Why do you collect?

[Retro_player]

Like I said in the subject, why do you collect videogames?
Is it because of the later value of the collection, because you just like games, because you have fun searching for old games and systems, etc...
Do you actually play all your systems?
Why and how did you start collecting?

I hope it is a good question...

regards!

[WiseSalesman]

I started collecting just because I like games and emulation just isn't the same. Now I collect because I've been inspired by the room of doom pics here and want to make my own.

[MattyXB]

I collect, because I buy great games, which I like. And nostalgic. I have own an Atari 2600 VCS as child and the games was great. Now after I was older I have buy me an Atari again and collect these games.

I collect too games, which I like from many systems. Most Adventures and RPGs. :-P

[maxlords]

I collect cause I love games, have an impuslive personality, and tend to stockpile things I like for later consumption.

[Half Japanese]

I don't collect on the same scale as a lot of the guys here, but if I see something that I think I might enjoy playing for a good price, then I usually snatch it up. I don't collect for value usually (unless I find really rare stuff at a great price) but instead collect what I may one day get around to playing. I also collect cool stuff to sit in my room (Viewtiful Joe bobbleheads, gaming action figures, signage, etc. I just get enjoyment from it, which should be your only reason for doing things about 75% of the time. :D

[MarioAllStar2600]

I have no clue.
I started playing cause I liekd the games. Then when I found out tehre was a community I started buying more and more. All of the sudden I started spending over 100 for a game. Now i spend $800 at CGE. I liek how it looks, and theyre fun to play, and most things have somewhat of a cool history. I also liek the competition :evil:

[hu6800]

Like I said in the subject, why do you collect videogames?
Is it because of the later value of the collection, because you just like games, because you have fun searching for old games and systems, etc...
Do you actually play all your systems?
Why and how did you start collecting?

I hope it is a good question...

regards!

Im 32 now , and i started buying videogames when i was 8.

I collect because video games are the only thing that calms me down.
They have always been thier for me when i needed to relax.
my first job was in an arcade at age 14.
I walked and drove many miles to get video games into my hands.
When shit gets really bad, i can always look at the video games and feel better.
recently , ive been through some rough ass shit,,,, really bad..
now im here and i feel a hell of alot better with a more positive attitude.
I own some games, that if they were missing,, id freak the fuck out.

[StrychNiNE]

I wouldn't really say I collect videogames. Although I use that phrase to describe it sometimes. I have no desire to complete any sort of "collections" buying all of X games just because they exist is not something I want to do. Buying 101 Dalmations just to complete my dreamcast collection seems silly. I don't want to spend money on crap games. I even once thought about trying to get all of Treasure's games, but a lot of them are actually not that good.... Basically I just buy games that I like, and a lot of them. I've increased the amount of games I buy in these last couple of years because I realize that they are going to stop making my favorite types of games very soon. I imagine in 10 years you're going to be hardpressed to find very many decent hand drawn 2D games.

[Cmosfm]

well, ever since I was a wee lad, Ive always loved my games. I used to go to the flea market every weekend and buy what I could find...trade and sell even. I owned , and sold, every system almost while growing up.

Now that I'm 20, my attention span is lost and I can't seem to find anything that just keeps my attention any more except for my store. But about a year ago I realized I needed a hobby, after going through tons and tons of previous short hobbies. Then I noticed i had a lot of next gen games, and I loved to actually LOOK at them more than play them. Don't get me wrong, I play them, but the short attention span keeps them from being played long. Also noticed I liked to look at all the classics from my childhood when I went to gamestop. So I thought to myself...hmmm, collect GAMES! duh! It was that simple.

Now, over a year into my collection I am still WAY into it, hunting as much as possible, searching for those all time good deals. My collection is large, and with lots of places to buy from around here it shows no sign of stopping. I love my games and I love my hobby. And the online community makes it even better. :)

[Gunstarhero]

Video Game collectors are preserving our hobby one game at a time, in an unacknowledged effort that will be appreciated by many in the future.

The above is not why I collect games, but I reflected on this thought the other day. While I don't save every game I come across from rotting away, I am glad to purchase old games and knowing that this is one more cartridge that will be saved from destruction. I play games...oh do I ever...probably too much, and most definitely I spend too much money, but I sometimes get an equal satisfaction from looking at my multiple bookcases of loose, to mint condition complete classic games, knowing that its better that I have these games, some that I don't even play, than were they to sit and rot in some dingy dusty goodwill bin.

Heed my words, collectors do get accused of 'hoarding' and ridiculously admonished for artificially trying to drive up market value of games(and yes, thats absolutely ludicrous), but I say the more collectors out there, the better. It's important that we keep these games around for the rest of our lives so that future generations can enjoy them. Even with ROMS, there will never be a shortage of people, new and old, who will want to discover for the first time, or re-live their first time in this hobby, and want to do it with the real thing.

Some say why keep those old games? Those are so outdated, and a waste of money. Really? Why do some people still drive around in a 57 Chevy Belair? It's also outdated and virtually a waste of money. Some people just don't have any vision of the future, I always have especially with this hobby...I'm always looking ahead, but not for what lies ahead with video game technology, but what lies ahead with our beloved classic games, and plenty can be learned by the behavior of our elders and their nostalgic feelings for their teenage years. So, save the games now, don't wait until they actually are expensive...its ok. But don't save them because they will be worth money (and they will be), save them to share in the future.

[Ed Oscuro]

Video Game collectors are preserving our hobby one game at a time, in an unacknowledged effort that will be appreciated by many in the future.

What he said. Beyond that, I don't know...it's more fun than collecting paintings, and there's music in games as well! A game can have virtually any subject matter--that keeps it interesting.

[Videogamerdaryll]

For my Son..(he's only two though)

But the lil Candy Cab I just got fits his height perfect.. :)

[Duncan]

Because they're cool, and because it pleases me to see the list of "games I've never played" shrink a little bit every week. It's also easier, and cheaper in most ways, than my former collecting hobby of baseball cards. (They will soon be sold, probably to make way for more video games.)

The previous comment about the '57 Chevy also helps explain it...preservation is a beautiful thing.

[AB Positive]

I collect the things I want to make sure get preserved in the future, it bothers me that people havent heard of two of my favorite systems, the TG-16 and the Neo Geo. This way, if people later on hear me talk about my collection and ask "What the hell is a Turbo Graphics?" I can actually show them. If they laugh at me, whatever, at least now they know it exists. I'm about preserving history.

That, and I REALLY love the games on both systems, but this is why I collect as opposed to play. I have TG and Neo games I probably wouldn't play too often (Keith Courage, World Heroes...) but at least they can be played and won't fade into obscurity. I have issues with obscurity :)

-AG

[dreamcaster]

I collector for the following reasons:

1. Because I want to have access to all those games that I could never before - across all formats, generations etc.

2. I am a gamer.

3. I like getting stuff, and restoring it to it's former glory. It's quite satisfying. I mean, just today I cleaned up this SNES and I felt proud that I managed to make the dusty, dirty thing look like new again.

[Retsudo]

Im not much of a collector. But I do collect some games. Since I've been around here, I can say I learned a lot about whats good and what has vaule. I mostly buy what Im going to play. I dont think I would have bought another SNES, or thought of buying a Sega CD if it wasnt for this Great Forum. Lots of cool people here, and this is a great hobby :D

[Flack]

I'm not a game collector. I'm just a game player who doesn't get rid of stuff.

[Aswald]

Strictly to play. If I have a game I never play, and can trade it for one I will, then that's that.

Uh, hehheh, anyone here want to trade an unlabeled Alphabet Zoo for Illusions?...

[hu6800]

I remember my "omg its an import!" stage..

That was when the snes first came out and i thought id never be able
to get an import.
Like the feeling of wanting something you couldnt have.

I remember i used to stand on the block corner with some friends at least once a week and do small trades and check out mags with game reviews.
Thats when i first laid eyes on snatcher and flash hiders and was like HOLY SHIT i want that game badly...

[RCM]

This is a great topic. I would refer to all of my videogames as a library more then a collection . I suppose I do collect what I want but I don't particularly collect to have everything. That is my biggest problem with collectors in general and it was touched on by some other people. Do you really need to buy games that are or are generally acknowledged to be shit? Hey, everyone's gotta have a hobby, but going to such extremes as to pay $800 dollars for an incomplete Snow White VCS cart isn't my thing. I would rather spend the dough on games that I know or have suspicions I will like or love. The bottom line is you gotta do what makes you happy, whether you are of my school of thought or another. I love you all!

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[RCM]

This is a great topic. I would refer to all of my videogames as a library more then a collection . I suppose I do collect what I want but I don't particularly collect to have everything. That is my biggest problem with collectors in general and it was touched on by some other people. Do you really need to buy games that are or are generally acknowledged to be shit? Hey, everyone's gotta have a hobby, but going to such extremes as to pay $800 dollars for an incomplete Snow White VCS cart isn't my thing. I would rather spend the dough on games that I know or have suspicions I will like or love. The bottom line is you gotta do what makes you happy, whether you are of my school of thought or another. I love you all!

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[Eternal Tune]

I'm not a game collector. I'm just a game player who doesn't get rid of stuff.
Han han. I really love that answer. I find it odd that people will spend extreme amounts of money on stuff they won't use/play/etc, just to mostly say "ha ha, I have this and this...oh and THIS! Look at me." I buy the games I actually want to play and enjoy, not just for the sole purpose of "this will be rare one day..." and then let it sit, collecting dust on a shelf nearby.

[Eternal Tune]

I'm not a game collector. I'm just a game player who doesn't get rid of stuff.
Han han. I really love that answer. I find it odd that people will spend extreme amounts of money on stuff they won't use/play/etc, just to mostly say "ha ha, I have this and this...oh and THIS! Look at me." I buy the games I actually want to play and enjoy, not just for the sole purpose of "this will be rare one day..." and then let it sit, collecting dust on a shelf nearby.

[Ed Oscuro]

One hell of a rambling post coming up...not meant to be personal, but I felt like writing down a bit on why I'm a collector :)


I find it odd that people will spend extreme amounts of money on stuff they won't use/play/etc, just to mostly say "ha ha, I have this and this...oh and THIS! Look at me."

It just kills me whenever I see this, especially as these critiques are always focused on the "bragging rights" side of the issue. It shows that we've failed in our mission at least as far as yet another person is concerned -- we need to make clear why it is we do these things.

To an extent the comment describes me. I buy the English language versions...and even the European versions when I can. I also play games. I'll still say "look at what I've got!" It's hardly a mature thing to do, but there's more to being a collector than just that. I get enjoyment out of it -- a good deal of enjoyment offline as well as online, seeing how the "preserving knowledge" aspect eats up a lot of time if you let it (just ask Joe or anybody who's been asked to take photographs or scans of something). The "save for future generations" comment has been valid since the beginning of time and has been used in every collecting hobby, but it's not the real reason people collect things. Why do people collect things? Look at a squirrel outside trying to shake some sunflower seeds out of your birdfeeder and you might have part of the idea...I like to get duplicates of items I really like, for example, and if I will know somebody who'd like very much to get one in the future I've already planned it out. Pure nostalgia is another oft-cited reason, but the fact is I can get teary-eyed or greedy thinking about things I've never seen or used before -- most of what is in my collection are items I'd never seen before I started collecting. I look at an Apple Lisa, for example, and I don't see an expensive obsolete computer - I think, Wow, the first multitasking computer, its operating system was programmed in Pascal, not the Mac's primitive 68000 assembler -- this was an important machine! I'll get sentimental daydreaming of a person frozen in time stumbling out of their capsule chamber with a Lisa (of all things, eh?) to bring to future people far removed -- just to say that Apple had won, and with that last expression (that last thought, rather) expiring with a smile on their lips. If that person was me, I'd say "Steve Jobs won after all!" Silly? Of course. Private thoughts often are, but even these silly ideas I let float through my head beat the pants off of simply buying games so I can vegetate a bit. I'll do that enough anyways -- at least for the moment, there's no arcade game that'll stimulate your imagination.

I suppose that need to stimulate your mind will make itself better known when you're older and start putting your cereal box in the freezer, and nearly putting the milk container's lid in your cereal (where it obviously needs to go, right?) I, for one, probably don't need any more crazy thoughts to divert my mind from what I need to be doing, but I do like arguing. It's good for your mind. Same thing goes for learning about the fine points of video game systems -- it's learning trivia, and rather interesting if you ask me.

Collecting can be as much a mind game for imaginative people as it is a hobby for people to test their skills, whether they be a twitch-gameplay enthusaist, an amateur electrician, a young musician learning to use their music equipment, or a fine art enthusaist...movies brought us closer to the sort of potential I see in interactive media, as you had not only fine music, art and drama in one often continuous whole, but you also had a commercial aspect -- posters for your room, novelizations to read, silly toys to collect, and even those rare and elusive autographed lawn chairs (or whatever it is you needed autographed).

Movies are missing what "games" have always provided, and for some folks even the simplest interactive device holds much more promise and potential than stagnant patterns of light and darkness held together by a thin filament of something called "plot" (or by absence of it), which in fact never changes -- that ability to effect change, to control one's surroundings, to interact and warn the Trojan army -- that is a core element of reality that we always require to feel in control. It's no coincidence that the Greek tragedies incorporate an element of knowing what the future will bring, or that we always have movies plotted out in our heads beforehand -- the director and screenwriter have to put some element of originality while keeping the balance between knowledge and wild randomness. Maybe early movies will continue to be more fondly remembered than early games since we keep being fooled by them (until the last scenes, anyhow), but games will always have something new to provide -- while a movie whose director has died and whose following has dissipated is as close to the definition of "obsolete" as you may find, whenever you touch a game you're reinvigorating it and becoming a part of it.

Death Race for the Sinclair Spectrum is possibly one of the most compelling examples of the core difference between movies and games -- interactions to occur in your mind when watching a movie, but in a game you're the only person who is responsible for anything. Even if the game is frankly impossible to beat, you're quite welcome to simply consider it a victory that you've found the left side of the level and turn it off. Better games will of course have more interactivity than this -- but the best ones give the player enough control that you know any misfortunes coming to you are your fault and your fault only.

I'll still keep doing what I have been, and I hope you'll excuse me if I say that I'm tired of people criticizing collectors it, or making comments that collectors are doomed to sell it all at some point in time -- maybe when they've got to "do something practical like buy a car" or whatever it is that temporarily facilitates our existence without our pride or acknowledgement.

ClubNinja had an interesting point about people who've done badly in buying games -- folks selling off their game collections have either planned poorly and been irresponsible in some way, or had fallen prey to some terrible fate. I'm not qualified to guess at the breakdown of sales due to poor foresight versus true necessity, but I'm guessing that unless you've been kicked out of the house or are single and facing bankruptcy that this won't be necessary -- not to say those things don't happen all the time, but you should try to budget to avoid such possibilities.

[Ed Oscuro]

One hell of a rambling post coming up...not meant to be personal, but I felt like writing down a bit on why I'm a collector :)


I find it odd that people will spend extreme amounts of money on stuff they won't use/play/etc, just to mostly say "ha ha, I have this and this...oh and THIS! Look at me."

It just kills me whenever I see this, especially as these critiques are always focused on the "bragging rights" side of the issue. It shows that we've failed in our mission at least as far as yet another person is concerned -- we need to make clear why it is we do these things.

To an extent the comment describes me. I buy the English language versions...and even the European versions when I can. I also play games. I'll still say "look at what I've got!" It's hardly a mature thing to do, but there's more to being a collector than just that. I get enjoyment out of it -- a good deal of enjoyment offline as well as online, seeing how the "preserving knowledge" aspect eats up a lot of time if you let it (just ask Joe or anybody who's been asked to take photographs or scans of something). The "save for future generations" comment has been valid since the beginning of time and has been used in every collecting hobby, but it's not the real reason people collect things. Why do people collect things? Look at a squirrel outside trying to shake some sunflower seeds out of your birdfeeder and you might have part of the idea...I like to get duplicates of items I really like, for example, and if I will know somebody who'd like very much to get one in the future I've already planned it out. Pure nostalgia is another oft-cited reason, but the fact is I can get teary-eyed or greedy thinking about things I've never seen or used before -- most of what is in my collection are items I'd never seen before I started collecting. I look at an Apple Lisa, for example, and I don't see an expensive obsolete computer - I think, Wow, the first multitasking computer, its operating system was programmed in Pascal, not the Mac's primitive 68000 assembler -- this was an important machine! I'll get sentimental daydreaming of a person frozen in time stumbling out of their capsule chamber with a Lisa (of all things, eh?) to bring to future people far removed -- just to say that Apple had won, and with that last expression (that last thought, rather) expiring with a smile on their lips. If that person was me, I'd say "Steve Jobs won after all!" Silly? Of course. Private thoughts often are, but even these silly ideas I let float through my head beat the pants off of simply buying games so I can vegetate a bit. I'll do that enough anyways -- at least for the moment, there's no arcade game that'll stimulate your imagination.

I suppose that need to stimulate your mind will make itself better known when you're older and start putting your cereal box in the freezer, and nearly putting the milk container's lid in your cereal (where it obviously needs to go, right?) I, for one, probably don't need any more crazy thoughts to divert my mind from what I need to be doing, but I do like arguing. It's good for your mind. Same thing goes for learning about the fine points of video game systems -- it's learning trivia, and rather interesting if you ask me.

Collecting can be as much a mind game for imaginative people as it is a hobby for people to test their skills, whether they be a twitch-gameplay enthusaist, an amateur electrician, a young musician learning to use their music equipment, or a fine art enthusaist...movies brought us closer to the sort of potential I see in interactive media, as you had not only fine music, art and drama in one often continuous whole, but you also had a commercial aspect -- posters for your room, novelizations to read, silly toys to collect, and even those rare and elusive autographed lawn chairs (or whatever it is you needed autographed).

Movies are missing what "games" have always provided, and for some folks even the simplest interactive device holds much more promise and potential than stagnant patterns of light and darkness held together by a thin filament of something called "plot" (or by absence of it), which in fact never changes -- that ability to effect change, to control one's surroundings, to interact and warn the Trojan army -- that is a core element of reality that we always require to feel in control. It's no coincidence that the Greek tragedies incorporate an element of knowing what the future will bring, or that we always have movies plotted out in our heads beforehand -- the director and screenwriter have to put some element of originality while keeping the balance between knowledge and wild randomness. Maybe early movies will continue to be more fondly remembered than early games since we keep being fooled by them (until the last scenes, anyhow), but games will always have something new to provide -- while a movie whose director has died and whose following has dissipated is as close to the definition of "obsolete" as you may find, whenever you touch a game you're reinvigorating it and becoming a part of it.

Death Race for the Sinclair Spectrum is possibly one of the most compelling examples of the core difference between movies and games -- interactions to occur in your mind when watching a movie, but in a game you're the only person who is responsible for anything. Even if the game is frankly impossible to beat, you're quite welcome to simply consider it a victory that you've found the left side of the level and turn it off. Better games will of course have more interactivity than this -- but the best ones give the player enough control that you know any misfortunes coming to you are your fault and your fault only.

I'll still keep doing what I have been, and I hope you'll excuse me if I say that I'm tired of people criticizing collectors it, or making comments that collectors are doomed to sell it all at some point in time -- maybe when they've got to "do something practical like buy a car" or whatever it is that temporarily facilitates our existence without our pride or acknowledgement.

ClubNinja had an interesting point about people who've done badly in buying games -- folks selling off their game collections have either planned poorly and been irresponsible in some way, or had fallen prey to some terrible fate. I'm not qualified to guess at the breakdown of sales due to poor foresight versus true necessity, but I'm guessing that unless you've been kicked out of the house or are single and facing bankruptcy that this won't be necessary -- not to say those things don't happen all the time, but you should try to budget to avoid such possibilities.

[Duncan]

Re: The above.

Bravo, sir. :cheers:

[Duncan]

Re: The above.

Bravo, sir. :cheers:

[jhd7]

> why do you collect videogames?

Because I'm obsessive-compulsive. Seriously.

>Is it because of the later value of the collection, because you just like games, because you have fun searching for old games and systems, etc...

I love playing the games, and that goes all the way back to my college days in the late 70's. Even with 1000+ games in my collection, I still entertain thoughts of beating them all. Of course, I'm counting on that immortality pill being on the market soon. ;-) Searching is kinda fun, but only if it leads to finding. Spending money for something cool is *always* fun. Future value? Not really a factor, as I don't expect to sell them. Most will go down in value anyway, so video games are a poor investment, imho.

>Do you actually play all your systems?

NES and TG16 regulary, Game Gear and CV rarely.

>Why and how did you start collecting?

I started in 1997 when I realized how cheap NES games had become. It was also at that time that I had a better job & some extra money

Jeff D

[jhd7]

> why do you collect videogames?

Because I'm obsessive-compulsive. Seriously.

>Is it because of the later value of the collection, because you just like games, because you have fun searching for old games and systems, etc...

I love playing the games, and that goes all the way back to my college days in the late 70's. Even with 1000+ games in my collection, I still entertain thoughts of beating them all. Of course, I'm counting on that immortality pill being on the market soon. ;-) Searching is kinda fun, but only if it leads to finding. Spending money for something cool is *always* fun. Future value? Not really a factor, as I don't expect to sell them. Most will go down in value anyway, so video games are a poor investment, imho.

>Do you actually play all your systems?

NES and TG16 regulary, Game Gear and CV rarely.

>Why and how did you start collecting?

I started in 1997 when I realized how cheap NES games had become. It was also at that time that I had a better job & some extra money

Jeff D