on a PSN game.

Steve O’Neill, Graphic Designer, SCEE

I began working for PlayStation in the summer of 1995, just before the launch of the first PlayStation. At that time, marketing operated out of a small office in 13 Great Marlborough Street. We were all squashed in together – 2 designers, a copywriter, a couple of product managers and several others. It’s amazing to look back and think how few people there were in the company at the launch of PlayStation.

We knew we were at the cutting-edge and that what we were working towards would change the face of the games industry and keep on changing it. At the end of the week, Chris Deering, our then Vice President, would take us all down to the pub. For most of us, it was a completely new experience, and that made it fun because it felt more like an adventure than a job.

Something inevitably gets lost when a company grows to our size. Despite that, I still feel as proud to say I work for Sony PlayStation today as I did back in 1995.

Mark Pittam, Head of Network Platform Format QA, SCEE

Back in 1995, we thought that Ridge Racer and Jumping Flash were outstanding 3D titles, and then Final Fantasy VII and PaRappa the Rapper come along and change all that. PaRappa the Rapper created a new genre overnight and look where we are now – we have titles such as Rock Band, SingStar and Guitar Hero.

Nadim Othman, Director of Creative Services, SCEE

I won’t ever forget the first zombie appearing in the first Resident Evil. A group of us playing it in the office after work one evening and we went into a state of near hysteria. It was a fantastic moment.

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Now that PlayStation Move is finally in the hands of gamers across Europe and the UK only has a few more hours to wait, it seems as good a time as any to lace up our nostalgia shoes and take a look at the various control methods used on PlayStation systems over the years.

1995 – PlayStation Control Pad: Shaping the Future

PlayStation hit shelves and, along with the D-pad, came four shapes – triangle, circle, X and square – that, together, would visually represent a new global culture.

1997 – Dual Analog: More Power to Your Thumbs

Two years later, a pair of thumb sticks was added to the original controller and we’ve never looked back. The general design of the Dual Analog controller went on to become a games industry standard that is still in place to this day.

1998 – DualShock: A Shock to the System
The first PlayStation controller with vibration feedback and the last to be released for PlayStation, the DualShock let you physically feel the force of a Tekken 3 beatdown. Some developers realised that having two motors allowed for stereo vibration feedback; the helicopter scenes in the original Metal Gear Solid were particularly impressive in this respect.

2000 – DualShock 2: Analogue Accuracy

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