Seth Abramson has been writing a lot about this lately too. They're long posts, and some of it's very similar to what's in this video, but there's also a lot of new (and damning) information. I...
Seth Abramson has been writing a lot about this lately too. They're long posts, and some of it's very similar to what's in this video, but there's also a lot of new (and damning) information. I thought the third part was especially good, where he randomly discovers that he had previously bought multiple games from one of the WATA founders completely coincidentally:
A surprisingly in-depth look into the why and how of recent reports that old games are selling for record prices, and was even previously discussed on Tildes. This video also introduced me to...
A surprisingly in-depth look into the why and how of recent reports that old games are selling for record prices, and was even previously discussed on Tildes.
This video also introduced me to businesses that revolve around "buying shares in an individual game cartridge" as a service, and I'm kind of surprised that there are people that become involved in that.
I remember that discussion! It's nice to see somebody do the investigative work to prove the intuitive assumption that this whole thing is rotten, corrupt, and manipulative. Incredible that Jim...
I remember that discussion! It's nice to see somebody do the investigative work to prove the intuitive assumption that this whole thing is rotten, corrupt, and manipulative. Incredible that Jim Halperin was part of a million-dollar settlement in the 1980s for fraudulent coin grading and now he's applying the exact same playbook to video games.
The worst part of it is, let's say somebody wants to actually play an old N64 or NES game on the original console. Now the most scuffed cartridges will be sold for ten times the price just because some old dudes decided to get rich off of factory sealed games.
Update: The retro video game scam gets worse... Some super juicy points in this new video, although there's a big chunk of it talking about if this was "technically legal" or not, which I...
Some super juicy points in this new video, although there's a big chunk of it talking about if this was "technically legal" or not, which I personally wasn't a fan of.
(As a lawyer myself) I found the legal analysis pretty good and concise. Whether it’s “technically legal” or not makes the difference between whether in the current state of society you can...
(As a lawyer myself) I found the legal analysis pretty good and concise.
Whether it’s “technically legal” or not makes the difference between whether in the current state of society you can actually do something about it or just cry about it and hope for the best. As my criminal law professor used to say “not all unfairness is criminal”. The main difference lies in what unfairness (or acts in general) as a society we deem so wrong that we set rules and procedures in place to prevent and punish them.
Also, while I can’t read people’s minds – which more often than not I’m thankful for –, I would imagine it’s in Mr Jobst’s best interest to protect himself from potential defamation claims from the people and companies he put on the spot. If a reasonable legal analysis of the situation as we know it is that they break FCC rules, then a legal case against him that his claims are “baseless and defamatory” (quote from WATA statement) stands on very weak foundation.
Seth Abramson has been writing a lot about this lately too. They're long posts, and some of it's very similar to what's in this video, but there's also a lot of new (and damning) information. I thought the third part was especially good, where he randomly discovers that he had previously bought multiple games from one of the WATA founders completely coincidentally:
A surprisingly in-depth look into the why and how of recent reports that old games are selling for record prices, and was even previously discussed on Tildes.
This video also introduced me to businesses that revolve around "buying shares in an individual game cartridge" as a service, and I'm kind of surprised that there are people that become involved in that.
I remember that discussion! It's nice to see somebody do the investigative work to prove the intuitive assumption that this whole thing is rotten, corrupt, and manipulative. Incredible that Jim Halperin was part of a million-dollar settlement in the 1980s for fraudulent coin grading and now he's applying the exact same playbook to video games.
The worst part of it is, let's say somebody wants to actually play an old N64 or NES game on the original console. Now the most scuffed cartridges will be sold for ten times the price just because some old dudes decided to get rich off of factory sealed games.
Pinging... @teaearlgraycold @cfabbro @stu2b50 @Greg ...who were all in the previous conversation.
Thanks for the ping. I likely would have missed this otherwise.
Update: The retro video game scam gets worse...
Some super juicy points in this new video, although there's a big chunk of it talking about if this was "technically legal" or not, which I personally wasn't a fan of.
(As a lawyer myself) I found the legal analysis pretty good and concise.
Whether it’s “technically legal” or not makes the difference between whether in the current state of society you can actually do something about it or just cry about it and hope for the best. As my criminal law professor used to say “not all unfairness is criminal”. The main difference lies in what unfairness (or acts in general) as a society we deem so wrong that we set rules and procedures in place to prevent and punish them.
Also, while I can’t read people’s minds – which more often than not I’m thankful for –, I would imagine it’s in Mr Jobst’s best interest to protect himself from potential defamation claims from the people and companies he put on the spot. If a reasonable legal analysis of the situation as we know it is that they break FCC rules, then a legal case against him that his claims are “baseless and defamatory” (quote from WATA statement) stands on very weak foundation.