Add Specific Levels of “Completeness” For Consoles

Adding consoles to one’s collection on here is really weird, because it pretty much has the same tiers as a video game entry on the site– “Loose”, “CIB”, and “New”. This complicates things because a console being “Complete” can mean multiple things; it can imply that it has all of the hookups and controllers, or it can mean that it comes in the original box with the paper inserts. Likewise, “Loose” could refer to console only, or the console and hook-ups, etc. but without the box and such.

This leads to a weird level of inconsistency where the recent “CIB” sales are a mix of listings both with and without the console’s box, and the recent “Loose” sales are a mix of console only listings and ones with the console and everything needed to play. As a result, I’m honestly never sure what to choose when putting a console in my collection, since oftentimes it feels like the “Loose” value is lower than what it would go for, whereas the “CIB” value is way too high.

A perfect example is the NES which I happen to own “Complete”- not with the box, but in working with an A/V cable, power adapter and two controllers. Looking at the PriceCharting entry, the “Loose” value for an NES console is currently shown to be $41, largely due to console only sales dragging it down. On the other hand, the “CIB” value is a staggering $202, which is from in-box listings as one can imagine. Neither of these prices quite accurately reflect the value of an NES console with just the hook-ups and controller(s), which I’d wager goes for around $60-100 or so in working condition.

This is a complicated issue, because in a way it challenges the core framework of the website. I get that it’s just straight-up easier to have consoles represented in the same way that any video game is. However, doing such a thing creates enough problems with proper value representation that I think it’s worth brainstorming a better solution.

Maybe we can have it so that you select which specific elements of a console you own, split into simple categories like “console”, “box”, “video cable”, “power adapter”, etc. Or, we could maybe have something similar to how it is now but with a higher number of more specific tiers, like “Loose”, “Console+Cables”, “CIB” and “New”, or something like that. Honestly, I’m not sure, but we should discuss the topic and think of something that functions better than what we have currently for consoles on the site.

I’m hoping we can figure something out because this is an issue that really bugs me. It might be a big change for the site but I think it’s one that’d be positive if we figured out something really solid. Thanks!