Entire Switch Game Collection Lost, Cheapest Way to Replace?

kapone on 21/01/2020 - 10:48

My son lost his Switch case recently. Luckily the Switch wasn't in it, only his games, but it means we've lost his entire game collection except for what was in the Switch at the time.

Normally I'd tell him "too bad" and that he'd need to earn the money to replace the games, however it's not entirely his fault. He lost the case at an Army barracks where we were staying due to the bushfires. With everything that was going on, I can't really blame him for being a bit forgetful when we'd dragged him away from home for the second time in a week and brought him to a strange place full of hundreds of strangers.

I've spoken with someone at the barracks, and they did a throrough search but came up empty handed. My guess is another kid has found it and taken it home with them.

So now that I'm looking at replacing his games, I'm wondering the best/cheapest way to go about it. Retail store prices on Switch games all seem ludicrous, with old games still selling for $70-$90. Where's the best place to buy second hand?

Gaming Switch Game Video Game

Comments

Some Human on 21/01/2020 - 10:58

+1

Ozgameshop - Cheap, imported, but work fine. Not good for AAA games though - pricey.

Any pawn shop - you can haggle on price to some degree.
You can try gumtree/ eBay. Sometimes you get a bargain.
Though I would suggest going digital incase it happens again, but $$$.

What games is he most interested in getting back?
- kapone on 21/01/2020 - 12:36
  
  Thanks for that. No pawn shops near us, but might be worth a shot next time we're in Melbourne.
  
  In terms of what he's most keen to replace, Ultimate Alliance 3, Mario Odyssey and Sonic Forces
trustnoone on 21/01/2020 - 11:05

+2

Honestly I feel gumtree and facebook marketplace to be the best bet, unfortunately switch games are pricey and seem to stay that way on most of the well known stores. Theres the added fact that unlike disk drives, they typically don't have much issues (not so much worry for scratches). But might have to buy just the main ones for a while.
- kapone on 21/01/2020 - 12:37
  
  Thanks, I'll give Gumtree a shot
Smulder on 21/01/2020 - 11:11

+3

Does your home & contents insurance include personal effects cover? Perhaps you could make a claim.
- kapone on 21/01/2020 - 12:37
  
  The excess would be slightly more than the games unfortunately (and I'm not sure if it would cover items lost outside the home anyway)
  - Smulder on 21/01/2020 - 13:18
    
    +1
    
    Personal effects cover is for items lost outside the home, but it is usually an extra add-on to home insurance and not all that common.
    
    Feel super bad for your little guy… right after Christmas too… very sad.
Porker on 21/01/2020 - 13:42

Any idea what games he had? A few deals exist here and there for specific titles and maybe we can help at least identify them along the way. I'm about to sell a few of my games and if they're what you're after, I'm happy to help your son out.
- kapone on 21/01/2020 - 20:28
  
  Got the full list from him.
  
  Super Mario Odyssey
  
  Ultimate Alliance 3
  
  Labo
  
  Smash Ultimate
  
  Sonic Forces
  
  Scribblenauts Unlimited
  
  Mario Kart Deluxe
  
  Zelda BotW
  
  Sonic Mania
Third_Gear on 21/01/2020 - 15:48

Amazon mate. They are sold at near cost price.
tallkid123 on 21/01/2020 - 16:16

Go digital from now on.

Otherwise, Amazon and Ozgameshop.
- Faro on 21/01/2020 - 19:50
  
  Not a real solution. Just the other day someone posted about wanting to sell his switch with digital games tied to his account. Lost a lot of money on digital over physical.
  
  The solution here is just learn from the mistake. They happen.
  - tallkid123 on 21/01/2020 - 21:02
    
    It is a real solution.
    
    The solution is go digital and not have to worry about having carry to physical copies of your games around with you.
    
    Also, I wasn't giving a suggestion to someone who wanted to sell his games. It was to the OP who wants to be able to replace them.
    - Faro on 21/01/2020 - 21:45
      
      You're adding an additional cost of a larger microSD card on top of the cost of digital games which rarely go on sale cheaper than the physical versions
      - SlavOz on 29/02/2020 - 10:30
        
        @Faro: Wrong. You can get a 128GB SD card for like $30. That's a one-time purchase and should be more than enough to last any non-hardcore gamer at least a few years. If you run out of space you can just delete a game to make room - the Switch keeps your save data on the system so you can always come back to it anytime.
        
        At worst, even if you have over 128GB of games, + the system storage, you have to live with not being able to play hundreds of games on demand. That's not really a big deal. Most people only play 1-3 different games during an average month. Once you're done with a particular title, just delete it and download the next one you want to play. But like I said, it's unlikely anyone would even get to this stage.
        
        And digital games go on sale very, very regularly. + you also get eshop coins with every purchase, which means on top of getting games for up to 50% cheaper, you can sometimes use your accumulated coins to save even more money.
        
        I understand there's still a market for physical games but it's largely dying out and digital is really the smart way to go.
        
        Faro on 29/02/2020 - 10:40
        
        @SlavOz: You've masquerades all your opinions as if they're universally factual.
        
        I'm not going to bother to rebut them either, because most of what you said is just general knowledge about how the digital storefront works. None of your statistics are accurate or backed up in any way and your closing statement is entirely baseless.
        
        SlavOz on 29/02/2020 - 12:51
        
        @Faro: They're not opinions mate. A 128GB card costs about $30 from any retailer. Check it yourself. Once you have that card combined with your Switch's internal memory, you can store Witcher 3 (about 35gb), Dark Souls (12gb), Bayonetta (12gb), Xenoblade (14gb) BotW (14gb), La Noire (27gb), Doom (21gb) and still have room left over. Numbers don't lie.
        
        If you're the super hardcore gamer who plays hundreds of different games at once, then fair enough. Otherwise, for anyone else there is absolutely no credibility to say that digital games aren't cheaper because you need to factor in the cost of an SD card. None at all. Digital games are much cheaper and storing them hardly costs anything.
  - manbearpig on 28/02/2020 - 11:50
    
    There's a risk of losing money either way. You have to decide based on your circumstances. If you leave your games at home, then sure, get physical games, but if you're always going to be out and about carrying them with you, then there's a chance of losing money by losing all your games (as is the case here). I'm more of a physical person myself, but you can't deny that digital maybe better suited to some.
Bottle-thief on 30/01/2020 - 12:15

Honestly mate, go into a JB-Hifi and look at the preowned section. If they have a game you lost grab a staff member and tell them your story. They'd probably knock the price down as far as possible.

I've haggled games in JB before with luck and I just wanted a deal.
SlavOz on 29/02/2020 - 10:38

Mate I truly feel terrible. Your kid is likely using video games as an escape, as we have all done at one point or another. Maybe you could look into setting up a funding page to get some donations?

Unfortunately all of my games are digital, so I cannot give any away, but if I had any physical copies I'd definitely donate what I could. For now I'd suggest just shopping around on ebay or gumtree for cheap copies of games. However as discussed, buying digital is usually cheapest with all the sales.

Entire Switch Game Collection Lost, Cheapest Way to Replace?

Comments

New Forum Topics