PS3 Prices Have Officially Exploded (and they’re not done)

The Playstation 3 has been my favorite console lately. Yes, I know I’m late as hell to that party, but that’s kind of how I do. About a year ago I made it my mission (or really, more of a side-quest) to start collecting for the PS3 before prices shot through the roof. 

Well, guess what!? The time is nigh. The hard-to-find and rarest PS3 games have already started hitting their highs and it may be your last chance to pick them up before it gets any crazier. 

Fortunately, mid to low-tier PS3 games have yet to pop (as much), and it’s not too late to snatch up a few of those. There are even some games you can still pick up brand new and plastic-wrapped for a reasonable price.

Hey look, it’s a stock photo!

If you’re new to the blog, it might make sense to catch up a bit. I’ve been predicting and reporting vintage game prices for a few months and the readers seem to enjoy it. Here’s a fairly in-depth article I wrote that gives a fair amount of detail about my methodology and explains the pricing lifecycle of game consoles. I’ve also written about the insane price pop for PS2 and the possibility of Wii U and PS Vita popping as well.

As far as the PS3 is concerned though… let’s have a look at what some of the rarest PS3 games have been doing since I wrote that article.

3D Dot Game Heroes

When I wrote that PS3 article, 3D Dot Game Heroes was already showing potential. It had all the signs of a potential price jump: It was a Sony exclusive, it was published by Atlus, it had unique and quirky gameplay, and it wasn’t very popular when it came out.

Pixel-art games were still pretty novel at the time, especially for a major console release. This one definitely stands out from the crowd. But for whatever reason, there just weren’t that many copies sold. Besides, Atlus is known for producing sleeper-hit games that get expensive over time.

When I posted the original article, I went ahead and picked up a complete copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes for $29.99 with free shipping. Have a look at Pricecharting’s updated graph. I definitely had faith this game would go up in value, but I had no idea how steep the graph would be!

As of this writing, a complete copy on eBay goes for over $100. In some cases, it’s waaaaay over $100. One seller has a brand new copy listed for $320. But there are cheaper copies too, so don’t fall for it. Have a look on eBay and see for yourself.

Splatterhouse

The 2010 reimagining of the cult classic your mom wouldn’t let you play in the 90s, Splatterhouse was not a hit when it was released. Nor should it have been. By all accounts, the gameplay is strictly average and the over-the-top gore is not sufficient to impress players the way it was in the days of Mortal Kombat et al.

So again, this didn’t sell all that well. But because Splatterhouse is a nostalgic nod to vintage gaming fans, there was a built-in audience for it. And when it comes to older video games, the bar for gameplay, graphics and pretty much everything else, is set much lower than for modern games. So yeah. Who cares about the blah gameplay? It’s a hard-to-find, rare PS3 game with nostalgia baked in!

When I originally posted about Splatterhouse for PS3, it was going for around $25 for a complete copy. Once again, let’s check out Pricecharting.

While Splatterhouse certainly didn’t hit as hard as 3D Dot Game Heroes, it definitely hit.

EBay prices for this game currently hover around $90 for a complete copy. While that’s definitely a steep price, you might still want to grab it because that price curve doesn’t look like it’s coming down anytime soon. Go find it on eBay.

Silent Hill (all of them)

My rule of thumb is, and has always been, if you see a Silent Hill game for cheap, GRAB IT!

I don’t know how or why, but Silent Hill games have such a premium attached to them. People love ‘em. Which defies logic and flies in the face of my game-pricing methodology. Konami makes plenty of games for everyone. Silent Hill is a very popular franchise and survival horror is a very popular genre. So why do Silent Hill games get so damned expensive?

Well, listen: Silent Hill games for PS3 (Homecoming, Downpour, and the HD Collection) don’t seem to have hit quite as hard as the PS2 predecessors. But it is still relatively early in the PS3 pricing cycle. If you don’t have these already, you should get them.

Silent Hill: Homecoming has held its value pretty steady over the last year, today costing around $28 for a complete copy.

Silent Hill: Downpour is a different story. Actually, it’s very hard to price an NA region copy today because there are literally ZERO of them for sale on eBay. Have a look.

Pricecharting suggests a CIB price of around $37, but I have a hard time believing that’s accurate. I could easily put my copy on eBay right now and ask any price at all. If someone wants a NA copy, mine would be their only choice. Let that sink in.

Original vs HD, yanked from Wikipedia

Also interesting is the Silent Hill HD Collection. It’s a single disc with remastered versions of Silent Hill 2 and 3, almost universally considered to be the “best” (other than the original) games in the whole series. Fans are kind of divided about whether the remastering was necessary or even “good”, but nobody argues that it’s plenty convenient to have them both on a single disc together.

You can still grab the HD Collection disc brand new in-plastic for around $30. There are a TON of sellers on eBay hocking this thing. I suggest you stop reading and go pick up a copy while you can. Sellers are selling and buyers are buying, both at an extremely aggressive pace. If this thing runs out, it’s going to be hot stuff.

Puppeteer

I posted on this game back in August. (Along with several others.) At the time a CIB copy went for around $15.

Puppeteer was a prime candidate for most of the same reasons as 3D Dot Game Heroes. It came along late in the PS3 lifespan and offered some really unique gameplay and great visual style. It also didn’t receive the attention it probably deserved. I predicted that this one could truly go Conkers. So how did my prediction turn out?

Yeah. Granted, that’s for a brand-new graded copy, and will likely never go for that much. But still. My prediction was dead-on. There are other copies available that aren’t graded, if you still want to pick one up on eBay.

Many others

There are a handful of other PS3 games that I’ve discussed in previous articles. Not all of them have hit as hard as the ones on this list, but still have pretty good outlooks. Check out my other articles or just wait for the next one, I guess.

So what PS3 Games are Still Going up in Value?

If you missed my last PS3 article, I actually outline a new handful of prospects that still have some “Holy Grail” potential. Most of them haven’t gotten completely out of hand like Puppeteer, but still show promise. Check that article out here:

PS3 “Holy Grails” to Collect Now

And don’t worry, I’ve got a new article in the works. Look for it as early as this weekend. I also recommend you subscribe to the blog in order to be notified when new collector articles are published. Hopefully we can still find some cheap games to cash in on in the future.

Thanks as always for reading, and happy hunting!

11 responses to “PS3 Prices Have Officially Exploded (and they’re not done)”

  1. I like how the Silent Hill HD collection is so bad compared to the original that you marked them wrong. That ugly mockery on the the left is the HD version.

  2. …and I woulda got away with it too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!

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