Stern makes a luxury good. Luxury goods don't care what inflation looks like, it's simple supply and demand. Luxury items create their own special markets.

Speculators buy everything with no intention of keeping anything, similar to StubHub. They have the fastest computer or the best hookups and will make enough money from presales to cover any losses from what ends up being a dog. Even the dogs will find a home due to geography and demand. Reminds me of IPOs where an extremely limited number of people have dibs to the first offerings.

Collectors buy games in hopes of them becoming Collector's Items. Franklin Mint, Precious Moments, etc. all have their own secondary markets that only those collectors value. Collectors sell items amongst themselves or to hobbyists or someone like me who just wants to have a couple machines for entertainment. Collectors range from day traders to 401k holders and no matter where they fall in that range they expect to make a profit over the long run.

Hobbyists are like the folks who go to Vegas. Some can afford more than others, they'll buy and sell based on entertainment value, not profit and losses but every now and then they will get lucky. They may pull the trigger on a NIB if the right one pops up (Willy Wonka), and they will always keep their eye open for a deal that they can play, not flip.

A person has to be crazy to think that Stern doesn't monitor the primary, secondary and tertiary market on their products. Their line seems to be flexible enough to respond to all three demands. Reasearch for primary and secondary markets is easy enough just by looking around Pinside before a game is announced up to the first delivery. If collectors can keep the used market high enough Stern can increase supply and capture even more profit through VE and reruns years after the speculators have come and gone.

The question is which market is going to sacrifice themselves for the good of the community?

Last point concerns designers, coders, developers and artists. Certain folks have attained rock star status with a fan base that will jump on anything with their name on it. Stern knows this, the rock stars know this, and their compensation probably reflects this. It's hard to imagine these guys get pay raises or bonuses based on inflation rates.