The 10 most expensive Apple II games
| Filed under Game trail; 1 comment. |
Brian Picchi: I’m your biggest fan. You were a great guest on Open Apple; your Apple II videos on YouTube are informative and entertaining; your Deadly Orbs game is killer; and your website runs WordPress.
But where have you been all my life — or at least, the last month? I haven’t heard so much as a peep out of you, so I went digging through your YouTube channel to find the latest. Uploaded on September 14, your rundown of the most expensive Apple II games on eBay was a fun watch:
For your fans in a rush, here is a summary of your findings:
| Game | Value |
|---|---|
| Wings Out of Shadow | $0709 |
| Labyrinth of Crete | $1000 |
| Cranston Manor | $1525 |
| Mystery House | $1691.66 |
| Ultima I+II | $1775 |
| Time Zone | $1825 |
| Softporn Adventure | $1999 |
| Zork | $2495 |
| Starcross | $2495 |
| Akalabeth | $4900 |
I’m not much of an eBay user, having taken 14.5 years to earn my 100-star rating this month. The only Apple II software I’ve bought on eBay is Microzines; I’ve never paid more than $20 or so for anything Apple II-related on the auction site. That anyone has so much money to spend on these games is a little baffling to me. I understand the appeal of collecting items of historical significance — no one is buying Akalabeth to play it — but that’s a lot of dough to drop on something of esoteric interest. A framed Akalabeth over your mantle won’t engage many house guests.
But hey, I know you’re not just trawling eBay to pick up some games, Brian Picchi; you’re one of those hawkers of rare goods, with a copy of Akalabeth all your own. I’m sure your wife will be happy when you cash in those chips.
So keep up the good work, Brian Picchi — just don’t go a whole month between videos, if you can help it.
It really is comical how high these prices are getting, but like someone said on the Atariage forums, maybe it just means Apple II users are more successful than other retro computer users and thus have more cash to burn. :)