Completing a "collection"

[Gooch3008]

So, to those of you who have satisfied your craving for all the games that you desire of an older system, I have to ask.

What is it like? Is it a relief? Do you get a sad feeling? I would like your thoughts.

I am very close to having every single game on my list of games for Nintendo 64 that I want in my collection. (excluding Sin & Punishment) For not spending very much money due to scouring flea markets, yard sales, thrifts stores, "the wild." I have amassed what I consider to be the cream of the crop and all games that I want to play or have enjoyed very much in the past. I am down to 7 titles left:

F-Zero X
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Ogre Battle 64
Quest 64
Space Station Silicon Valley
Tetrisphere
Wetrix

It seems like such a short list. I sometimes ponder what it will be like to own every single game that has been made available to me that I want to play/own. Anyone feel like sharing?

[kupomogli]

I almost have every PSX and PS2 game that I like. US versions only except specific imports.

[icarwngs55]

To me...there is no such thing as 'completing' a collection

There is always something to add, whether it be a better condition label or a manual or a box or so on.

There is no end. Scary, yet satisfying

[Dangerboy]

I'm 11 or so items away from every known US PSX release - be it variant, lightspan, demo, retail, or otherwise.

I will be happily thrilled that one hunt will be done. Repair jobs (aka new manuals, etc) would be a small past time, but it would mean another hunt could be finished, or a new hunt started.

[Marriott_Guy]

In all honesty, it (collecting) is rather akin to a roller coaster ride. You have the high of grabbing the last one you need to complete a collection and then the resulting low in having (wanting) to determine what your next target(s) will be.

[tom]

It's always such a thing with you US guys...complete collection or just complete US collection, which would never be 'complete collection' then.
Complete collection for a console is always US and foreign-only releases.
For example, no one in the US has a complete NES collection, which would include the Japan-only Famicom or European-only NES releases

[Steve W]

I'm nowhere near owning a complete Xbox collection, but I'm at the point where I pretty much have nearly all the games I'm interested in. There's heaps of sports games I don't care about, and a bunch from genres I'm not into. As far as action games goes, I've got just about all the ones that look like they're my kind of game. It actually does feel sort of satisfying. I don't have to be a completist or hardcore collector, I don't need special editions or exclusive kiosk demos, I'm happy with the ones I've got. And that's fine with me.

[Pantechnicon]

Of the systems which I've officially declared myself "done" with respect to collecting, what I feel about these systems is more of a restlessness brought about by experiencing a diminishing momentum, if that makes sense. "Okay, I'm done with PS2...really... but am I sure I didn't miss something?" On a conscious level I accept the finality to which I've committed myself, but it's hard to let go of old habits like quickly leafing through the clearance bin at Gamestop when the occasion presents itself to do so.

And despite declaring myself done with PS2 as of December of last year, I've bought two PS2 titles since then, and now that I think about it there's a third I wouldn't mind adding...must...stop....regressing @_@

There's also a voice in my head which says "Now that you're done buying stuff for it, you should start to work on playing through that backlog." I find this voice to be the more compelling one than the "Buy More Buy More!" voice.

[heybtbm]

I've been so close to having a complete US Dreamcast collection for the past 6 years (probably one of the easiest "complete" collections you can do). I only need a handful of games...all of which happen to be in the $30-$50 variety. I could easily pick them up in one swoop on ebay, but I remain convinced I can find them cheaply in the wild. For me, the hunt is most of the fun. So on it goes.

[Iron Draggon]

I'm pretty much done with GameGear, GBA, Virtual Boy, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, SNES, Saturn, PlayStation, 3DO, Jaguar, Jaguar CD, & Dreamcast, as far as having all the games I want for those systems, but every now & then I go back and talk myself into picking something else up for one of them while I work on Wii & PC. It's a real comfort knowing that I have all the games that I want most for all those systems and yet I can still go back and add more anytime I want to. Especially knowing also that I could never afford all of those games at today's prices, which is why most only dream of having such a collection now. It's quite the warm fuzzy feeling as anyone would expect it to be. Otherwise, why work so hard at spending so much money over so many years to gather it all? I'll never complete all the games that I own, so the biggest pleasure for me is simply owning them all and being able to play any of them whenever I want. So I guess I'm still a player-collector, but I'm much more of a colector now. I simply don't have enough time to play them all, or even all of just one of them, most of the time. For me the collecting itself has become my favorite game to play all the time, so that's what I do and enjoy doing most now. I'm going to be able to say that I have all the games I want for Wii someday too, and most likely for the next Wii also. But somehow I don't think I'll ever have all the games I want for the PC, cause I don't think they'll ever stop making them! I plan to stop collecting new games for PC when they're no longer XP compatible. That will be the end of my era, and then I can go back and fill in all the holes that I can afford to fill, and probably still will never stop buying up every obscure old title I can afford. But my console collections will finally be "done" someday real soon, as I'm mainly interested in adding more JP imports for Saturn and maybe filling in a few more holes in my PlayStation collection, now that it's an old relic too. And if I can come up with the money for it somehow, someday I hope to start adding more Dreamcast JP imports too. I still only have a few of them! And so it never really ends, even when it's over. Sorta like this paragraph! LOL

[jonebone]

Hey man I got a CIB Wetrix on eBay right now that I'd sell you outright if interested, pretty damn nice condition too. I'm user jonebone7 :

http://cgi.ebay.com/N64-Nintendo-64-Complete-Game-WETRIX-Rare-Puzzle-Title-/170518978293?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item27b3b91ef5

I'm probably 100 or so CIBs away from a N64 complete collection but it's mostly sports and filler, I've already gotten all of the populars and rares out of the way.

Personally I can't wait for the day to be "done" collecting and focus more on gaming. I only know how to collect at two speeds, either nothing at all or all out through reselling. So it's almost like a part-time job and it definitely wears on you. With football season coming up I'll have even less time and I don't want to be cleaning games in front of the TV all day Sunday! (Which I've done in seasons past)

[starsoldier1]

Do me it's definitely a feeling of relief. The pressure is off finding that last game and now all that it left do it is play and found out if you agree with the critics or not.

[njb12287]

I just completed my Original Magnavox Odyssey collection and it felt great. I was so sick of waiting and hoping on the rare items. Now i can just keep my eye out for interesting items and buy them if i want instead of hunting for things.

And i agree with Tom. Its not complete unless you have foreign only releases. Thats why i also have the soccer game, a export only release.

I almost have a complete microvision collection too. Same thing, super blockbuster was only released in foreign markets so ill need to get that also

[horseboy]

I just completed my Original Magnavox Odyssey collection and it felt great. I was so sick of waiting and hoping on the rare items. Now i can just keep my eye out for interesting items and buy them if i want instead of hunting for things.

And i agree with Tom. Its not complete unless you have foreign only releases. Thats why i also have the soccer game, a export only release.

I almost have a complete microvision collection too. Same thing, super blockbuster was only released in foreign markets so ill need to get that also

Did you get Odball?

[allyourblood]

Complete collection for a console is always US and foreign-only releases.
For example, no one in the US has a complete NES collection, which would include the Japan-only Famicom or European-only NES releases

I don't know -- compatibility should be a factor. I think it's reasonable for a US collector to call their NES collection complete if they've amassed all retail releases that function on their system natively, without modification.

A Spider-Man comic book collection is complete when you've gathered every issue numerically. You shouldn't have to buy it in French, Spanish, German, etc. in order for it to count. You also shouldn't have to buy issues or special editions native to those other countries.

As for myself, I'm always interested in games I want to play first and foremost. Along the way I'll pick up some not-so-great titles to fill in the gaps, but I sort of consider my own personal collection "complete" when I own every game I want, even if that doesn't coincide with the number of actual retail releases.

[tom]

A Spider-Man comic book collection is complete when you've gathered every issue numerically. You shouldn't have to buy it in French, Spanish, German, etc. in order for it to count.

Ah, that is different, as those Spider-Man issues would be the same, just in a different language.

As njb12287 already stated, he'll need Super Blockbuster for a complete microvision collection, which is a totally different game and only released in Europe.

Actually, NES collectors are always after those Taiwan-only releases, so I believe they should include Japan-only releases for a complete collection.

[allyourblood]

Actually, NES collectors are always after those Taiwan-only releases, so I believe they should include Japan-only releases for a complete collection.

Except those aren't NES games; they're Famicom games. Same tech, different systems and connectors.

[njb12287]

Ya as Tom said Super blockbuster is a completely different game. If i had an NES collection i wouldnt collect Famicom games because it is a different system. But it depends on the collector.

Horseboy: i will be getting it soon. But i do have all the original releases as well as the shooting gallery and case. I also have all known adverts and service manuals but those are above and beyond the complete collection.

[horseboy]

Except those aren't NES games; they're Famicom games. Same tech, different systems and connectors.

Not to mention the fact that many collectors just don't care about imports.

[AWinterFuneral]

and so continues our journey for rare and uncommon games. We seriously need to go check out those new gaming stores. Well not new in general, but new to us, maybe we will find a gem?