Nostalgia isn't the only thing driving prices higher.ĮBay auctions and dedicated YouTube channels have also fed the frenzy. Related: Video game designer is one of America's best jobs They were easier to pick up and play, less violent, more universally accessible than they are now.' 'I think it's just a nostalgia for when they were younger,' says David Kaelin, who runs the Classic Game Fest in Austin, Texas, and owns a chain of shops, Game Over Videogames. Just as kids who grew up in the '80s and '90s are reaching their thirties, the supply of vintage games is shrinking.

He ultimately made the deal - for $12,000 in cash. Hendricks once spent months negotiating with a mysterious source in Canada to buy one of only two Powerfest 94 prototypes known to exist. He estimates the market for retro games is now worth about $200 million annually.

Prices skyrocketed almost overnight, says JJ Hendricks, whose site Video Games Price Charting tracks the going rate for vintage games.

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