Talking Point: The Games We Got Rid Of – What Were We Thinking?

We’ve all done it. Whether through necessity to fund a new purchase or streamlining our collection during a spring clean, we’ve all sold, traded, donated, or just given away a game or console at some point and then wished we hadn’t.

Sometimes cold hard cash was required, other times we were just in a different mindset or feeling particularly altruistic towards our fellow gamers — and a broken heart has caused us all to do things we later regretted. When am I ever going to want that again?

Team Nintendo Life has been thinking back on the games we got rid of on a whim. Allow us to confess just some of our personal fails in the hope of finding some communal comfort. And feel free to let us know about your personal self-owns in the comments.

First up, it’s Jim…

Jim Norman, staff writer

In my youth, I was a professional at trading in. The second I was finished with a playthrough, it would be off to my local GAME, box in hand, to swap it out for some store credit to go towards the next purchase. This credit was usually really rather small, so whenever I wanted to get a newer game, that required parting with a lot more of my collection.

For the most part, I don’t think too deeply about these losses — I was a child and those movie tie-in GBA games were as common as they come anyway. What does still keep me up at night, however, is my boxed copy of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. This was back when I would try to get my hands on just about any game under the sun, regardless of how much I knew about it. Strangely, little baby Jim wasn’t a big fan of tactical RPGs (who would have thought it?) so I got rid of it probably to help purchase Power Rangers Dinothunder or some other GBA “classic”.

Visiting my local CEX a few weeks back and seeing the game locked away behind a cabinet with a £170 label on it broke my heart. Sure, we might get it on NSO one day, but it won’t be the same!

As for consoles, I literally regret getting rid of every single one. To my N64, blue GBA, white (and, later, black) DS Lite among countless others, I’m sorry — I hope you found a good home.

Alana Hagues, deputy editor

Walking into a retro games store or used game store nowadays is a sobering experience. So, this weekend, at a local retro game store, one GameCube favourite jumped out at me, one I’ve talked about before — Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

I loved this game when I first played it, and it’s one of my favourite GameCube games, but as I was cribbing together money for university, in some moment of madness, I decided to sell the thing. I wasn’t going to play it again, was I? It didn’t have the same sentimental value as Skies of Arcadia Legends, so I don’t really need it, right?

Well… we all know what’s happened to GameCube game prices, and a combination of the lack of a “true” Paper Mario RPG experience since, and games like Bug Fables, means I really want to replay TTYD. Badly. My partner has never played it, either, so I’d love for him to experience it. Which is why every time we walk into that used game store and see that copy for $159.99, it’s a sobering experience. Other casualties of that university money-saving experience were Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and every GBA game not called Pokémon or The Minish Cap. I’d like to hit 18-year-old me over the head right now.

Oh, and let’s not talk about the fact that my family had two copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga — the reason we got rid of those wasn’t because of me, but that doesn’t make it any easier, does it?

Ollie Reynolds, staff writer

I don’t feel a lot of regret these days for games that I’ve sold or gotten rid of for one reason or another. Why? Because most of them have shown up again later down the line. Metroid Prime? Got it on the Switch. Final Fantasy VII? Got it on the Switch. Resident Evil 4? Well… You get where I’m coming from.

When it comes to game consoles, however, that’s another story entirely. During my stint at a video game retail store, I managed to get my hands on some truly incredible consoles only to sell them at a later date when I was either bored with them or simply needed some additional funds. Now that they’re no longer in my possession and no doubt fetching some eye-watering prices on the likes of eBay, my regret is palpable.

I couldn’t possibly list every single one, but some of the standouts include the NES Game Boy Advance SP, the launch edition of the 3DS (along with every ambassador game), the Majora’s Mask New 3DS, the MGS5 PlayStation 4, the Gears of War 3 Xbox 360… Sigh. What on earth was I thinking?

Nowadays, I’m a lot more cautious about purchasing limited-edition consoles because I know I’d feel terrible if I had to get rid of them for whatever reason. Well, that and the fact that I now have a mortgage to pay for. What a drag.

Gavin Lane, editor

We’ve covered some of our more general gaming regrets before, and it still stings to think about the Metroid Prime Trilogy and Killer7 I said goodbye to just to reclaim a fraction of bookshelf space. The arrival of Metroid Prime Remastered made it sting a bit less, though.

One time many moons ago, for some reason I was feeling particularly content and generous and wanted to share the gaming love. I was discussing Rogue Squadron and Episode I Racer online and in a sudden fit of pay-it-forwardness, I decided that I’d had all the pleasure I could wring from them both, and wouldn’t it be nice to post them to someone else as a gift!

Now, this wasn’t a pair of scraggy loose carts. Oh no, these were spotless specimens complete-in-box with all the literature and even the little plastic bag for the cart, not a crease in it. Thinking back, there’s a big part of me that’s proud for parting with them — I’m sure they were gratefully received — but I did end up buying them again some years later, paying through the nose for them in a less-than-pristine state. Honestly, who writes on their carts in biro?

Console-wise, the only time I’ve ever had to trade in to get the next model, fortunately, was with (3)DS — I do wish I had my original DS Lite, my Aqua 3DS, and the lovely red XL I part-exchanged to get a New model. I’ve got too many DS variants as it is, but it would be a treat to recapture some memories with those OG units.

No regrets? Pff, we’re riddled with ’em.

Is there a game you got rid of that keeps you awake at night? A console? What were you thinking? Let us know below.