10 Computer Game Series that are good for Reselling

Many of us still have their collection of old computer games or consoles sitting around in cupboards or the loft…or at the very least know someone that does. You might have even thought of just donating them or selling them off at a car boot, well hold your horses and your controllers, as some of those computer games resell for a very good price. Here is just a short list of 10 computer game series that are good for reselling so are well worth keeping an eye open for.

Some of us can remember a time before the console wars of Playstation, Xbox and Wii/Switch, and when the ‘PC master race' was just getting started. I grew up in the 90s so I can personally remember the launch of the Playstation, and some of those other classic games of the era. It is surprising though that many of those games of the early years can still sell for a reasonable price if not an amazing one.

Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth series

Ever since the Lord of the Rings books came out they gripped the imagination of people, so you can imagine/remember what happened when the films were released and sparked a whole host of collectibles, toys and computer games.

The Battle for Middle-earth series is a real time strategy game similar to games such as Command & Conquer and Warcraft. You select a race/faction to play, build bases, units and command battles.

There are three installments to this series, The Battle for Middle-earth (PC 2004), The Battle for Middle-earth II (PC/Xbox360 2006) and The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-King (PC 2006). The original has a fair reselling price but it is the sequel and it's add-on that are the most sought after and fetch the highest price for collectors. There is even a Battle for Middle-earth II Collector's Edition which has a few bonus features like artwork and a making of the game DVD. The Battle for Middle-earth Anthology which contains all three games is currently unavailable so is usually only available pre-owned but has gone for £45. You can also sell all three games for as high as a £95.99 bundle.

I myself managed to find a sealed copy of The Rise of the Witch-King in a local charity shop for £2, I snatched it up as after all I wanted it for my own collection, but changed my mind and put it on eBay. It sold in less than a week for £60, after fees! As you can imagine my wife and I was very happen with that.

Drakengard/Nier series

I am sure that you will have heard of the latest of this series Nier: Automata or at least seen an image of it's main character 2B, somewhere on the internet by now.

There are three installments of this series and two spin offs. Drakengard (2003, PS2), Drakengard 2 (2005, PS2), Nier (2010, PS3/Xbox 360), Drakengard 3 (2013, PS3) and Nier: Automata (2017, PS4/PC).

By itself Drakengard pre-owned will usually go between £8-£12 but sealed can fetch you £39.99! Drakengard 2 has it much better with pre-owned going as well as £19. Drakengard 3 also does as well with pre-owned copies going as high as £20, with new copies selling at just a little higher of £25. It is the Drakengard 3 Collector's Edition bundled with the other 2 Drakengard games that has sold for the best price however of £150.

As a side note Drakengard is also known by it's Japanese title of Drag-On Dragoon and that Nier (stylized as NieR) was released in the west as a standard issue but the Japanese version has a slight difference between the console versions. NieR Gestalt for the Xbox 360, which is the standard edition shipped to other countries and Nier Replicant for the Playstation. The only difference between the two games is the cover artwork and that NieR Replicant has a younger main character whilst Gestalt has an older main character and a slightly different soundtrack. For the Japanese covers you can get Gestalt for between £15-£26 whilst Relplicant will go for £15-£33. Otherwise you are looking at around £22.50 for Playstation3 version or £17.99 for Xbox 360 version.

You might also want to keep an eye open for the CD copies of the soundtracks for Nier Gestalt & Replicant and Nier Automata.

This series is very niche and has a very dedicated almost cult following and fan base. I have only played the Nier games and I have really enjoyed them both. Since it's release last year Nier: Automata has kept its resale value around £25 up to £30 for the base copy of the game but most impressive is the Black Box Collector's Edition that has sold for £650! Whilst the Limited Edition Steelbox can go for over £100. Some people really like those collector editions.

Resident Evil/Biohazard series

Are there many people that didn't play at least one of the Resident Evil series whilst growing up?

There are I imagine very few people that have not heard of this game series, especially since it has also been adapted into books, comics and films. Some will even refer to it by it's Japanese title of Biohazard but it is most known in the West via it's Resident Evil title. Though some will use both in a listing and Biohazard has started to creep into the titles now, as can be seen with Resident Evil VII.

After the release of Resident Evil in the Playstation 1 back in 1996 there have been around 28 games and remakes done for the Resident Evil series. It also spans multiple different platforms from Playstation, Dreamcast, N64, Gamecube, 3DS, Wii, PC and Xbox.

The prices vary greatly between all of the games, with the price of the original Resident Evil dipping lately, most likely due to the release of the Resident Evil HD Remaster for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC. However a bundle of the first 3 games with Resident Evil Survivor went for £48. It also isn't uncommon to get between £20 and £30 for good condition complete copies of the original games. GameCube versions of the game will also sell well and a 5 game bundle went for £72.

As with most series there have been some that have not been very well received and as such their prices are much lower such as the online Umbrella Corps and 3rd person shooter Operation Raccoon City, being good examples of Resident Evil games that do not have good resell-ability. Unless you bundle them with another game.

Project Zero/Fatal Frame series

Survive in a creepy location against scary ghosts that don't want you there whilst armed only with a camera!

Project Zero is a horror survival game that gained a cult popularity and following.

This game series has so many different names it can get confusing. The Japanese title is Zero (which could be read alternatively as zero or as ghost), whilst it was released in Europe as Project Zero and in the US as Fatal Frame. Most however will include both the European title and the US title.

It was first released in Japan in 2001 on the Playstation 2 but didn't grace the rest of the world until 2002 and has 7 titles within the series, one of which was only been released in the Japanese market. That game is Fatal Frame Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, the forth game of the series. Just this game will sell anywhere from £30 to £67 pre-owned. Brand new can cost you up to £140 from Japan!

These games are Project Zero (PS2/Xbox 2001), Project Zero 2 Crimson Butterfly (PS2/Xbox 2003), Project Zero 3 The Tormented (PS2 2005), Project Zero Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii 2008), Project Zero Maiden of Black Water (Wii 2014), Spirit Camera the Cursed Memoir (3DS 2012) and the Project Zero 2 Wii Edition (Wii 2012).

Out of all the games the Maiden of Black Water sells the best with pre-owned going for £69–£80 and new for £91. The third game The Tormented with also go for £24 but otherwise bundles of this game do really well, like this one of the first and third game going for £37.99 but I have seen bundles of the first three games going for as high as £80.

Dino Crisis Series

Guns and dinosaurs is there anything else that you might need in a game?

This series might not be as popular as many of the other game series but it can still land a nice little profit depending on the price you get a copy for. It first came out in 1999 with Dino Crisis on the Playstation 2 and spawned a total of five games over a four year period. Dino Crisis (Playstaion/Dreamcast 1999), Dino Crisis 2 (Playstation 2000), Dino Stalker (PS2 2002), Dino Crisis Dungeon in Chaos (Mobile 2002) and Dino Crisis 3 (Xbox 2003). Dino Crisis Dungeon in Chaos was a shooter available for mobile, so you will only ever find the other four of the games out and about.

I once owned and played Dino Crisis 3 for the original Xbox. It was great, a giant space ship infested with genetically modified dinosaurs some of which could cast electricity bolts at you and some epic dinosaur boss battles. I can't remember what I sold it for now on eBay but I believe it was for around £25, though prices have fallen since I sold mine.

Out of these games the original does the best on the Dreamcast at £28, whilst the first two games bundled for Playstaion will gain £30, but the first by itself can bring in £24.

Spyro Series

Going on an adventure as a small dragon is definitely a different spin on a video game.

The original Spyro the Dragon was released in 1998 on the Playstation and Spyro caught the hearts of many fans since then (I know one person that still frequently plays the original). There are currently 13 different games in the Spyro series. Spyro has also crossed over into Skylanders, with himself and others available for that game.

Spyro can be seperated into four different parts. Each with a different value for reselling.

It's original trilogy that was released on the Playstation, Spyro the Dragon (1998), Spyro 2 Gateway to Glimmer (Ripto's Rage in US) (1999) and Spyro Year of the Dragon (2000). Being the original trilogy makes these game the best for reselling, I have seen the disk only of Spyro the Dragon go for £16 with postage on top whilst a sealed copy went for £99, otherwise can be looking at £31 for pre-owned. However with the release of Spyro Trilogy Reignited set for September 2018 which combines the original trilogy in HD, it is uncertain on if prices will increase or decrease.

The next trilogy of games were the first to make Spyro a multiplatform game and are also a continuation of the story. Spyro Enter the Dragonfly (PS2/Gamecube 2002), Spyro A Heroes Tale (PS2/Gamecube/Xbox 2004) and Spyro Shadow Legacy (Gameboy DS 2005). This series isn't as popular with prices falling below £10 a game

The Legend of Spyro trilogy is a reboot of the original trilogy. A New Beginning (PS2/Gamecube/Xbox 2006), The Eternal Night (PS2/Wii 2007) and Dawn of the Dragon (PS2/PS3/Wii/Xbox360 2008). This series is actually a confusing one for reselling. I have seen Dawn of the Dragon go for as low as £3.70 with postage but also as high as £42 with postage. Best bet would most likely be a buy it now with the games from this part the series.

The Spyro games for the Gameboy Advance were all a spin off from the original series. Season of Ice (2001), Season of Flame (2003), Attack of the Rhynocs (2003) and the crossover games Crash Bandicoot Fusion/Spyro Fusion (2004). Out of all the Spyro games those on the Gameboy are the worst for reselling and after fees/postage could give you an extra couple of quid.

 

Legend of Zelda Series

Think I wouldn't have mentioned the series where the main character, Link, is mistaken for the other main character Princess Zelda due to the series title? Well you are wrong.

The Legend of Zelda is one of the longest running series in gaming, having been released in 1986 for the NES. This game series is the same age as me!

With 18 games in the series there is no shortage of titles to choose from. However the truly gold games here are those on the NES, with the cartridge alone of the original game selling for £26 and having a boxed version can bring you between £40 to £140! The instruction booklet alone can fetch around £20-£25! You can't even seem to do wrong with the Legend of Zelda series on the Gameboy as copies of those games will still hit £13 upwards, The NES Classics Legend of Zelda with box can land you £30 but I have even seen a NES Classics Legend of Zelda for Gameboy that went for £150! A boxed version of the SNES A Link to the Past can gain you a massive £200!

This is one of the best series to look out for.

Soul Calibur Series

A beat'um'up with weapons! Although this series is not as popular or have as much of a following as some of these titles, many of it's titles can still gain you some profit for reselling. And with Soul Calibur VI looking to release in December 2018 then interest is sure to rise on this series.

With nine games in this series (twelve if you include those on mobile and via the consoles online marketplaces). The series actually starts with a game called Soul Edge that was only available in arcades in 1995 until it was ported to Playstation in 1996 now being called Soul Blade.

The first game that had the Soul Calibur title was actually the second game, titled (you guessed it) Soul Calibur. It too started as an arcade game but it was also an exclusive for the Dreamcast in 1997. It was the next game Soul Calibur 2 (Gamecube/Xbox/PS2 2002) that started the guest character that Soul Calibur is now famous for. Each console version had a different guest character depending on the console, GameCube had Link from Legend of Zelda, Xbox had Spawn from the Spawn comics by Image Comics and Playstation 2 had Heihachi Mishima from Tekken.

On eBay the average cost for most of the titles usually stays around the £10 range. As stated earlier however with the upcoming release of the latest title Soul Calibur VI, which has the guest character Geralt from the Witcher series (using his appearance from the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt), then the interest and price of the games are sure to rise as well.

Mario Kart Series

Having first graced our consoles in 1992 the world seems to be mad for the crazy racing that is Mario Kart.

There are currently 13 games in this series, four of which were for the arcade and one for mobile. Just imagine putting a Mario Kart arcade machine on eBay it would most likely go insane!

As such there are eight games on the consoles and handhelds. Out of these eight only Mario Kart Super Circuit lags behind, usually selling under £10. Every other Mario Kart game sells at least over £10. With the original Mario Kart 64 boxed version selling for nearly £80, cartridge only can go as high as £36 and latest Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Switch selling for £35+, you should join the crazy karting for the reselling. Prices for Mario Kart 8 for the Wii however have fallen due to the Switch deluxe version.

Tales Series

What happens when you combined anime with a role-playing computer game? The Tales series.

This is a series that some might not be aware of but that has quite a large following due to it's combat system, large stories and multiple hidden elements to the games. For example going to certain places after certain times and doing certain actions to unlock titles and outfits (bet you thought I would say certain again).

Some of the games have even sparked their own anime and manga series. Which depending on what you find can sell well such as this Doujinshi (term for self-published works) for Tales of the Abyss that sold for £80.

The series originally came out in 1995 on the SNES with Tales of Phantasia, the series has had 16 different games released and several re-releases for some of it's games onto other consoles. For example Tales of Phantasia came to Playstation in 1998 (in Japan) and Gameboy Advance in 2003 (but didn't hit Europe until 2006). This can also effect pricing as with using this game the SNES and Gameboy Advance versions are more valuable than the Playstation version, this might be due to the Playstation version being only available from Japan however.

Tales also has a few spin-off games for the Playstation Portable and Gameboy, of which only Tales of the World Radiant Mythology has come to the West. And Playstation Portable games do not have a great resale value.

The one of the best games that seem to have the best resell-ability that I have seen is Tales of Destiny 2 (Playstation), which has sold for over £100.

Most of the others can land you between £10-£50 depending on the version. For example Tales of Xillia (PS3) Collector's Edition can bring you between £50-£90 and Tales of Zestiria (PS4) Collector's Edition can get you around £60, yet standard copies will usually go for around £11-£20 for either these games.