New collector seeks tips and insight.

[pkm]

Hi :king:

Well as the title suggest Im new to collecting and would really love to share what I have, what Im looking to do, and some insight of my own on what Im trying to do, so to say.

Firstly, I guess Im looking to collect good games, not every game. Also Im more inclined to collect the games not the consoles, meaning I have all 3 now gen's...so I have no nned for PS1&2, Gamecube, Original Xbox.
But on that last note will my Wii and 360 Emulate all quality GC & XBOX titles? My PS3 is a full BC 60gig, so Im sure Ill be fine...but I hear rumors of Wii and 360 BC being a pain.

I guess what I would love to know...whats some must haves for the PS1 & 2, GC, XBOX?
A have an assortment...many FF series titles, Killer 7, KOTOR etc...but would love some guidance. Even a link to a place to find a good list would help.
I missed all of last gen, I was off to college, the kids, then work etc...so Im really in the dark from 96' till last year.

ATM my console only consist of PS3, Wii, 360, NES, Genesis..
But my final console collection, of consoles I loved/love, will consist of adding in a Dreamcast, SNES, Saturn and N64. I would love a Neo Geo, but just like when I was 12 they still seem pricey. Id really like to know suggested amounts I should pay for these in quality condition.

Off/On topic..my Genesis is my actual old Genesis from childhood, great condition...but..sometimes my games on start show a scrolling black and white bar and distorted image. Under that the game is running fine since a small push or wiggle of the inserted cartridge clears it up and then I can play, but is my Genesis shot? Oddly enough I have 2 Genesis that do this (fat & small), but both clear up if I apply pressure to inserted carts or a slight wiggle..so what could be? coincidence?

My final question regard places to find titles at great prices. Id love to know weres the idea spot?
Gamestops and the likes still charge an arm and a leg, my local flea market is over populated with collectors rather then deals...which leaves me thinking Ebay and Yardsales? So far only steal Ive came across in a yardsale is FF9 for 4 bucks mint, other then that Ive waded through stacks of Maddens or GTA's.

So in closing Id like to apologize for my noobness to the scene, but would love any and all help to learn, contribute and be a more involved enthusiast.

[Ed Oscuro]

Don't buy stuff you don't like or want, that's the first rule ;)

Try to be orderly...I've been surprised by the number of times I assumed something would be a find and it turned out to be junk (or worse).

Really, the main thing you should do is define for yourself what you want to get and why you want to get it. Do you want to have a lot of games on hand that you can play all the time? Or do you want something worth money? Like looking at filled bookcases? It's up to you...

Also, welcome :)

Editing for lols:

"Y'see, opening the packaging makes them worth so much less on eBay." (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=400406&page=10)

[SpaceHarrier]

Well, I can only give my faves for ps1/ps2 dc gc and xbox... they are sometimes quirky, but all around excellent titles in my opinion..

ps1:
*Abe's Exxodus ---- plays like Prince of Persia, but with a sci-fi twist
*Castlevania Symphony of the Night - best Castlevania to date, with metroid style exploration and RPG elements
*Chrono Cross ---- RPG with amazing soundtrack, color palette. Be prepared for a double take though if you played Trigger, this is nothing like it.
*Loaded ---- early ps1 topdown shooter. Very violent and gritty.
*Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete ---- Best old school jrpg I've played.
*Metal Gear Solid ----(buy the 3-pack available for ps2, unless you are collecting for collecting's sake)
*Resident Evil 1,2,3 ---- I'm sure you weren't that out of the loop, right? Survival Horror defined.
*Soul Blade ---- Though eclipsed by it's sequel Soul Calibur, it's still an excellent ps1 fighter

PS2:
*Burnout 3 ---- Fun as hell racing game where you crash. Alot.
*Burnout Revenge ---- See above or 360 equivalent
*Devil May Cry 1 and 3 ---- Stylish hard action, over-the-top combo system, great metal tunes (in 3)
*Final Fantasy X---- Great addictive new stat-building system, full voice acting. Endearing characters. One of my Top 5 faves.
*Guilty Gear X2 ---- anime styled fighting game with amazing character design, great metal music and over-the-top fighting
*Katamari Damacy ---- Quirkiest of the quirky. You start with a small sticky ball and roll junk up in it until eventually you are rolling up houses and the Eiffel Tower
*Kingdom Hearts ---- Disney meets Final Fantasy, but it's awesome. Action/RPG
*Metal Gear Solid 3 pack (MGS 1,2,3) ---- Stealth espionage action. Still the only series with stealth that I consider fun!
*Odin Sphere ---- 2-D action/RPG sidescroller with amazing animation
*Okami ---- Amazing graphical touches. You play as a white wolf in a 3-D Legend of Zelda type adventure.. In my top 5 for PS2
*Outrun 2006 ---- As you can see, I like racing games. An overlooked gem. Pure fun.
*Persona 3 ---- A Jrpg with a great translation, voice acting, and anime styled visuals.
*Resident Evil: Code Veronica ---- More excellent horror action
*Rez ---- A Space Harrier style shooter with psychedelic wireframe visuals that pulsate to the building trance soundtrack
*Rygar ---- Great action/adventure game
*Shadow of the Collosus ---- Epic adventure game where the boss IS the level. One of my top 5 for PS2.
*Silent Hill 2 ---- In my opinion, the best in the series of Survival Horror shockers.
*Street Fighter Alpha Collection ---- The value with this one is immense.

Dreamcast:
*Crazy Taxi ---- Arcadey racing fun delivering people to KFC or the airport.
*Daytona USA ---- Best home version of a great arcade racing game
*Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (it's expensive though) ---- the ultimate mash-up fighter
*Hydro Thunder ---- more arcadey racing fun, now with boats!
*Sonic Adventure ---- Epic Sonic the Hedgehog action/adventure. Great music, voice acting, selection of characters.
*Soul Calibur ---- One of the best 3-D fighting games ever made, if not the best

Gamecube:
*F-Zero GX ---- Hope I'm not boring you with all these racers? Awesome futuristic racing action, perfected.
*Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker ---- Or Twilight Princess, unless you already have the Wii version.
*Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (a good, albeit challenging, licensed game. Who knew?) - Kinda like the old TMNT games
*Mario Sunshine ---- Kinda goes without saying this is excellent.
*Metroid Prime ---- Corridor shooter but plays very quickly, great graphics...still has that good ol Metroid feel to it though
*Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door ---- Mario RPG, very VERY funny
*Skies of Arcadia ---- A great old school Sega JRPG
*Resident Evil (remake) ---- Gorgeous and faithful update to RE1.

Xbox:
*Dead or Alive Ultimate box ---- Great fighting game (DOA 2) in it's finest form. DOA 1 still kinda sucks though.. :p
*Panzer Dragoon Orta ---- Amazing. Powerful. A 3-D shooting game astride a graceful form-changing dragon. Graphics, music, AWESOME.
*Ninja Gaiden Black ---- No doubt you've caught wind of some part of this series? Stylish hard action games don't get any more challenging than this.. shattered controllers may occur. It's so rewarding to actually make any progress in this game, and it's never totally unfair. Control is spot on.
*Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath ---- A great sorta FPS, sorta 3rd person action/adventure brawler shooter...
(I don't know how many of the above XBox games are cross-compatible with the 360)
You might wanna search some of these, I'm sure you'll find something that you will have fun with..

Also: Sorry to everyone for my wall of text. And to OP, if I have overexplained alot of games you are already familiar with, I apologize.

[dao2]

The Wii will have absolutely zero problems with BC, even less then 60 gig ps3 (it's not 100% like the Wii)

The 360 doesn't have problems with emulating... but it only does a very very small list of games, so yes your gonna run into a ton that just wont play at all. Getting an original xbox is the good route there.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, I can only give my faves for ps1/ps2 dc gc and xbox... they are sometimes quirky, but all around excellent titles in my opinion..
I think that's a decent list few people would argue with seriously, although from a collecting standpoint it's easy to spot many of these. The question is more "what price to pay?"

[Sniderman]

Whew, lots of links to post, so let's get to it.

First up, Greetings and Welcome to DP! Since you're new, please take a moment and introduce yourself in the "Introduce Yourself thread that's Stickied at the top of the forum you posted in:

Introduce Yourself! (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5)


Firstly, I guess Im looking to collect good games, not every game....I guess what I would love to know...whats some must haves for the PS1 & 2, GC, XBOX?

You're in luck! We have a "Top 10/20/25/50" list of nearly every console released! These lists have been voted on by the membership and they're still on-going in the "Classic Discussions" forum. If you take a look in there, you'll find the best games for each system as decided upon by the membership. That'd be a great place to start:

Top 50 Playstation games (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1491)
Sony PS2 Favorites (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4764)
Nintendo GameCube Favorites (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5195)
Microsoft Xbox Favorites (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11062)


But my final console collection, of consoles I loved/love, will consist of adding in a Dreamcast, SNES, Saturn and N64. I would love a Neo Geo, but just like when I was 12 they still seem pricey. Id really like to know suggested amounts I should pay for these in quality condition.

Pricing questions normally go in the "What's It Worth?" forum in the Marketplace section. However, I'm uncertain if you have access yet. You see, I know the Buying and Selling forum isn't open for new folks until they've been here for 10 days (cuts down on the same-day drive-by spambot attacks). So, if you have access to the What's It Worth forum, that'd be a good place to start for questions like this (and if you find something nifty and want to find out if you over/underpaid for it). But, in general, if you want to know the price of stuff, here's what I do: go to eBay and check out the Completed Auctions. and take an average selling price of those items that sold. Do NOT use the opening prices or the prices of items that didn't sell. The Completed Auction average will give you a general rule of thumb as to what people are willing to currently pay.


Off/On topic..my Genesis is my actual old Genesis from childhood, great condition...but..sometimes my games on start show a scrolling black and white bar and distorted image. Under that the game is running fine since a small push or wiggle of the inserted cartridge clears it up and then I can play, but is my Genesis shot? Oddly enough I have 2 Genesis that do this (fat & small), but both clear up if I apply pressure to inserted carts or a slight wiggle..so what could be? coincidence?

We have a forum for questions like this too! It's the Technical and Restoration Society, and they have advice on cleaning, fixing, restoring, tweaking, and generally troubleshooting your games and consoles:

Technical and Restoration Society (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=22)


My final question regard places to find titles at great prices. Id love to know weres the idea spot?
Well, obviously, there is no "magic spot" that collectors know about that you don't. And "Where can I find good deals?" posts pop up ALL of the time. And the answers are the same: flea markets; ebay and other online auctions places; thrift stores; boot/garage/yard sales; craigslist; deals with other collectors at forums like DP; local game stores; etc. The secret is to be aggressive - check these places ALL OF THE TIME. Good deals aren't just going to sit there until you eventually go looking. The reason you're not finding anything is because other collectors are there before you. ;)

Whew, I hope you find this info useful. Welcome!

[carlcarlson]

One thing that I've recently started doing that may be helpful is to sit down with a master list for a system you want to collect for and narrow it down to titles you know you want. Like "if these were the only games I had for the Genesis I would be 100% happy". This has been a huge relief for me. That way instead of looking for 600-700 titles you are only looking for maybe 60. A good way to burn yourself out while collecting is to buy everything you see. It sounds like you already know not to do that which is great. Having focus is a great thing.

As for finding "the place" to get great deals, I have built my collection almost entirely off of ebay (goodwill, garage sales and craigslist also helped out). Many collectors will scoff at that, but that's just been the easiest and most affordable way for me to go about it. I collect through buying and selling. If there is a game I want I find a lot that has it, buy it, and then sell everything I don't want to make my money back. I always make sure I can break even while keeping the games I want. In this manner I have built up a decent sized collection (1000+ quality titles) without spending a dime.

[mailman187666]

I noticed you said you would like to own a Neo Geo. I think you could get a Neo Geo CD system for pretty cheap and that has pretty much all you'd want to play for it. Most of them may be Japanese versions but for fighting games, I doubt it would be a big deal. I got a Neo Geo CD system for $40, and the stand up arcade machine (MVS) for $400. Watch out for bootlegs if buying them online.