Does anyone actually collect PC games? [Archive]

IntvGene

10-01-2003, 11:58 AM

I've been browsing through the local thrift stores lately, and there sure seems to be a lot of PC stuff lying around now. I've noticed that alot of it goes for almost nothing on Ebay too (besides the odd rare game).

So, does anyone here actually collect PC games? I mean, with boxes and disks and everything? Having 2 gigs of abandonware on your hard drive doesn't count either.

I know that there is a whole compatibility issue, and then there's a question over how long the data will last... where do I find a 5 and 1/4 inch drive, etc. I guess alot of the old stuff gets reprinted on CDs and in anniversary packs and stuff too.. But, does anyone still do it?

Arcade Antics

10-01-2003, 12:13 PM

Nope. No PC gaming for me. :)

Jorpho

10-01-2003, 12:20 PM

Oh, there are people who do it. I'm sure an old mint-condition Infocom game complete with all the "feelies" will fetch quite a price. (Trinity came with a sundial, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy came with a "Don't Panic!" button, authentic fluff, a microscopic spaceship fleet, and a few other things, etc.)

Some collector's packs, such as The Lost Adventures of Legend and the King's Quest collection, were also released in relatively small numbers and are highly desireable.

And then there are the other obscure adventure games: Alice: An Interactive Museum, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Gothic, The Cassandra Galleries, Discworld, The Neverhood, Congo: Descent into Zinj, and so on. All very hard to find, all worth a lot to the right people. I don't know if non-adventure games have quite the same following.
________
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Arcade Antics

10-01-2003, 12:27 PM

Oh, there are people who do it. I'm sure an old mint-condition Infocom game complete with all the "feelies" will fetch quite a price. (Trinity came with a sundial, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy came with a "Don't Panic!" button, authentic fluff, a microscopic spaceship fleet, and a few other things, etc.)

This stuff I would buy, and have bought for the C64 and/or Atari 8-bit, but I didn't consider it PC gaming in terms of the original question. I don't buy or play PC games - they're generally too advanced for my feeble brain and I have enough console stuff to keep me busy as it is. :) Super Monkey Ball: yes! Everquest: no!

calthaer

10-01-2003, 12:41 PM

If they're good games, I'll collect 'em. Some stuff really is rare, too, like the expansion pack to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri or the Neverhood game mentioned earlier. But all the doodads and other stuff that came with it...well if the game is really all that, then maybe, but the only game I feel that way about is Deus Ex.

hydr0x

10-01-2003, 01:04 PM

no, i really don't collect pc games, there would be no end to this as millions have been released, especially here in germany where there is a huge shareware scene

i think the only pc games that get collected are adventures, cause there are hardly any new ones and the old ones are still the best...

Ed Oscuro

10-01-2003, 01:27 PM

PC gaming has always seemed cheap--even when console games turn toward discs as well, they somehow feel better. More something. Though it helps that I really only pay attention to my favorite series, like Shinobi or Ninja Ryukenden, for example :P

I have a couple collection-quality PC titles, but I was reflecting on the cover art for some of my "golden age FPS" titles and it is laughably bad. Rise of the Triad's, in particular, really wasn't as good as I remember due to the rather big brushstrokes and lack of interesting detail. :(

Trellisaze

10-01-2003, 01:52 PM

And then there are the other obscure adventure games: Alice: An Interactive Museum, Flight of the Amazon Queen, Gothic, The Cassandra Galleries, Discworld, The Neverhood, Congo: Descent into Zinj, and so on. All very hard to find, all worth a lot to the right people. I don't know if non-adventure games have quite the same following.

I can see most of those being hard to find, but Gothic? That's quite a bit more recent than those other ones. Unless you're talking about the German version...

Ed Oscuro

10-01-2003, 02:01 PM

The funny thing is that a lot of the older games, especially the infocom and D&D titles, had actually really good artwork. Fooey at low budget FPS teams :P

Anyhow, I should start thinking about getting some old PC titles again. There's a fellow on eBay (last time I checked anyways) who had a bunch of sealed titles from the late 1980s and even earlier. Good stuff!

tom

10-01-2003, 04:59 PM

Yes, I collect 80's early 90's PC gaming. There is some excellent stuff, as mentioned above, Infocom, also Star Saga 1 &2 are great, Lucasfilm/Arts games rank about the best in the world, Origin, Micropose, SSI, EA, there are endless classics on PC to be found.

YoshiM

10-01-2003, 05:14 PM

Collect? No, but I will snag something if it's cheap and interesting enough. Recently I snagged a complete Pandora Directive, Return to Zork, and Zork: Nemesis for less than $10.

I'm kinda going through a PC game renaissance as I had to kick back to Windows 98 on my home PC as for some reason Win2K didn't want to reinstall. Good thing I didn't pay much for it-the OS came with an office PC I bought from a business selling its stuff.

Querjek

10-01-2003, 05:20 PM

I don't collect PC games... I don't really like using a keyboard and mouse to play things.

calthaer

10-01-2003, 05:24 PM

Keyboard and mouse is the ONLY way to play FPS games, IMO. Even if one is proficient with the keypad the mouse just plain has better accuracy, I find...which is great for those head shots.

bargora

10-01-2003, 07:03 PM

While I don't collect PC games, I have a small collection of early to mid-90s PC games that I amassed a couple of years ago, under the delusion that I would actually play them.

I still occasionally suffer from this delusion, which is why I haven't cleaned a dozen or so games off my hard drive.

Re: FPS and keyboard/mouse. I am sure that the key/mouse combination leads to better accuracy when trying to pick up the head shot. However, I have come to the conclusion that this makes it too easy to hit things. If you were really running around some big crazy place while people were shooting giant guns at you, I'll bet it would be a lot more like frantically trying to get the !@#$ing thumbstick to center your shot than coolly positioning your mouse on the pad.

Keyboard/mouse control is a crutch. Real men use console controllers for FPS games.

Arqueologia_Digital

10-01-2003, 09:49 PM

I don�t collect PC games with the same entusiasm (i don�t know if i wrote this word ok), but, if i found a true "classic" or a game that bring me memories...i buy it. Ex: Maniac mansion :roll:

calthaer

10-01-2003, 09:59 PM

I used to prefer the PC version of Maniac Mansion (actually the C64 one has the best color) because it has far better graphics, but when I started playing the NES version I was like "hey, Dave's music is pretty cool."

scooterb23

10-01-2003, 10:03 PM

I don't actively collect PC games, but I do have a binder with about 400+ cds in it right next to me here :) Everything from DOS to Win XP, lots of those 1000 games on 1 disc things...I bought those like nobody's business back when I had Windows 95...I'm a little more selective now, since Win XP isn't as friendly to those kinds of discs.

maxlords

10-01-2003, 10:30 PM

I collect some PC stuff....very picky about it though. I'd buy a complete Wasteland or X-Com or Star Control for sure. But not EVERY PC title, only select ones and it depends on the format...I prefer 3.5 disks or CDs, not 5.25 disks.

hydr0x

10-02-2003, 08:55 AM

Daltone

10-02-2003, 05:51 PM

Yep, I collect mostly adventure games with a definite slant towards cheesy FMV. I tend to play most of them on this rather ancient computer (300mhz, Win 98) , but occasionally I need to boot up the 486 which sits beside it for those tempremental bastards which refuse to load NO MATTER WHAT. Windows XP compatability isn't an issue for me as..well, I don't actually own a computer that would comfortably run it.

Yoshi M - what kind of box did The Pandora Directive come in? Most importantly though - what do you think of Tex? :)

Tritoch

10-02-2003, 06:15 PM

I don't really collect either, but like most here I've got a few classics sitting around that I keep telling myself I'll play some day. Some of my favorites include Warcraft I & II, Ultima Collection, Ultima IX, The Adventure Collection (Infocom stuff), Ultima Online (useless since I cancelled), Daggerfall, and Castles II on 5 floppies.

Too bad I didn't have the foresight to keep my old PC whenever I got my new XP machine a few months ago. Now I'm stuck DOS-less. :(

Jorpho

10-02-2003, 07:05 PM

Mmm, Castles II is great fun, says I. Many years ago I was quite pleased with the demo. Interplay tried to make an online version of it at some point, but that venture apparently failed miserably.

DOSBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net) may one day become the ultimate tool for getting old games running on new machines. Right now, it's still pretty good.

(Oh, and ScummVM (http://www.scummvm.org) will probably be able to run the NES version of Maniac Mansion soon.)
________
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metal_head

10-02-2003, 08:56 PM

I dont actively collect PC games, but have accumalated a pile of old ones....The ones I'm fondest of are my boxed complete copies of Ultimate Doom and Doom 2.