Okay, so for the first time in my life I came to the point where collecting is becoming more and more a matter of business that's ruining the love that I and many other gamers have for this hobby.
When I first started to buy games from ebay and forums, I'd usually go there to avoid paying so much for the games that were sold for higher prices in shops. I also resorted to ebay to find games that either weren't released over here or were in fact rare. After all, you could find some second hand copies around, some of them still mint, for lower prices than the RRP. Recently, when the huge amount of limited edition started being released for almost every important game, this behaviour of buying multiple copies for making a profit is going sick. A bunch of no-lifers decide to preorder several of these limited editions, making shops run out of stock faster. And even if they are not sold out, they immediately pop up on ebay for higher prices. When certain editions really become limited, they are sold out on preorders but once you go to ebay, guess what... you find several copies for sale at ridiculously high prices ON PREORDER.
The greatest example of this greedy behaviour is what's been happening with the Collector's Edition of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, limited to 4000 units worldwide and only available for sale at one of the dorkiest retailers I've ever dealt with: www.zavvi.com. Considering their terrible costumer service, how they do even get the rights to sell something exclusive like this??
In only two days this edition was sold out. The next few days however, several appeared on ebay. The first ones started selling for nearly £100, but when the sellers realized they could make even more money because desperate fans who missed their opportunity to get that edition at the fair price are desperate to get it, prices went up to 200, 300, even 500... Several weeks or even months after this edition was sold out, even to this day the game still keeps popping up on ebay.
Even collectors ordered more than a copy claiming they want one to play and another one to keep sealed, using all kinds of excuses to prove that their attitude is perfectly justifiable. In the end, most people who do that are only thinking about how much this will be worth in the future and the profit they may do. They don't give a damn if they're stealing someone else's opportunity to get this game for the retail price. Whenever I just want another copy to play, I don't go wasting money on two expensive special editions. There are 4000 units of this one only, yet how many people will actually have one for the RRP? Not 4000 for sure. Not even remotely close to that. Who cares anyway? Those who missed the preorder and can't afford to pay 200 or 300 for it just go find something else to buy. People usually say "the value of certain games and editions depend on how much people are willing to pay for them". In the end, it's something more like "the value of certain games and editions depends on how much money you have to spend on it, because whether you like it a lot or just a little bit it's irrelevant cause you may/will not be able to buy it anyway".
This is a common fact not just for videogames, but nearly everything in life, including basic needs. But who cares? The only important thing is MONEY. You don't have it? Nobody cares. People die because they can't buy food and we just pretend we care about that. Then why the hell would we care about something as irrelevant as VIDEOGAMES? That would be ridiculous, right?
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