Who would have thought that video games are now being seen by many as a legitimate means of investment? There are video games available now worth well in excess of $100,000 collecting has become a serious business. It hasn’t reached that point with modern gaming with other consoles or the PS Vita just yet. However, many have wondered whether it may be worth buying into the current generation of console hardware and software and using the PS Vita as an investment nest egg for the future.
What Makes The Vita Different To Other Consoles?
We all know how capable the PS Vita is as a games machine. But there is one thing that makes it different to its peers – at least in this current generation. Sales figures. With the exception of the WiiU, every other console released in the last decade or so has sold more than the PS Vita. And that includes sales of the PlayStation TV. In essence what that means is that despite the console selling in excess of 16 million units worldwide, having almost 1,000 games released and achieving almost 70 million games sold globally it is still considered to be a failure compared to its peers.
Is Investing In Video Games A Wise Move?
Most people won’t want to take a gamble on something as volatile as video games. It’s an area that requires a great deal of experience and as the retro gaming market has shown over the last few years, has serious risks attached to it as it has experienced notable peaks and troughs. It’s always a difficult call to decide what platform is worth taking a risk or, or whether a particular game franchise or individual product is worth backing.
But in the world of games consoles, that’s what makes the Vita so exciting right now. The fact that it is regarded by many as an underdog makes it worth looking at, It is increasing in value and desirability. Especially to its devoted fan base. A fan base that is not only loyal, but is always hungry for new games and are passionate about collecting for the console…
Aren’t Traditional Investment Options Better?
This is really a matter of confidence, knowledge, patience (as video game investment is often a long-term affair) and what disposable income you have to be able to invest. I certainly wouldn’t advise putting the family fortune into video games, or at least not into a single gaming platform. Regular buying and selling video games, even more collectable ones as the PS Vita is becoming, can be quite profitable though so it can be worth considering.
What is probably safer for many is to develop a stronger financial portfolio if you are looking at stability. Whether this is from stocks and shares, long term savings and investments with your bank, putting your money into cryptocurrencies, or even if you want to try to your hand at the potentially lucrative world of forex trading, and trying to find the best bollinger bands strategy that works for you. Personally? My inner geek wins out and I opt for the slower, more casual option.
What About The PS Vita As An Investment Option
If you do decide to invest in the Vita rather than just enjoy it as a gaming platform, it can be done but you need to understand its position historically. Ever since the PS Vita launched it’s had mixed success in the West. It was reasonably easy to find games, consoles and accessories to start off with. That soon changed as Sony shifted their attention to the PlayStation 4, cut support to retailers who then moved attention away from the handheld. That reduced shop floor space dedicated to the console and almost overnight the Vita disappeared from the high street.
The Impact On Pricing
While some PS Vita products rapidly devalued and it seemed – for a while at least – that the games and hardware were a lost cause it soon proved to be the opposite. Many Vita games became highly sought after, especially as Sony shifted their focus towards a digital future for the platform. As fewer Western publishers produced physical versions of their games, those who did produced games in smaller quantities. These sold out rapidly and not only have they – for the most part – held their prices but often risen over time. One of the early releases, Supremacy MMA, currently commands prices around £100 a copy because of its relatively low production run and the same is being seen with more recent releases.
There are companies still releasing physical titles today for the PS Vita in limited quantities – Limited Run Games, Eastasiasoft, Red Art Games and several others – with each title having strictly controlled production runs of their games. Most of these are produced in very small runs of just a couple of thousand copies each. Kept sealed most of these are currently fetching double their original price within weeks of going on sale. Once physical game production for the PS Vita ends (which we anticipate will be within the next year), I would anticipate that these will increase at an even greater rate.
No Guarantees
As with any form of investment, there is no guarantee that prices will rise but the PS Vita is in quite an interesting position. With the increasing push in the console market towards digital downloads it’s part of a dying breed. It is – in our opinion – one of the last consoles that will have physical games available as standard. It has a digital catalogue that will disappear over time and all that will be left for future generations will be its physical collection. Those are what will become collectible for this current console generation. While the PlayStation 4 and XBox One may be the desirable hardware right now, strip away their online connectivity and they become redundant platforms that will be unusable within a decade. Consoles with physical game collections will be tomorrow’s retro and the PS Vita is perfectly positioned now to be that system.
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