At what AGE did you become a collector / what's your main platform?

[jonebone]

So I don't think this is the same old thread, but I apologize if it has been done before. I'm curious about this and doing a data collection of sorts. Trying to see which age is the most popular for the "birth of a videogame collector."

We'll define "collecting" as when you begin to buy games faster than you can play them, or you buy games knowing that you may never play it period (Barbie?) When you're buying games and don't even have the system to play them on. Stuff like that.

So if you were the kid who always kept your games after beating them, I don't consider that a collector. You bought the game to play it and then didn't get rid of it. That's perfectly normal. Lots of us did that growing up, but didn't become collectors until much later.

I'd say it was age 24 for me. And now my main platform is N64.

Go ahead and chime in and I'll see if I can get anything meaningful out of this.

[c2000]

I was 17 and it was kickstarted thanks to Alexkidd.com. I started to collect the PAL Master System library, currently I only collect Saturn stuff.

[VACRMH]

16.

I had a part time job which meant income to waste, combined with nostalgia after discovering that my then girlfriend/now wife had a top loader NES, I decided to track down all the games I used to own, and ones I never had a chance to play.

Don't have a current system now, really slowing down.

[Shingetter]

35ish. I don't have a main platform. If I see a game I don't have and like the price I get it.

[Informationator]

So I don't think this is the same old thread, but I apologize if it has been done before. I'm curious about this and doing a data collection of sorts. Trying to see which age is the most popular for the "birth of a videogame collector."

We'll define "collecting" as when you begin to buy games faster than you can play them, or you buy games knowing that you may never play it period (Barbie?) When you're buying games and don't even have the system to play them on. Stuff like that.

So if you were the kid who always kept your games after beating them, I don't consider that a collector. You bought the game to play it and then didn't get rid of it. That's perfectly normal. Lots of us did that growing up, but didn't become collectors until much later.

I'd say it was age 24 for me. And now my main platform is N64.

Go ahead and chime in and I'll see if I can get anything meaningful out of this.

In one sense, our family has always been a collecting family, in the sense that we never sell or throw away games; we have every game we've ever purchased since I was a small child (50+ NES games, 15+ Genesis games, 10-20 N64 games)

However, by your definition (buying them faster than I can play them), I've been collecting in earnest since I was 24. I've been so busy collecting games, in fact, that I've actually not really played any of them at all. It's not that I don't want to, but I am so focused on my goal of getting them before they're over-collected, but I just rest easy knowing that I should have years to enjoy them later.

Not having had an SNES when I was a child, I wanted one, so when I was around oh... I don't know... 20? My parents asked me what I wanted for my b-day. I said I didn't need anything, but I'd love a non-yellowed SNES. They got me one with like 10 games and it was awesome.

As I've continued to grow up I've realized that if I have any future children I want them to know what it is to enjoy classic gaming... ...to know what quality gameplay is before delving into whatever modern gaming might be available at the time. So, I want a library massive enough where they can find games they'll love and have more to experience afterward.

So... It just clicked one day. SNES has an awesome library. I love video games and the history surrounding them. I want my kids to have one of the most epic collections ever and I want to start now before games are unfindable. I began aggressively buying huge SNES lots, filtering out the dupes, and labeling and sorting everything for sale.

277 games and counting.

Once I finish SNES I don't know if I'll collect anything else... For NES I'd like to buy only games I really really want to play. ...maybe N64... It has such a small library that it'd be so much less overwhelming to collect for vs. SNES.

[vulcanjedi]

In 1984 the video store I went to started selling off the Atari, Intellivision and Coleco carts they had been renting. And around the same time video games started showing up at yard sales. That was the beginning of my collecting habit. :) With the exception of computer games I still have more atari 2600 carts than anything else.

[Robocop2]

I guess technically based on your definition I would have been about 28.

As far as preferred platforms; It would have to be Genesis, 360, and NES with a sprinkle of Jaguar (though after the lot I bought last year I haven't picked up anything more for that one)

[leatherrebel5150]

I actually just started collecting at the beginning of this year, and I'm 20. I got into it mainly because I got board one day and found the Avgn videos. I have always been real heavy into things from my parents generation(80's) music, movies, cars etc so watching the videos and remembering my dad used to have a NES kicked it all off.

My main platform is N64 right now, but it wont be for long as I have only about 30 to go to complete the set. Next step is NES/Genesis then SNES after that.

[portnoyd]

By the definition of the OP, 16 years old. I bought a lot of 30-40 NES games off of AOL's marketplace forums. I remember my mom having to pick up the package for me. I, for the life of me, can't remember what games I got but I know I have most of them still in the collection.

I picked up odds and ends over the next few years from Funco, in between renting SNES and Genesis like maniac. The fire officially started 2 years later in college where I found the joys of Funco's NES prices. Delicious.

So yeah, main system: NES.

[Informationator]

then SNES after that.

You stay away! They're MINE! MINE!!!

:ass:

[xelement5x]

Since I was a kid I've always kind of halfheartedly collected games, I never sold of any of the games I originally had, but as I got older and had more disposable income it was easier to just pick up games on the cheap when I saw them. I probably started going for a full out collection a couple years ago, so maybe 26-27 is the age I started. I just recently finished a complete US SegaCD set, and I'm kind of in a holding pattern now.

If I see something Sega that catches my eye I'll jump on it, but I'm a big fan of 16 and 32-bit stuff in general. The local store near me has tons of PS2/Xbox/GCN games on the cheap now as well, so that's a nice way to pick up random games I'm interested in. I'd have to say my main platform is really the Genesis/32/SegaCD, but I'll pick up SNES or whatever if I see a good price on it.

[kupomogli]

I'd say I was into collecting even while really young. Even back then I tried to keep whatever games I had in good, like new condition. When the PSX came out, I was still fairly young, but I was able to purchase more games. Even then I was still very OCD about getting no scratches on the discs.

So yeah. I really became a collector when I was too young to really purchase a lot of games unfortunately. If it's based on when I was able to start purchasing as many games as I do now, it's probably mid/late PSX life when I was making my own money.

[Emperor Megas]

I think you would get better data if everyone included their current age too, or the year that they were born, as well.

At any rate, I've always been one to keep whatever games I owned, however I started acquiring more games than I had time to play when:

A) I could afford to buy more of what I wanted, and...
B) eBay and B&M gaming stores dealing in non-current games became popular.

I suppose this was around '99 or so, when I was about 26 (I'm 37 now).

I'm honestly not sure what my main platform would be. If it's a question of raw numbers I have more PS2 games than anything. Still, my main passion is games from the 8 to 16-bit generation. I have special love for all things SEGA, especially the Master System, as well as the Turbo Grafx platform.

[PapaStu]

By the OP definition, somewhere between 19-21 is when I went over the FAR over the edge of purchase over playability. I'd had more than I could play for a number of years before that (via xmas/bday gifts), so, say 16, and i'm almost twice that age now.

My moment was picking up a bunch of the less common PSOne RPG's that I didn't have at the time, where 30-40 hours per game was the shortest i'd have been able to crank through them. I tossed them into the already semi neglected collection and admitted that I'd breeched the point of no return.

[Baloo]

I'd have to say around 13 or 14. Always loved classic games and would enjoy picking them up with my brother for dirt cheap at flea markets or Funcoland. First came NES and Genesis, then N64, then Dreamcast, then Saturn, Game Gear, Game Boy, etc. etc.

Then I realized one day after buying a copy of Bubsy for Genesis and having over 90 Genesis games, that it was time to stop collecting and start spending my money on games I really want to play. Now that's basically what I do, don't really collect anymore.

[Steven]

January 2001. Sega Saturn. I was 17. In my last semester in high school. One night, the Saturn bug simply consumed me. I consider that year the year I went from mere gamesplayer to game collector. My main platform now is SNES. I haven't played Saturn in ages... but still got love for it. Always will...

[Aussie2B]

The turning point for me was triggered by me getting my first PC to call my own and spending some serious time online, learning of people that still bought and played NES games. I guess at that time it was surprising to me, so it opened my eyes to what I could potentially do with my gaming. After looking up video game stores in my phone book, I found a local, independent store carrying NES games, bought some, used eBay to get a system, and that was that. This was in 1999, and I was 17. (Well, the PC stuff started in 1998.)

1999 was also the year I picked up a PlayStation, my first non-Nintendo system, and it was also the first time I had more than one active system since I already had an N64. This was another case of people online influencing me, this time to drop my biases and explore other systems (the drop to $99 definitely didn't hurt). I also started skimming through all of the prices at game stores, not just singling out something that caught my interest, so I could take advantage of marked down games and good prices on used stuff. I was buying basically every used or new PlayStation RPG I could find that was $20 or less. I was doing the same with games that caught my interest on N64 too. Between the retro games I was buying and the modern stuff, this is when my backlog first came into existence, and remains in place today. I still haven't played beyond testing many of the games I bought back then, but everything acquired prior to 1999 has been played.

As for "main platform", I don't think many of us have one. Most collectors don't seem concerned with full sets. I just pick up anything that's cheap enough to be of interest. Unless you just want us to give our favorite system or the one we have the most games for, but I don't know if that's very relevant. Anyway, even though the NES got me started on collecting, my favorite would be SNES, and I have the most games for PlayStation. NES is my second highest total, but I couldn't care less about the prospect of having every NES, SNES, or PlayStation game (it would be neat if it magically happened, though, haha).

[retroguy]

I've never had a main platform, but recently I've been thinking about focusing on original Game Boy games for several reasons:

First is the obvious portability so I can take whatever game I'm currently playing wherever and carry a couple more in my pockets.

Second is that I'm usually on a serious budget and most Game Boy games can be had for less than $10.

Third is that because the carts are so small, storage really wouldn't be an issue (although losing them might be as I already have lost a few including a couple of my favorites, which stinks).

Fourth is that there's just something about the old black and white graphics that I like.

I'd like to collect for the Turbografx 16, but I just can't afford it right now (although if I ever finish the book I'm writing, I might be able to afford that after it's published, which gives me incentive to keep working on it).

[BetaWolf47]

I was 16 or 17. I don't know what would be defined as "collecting." I began to get some N64 games back in 2005 after I saw a gameplay video of Goldeneye and was feeling nostalgic. I got about 20 or more games for the system that year.

In 2006, I got my NES working and started buying up NES and SNES games around then.

My main platforms are NES and GameCube. Those are simply the easiest systems in my collection to get large amounts of good games for. I'm at about 140 NES games and 65 GameCube games.

[pseudonym]

I was 20 when I first started buying older games. I bought small lots of NES games in college after a friend sold me his console for cheap. Cheap games from secondhand stores and Ebay, and my collection ballooned into the 100's fairly quickly.

[Atarileaf]

I'd say I really started to get the retro gaming collecting bug around 24 or 25 in the early 90's when we found an Atari 2600 with a bunch of games at a yard sale. I was hooked ever since. My main platform is, duh, Atari with the Tandy Color Computer being a very close second.

[Hwj_Chim]

I would say age 16. That would have been around 2001. I had a NES and SNES at the time, but what got me collecting was a genesis that a friend had given me:). The Genesis is still the main system that I collect for.

[Nebagram]

I'd had the urge to collect from when I was around 14-15, eventually started seriously collecting when I was 18 and had my first job. Picked up a Saturn, N64, Mega Drive, everything kinda followed from there. Nowadays I mainly collect 5th and 6th generation games.

[treismac]

I started collecting at age 32 and I am close to my 33rd birthday. I've played video games for years, but I didn't start collecting them until the beginning of this year. I collect NES games, controllers, and systems but I pick up the occasional SNES game too. I haven't fully settled on a video game collecting plan. Collecting all of the NES games sounds sort of appeals to me but on the other hand there is something about buying games that I know I will never play that just doesn't sit well with me. I suppose I am a conflicted collector. I could write more about this matter- much more.

To me, "collecting" as an activity is separate from "collecting video games". What I mean by this, is that what is collected is separate from why it is collected. Example: As a collector of NES stuff, I want a R.O.B. so I can play Gyromite the way it was intended to be played and because it looks awesome. As a collector, I want R.O.B. because he was part of the launch of the Nintendo and he will bring me one step closer to completing my NES collection. I suppose "collecting video games" is fun while "collecting" is a duty, obligation, something of an uncomfortable impulse that must be placated.

[crazyjackcsa]

I've always collected, even from the beginning, I knew that I'd have most my games for a long time. There have been a few purges lately, In fact, I cut my collection in half just last year. But like a museum, every game I've kept has a significance to me, or to the system it's for.

I don't have a system of choice persae, but I lean to the Sega side of the things. Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast.

[sidnotcrazy]

Great thread.

When I first got a job around the age of 25 was when I started buying more games than I could play. I am 36 now, and my favorite system is NES, but I love all the 8-bitters, the Sega Master System, and the Atari 7800 are also some of my favorite platforms.

I really collect for almost everything, Genesis, SNES, TG-16, Saturn, Dreamcast, PSX, etc. But I have a special love for cartridge based systems.

[buzz_n64]

I was 19, Fall 2002. I started collecting shortly after I started earning income. My main platform is NES, with games being easier to find for it than most systems, and with an enormous nostalgia factor for me.

[substantial_snake]

I started getting into it after watching the AVGN for a while. I was never into the NES but it made me nostalgic for my own personal gaming past. I grew up with a master system but my first real console with the Genesis so focus on the SNES and Genesis with some scattered PS1,PS2, PSP, and DS gaming. I am 22 now and just started earlier this year.

I don't consider myself a collector, I just pick up and enjoy those games that I enjoy and am not going for any one complete system. I already have a ton of games I don't play and those few that I have already feel like a bit of a burden.

[bacteria]

First started playing and enjoying console systems with Pong in 1975, when I was 9; got a few of the old LED games later; father got Atari and Intellivision c. 1979, 1980 however I didn't buy until mid 80's, got first gaming system (Vectrex) in 1983, so about 17 when I started, although had many years gap between that and my current large collection interest.

[aryoshi]

I want to say between ages 12 and 14. I started frequenting the pawn shops more often by then and picking up NES games here and there. After I started making income at age 16 though, that's when I started really collecting thanks to plenty of retro game shops online. My primary focus for awhile was the NES and still is, but I now switch between the NES and the SNES quite frequently. Right now, I'm actually trying to collect every NES and SNES RPG, not an easy task and certainly not the cheapest, but I'm really enjoying it. I'm discovering so many new RPGs I completely missed out on that I finally get to play, I can't imagine what lies further in store. I'm waiting on Tales of Phantasia, a repro cart, right now. It should be here anytime now!

[Canadian Psycho]

I became a collector during the summer of 1996 (was 19). A friend of my kid brother was selling these great NES games I loved back in the day (Mega Man 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Super Mario Bros. 2) for a couple bucks each. I couldn't pass this up as I somehow regretted having sold my original collection of 15 or so NES games back in 1992 in order to "upgrade" to the Super Nintendo.

Then, I started buying back all the NES games I used to have for $5 or so. Soon after, I was buying the games I wanted to have as a kid but couldn't due to limited funds. Well, you know the drill of the collector: it's hard to limit yourself, hehe.

My main focus is the NES, but I'm missing less than a dozen games to call it a day (I have about 180 NES games at this point). I collect for most of the Nintendo/Sega/Sony platforms, but I have decided to stop collecting at Wii and start to fully enjoy the collection instead of hunting. I've been doing it for more than 15 years, so I had a good run.

[mb7241]

I started collecting in the summer of '02, a bit less than two months before I turned 17. I didn't have a job at the time, though I did have a side-business endeavor involving helping with college homework and such. At that point, I didn't really have a main platform, but my primary focus was NES and SNES RPGs, with a few better Atari 2600 games mixed in. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to play the games I was buying, and so the games remain on my shelf, even nine years later (what I still have of that first collection, before I started collecting NES and sold much of that stuff, which in turn is before the second collection, which is what I'm currently assembling). My primary focus nowadays is SNES, PS1, and PS2 RPGs, including factory-sealed copies of PS1 and PS2 RPGs (not so much SNES, as that can get rather expensive...but what am I saying o_O ? I've bought expensive games before :P ).

[PentiumMMX]

I started back in summer '03; at the age of 12.

I had wanted an NES for a few years, because at the time, that was the only way to experience the original Zelda and other classics that made Nintendo what they are now. Thus, when I found one at a garage sale for $1, with two controllers and Tetris, I jumped on it. I still have that very same NES to this day; which I have tinkered with it a bit to improve it's reliability.

As for a system I primarily focus on, I really don't have one; I just go with whatever one has games that I'm interested in. Sometimes, there may be that one game I must have that leads me to a system, and then I discover more on it from there.

[Emperor Megas]

I started back in summer '03; at the age of 12.

I had wanted an NES for a few years, because at the time, that was the only way to experience the original Zelda and other classics that made Nintendo what they are now.Actually, NES emulators were around since the mid-nineties.

[Aussie2B]

Heh, yeah, there was already decent Neo Geo emulation in 2000, so there definitely were NES emulators that worked well then and before.

[Duke.Togo]

Per your definition, I started serious collecting at 34. Before that I was like most here, where I kept all the games from my youth, but only bought what I intended to play. My main platform is NES, but I love finding CIB SMS games and adding them to my collection.

[Zama]

I think I start collecting games and stuff around 14 :)

[Greg2600]

I never collected, I simply kept many of my systems and games, over the years. As I got into teen years, I kept the games in better shape. Wasn't until I was in my late 20's that I finally had money to buy enough to get into "collecting territory." 2600 I have the most games for.

[Kirbysuperstar]

When I was about 18 (23 now), I grabbed a Mega Drive II off eBay to relieve my youth a little, and I kinda just went on from there. I tend to like Sega systems more, but I have way more Sony games.

[sfchakan]

29 here. It would be hard to pinpoint an exact time I started collected, as I would pick up random older stuff (Coleco, TRS80, etc) in the early 90s at yard sales. As I became a teenager in the mid to late 90s, it only got worse as I started getting disposable income through work. By the time I turned 18, I had most of the stuff I had ever wanted due to there not being as much collector interest for stuff. Unfortunately, that year I got robbed of most of my collection. This sat me back severely and I have yet to build up a collection of that size.

My main platform(s) are stuff I played the most, obviously. My current goal is to build up a decent CIB Genny library, minus most of the sports games.

[HYB]

I suppose my early collecting tendencies stir from pokemon games. Around the time when pokemon was released (1997-1998) I started to take care of my games and saving everything. I was about 7-8 years old then and I'd just gotten my psx and gbc. When I started going over the edge was about in 2007 when I joined DP and started collecting Castlevania stuff. I've gone from maybe 50 or so CIB games to approx 320 CIB games in that time. I was 17 when I started, I turn 21 later on in the year.

I don't really have a main platform since I only really collect the stuff I like to play.

[PC-ENGINE HELL]

For me, must have been when I was about 14 or 15 I guess, when I finally got a Master System II deck in addition to my Nes, then a TG16. After that I took a small break though, then hit it heavy again fall of 1993 on up. Now? Now most everything console wise bores the shit out of me. The only main console I play these days off and on is the Nes which I have maybe 100 games for.

Most of my gaming and game collecting involves the Pc honestly (I have 6 computers set up in my room to handle pc gaming from early 90's on up). My Xbox and NeoGeo stuff is currently packed away in boxes which I slowly go through to list the stuff on ebay or give to my kids until I can eventually get rid of it all.

As backwards as it sounds, I consider about all the old stuff, Nes, Plain Station, PcEngine, Saturn, NeoGeo, etc as just for casual gaming anymore, not for hardcore gaming. The new game systems are just "PC Gaming Lite" which I could not give a rats ass about. I know the "casual" term is frowned upon as something implying the person doesn't really play games at all other then on Facebook or Wii, but honestly for me it means playing games that can usually be beaten within 30 mins to a hr on average, 2 hrs max maybe for a more demanding action title.

If I had to choose between playing 40-50 mins worth of a 10 hr game like Space Marine or Prototype, or a 40 min session of Metal Slug, I am going to choose Space Marine every time. I would rather play games that feel more mature, are more rewarding, and require you to be more invested in the long run anymore, and will keep me coming back.

Most all the old console stuff that I care to play or beat I have already done so, so any gaming session concerning them is just me running through the paces anymore, not really enjoying anything. That and no console game has ever gave me the same extreme amount of enjoyment that I got when playing through old or new Pc titles like Shogo, NFS: High Stakes, Max Payne, Mega Race, MOH:Airborne, Dawn of War II, Unreal II, etc (except maybe on 3DO in regards to stuff like NFS, Space Hulk, Road Rash, Wing Commander 3 etc, most of which ended up on PC).

The Nes is about the only old system where I really didn't see all the good stuff out at the time, because as a kid I could not afford to, so it fits perfectly into my gaming habits. Doing system updates or whatever on a pc, if I feel like sitting down with a game for 20 mins to a hr to kill time, I can do so with the Nes and at least honestly say I am enjoying what I am playing since the odds are good I never beat the game before or maybe only once or twice if I rented it as a kid.

[Platinum]

I was 13. My mom held a garage sale at my childhood home. I sold my first system I ever owned (n64). I regretted it, the next day I got word that my cousins were coming out to see what we were selling.

I put my PSONE in the sale for 20. When my cousin shows up he was interested in the PSONE, as he was a collector as well. I eventually made a deal with him, I gave him the PSONE and everything for it for a Genesis 2 with 3 games and all hookups.

I was extremely happy. The next night my mom got me Comix Zone for $8.50. I then began my collecting hobby. The next thing I got was a SNES.

Now, six years later I have just about every console out there. And now, my main gaming platform is my NES.

[genesisguy]

I have two points in time that I consider when I look at myself as a "collector"
First would be 1994-1997ish(I can't put an actual date on it) but one day somewhere in that 3 year time span I walked into Funcoland to pick out a new Genesis game and noticed some of my favorite NES games(a console I hadn't touched since I got my Genesis in 1992)going for 25 cents - $1. Someting made me buy a stack of those. I took em' home played em' and put em' away in a drawer. That was my first act of "collecting". It was a one time thing and wouldn't happen for another 15 years.

I graduated high school in the year 2000. I had a PS1 which I hardly played. My gaming days were over around the time the Genesis stopped being new. Aside from the odd PC game I didn't touch a console till late 2007 2008ish. I don't know why but I dug my NES, Genesis, and SNES out. For the past 4 years atleast one of them has always been hooked up and I collected games for each of them.

[RulerStabInTheEye27]

/////

[j_factor]

I started considering myself a collector at 19, although I already had a few hundred games at that point.

While I may go through little phases of focusing on a particular system, overall I don't have a single main platform. There are three platforms I have over 150 games for: Genesis, Saturn, and Playstation. Call it a three-way tie. Below those three, my next largest collection is barely over 100, so there's a pretty decent gap there.

[scaleworm]

I'd have to say 7th/8th (1975/'76) grade with Atari 2600 games. I'd cut lawns all summer, or paint houses/garages, then in fall rake leaves or garden, then winter kill my back by shoveling lots of cold heavy Michigan Detroit snow).. That was my hard earned and saved money for comics (Marvel baby) and Atari games.

Then after H.S. college and the NES, then a chill-out period (school got in the way), then as a graduate student (more an adult now) I had more $ starting to roll in ...and all bets came off: especially with my discovery of thrift, G. Sales, and second hand shops, and occasional new purchases. Then another chill-out period (house, marriage, kids, better work) then again about 15 years ago it (for some strange reason) started again in earnest, continuing through to today, and still I'm collecting. They find me more than I find them....

I will always have a soft spot in my head (I meant heart...yeah, heart) for Atari and NES. I have many many favorite systems and games. ...To me it's like asking which band is better: Stones, Beatles, 'Zep, Pistols, Pixies, Bowie, Smiths, Cure, Joy Division, etc...) impossible to pin down, near impossible to answer. They are all my favorites.

Nice thread. Thanks.

[Doonzmore]

I started going for a complete Genesis and N64 set when I was 13, but I started collecting around 11. I'm not close to finishing either set. I have over half of the N64's library and about 200 Genesis titles. It's at the point where I have most of the games I initially interested in playing and I don't feel like paying over 20 dollars for a complete copy of FIFA 99 off ebay.

Right now I'm mostly focusing on my Gamecube collection, which I have around 360 titles for. They're so cheap and plentiful. Collecting is as good as it's ever been for me right now. I have access to about 7 retro game stores and I rarely pay more than 5 dollars on a game. I'm at just about 1000 games total in my collection and feel very grateful for what I have.

[StealthLurker]

I would say around 2002/2003ish I became a "collector" for console stuff. I picked up a couple cheap japanese megadrive and neogeo AES games and thought.... hmmmm, I want more.... LOTS MORE! haha

In terms of arcade stuff started around 2000/2001ish...

Prior to that I just bought a few things here and there I really wanted to play. Sometimes I would buy one game and play that same title for months, maybe even a year or slightly more (Quake 2/Starcraft/SF2 Hyper).... and play nothing else (due to limited time also).

Primarily my collector focus is around the 16bit bit area and radiates outward from there.

.

[buzz_n64]

Once I got my first job in 2002, my first purchase was an Xbox in June, a Gamecube in August once Super Mario Sunshine came out, a PS2 and Game Boy Advance in October. Around this time I visited a thrift store, and saw a Commodore 64 and had to have it. That is when it all began! I was 19 at that time. I mainly collected for the NES, and still do to this day, but the games I want for it are harder to come by these days.

[TheBenenator]

Well, when I was 19 I was in the middle of so-far-down-the-rabbit-hole-that-the-rabbit-started-paying-ME-to-do-the-digging Pokemon breeding stuff, I 'collected' a bunch of Pokemon games (Red, FireRed, Emerald, Platinum, SoulSilver, Black, and XD: Gale of Darkness) to get as many different Pokemon and abilities as possible for breeding and stuff.

I burned myself out on that, but kept the games. :P

In the past, I've focused less on collecting for a system, and more on collecting titles from a franchise I enjoy, regardless of system.

But now, I'm 22, and disgusted by the shennagins of modern games. So I've decided to only play older games, and to broaden my scope to all the good/acceptable Playstation 1 games, along with the good games of the Gameboy line. Maybe some Atari 2600 games. Just cherry-picking the cheap stuff, for now, since my resources are limited.

So, I guess my collecting has really just begun. :)

[Genesaturn]

It was the discontinuation of the Dreamcast that launched me into collecting, mainly for Sega platforms, but I collect pretty much everything. So I figure probably about 17 - then It wasn't until I was 19 when I worked at Game Crazy out of a local Hollywood Video that I ad access to large amounts of classic games and really started getting serious.

[Compute]

I've always enjoyed video games, even to the point of trying to 'fix' the family Atari 2600 at such a young age I cannot even remember. I used to get books from the library, I thought all video games were cool, even the "old" ones. I must have begun "collecting" around age 8 (1992) when I went to Goodwill for the first time. During those days, there were almost always 2600 carts I didn't already own. A year or two later somebody gave me a Microvision with all of the games. Somewhere in there I was given a small black and white tv, and I used to find all kinds of crazy ways to play. I'd set it up outside, or in the basement in a cardboard box "fort". We did have an NES, later Genesis, and PSX. After I started using the internet I connected with the community (they made fun of me for "collecting" NES games, they were "too new") and my collection took off from there. Today I'd say my collection is mostly 2600, although I do have a decent Coleco setup. I've been focusing more on arcade stuff lately.

[o.pwuaioc]

I didn't start really getting into collecting video games until I was 24 almost 25. I know have more NES games than any other platform, and although I also have more PS2 games than SNES, I still consider the SNES to be my main platform/platform of choice.

[dukenukem]

I didn't really start getting into buying for my self till about 5 years ago when i bought my playstation3.I am focusing on games i would wanna play and not just to collect for getting complete collections.My favorite system is the saturn since i love the imports:).