What should you know about videogame grading?

Over the years, videogames have become collectibles, and some of them are extremely rare. Which is why they are holding a massive value. The way you differentiate the value of different videogames comes through grading. This process is designed to study the videogame and many of its features, then grade it a certain value, usually from 1 to 10. Needless to say, the higher the grade is, the more value that game has in the first place.

Grading is done by a multitude of companies, ranging from VGA to WATA. They are the main players in the industry. The VGA is focused on grading collectibles in general, whereas the WATA Games company only grades videogames.

What factors are taken into consideration for videogame grading?

There are many different factors to consider when it comes to assessing the grade of a videogame. If the game is factory sealed, that’s the ideal state, if it’s opened it will hurt the value. Other things that are important when it comes to grading videogames are color fading, color breaks, marks, stickers and impressions, cracks, puffing and crushing. Any blemishes also hurt the value. In fact, any kind of damage to the box or the game itself will detract from the grade.

If the game is complete in the box, then the box is 50% of the grade, the manual is 20%, and the cartridge itself is 30%. As you can see, the box holds an immense value, mainly because most of the retro game boxes are beat up, so the pristine ones are bringing in a premium price. If the manual is still in the box, that certainly adds to the value too, and it’s certainly something you need to consider.

How does the grading process work?

First, you want to pick the grading company that you want to work with. You can search for the specific game, add details, and then choose the additional services you need. WATA for example does offer heavy or light cleaning, you can also choose a certain display type, among others. So there are plenty of options to keep in mind. Depending on the game and who you are working with, the videogame grading process can take quite a bit of time. It might take a few weeks, or it can even take months. This is something normal, considering the amount of work needed to grade a videogame and also how many items are in the grading queue.

If you have an old, valuable game, it’s a very good idea to have it graded. Grading shows how much value that game is bringing to the market, and it also makes it easier to sell your game at a premium. This makes it easier to show the quality of the game, and if you trade or sell, you get to know the exact value of the product. It’s the best approach and in the end that brings in some extraordinary results. So yes, videogame grading is important, especially for collectors that want to have the best version of a game. Thanks to grading, they know exactly what they have, and that makes collecting a lot easier.