When you can no longer collect

[classicb]

Yes, it can happen. How many of us have seen the threads "selling off collection because..." Sometimes life overrides hobby and it did for me and probably many others. I'm not financially strapped I just live in a place (Nicaragua) where collecting games doesn't happen. I sold my collection or at least most of it (the sentimental stuff is stored away). I'm an avid downloader of the Virtual Console since i have a Wii but it doesn't have everything and doesn't feel the same. Emulating games on my computer has never felt right.

So people who have sold there collection or can no longer collect for various reason where are you with gaming?

For me I have a 360 and Wii. I have a handful of games for both. I miss classic gaming on classic consoles. I use the Wii Virtual Console service but overall i still miss the NES, SNES, TG-16 and Genesis. I go back a few times a year to visit my parents and i alway go hook up the NES and play a game of Tecmo Super Bowl with my friends.

End Scene

[PixelSmasher]

When I gave up collecting video games it was mostly due to space. You see, in addition to living in a one bedroom apartment, I also had two cats. One of them was unfortunately crushed to death beneath a box of Neo Geo cartridges when it tried to squeeze through several boxes to reach a slice of pizza I'd dropped and long forgotten. Unfortunately, I also didn't notice my cat was missing for a while, and his bloated corpse seeped through the side of a couple other boxes, ruining the covers and making them impossible to sell except for on eBay, where nobody asks whether a mint condition game has any unusual smells.

At that point I wasn't quite ready to give up collecting because my love for hoarding amounts of stuff I never look at with the glum satisfaction of knowing others want it as much as I want them to want it but not have it, I continued my collecting, eventually turning off my refrigerator to use it as additional storage space. I also bagged some smaller games and stored them in the water tank of my toilet.

When I started wearing nothing but video game memorabilia to the office, including a nice fedora made out of Hu Cards and Genesis controller extension cords, I thought, "Wow, this is inconvenient."

Still, I continued to collect.

Unfortunately, at this point, someone tried to rob me of all my video games, but when they discovered they couldn't actually move everything out of my apartment and put it somewhere else, they kidnapped me, dumped me in the trunk of their car, and dropped me off in the middle of the Nebraska during wintertime. See, they instead just stole my whole apartment, and the one surviving cat.

So, giving up collecting wasn't really a decision of mine. It just kind of happened.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I came to a realization some time back that my collecting days are over; the only way I'll be adding to my game collection from here on out will be if I receive a comp copy in exchange for doing someone's label/manual/box art for them or somesuch (which occasionally does still happen).

Most of my collection is loose, played with, and shows its age - it probably would have little value to anyone other than me - so here it stays unless there's some compelling reason to get rid of it.

I spent a lot of time and money in the late 1990s and the first 3-4 years of this decade accumulating all of this stuff, and now that I have a kiddo, I can look forward to rediscovering it all over again through his eyes. That's not a bad deal.

[classicb]

I continued my collecting, eventually turning off my refrigerator to use it as additional storage space. I also bagged some smaller games and stored them in the water tank of my toilet.

When I started wearing nothing but video game memorabilia to the office, including a nice fedora made out of Hu Cards and Genesis controller extension cords, I thought, "Wow, this is inconvenient."

Still, I continued to collect.

So, giving up collecting wasn't really a decision of mine. It just kind of happened.

brilliant i love it!

[otaku]

I've had to sell my collection(s) millions of times it seems whether games, books or anything else. IN fact usually I finish a console and then have to sell. I can't really afford a big collection and something always comes up that requires selling: most recently it was legal troubles and loss of a job but i'm back up and running again :)

[JohnnyBlaze]

For me, it's a change of focus. Now, I'm not interested at all in modern systems. I just want to collect for the older system and get the ones that are either old(pre 1984) or ones that no one really has(SMS, Jaguar, 3DO, etc). So, for me, I just want to collect the old systems.

Especially, considering the fact that for older games, you can play them over and over, whereas newer games, there are no replay values. You beat it once and that's it. $60 down the drain. That's another reason I'm into the older systems. You get more for the money. For the price of a 360 or PS3 games, I can get a console and a handful of games.

Those are my reasons for selling collections.

[RJ]

double post (see below)

[RJ]

I located a couple more used media/game stores yesterday & have to admit the thrill of the hunt is wearing off for me. Just seeing all those CDs, movies (VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray), games, etc sortof depressed me. It all just sits there day after day, week upon week- who'll ever buy this stuff? Where will it all end up? Not to mention the prices arent really so great either. I mean I realize there's still somewhat of a market for this stuff- People DO occasionally buy it- but I think I finally saw the big picture. It doesnt help that I'm also near the end of buying/collecting anymore- I'm pretty comfy w/ what I have now. All the more for you guys...

A local Circuit City had a big deep box by their door almost full of discounted stuff. Do people really stand there & dig around like a homeless guy in a Dumpster?

[RJ]

The seldom-seen triple post.

Dammit, what am I doing...not even drunk.

[scorch56]

I sold off my entire collection of 750+ complete games in the last year on evilBay due to health problems in the family. Actually.. I find that I DON'T miss them. Why? Because I never got to play them in the first place (yeah.. crazy.. I know.).

I ended up spending all of my time collecting, perusing eB for "deals" and such. My only regret is I had to let 90% of my stuff go for less than I paid for it.. but that's life. I can understand the not wanting to do the emulator thing.. but I've got ROMs for most everything I ever had (I DO miss the manuals) so if by some chance someday..

I'm back into PC gaming now and recently found the joy of P2P. Stopped paying for Usenet and rapidshare premium.. things are getting tight!

I'm not gonna' look back because I'd probably get too depressed about 5 years of wasted effort. I seriously doubt I'll ever take up retro-game collecting again.

[Fuyukaze]

I think everyone reaches a point where they tell themselves enough is enough and decide they want something else. I've only sold off my collection once and that time I regreted it because my motives turned to be less then spectacular. Now, I'm kind of tired of gaming. Tired of the new generation of gamers and their hardcore crap, tired of the older genration and their BS as well. That and looking in my office and finding half of it taken up by nothing but games kinda disgusted me. I guess I reached the point where I want something else. Who realy wants to live their life alone surounded by their junk till they die in their 60's or 70's?

[James8BitStar]

Just last month I decided to hawk some stuff on eBay, including some of my games. Me and my best friend since childhood took a long look at our circumstances together (because thinking together is always more productive than thinking alone) and decided that, rather than trying to collect in circumstances that could turn against us at any time, we were going to both put it aside for awhile, pursue our careers, and try to each become filthy stinking rich so that later on, we could enjoy our hobbies to our hearts' content.

So for me its not really about "not collecting anymore," its just holding off until a time when collecting is more viable.

[Steven]

I have been "at peace" with this hobby for some time now. A couple years ago I realized it was impossible to play all the good games out there, so instead I decided to simple things down for my sanity's sake. I decided it was better to milk the crap out of one system I loved the most, rather than try to balance play between several different systems. I love the SNES, it's got a brilliant combination of great gameplay and nostalgia, and it's all I really care to play these days. Benefits of this are large. Since I'm done buying games, my to-play pile is only decreasing by the months, not increasing. I'm glad to be out of the 'rat race' so to speak, no more flea market rummaging on early Saturday mornings. Instead I'm sleeping in, doing something else, or hell, discovering a game I bought 2 years ago.

You can't play them all. I find focusing on one system to be very satisfying, and it keeps you from burning out. I also have a DC and Saturn, but I haven't touched my DC in about 2 years and I play Saturn once in a blue moon (it was my favorite system from 2001 to late 2005)

So yeah, overall, I feel good about where I'm at in this crazy hobby of ours. I don't see myself selling off my games any time soon, though one day it may happen. Before that day, I hope to have played all my games extensively. (a very feasible goal, as I've stopped buying games a long time ago)

[Flack]

I'll be honest with you. I have a big mental disconnect being games (the actual programs themselves) and physical media. I like collecting games because I like looking at collections of things, but when it comes to playing them, it really doesn't bother me to play ROMs. If I lost my entire physical collection tomorrow, sure I would be bummed, but I'd keep on playing games.

[SegaAges]

I located a couple more used media/game stores yesterday & have to admit the thrill of the hunt is wearing off for me. Just seeing all those CDs, movies (VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray), games, etc sortof depressed me. It all just sits there day after day, week upon week- who'll ever buy this stuff? Where will it all end up? Not to mention the prices arent really so great either. I mean I realize there's still somewhat of a market for this stuff- People DO occasionally buy it- but I think I finally saw the big picture. It doesnt help that I'm also near the end of buying/collecting anymore- I'm pretty comfy w/ what I have now. All the more for you guys...

A local Circuit City had a big deep box by their door almost full of discounted stuff. Do people really stand there & dig around like a homeless guy in a Dumpster?

If it is possible a random deal is there, I do, well used to. No more CC in my city (Green Hill Jokes = shut up, it is story time. drink your milk, eat you r cookie and enjoy it).

I am actually getting back into collecting. When I was in college, I had nothing but time and money to collect. I graduated with my Bachelor's May of 2007 and realized the cold truth of "job experience". I was seriously going to sell the entire collection in order to pay for college, but my brother talked me out of it.

I just put them all in boxes and let them sit in a basement (I know live in that house). I landed a job in October (I was working full time as a cook) and I slowly started building up my collection while saving money. I managed to save $2000 and decided that I had a salary job, so I needed to get a new car (my 91 explorer was seriously going to go anyday). I put all 2000 down on a 06 Lancer with 29k miles (the car is cherry, I got it right after somebody brought it back from a lease). I got the car about February, and along with 1000 for plates, that set me back 3000. I had been going a week on money, paying bills, living off of a credit card for a week, getting a paycheck, paying off the credit card, but at that point, enough of teh check was gone to where I would go to a credit card (and it was usually on the card for less than $10, low amount).

Well uncle sam sent me my stimulus check, and it got me back to a stable situation, where I always have money now, while I always have money for my bills (I am sitting on about 1000 that I have resaved since the stimulus check).

Now that money is good, it is time to collect again.

[Blanka789]

Just last month I decided to hawk some stuff on eBay, including some of my games. Me and my best friend since childhood took a long look at our circumstances together (because thinking together is always more productive than thinking alone) and decided that, rather than trying to collect in circumstances that could turn against us at any time, we were going to both put it aside for awhile, pursue our careers, and try to each become filthy stinking rich so that later on, we could enjoy our hobbies to our hearts' content.

So for me its not really about "not collecting anymore," its just holding off until a time when collecting is more viable.

Kind of what's happening to me. I still collect but not near as much, and most of what I do buy goes on ebay. Despite that, my Genesis collection just keeps growing LOL

[SegaAges]

I'll be honest with you. I have a big mental disconnect being games (the actual programs themselves) and physical media. I like collecting games because I like looking at collections of things, but when it comes to playing them, it really doesn't bother me to play ROMs. If I lost my entire physical collection tomorrow, sure I would be bummed, but I'd keep on playing games.

Sorry, I suck at double quoting people (and I am lazy).

I am the same way.Who doesn't have DC games that they "acquired" from the net?

They are not part of my collection, because I like looking at a bookshelf full of games. It is a collection.

If I just wanted to play games, I would, but I like collecting, it is fun

[prismra]

I sold most of my collection that was going unplayed. My Genesis/Sega CD, PS2/PS1 games all went to eBay. So did my Dreamcast. That was a mistake. I'm re-buying my Dreamcast collection now. All I collect now is NES and SNES as those are my childhood favorites. Unless something is super-rare, I don't bother anymore. I really only want to have the games I want to play taking up room in my home.

[Bojay1997]

I think that like many of these posts popping up lately, the lesson to be taken from the story is that balance is the critical component in anything you devote time to in your life. Things happen, people get married, have kids, lose jobs, move, get sick, die, etc...As long as collecting makes you happy and doesn't interfere with the other aspects of a balanced life, it doesn't matter if you have five games or fifty thousand. I'm certainly more introspective about my collection, particularly as I'm thinking about having kids and I don't know if I would want them to spend the amount of time I did, alone in a room playing games between the ages of 8 and 17. I turned out ok, I have a great job and lots of friends. Still, there is more to life than gaming and collecting and as long as you live by that rule, everything else will just fall into place.

[PixelSmasher]

I think that like many of these posts popping up lately, the lesson to be taken from the story is that balance is the critical component in anything you devote time to in your life. Things happen, people get married, have kids, lose jobs, move, get sick, die, etc...As long as collecting makes you happy and doesn't interfere with the other aspects of a balanced life, it doesn't matter if you have five games or fifty thousand. I'm certainly more introspective about my collection, particularly as I'm thinking about having kids and I don't know if I would want them to spend the amount of time I did, alone in a room playing games between the ages of 8 and 17. I turned out ok, I have a great job and lots of friends. Still, there is more to life than gaming and collecting and as long as you live by that rule, everything else will just fall into place.


I agree.

Simply said, you can't make hoarding stuff or playing games your life.

I find it chilling that the slogan for the forums is, "Video gaming as life."

[dbiersdorf]

It's weird how you can lose interest in it though. I would check boards like this and CAG all the time trying to get more and more games and get a great collection. I had almost every imaginable system at the age of 16... now I'm 19 and I own a DS and a Nintendo 64, and only keeping the DS because it can play Pokemon.

[Igorr]

I pretty much collect Atari games, and systems. I have 7 different atari systems, Jr., Heavy sixer, Sears, etc. I have also branched out to start collection stuff like Pong, and Tele-Games, Mag Odyssey and stuff like that. Really dont play any of it, except for some atari games. I pretty much like having it. I collect and want every atari game (label variations included) but probably wont ever play them since Most of them are pretty bad.

I also somewhat collect NES stuff, but I sell them too.

My real passion is Masters of the Universe. I want, no NEED, everything with the name on it, all vintage (Pre-1990). Domestic stuff to super rare India items. I want it.

I have seen people sell their entire collection, say for having a baby or something, then three months later say, "I'm back and want to collect again."

HUH? I didnt spend the better part of 6 years buying He-Man stuff just to sell it and then rebuy it!

I have literally sold a person a He-Man item one day and less than a week later they are selling their collection. I dont get it. How can you all of a sudden just say, "well I'm done with this, time for something else."

I do go through spurts. I will buy a ton of stuff, and then a few months go by with no purchases, kinda loose interest or are tired of looking/spending money.

But to sell it all? No friggin way. Check out my sig for an updated pic of my basement to see what I have.

[PixelSmasher]

If your reason for collecting is the pursuit, then it can be really disheartening when you've completed a collection (to whatever your personal standards "complete" is), and then find yourself kind of like... "What next?"

[dao2]

If your reason for collecting is the pursuit, then it can be really disheartening when you've completed a collection (to whatever your personal standards "complete" is), and then find yourself kind of like... "What next?"

that's why you've gotta choose something unattainable ^^

[Tron 2.0]

I have been "at peace" with this hobby for some time now. A couple years ago I realized it was impossible to play all the good games out there, so instead I decided to simple things down for my sanity's sake. I decided it was better to milk the crap out of one system I loved the most, rather than try to balance play between several different systems. I love the SNES, it's got a brilliant combination of great gameplay and nostalgia, and it's all I really care to play these days. Benefits of this are large. Since I'm done buying games, my to-play pile is only decreasing by the months, not increasing. I'm glad to be out of the 'rat race' so to speak, no more flea market rummaging on early Saturday mornings. Instead I'm sleeping in, doing something else, or hell, discovering a game I bought 2 years ago.

You can't play them all. I find focusing on one system to be very satisfying, and it keeps you from burning out. I also have a DC and Saturn, but I haven't touched my DC in about 2 years and I play Saturn once in a blue moon (it was my favorite system from 2001 to late 2005)

So yeah, overall, I feel good about where I'm at in this crazy hobby of ours. I don't see myself selling off my games any time soon, though one day it may happen. Before that day, I hope to have played all my games extensively. (a very feasible goal, as I've stopped buying games a long time ago)
Sounds like me i kind of stick to one console at a time.

I know i can't play them all given how much it can take alot of time and money.

I'm sure i'll reach a point where enough is enough i been thinking,afther this generation of console i may just stop for a while.

There are console that i miss from years of tradeing and selling.

Still i don't have much of a desire to get those consoles again.

Given it's all ready costing me when i pickup a,Famicom and PCE it was to play those games again given i use to have there u.s counter parts.

I do try to make it a rule don't buy again what i once owned.

[Press_Start]

There are three reasons why I still collect:

1. I'm a packrat. Anything I get, I keep. The only reason I still have my PS1 collection, but its the notion of regretting it later I fear most. Sell my extra copies when in a financial bind. (Kinda right now... ^^;)

2. I want to review them. There are so many great games especially the current generation that are horribly overlooked. Their time in the spotlight is way overdue and the world needs to know.

3. I consider it more like archiving than collecting. If history has taught us anything, it is those who stand the test of time are the most sought after. Books, literature, art, sculptures, architecture, film, the things commonly seen and taken for granted with be the reflections of the times, events, and memories we had here.

Collect games to play and hold on to show future generations how we PLAYED our games. :D ;)

[Steven]

I think that like many of these posts popping up lately, the lesson to be taken from the story is that balance is the critical component in anything you devote time to in your life. Things happen, people get married, have kids, lose jobs, move, get sick, die, etc...As long as collecting makes you happy and doesn't interfere with the other aspects of a balanced life, it doesn't matter if you have five games or fifty thousand. I'm certainly more introspective about my collection, particularly as I'm thinking about having kids and I don't know if I would want them to spend the amount of time I did, alone in a room playing games between the ages of 8 and 17. I turned out ok, I have a great job and lots of friends. Still, there is more to life than gaming and collecting and as long as you live by that rule, everything else will just fall into place.


I concur. There are people out there (and I'll admit I was in the group at one time or another) that use (collecting) games to fill up a missing void in their life. Whether they want to admit it or not. Sure, you can tell yourself happiness is all you care about, and if you believe playing games nearly 24/7 is what makes you happiest, good for you. I don't think a healthy well-rounded life consist of such myself, but that's just me.

Unless you making serious dough off games, and EVEN THEN, don't make gaming your whole life. Make it part of your life. Sorry, I know this is starting to get preachy, but Bo is right... it's crazy how many of these posts have been cropping up in recent times. Gamers are slowing down or burning out, whereas it seems like pre-2006 was sort of a "golden age" for the online gaming community so to speak... now it seems more and more are just burning out and/or abandoning ship.

It's definitely all about balance.

[Raedon]

No room! I've now got a rented storage shed because of my collecting (as well as preparing for a move.)

[Malon_Forever]

To collect games, you don't have to play 24/7. I use to collect slightly (only for like a year, and had probably 150 all together), but it was just something I was interested in. I would buy a game, and play it for a bit. Most of the time, I would play it once, and there it goes to the shelf to stay. I just liked seeing what was out there. Also, sometimes you get one where it's actually pretty fun and you actually take the time to enjoy it. It's not like I stayed couped up in my house all day and stayed in front of my tv, but I still enjoyed collecting.

[fpbrush]

I too have been recently confronted with this question of "do I continue collecting?". With my bachelors degree now behind me, and the future looking like work and/or grad school looming in the distance--I did have to ask myself what to do. And while I decided I won't stop collecting (mainly because of this "archivist/librarian" mentality that I have that Press_Start was talking about) I have had decided to keep my collection to things that I play semi-frequently, or will most likely play in the future. Because I was unsatisfied that I was falling into that same routine of buying something, and shelving it--sometimes not even playing it! So at this stage of my life--I decided to try to keep it to unique or fun games I like playing (imagine that, ha). While I feel like I have figured out the 'games' portion of how I will collect for now--I still haven't decided on the 'systems' portion. If I should pair down my systems collection in the same way--ie if there is only a few games I like for a system, away it goes. But I haven't decided yet, but it tempts me as I am still in a very transitory stage of my life, literally as well as emotionally (that whole, "what now" question after college). OK..I've rambled too long...

[mezrabad]

For me, it has never been about the collecting (I keep my inner-collector chained up pretty tightly). It has never been about nostalgia or about playing classic games because I think they are "better" than the newer games coming out today. For me, it's about two things:

1. The fact that I like exploring these little universes dreamed up in someone else's head and set to streams of ones and zeros. Generally, I'm interested in playing it whether it is good or not. If it is good, then I like playing it again, if it is bad, I don't, but that doesn't take away my satisfaction of having played it and "gotten it out of the way."

2. As a kid/teen I didn't have the money to buy whatever I wanted to play, but now I at least a) Have more money than I used to and b) things from back then, for the most part, cost a lot less now than they did then. However, even if I had possessed the needed cash for acquisition back in the day, I didn't have the time to play it all. While I can't say I have much more time than I did then (still only getting 24 hours a day, damnit.) I can at least manage my time better, so now I'm able to spend anywhere from 15 to 120 minutes a day actually playing videogames.

Over the past four years, I've managed to accumulate about 98% of the system hardware needed to play any console game that was published and widely available in the U.S. from 1972 to 1984 all in the name of being able to play what I didn't get to play when I was a kid/teen. As I go through them year by year, they've given me a remarkable sense of closure and I've been able to lay a lot of things to rest that had bothered me for years.

Anyway, accumulating and playing is a kind of therapy for me. It isn't about the chase, or even necessarily playing great games. It's about getting them out of the way and finally moving on.

[jhd7]

I sold off most of my collection because it became overwhelming. Yes, it was fun to buy & collect, and the Room of Doom was a source of pride. But all along, my goal was to play & beat every game. Eventually, I realized I simply wouldn't live long enough to do that. The thought of beating 1000+ games seemed more of a chore than a challenge.

This is what I sold:

All SMS (100+ games)
All 7800 (~40 games)
All Game Gear (85 games)
NES pared from 771 to 100,
CV pared from 143 to 50.

SNES holding steady at 90, Duo holding steady at 142. And I'm still trying to find a dozen SNES and 2 Duo games.

As time goes by, I'm sure more and more of the collection will go out the door without being played. There are other things I want to do as well as gaming... reading, watch DVDs, learn guitar, home improvement, quality time with friends, etc. If I were 20 years younger, I probably wouldn't be selling.

jeff

[Steven]

I sold off most of my collection because it became overwhelming. Yes, it was fun to buy & collect, and the Room of Doom was a source of pride. But all along, my goal was to play & beat every game. Eventually, I realized I simply wouldn't live long enough to do that. The thought of beating 1000+ games seemed more of a chore than a challenge.

This is what I sold:

All SMS (100+ games)
All 7800 (~40 games)
All Game Gear (85 games)
NES pared from 771 to 100,
CV pared from 143 to 50.

SNES holding steady at 90, Duo holding steady at 142. And I'm still trying to find a dozen SNES and 2 Duo games.

As time goes by, I'm sure more and more of the collection will go out the door without being played. There are other things I want to do as well as gaming... reading, watch DVDs, learn guitar, home improvement, quality time with friends, etc. If I were 20 years younger, I probably wouldn't be selling.

jeff


That's the spirit, Jeff. Sell the excess stuff you no longer really desire, and keep only those that you REALLY want. Like you, I mainly have a SNES and Saturn. Also a DC but I haven't touched it in two years or so and it ain't harming anyone (only got 40 games) so I'm keeping it for the long haul. It's so much easier to focus on one or two systems than it is to focus on six or seven.