We just bought a copy of The Lion King for the kids. Needless to say, they don't get a whole lot of 1994-era games.

I suspect Disney may be atypical in that regard. People are constantly having kids for the first time, and there is then a steady stream of people buying movies for their kids that they know kids like. Most other genres probably have not enjoyed much of that.

Most of the value in old movies, going forward, is probably going to be in padding streaming libraries for Netflix/etc to license. Will Goodfellas itself worth much currently and in the future? Probably not; anybody who wants that on DVD probably already has it on DVD. A streaming library that includes movies of the caliber of Goodfellas though? That is probably worth a hefty chunk of cash.

Also, classic games do get "HD refreshes" to re-release them for new media. How many times has Super Mario 1 been updated?

Also, today's movies seem to eschew the kind of prioritizing that would create timeless classics you'll still watch in 10 years - I mean, I enjoy today's movies - I'm no snob. But the writing is utter crap. Seriously, how do you drop 9 figures on making a film and cock up the script so thoroughly?

Which is why streaming tv boxsets is the real cash cow at the moment. Lots of people missed the 100 odd hours of The Wire, Sopranos, 6ft under, 24 etc. That's what really keeps the eyeballs on box.

> Probably not; anybody who wants that on DVD probably already has it on DVD.

Which is why it comes on Blu-Ray and HD DVD as well, in "special edition" and "20th anniversary edition".

True, but I suspect that doesn't massively prolong most movies, only big ones that people are passionate about (Star Wars, The Godfather Trilogy, etc).

Just randomly picking... 2004. Top 10 movies from that year, and pulling future media sales predictions out of my ass:

  Shrek 2                                   kids movie, profitable regardless.
  Spider-Man 2                              probably poor
  The Passion of the Christ                 probably poor
  Meet the Fockers                          nobody cares.
  The Incredibles                           kids movie, profitable regardless.
  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  great.
  The Day After Tomorrow                    nobody cares.
  The Bourne Supremacy                      possibly good.
  National Treasure                         nobody cares.
  The Polar Express                         nobody cares.

I mean, I am sure all of these will have future releases on new media. There is no reason not to re-release movies, it is essentially printing money), but will many of them see dramatic sales that will really change how we view the profitability of those movies? Meet the Fockers was a good movie, but nobody is going to give a shit if you re-release it in 3D, 4K resolution, "hyperdisk". Only a few have that potential I think, and it gets more bleak if you stop looking at the top 10.

After the initial burst of home media sales, I just don't see most movies getting anything more than a trickle of revenue. For every movie like Office Space, there are dozens that aren't.

GTA is atypical, too. But it still doesn't have that longevity.

I don't think that either GTA or most movies targeted to adults have the sort of longevity that Disney movies have. I therefore think that it is fair to compare GTA to blockbuster movies (or at least I think that Disney isn't a reason why it isn't).

Well, check out any of the Nintendo/Playstation/Xbox online stores. They all contain games from the 90s that you can buy for $5-10 a pop.

Furthermore, I would think (I don't have any sources so this is just a guess) that with DVD sales plummeting, and the comparative ease of pirating movies as opposed to console games, that DVD sales would account for very little in the long run. However, I still see old video games at Black Friday events that sell out like crazy.

Just because ports and refreshes of games exist, it doesn't mean they sell in meaningful numbers.

Nintendo and Square sell their old games over and over too actually.

That game is Hard. I couldn't finish it when i was 17 years old and have been playing games for 10 years. It is definitely different from today's licensed games.

Big movies also have huge marketing costs to recoup. The real money comes on the DVD sales. There's an adage in the industry that the theatrical release is the marketing campaign for the DVD.

And if it is true, why is it the case? I can't think of any particular reason why sales of one medium would gather closer to the release date than another medium. =