[Exposing FRAUD And DECEPTION In The Retro Video Game Market](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A&t=168s) by Karl Jobst on YouTube You may have seen [last month a copy of Super Mario 64 sell for $1.5 million](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57804089). I even [joked](https://twitter.com/MaxRoberts143/status/1414286406118219776) how my mostly sealed copy of *Ocarina of Time* could make me a millionaire. Well, Karl Jobst has dug into how the market has spiked so dramatically in the past couple of years all thanks to WATA Games and Heritage Auctions. Karl’s research and reporting is thorough and damning. This video is well worth your time. This helps explain (along with a spike in collecting due to people staying home during COVID-19) why game prices, even for loose games, has skyrocketed. Since March 2021, I’ve been on a *Pokémon* game collecting kick. I know it is poor timing given the franchise’s 25th anniversary is this year, but some of the prices I have seen just don’t make sense. In March 2019, *Pokémon Emerald* was [roughly](https://www.pricecharting.com/game/gameboy-advance/pokemon-emerald) $40~ loose, $100~ Complete-in-Box (CiB). Two and a half years later, it is $90~ and $400~. *Pokémon Diamond* was $15~ loose, $20~ CiB. Now it is going for $30~ and $60~, with a peak of [nearly $100~](https://www.pricecharting.com/game/nintendo-ds/pokemon-diamond) earlier in the year. GameCube games have blown up. *Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes* has doubled. *Billy Hatcher* too. I understand those aren’t super popular GameCube games, but these spikes have never happened before. This upward trend is clearly influenced by WATA Games grading and these extremely high, anonymous sales at Heritage Auctions. These auctions and grades are inflating the market until it will, eventually, burst. Just the other day, I snagged a copy of *Pokémon Silver* at my favorite local shop. The owner shared with me how the prices have shot up and that even they have to pay heftier prices to get the trade-ins for their business. He talked about how just a couple years ago the Pokémon games were $20 maybe $30 a pop, now much more in the $70-100 range. This also appears to solely be impacting the North American market. The same games for Japanese or European consoles have kept reasonable prices. *Pokémon Diamond* from Japan is selling for $35~ CiB. *Emerald* is $76~. That same store I shop at has all of Gen 1 and 2 cartridges for *Pokémon* at or below $30. If the game’s were for the North American market, the prices would double or triple. Excellent reporting and research from Karl. I hope this bubble bursts sooner rather than later.