DS Daily: All good things
by Alisha Karabinus 
{ Aug 1st 2008 at 9:00AM }
The phrase "all good things must come to an end" doesn't always apply when it comes to gaming. Not all games have ends, precisely; games with certain types of multiplayer functions, or puzzle games and similar titles, could probably be played forever, provided you don't grow tired of them. But let's talk about those games that do have a definite ending. When you've saved the princess, completed all the side quests, killed the Weapons, stopped the apocalypse, and gotten the girl/boy/kingdom, what do you do? Sell it? Lend it to a friend? Keep it for later replay or collecting purposes?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kimiko @ Aug 1st 2008 9:16AM
I keep my games nowadays, after I found out that shops pay you only half of what they're worth on reselling. I would only sell the games I didn't like anyway.
Makoto99 @ Aug 1st 2008 9:18AM
I can't recall a DS game I actually finished, so I guess the jury is out... but for most games like RPGs, I typically just put it away and go to the next one. Then a year or two later I replay it to remember what happened in the story.
For certain RPGs with multiple character choices (like Knights of the Old Republic, NWN or NWN2, or Mass Effect) I restart it with a different character class and try it again for the new playstyle, though usually not to completion. And for others such as Fire Emblem, I play with different party members to get their conversations and so forth.
Nigeria @ Aug 1st 2008 9:19AM
I must have gone through 25-30 DS games, but my collection always stays at a steady 10-15 games.
If it isn't something spectacular - TWEWY, Sonic Rush - then I usually end up selling the game or lending them to someone else. Though, the overriding temptation is always to sell. Seeing as I import my games from the US, a weak dollar means I always seem to make a 50% profit. But sometimes I regret it - I really need buy another Canvas Curse.
Swampgirl Inez @ Aug 1st 2008 9:19AM
I'll lend it to a friend for a while and come back to it another day. That is, assuming there is re-playable content. I keep my Phoenix Wright's to lend out for now. I'll probably trade them in at some point.
game-SAGA @ Aug 1st 2008 9:22AM
Any game worth playing is worth keeping. Especially RPGs. After all I have my son coming up into videogame age in 6 or 7 years. I need to make sure he gets an education in the classics ya know.
game-saga.blogspot.com
MrTyzik @ Aug 1st 2008 9:39AM
I sold Polarium back to EB because I was young and needed the money (yeah, I was in bad shape). Mostly, I keep my games. I traded Castlevania: DoS to my friend for New Super Mario Bros. but that's about it.
supa_s @ Aug 1st 2008 9:45AM
I keep them. Even if I don't like the game, I don't sell it simply for the reason that you don't even get half the price back. Plus, it's nice to see those boxes stacked on top of each other.
OtakuReborn @ Aug 1st 2008 9:53AM
I follow this same line of thinking.
In addition to the cash back argument, even if I've beaten a game, I still keep it in case I want to break it out again sometime in the future, even if it wasn't that good of a game. Even the games I probably won't ever revisit (Hoshigami Remix....o_o) I still keep, just because it looks cool to have a neat line of DS boxes. I couldn't imagine parting with something that was once mine. Then again, I'm one of those people who like to keep everything, even if I have no further use for them.
Fiefdom @ Aug 1st 2008 10:06AM
I also don't sell any of my games. I usually end up liking the majority of the games I buy. My little brother plays some of the games I don't like anymore, but a number of them have nostalgic value. I am one of those people who doesn't like to get rid of things, but I do revisit games that I really enjoyed and I sometimes do go back to games I haven't really played. I had Resident Evil 4 for two years before I touched it, I didn't play the first Phoenix Wright until this year, and I'm still playing through the GBA version of Riviera.
I still play Pokemon Yellow on plane flights and long car or bus journeys, heh. It's a lot of fun to go back to games I used to enjoy for one reason or another. The first two Pokemon generations, the Legend of Zelda series, Fire Emblem, Nippon Ichi's weird tactic games, and a whole bunch of other titles are a part of my growing up and I like going back to them even if I've already beaten them.
I used to lend games to friends but I found that most people don't bother to avoid damaging the disc or case and are horrible at returning games at a specified date. My Dad is the only person who I trust with my games now (aside from my little brother who I supervise while he plays).
JohnathanEnder @ Aug 1st 2008 10:14AM
Between me and my siblings (we're 4 in total) one of us always has a DS game the other doesn't.
I'm the one with the biggest collection, and the only one who actually buys DS games on a consistent basis. So when I finish one game, I pass that on to one of my 3 sibs. Then when they finish it, they pass it on to another one.
This cycle lasts quite a while actually -- we're slow players. ^_^
Zealot @ Aug 1st 2008 10:18AM
Only in the past two years or so have I become a person who permanently keeps whatever games I purchase. I'm just now out of my cash-strapped teenage years, in which I had to get rid of most of my N64, PS1, Gamecube, and GBA games on separate occasions. At great expense I'm now trying to buy them all back, but apparently most of the things I once owned have retained their value and it's making attaining complete copies pretty frustrating. It's not so much that I have a lot more money now that I'm in college, but I'm very lightly into game collecting and have realized that many games hold part of their retail value for years, and since I'm so close to completing my education and having a steady occupation anyway there's no longer any need for me to worry about squeezing every cent I can out of my own games. Although my collection is nowhere near as impressive as the one pictured, it still gives me a lot of pride to see all my DS games lined up on my shelf.
elsng @ Aug 1st 2008 10:45AM
My friends and I keep all of our games then every once a while, we trade them amongst each other to play games that we don't have.
rikki @ Aug 1st 2008 11:01AM
Memorizers like Touch Detective and Picross get sold. Games I'm no longer interested in playing get sold. Even if I only get $1, that $1 does more for me than a game that only gathers dust on my shelfand who knows, finding La Pucelle Tactics in the used games bin might make some fangirl's day.
Jury's still out on series like Etrian Odyssey and Trauma Center. In the long run, I imagine I only NEED one of each. The question is whether one game from each series will prove itself superior enough for me to sell the other, or whether both games will distinguish themselves enough to be worth keeping.
(I'm betting that TC2 and EO1 will get the axe, though.)
Fiefdom @ Aug 1st 2008 5:23PM
La Pucelle Tactics was fun. :)
Andy @ Aug 1st 2008 11:27AM
I rarely, rarely, rarely trade in. As such I have a huge library of old PSX, PS2, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance games on top of the games I have for my current gen consoles (PS3, PSP, DS).
The problem now is finding where they're all stored. Well, I know where most are. But, for example, I was trying to find my Pokemon Ruby for linking to my Pokemon Pearl and I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Homerun17 @ Aug 1st 2008 11:41AM
Whoops XD
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I keep mine XD
Roto13 @ Aug 1st 2008 12:20PM
I try to only buy games I like, so if I like a game I'll probably want to play it again at some point. :P
Also, getting rid of a game is a sure way to make myself want to play it. xP
Nightrunner @ Aug 1st 2008 12:37PM
I ususally trade those bad boys in. I know you only get a fraction of the original cost, but it's better then nothing. I'd rather get $10 off a new game than let an unplayed game sit there and collect dust...
However, good games like Advance Wars get kept in the vault!
Morning Toast @ Aug 1st 2008 12:53PM
I'm really bad at letting go of games, regardless of system. I don't know why I can't give up games, for trade, cash, whatever. Although, I don't buy a lot of games so the ones I do get are ones I usually play again and again, even if there is an "end."
I think one thing that always stopped me from giving up games is that I always felt scammed when I tried to resell them. Maybe I wait too long to get a fair resell price, but when I take a stack of games in and only get $5 store credit, it's just not worth it.
I know some people that get a new game every week, but I just can't keep up with that. Maybe I could have back in school, but now a game that requires only 20+ hours of play will last me months.
Patrick @ Aug 1st 2008 1:05PM
I usually avoid buying games that can be "finished." To me, a game ought to be infinitely replayable. Hence, I generally dislike RPGs and many puzzle games.
When I make an exception, as I recently did with Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, I don't know what to do with the "finished" game. I passed this one on to my wife to try on her DS.
I do know of a shop in a mall where I could trade in DS games, but I've never done it yet.
Basically, I always look for games I'll be happy to play for the rest of my life. Any game that doesn't fill that bill is an inferior product IMO. (But "the rest of my life" is probably a lot shorter than it is for many people around here. I'm over fifty.)
aj @ Aug 1st 2008 11:01PM
Well, you could always be hit by a bus at any moment. Life is uncertain. Games should be fun right from the start, and stay fun.
Can you list some of the games that fit your criteria? I am, myself, an RPG person and find that those are more replayable than something like Mario. But that's just me.
Patrick @ Aug 4th 2008 1:12PM
Can I list some games that fit my criteria? Sure. But it'd be simpler to just point to almost all traditional card and board games. They're all "infinitely replayable." Chess, bridge, checkers, dominoes, backgammon, etc. Pick any one of them, and you can have fun playing it all your life (assuming you enjoy it in the first place); you'll never reach an end, where you feel you've "finished" the game.
In contrast, any story-driven game (such as an RPG) naturally has a beginning, middle, and end. When you reach the end of it, it's like getting to the end of a movie or novel; you're done. Someday in the future, you might be up for replaying it, but then it'll be a rerun -- you know how the story is going to go and more or less how it'll turn out. Instead of being faced with new challenges, you'll be repeating old challenges.
Yes, I know people who have a favorite movie and will watch it over and over again. And I suppose the same is true for some RPG fans.
But when I'm talking about a replayable game, I mean a game that's different every time you play. For instance, it's possible to play chess all your life and never play exactly the same game twice. The setup may always be the same, but then there are millions of variations in how the game progresses from there.
In contrast, if I go back and play Zelda: Phantom Hourglass again, I'm going to have to go through all those levels of the Temple of the Ocean King all over again, and again, and again. They're not going to change.
Holden @ Aug 1st 2008 1:35PM
Genuinely sterling games stay with me - and that shit is refined, I assure you.
In fact, I think that Picross DS and Electroplankton might be the only games with that rare title in my DS catalogue.
I'm lacking in funds to buy new games though, so trade-ins are a frequent must for me, even though I do have a lot of regrets;
especially now that my girlfriend has a DS; I'd love to have given her Brain Age or Nintendogs.
chibi_wings @ Aug 1st 2008 1:53PM
I never sell my games, I still have my old gameboy and genesis games, and even if I don't play them, I just can't part with them either. I guess I'm your typical pack rat. I would have to really dislike a game to give it away or sell it.
Mr Khan @ Aug 1st 2008 2:12PM
Keep them 99% of the time, as I'm almost always satisfied with what i buy, and fear that i will miss it one day when i need something old to play.
Baka @ Aug 2nd 2008 12:06AM
I keep all of my games. I am pretty careful about buying games, and don't have any that I regret. I usually play games multiple times, even if I'm just replaying bits and pieces and not going through the whole game. If I liked it enough to buy, I'm sure I'll like it enough to keep.
http://gamingdungeon.ikrell.com/
Ng0zT @ Aug 1st 2008 10:37PM
I just cant get enough final fantasy (i almost got paladin cecil!)
aj @ Aug 1st 2008 10:59PM
In the case of games that I finish, and that have no reason to play them again, ever, then I usually just sell them on CraigsList. You get more than you do for trades at EB or whatever, and often you can get a good amount of cash for it, and then just go and buy another game.
Craigslist. I love it.
Kijiji is also good, and the UsedEverywhere sites too.
Jacksons @ Aug 2nd 2008 2:35AM
I've always kept my games, but there's some on my DS that have no replay value after solving them once. It might be time to trade them in.
MidnightScott @ Aug 2nd 2008 2:35AM
Collecting, Nostalgia, and Replay ^_^
I've played Luigi's Mansion several times, its just fun to me...I want a Wii sequel =D
Gaucho @ Aug 4th 2008 9:01AM
I usually leave it somewhere on a table or my desk and it automatically merges with the mess that is already in place. Months later when i actually get around to cleaning up I'm find it, say "oh, thats where that was" and put it somewhere else and the process repeats.
yost @ Aug 8th 2008 7:18AM
I never resell my games (I horde) .. I can't get my head wrapped around the ideal of selling something I put time energy and effort to complete.... my opinion is if it was worth buying it's worth keeping ... I do revisit games alot (still playing fable, star wars battle front, morrowind , takeda, pokemon from every gen, hell I have a snes hooked up to the monitor I am typing this on(my old tv had a vga port so it is now my monitor)....besides I love to see my collection grow to an insane amount
lizzieizzie @ Sep 2nd 2008 6:35PM
I only keep games that I absolutely love and that have replay value (or if it's a Final Fantasy game). Otherwise I trade them in.
If you don't want to sell your games and get far less than what you paid, you all need to try Goozex!
http://www.goozex.com/trading/asp/join.asp?idr=4872527192
Trade your games in for points, and get other games with those points. It's a system that works wonderfully; you can trade games in for games that have the same value; therefore you lose only the cost of shipping!