Nintendo 64 for 90 euros, Game Boy for 100 euros… Crazy success of old consoles and video games

Do you look back nostalgically on the long games of Donkey Kong, Tetris or Rayman that marked your youth? Then you might be ready to join the very open club of “retrogaming,” that passion that drives you to replay old video games. Its success cannot be denied.

As evidence, the barometer presented by the network specializing in the purchase and sale of second-hand items Easy Cash, on the occasion of the Paris Games Week, which takes place from November 1 to 5 in the Porte de Versailles (15th arrondissement of Paris). After analyzing transactions carried out at 140 French points of sale, the leader confirms the increasingly important place given to consoles and games released more than twenty-five years ago.

“We have a dedicated clientele of fans who are keen to rediscover the sensations of their youth and who can find a great deal with us. This is reflected in prices, because the cost of some consoles is starting to rise,” summarizes Valentin Klein di Giacomo, director of partnerships and innovation at Easy Cash.

“Products that sell very quickly”

Between 2015 and 2023, the average price of a Nintendo 64 in good condition sold in these stores doubled, from €45 to €90. “Or 60% of the starting price, about 150 euros,” the brand clarifies. And the cost of the very first PlayStation, released in France in 1995, tripled – from 15 to 45 euros.

On the shelves we also find classic Game Boys, selling for around a hundred euros (“the amount for a black and white console from the 1990s”), Super Nintendo or Sega Dreamcast, as well as rarer models such as the NeoGeo from SNK.” about 600 euros” or Atari Jaguar Noir. “These are items that we do not have in stock. When we put them on sale, in general they sell out very quickly,” in 45 days, compared to 95 days for all the chain’s products, adds the director of innovation.

And when they come with the original box and instructions, “prices can double or triple.” Among the games, we note great enthusiasm for some of the licenses that marked their generation, such as “Mario Kart” on the Game Cube, “Sonic” on the Megadrive or “Pokémon” on the Game Boy. In 2022, Easy Cash’s in-store sales of consoles and video games amounted to a total of €52.8 million, or 18.9% of its turnover.