How the used-market comparison works

What does an original complete-in-box (CIB) price actually mean?

New prices come from the chosen regional PLAION store. The original home AES reference must always be complete in box (CIB): PrixRetro quotes EUR, while PriceCharting quotes USD even for Japanese editions. A same-market guide takes precedence; if unavailable, the other guide’s market is identified. Edition, condition, sample, date and source accompany the quote. No launch MSRP enters the comparison.

To calculate subtotals, each foreign-currency CIB reference is converted to the shop currency at the ECB reference rates for 2026-09-24: 1 EUR = 1.1367 USD = 180.57 JPY. Each item is rounded to the smallest displayable currency unit and its unconverted quote remains visible. This is an indicative cross-market comparison, not a sale in the destination market; FX spreads, taxes and inflation are excluded. Percentage is (converted original − new) / converted original only for products with both prices. Missing official new or original AES CIB prices are excluded, never replaced with zero. Loose or unspecified consoles, Neo Geo CD, MVS, posters, conversions and reproductions do not qualify. Guides can be based on a few old sales: check each source.

Reader-supplied archive: CulturaNeoGeo’s “Precios Neo Geo AES (Japonés)” sheet, updated 21 February 2017, lists low and high prices for Japanese cartridges and notes variants. It is a 2017 fan estimate: the image does not identify a currency or underlying transactions. It establishes neither Japanese launch MSRP nor 2026 second-hand prices. It is linked for context; none of its figures enter the comparator.

Editor: AES Value editorial · Checked: 2026-09-24