Are you a collector or a gamer? [Archive]

WiseSalesman

11-28-2002, 07:01 PM

I look at those rooms in the Game Rooms (http://www.digitpress.com/gameroom) section of the site, and I can't help but wonder.....with maintaining your collections, and making the money to buy the games, plus the time you spend hunting for them, do you actually have time to play them? Factor in some sort of social life, and it becomes a real dillema.

I'll be voting gamer, myself. I know I certainly spend more time playing games than I do collecting, in fact, I usually won't buy a new game until I've finished the previous one. My lousy collection of under 150 games pales before most here, but that's because I play them, instead of just collecting them.

What's your take?

michael

11-28-2002, 07:11 PM

I'm totally a gamer but I do like to collect the rares and game boxes but i love gameing!!!

congobongo

11-28-2002, 07:12 PM

Can't vote cause I'm both. you need to add an "all of the above" option

WiseSalesman

11-28-2002, 07:14 PM

I knew someone was going to ask for that....I'm asking what you consider yourself first....like, if someone came up to you and asked you which was more important to you. Or, if you had to fill out forms and you could only check one box, would it be gamer or collector?

Take me, for example...I do collect, I never sell my games, and rarely trade, but I collect games for the purpose of playing them.

NE146

11-28-2002, 07:15 PM

Guess I'm a combination. Most of my "collection" is stuff I've kept since I was a kid and never threw away, and of course that consists mainly of games I like to play (luckily my parents spoiled me ;)).

I barely have any "rare" games but that doesn't bother me as most of them are crap :P (except for maybe Quadrun) That being said, I'll GLADLY buy should I see them at any cheap/old second hand game I see at Goodwill or any other thrift/pawn shop in a heartbeat. But I don't go out of my way to do it... umm not *too* much at least ;)

kainemaxwell

11-28-2002, 07:27 PM

I'm a gamer first but getting moreso into both collecting and gaming too.

Lady Jaye

11-28-2002, 07:51 PM

I consider myself as a gamer. I collect stuff I wanna play. However, I do have admiration for other people's extensive collection. I just don't have the time, space and money to spend on weekly game hunts. :(

Savedman

11-28-2002, 08:47 PM

I just had to choose collecter. In the same fashion that I buy crap that I know that I will never use just because I got a killer deal on it I also buy video games and systems that I know that I will never have time to play. It must be some sort of personal conquest of mine. Maybe I should see a therapist or something but anyone who has shopped the thrift stores know that feeling you get when you see that some poor ignorant fool threw out his atari 2600 with 40 games because he didn't believe that anyone would want that antiquated old stuff. And even though you know that you already have 4 2600's in your basement you just can't help yourself! You start to get a little weak in the knees and you slowly look from side to side to see if anyone else has seen it sitting there quietly on the shelf. You wipe the sweat off of your palms as you reach out for the precious item and place it gently into your cart. You race feverishly toward the checkout counter and can't get to the trunk of your car fast enough as you lock your latest treasure away with a Mojo Jo Jo like "MWAAAA HAAAAA HAAAA!!!".

Sorry....I guess I got a little carried away.

Raedon

11-28-2002, 08:57 PM

I wouldn't collect interactive media if I didn't play them first.

zektor

11-28-2002, 09:20 PM

I'm a gamer by all means. I only collect what I collect to play them. Rare/common really means nothing to me. If a game is good I play it, if it stinks...well...I don't. So my collections really consist of games I like to play. This does not however go for my rom collections. I just download pretty much anything when it comes to that....and that is only because I have hard drive space to burn :)

ventrra

11-28-2002, 10:27 PM

I pretty much would say the same things as Zektor except, I like most of the games that almost everyone else thinks stink.

...Well, OK. Sachen's Challenge of the Dragon was even too bad for me, but I LIKE the games that Data Age, Color Dreams, Wisdom Tree, Mythicon, etc. released.

maxlords

11-28-2002, 10:28 PM

Well, I've BECOME a collector due to the fact that the stuff I tend to like is all collectible now. I started collecting games in 1995 when I realized that I wanted to play a stack of games that I'd traded in a while back for more games, so I made a solemn vow never to sell a game I liked again. Now I have about 550 console games, and they're all ones that I want to play. I don't collect to complete sets, but instead, only to get the games I want to play.

Thing is, a LOT of the stuff I picked up a long time ago cause I liked it has now become collectible and expensive, so I have quite the collection as a result. I only sell games I don't like at all, and never sell ones that I'm just "tired of". SO really, a gamer first and foremost and a collector by default. I buy stuff I know is rare that I don't want, just to sell it for money to get the games I do want tho :)

christianscott27

11-28-2002, 10:39 PM

needlessly divisive poll me thinks, lets quote the homepage shall we, yes here we go "Digital Press Online is dedicated to the "Pac-rats" among video gamers... short attention spans, library-sized collections, consoles precariously wired in spider-web fashion... Sound like you?" sure does, thats why i'm here.

i'm not an elder statesman or any sort of mod here but i think this board sometimes runs away with the modern gaming stuff and forgets it roots, there are thousands of sites to do your system bashing on but only a handful where you can brag about your 5200 find. DP makes a collectors guide, compiles and publishes rarity lists and so on, sounds like a theme to me...

there is no contradiction in claiming to be gamer and collector equally, one week i might do one more than the other but either way i enjoy this hobby. fanboy/gates haters in other threads tire out my eye rolling muscles, who cares which system is better in your eyes, we are gamers, i'll proudly own an xbox someday, just as i proudly own my channel f and my jaguar. ok that was a topic drift but i needed to vent that, geesh people the xbox never did anything to you. back to the topic- i play games and have a monster sized collection, thus i see myself as a well rounded gamer. why do you feel the need to make it a 51%-49% thing?
________
Granny black (http://www.fucktube.com/categories/646/black/videos/1)

WiseSalesman

11-28-2002, 10:52 PM

No need to get offended....this question came to my mind, and I found myself curious as to how the other people on here I had talked to would answer such a question. If you don't like the poll, there is certainly no obligation to participate in it. It was never meant to divide people into "gamers" and "collectors" and cause some sort of rift....I was just curious who here collected just to collect and who here collected because they wanted to play them.

It's like the age old comic book collector's debate: Do I leave this comic sealed, knowing one day it will be worth tons of cash, or do I open it, because I love to read comics?

ROBOTRON

11-28-2002, 11:01 PM

Can't vote on this one...I'm both.

ClubNinja

11-29-2002, 12:13 AM

I too think it's a little hard to choose one side that's more prominent than the other. Some months, it's more gamer, while others are collector-mode. Lately, I've been mostly a collector, as I haven't had the time to really sit down and play anything. That doesn't mean that these games will never be played, though. They'll all have their day(s)!

Regarding the comic book parallel - I always open sealed games. Always. How else will they breathe?

spoon

11-29-2002, 01:25 AM

Gamer, I am a collector of NES, but I still get really into the games, and the only reason I am a collector, is because I was/am a gamer! :D

Stark

11-29-2002, 03:42 AM

I had to say collector. I only play certain games but I love having as many as I can get. Most of my stuff is boxed up due to lack of room.

digitalpress

11-29-2002, 06:21 AM

I'm definitely a gamer FIRST, collector SECOND. The only reason a collection ever started for me in the first place is because I had piles of games around that I *had* to play. Nowadays I fill in holes by collecting but not a day goes by where I don't PLAY, whereas many days go by when I don't COLLECT.

Great poll! Interesting results, too.

Neo-Jorge

11-29-2002, 06:55 AM

Gamer 1st collector Second. My love for gaming is what made me a collector, I think as the internet grew and the gaming communities came together It seems as though it was the in thing to do and have a giant collection to display to the masses. I would have to say I have always enjoyed showing off my personal collections to my friends and family and I was a bit surprized when I saw so many collections online and knew that I was not the only weirdo around that collected game stuff.

Thanks

Revolt

11-29-2002, 10:33 AM

Im more of a gamer. I do collect, but only the ones I will play. ;) :D

wberdan

11-29-2002, 11:43 AM

originally i was just a hardcore gamer.... but after the thousands of hours wasted on games between the ages 4 to 14 i pretty much completely burned out. now collecting the items is my main priority, more than playing them.

willie

Andy Rampage

11-29-2002, 02:19 PM

" i AM A GAMER! ~TOTALLY!!"

"i AM Totally, A GAMER!!"

"COLLECTOR? what's that??

Arrrhalomynn

11-29-2002, 03:28 PM

I'm definately a collector. I used to be a gamer, but then I bought more and more games. And I started playing them less.
When I play a game I usually only play 1 game for some time. Several weeks baldur's gate, several weeks GTA, a week sega rally. Etc. I get games a lot quicker than I can play them.
And I collect PAL saturn games. And most of those aren't even worth playing :p

GENESISNES

11-29-2002, 04:12 PM

i collect a helluva lot more than i game.

cerex

11-29-2002, 05:30 PM

I just don't have the time, space and money to spend on weekly game hunts.

haha same here

Sylentwulf

11-29-2002, 08:49 PM

Not enough options to vote. I collect classic games, I play modern ones (and some classics, but mostly just modern)

omnedon

11-29-2002, 09:02 PM

I'm with Sylentwulf. Collect old, and play some of them, play modern, but don't really collect "modern". Just buy what I like.

DarkSoul

11-30-2002, 01:30 PM

That's a real, real hard question... I game heavily, but honestly not always on the games that I "collect" - Stuff that I couldn't have when I was a kid. I mean, I log countless hours on the PC and my new Dreamcast (I've always been a bit behind the curve, hehe), but spend only limited (but still definitely significant) time on my 2600, INTV (best system ever, of course), and NES.

Too hard a question =)

liab1228

12-01-2002, 12:50 PM

I am totally a collector.
Last week I bought 14 N64 games at blockbuster for $6.99 each and I know that there are only 2 or 3 games I will play but had to buy them to try to complete my N64 collection.

And right now I am too busy playing Age of Mythology to go looking for more games. If I ever get tired of playing this game I will certainly be buying any game I find cheap.

-Lia

Imstarryeyed

12-11-2002, 04:22 PM

I have to agree with quite a few of you all, I am a collector, while I used to play religiously I just don't seem to have the time to play that many games. i do however buy quite a few and do a lot of sampling. I guess that makes me a collector first than a gamer.

den68

12-12-2002, 02:01 PM

I would have to say I'm a collector by nature. I base this on the fact that I've always collected SOMETHING since my first collection of bottlecaps way back in 2nd or 3rd grade. The collecting bug bit me YEARS ago.

Comics, Action Figures, Die-Cast or whatever. For the past couple years it's been video games.

I also consider myself a gamer. I've had several systems over the years that I've played to death. Atari 2600, C64, NES, Genesis, PSX. I was fortunate enough to have kept every game I ever had and it's these 5 systems and about 100 games between them that formed the foundation of my current collection.

I think we're ALL gamers. Size of collection, time spent playing/hunting, doesn't matter, we all love playing video games.

Right?

Anyone here with a huge collection that they hate to play? I doubt it.

Six Switch

12-12-2002, 04:34 PM

Arqueologia_Digital

12-25-2002, 11:20 AM

I�m a collector and also a gamer, but always it happened to me that i have too many games and i don�t have spare time to play all of them. Also, there are games that i don�t played yet!!!!

ianoid

12-25-2002, 05:18 PM

although I've spent more time collecting in the last 7 years than I have gaming, I am a gamer first. I like to play video games, and if I had to choose one or the other, it would be gamer. Since I don't have to choose in real life, I do both. Thank goodness!

ian

game_trek

01-10-2003, 11:13 AM

To be truly honest, I'd have to say That I'm a collector. Although I still like to play games. I find much more joy in the art of collecting.
But of course Thats not what I would have said when I was 12. :D

Britboy

01-10-2003, 11:17 AM

classic collector, PS2 gamer

Kamisama

03-08-2003, 05:25 PM

I collect a lot of games but i really play only some them. I test them all though but maybe just for some minutes...

neschampion

03-08-2003, 09:48 PM

I'm definitely a collector. I played a ton of games when I was younger but I just don't have the time anymore. I sit down for a few hours Gamecube every couple of weeks but thats about it.

jose.yoshitake

04-30-2003, 05:54 PM

I'll always be a GAMER.

If I stop playing, who knows who would replace my old-school aficcionado style?

Nobody!!!!!!

I collect too, but this is a consequence from my love for the classics like Turtles!, Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon, etc...

Videogamerdaryll

05-01-2003, 02:56 AM

That was hard because i'm both..

calthaer

06-04-2003, 02:31 PM

A gamer, and only a collector insofaras I collect great games I enjoy(ed).

Cafeman

06-04-2003, 03:08 PM

I'm a gamer, not a collector at all. I quickly ditched my Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Force III for $$$ once I was convinced I'd never play them again, for example.

This topic is something I've thought about now & then as I check out various gaming forums. There are gamers. These guys genuinely play their games, to different degrees (some can replay old games forever, others have a thirst for only new stuff).

There are collectors/catalogers. The bigger your wall of shame, the more you are a cataloger than a gamer, IMO. Collectors never get rid of anything unless its to get something else. Catalogers just can't resist any game at all that has merit in their eyes, even if they know they will never get around to playing it.

You also have the historians. These guys will correct even the smallest incorrect quotation or historical fact. They know it all. Don't you dare try to tell them what Naoto Oshima was thinking when he invented Sonic the Hedgehog, they already know that plus they know he was sitting on the pot while doing it, plus they know the type of toilet paper he used.

Am I getting too off-subject? Well, most of us are parts of each category it seems, but some are most obviously not gamers so much as they are those other categories.

chadtower

06-04-2003, 04:06 PM

I'd love to be a gamer first but don't have the time. So I collect now with the intentions of playing them all later when my kids are a bit older and I don't have to commute two hours a day while working ten.

TokenGamer

06-04-2003, 04:50 PM

I'm a combination of both. I love to play and love to collect. when I pick up 2 or 3 games for my NES collection, it takes me 2 or 3 hours just to test them to see if they work. Once I start, I can't stop untill all my men are dead or I really have to go to the bathroom. Then i'll spend another hour reading every part of the box, manual, inserts and document them into my database.
Am I the only one here who takes hours just to see if a game works?

captain nintendo

06-24-2003, 09:25 PM

i am going to say i was a gamer first that crossed the line into collecting

AB Positive

06-24-2003, 10:31 PM

Currently, Collector first, gamer second. The reason being is that now that I have the money to allow myself to, I sort of want to indulge in the one fantasy I had back when I was a 14 year old...

To have every turbo grafix game ever.

Stemming from that I'm finding systems I never had that are great (5200, O2) and want to collect for them too. I still find time to play the games, but I'm more amassing for now. Almost as if there's a total crash in gaming and I can never find or purchase another one, I'll be set because I'll have enough games to play past the rest of my life.

-AG

Mustang93

06-25-2003, 12:31 AM

you have to ask yourself do you find more joy in having/getting a rare game or more joy completing a game that took hours. do you like achieving or getting...im definitely some of both.

ubikuberalles

06-25-2003, 01:32 AM

I do a little of both but I spend more time gaming then collecting so I voted for gaming. Too bad there wasn't an "All of the Above" selection.

TokenGamer

06-25-2003, 11:52 AM

i second the motion for an "all of the above" selection.

djbeatmongrel

06-30-2003, 10:35 PM

chevy_chase

07-02-2003, 10:45 AM

Gamer, i don't collect anything really... it just takes up too much room.

Jestr

07-05-2003, 01:59 PM

Just like virtually eveyone else, I started as a gamer and became a collector. The memories that are ingrained on every cartridge or disc I find take me back to my childhood, where everything was simpler. I now collect for everything, because I can remember at least reading about them when I was a kid and just wishing I had the money to get that system. Some games bring back memories of old friends and hours "wasted" in front of the television. Some game endings bring back feelings of victory and accomplishment. I will always be grateful to the game industry for allowing me the chance to rescue a princess or to run from ghosts or to just break the boredom of living in the 15 miles from the nearest city.

Duncan

07-13-2003, 09:49 AM

Gamer first, collector second.

In short, I collect more so that I can play more. For instance, I could just do like I've been doing and keep playing SMS games on my recently purchased Power Base Converter -- but the guy at my local game store has an SMS unit available, and I'd like to get the full experience. So I'll probably end up "collecting" that sometime this week in an effort to play more effectively. (Besides, I'm also curious to see if it's got Alex Kidd hidden in it. It's like a little mystery...)

Duncan :D

death1024

08-15-2003, 09:38 PM

I like to collect and play. Collecting is fun (thrill of the rares hunt). There is nothing more exciting than finding a very rare cart in the wild.

Drexel923

08-15-2003, 10:34 PM

I used to be nothing but a gamer, but once I started collecting pieces of my past I've been pretty much full force collecting. Once some more modern games that I want come out I'll probably start to find a nice balance of the two.

stevec1636

12-13-2003, 12:40 AM

i am both, in my game room i have over 3,000 games and i have time to play most of them. I mean lets face it most older games are not worth playing more than once :)

but i am serious gamer when it comes to the latest and greatest

stevec1636

12-13-2003, 12:40 AM

Cow Bell Man

12-18-2003, 12:45 AM

Gamer Frist, collector second.

I like to play them more the colect them. however, I do plan to finsh all my collection some time in my life.

mezrabad

01-17-2004, 09:38 AM

Flack

01-17-2004, 09:51 AM

I voted for gamer because that's the intentional part. I'm a gamer because I play games. I'm a collector because I never get rid of said games.

Flack

01-17-2004, 09:52 AM

I mean lets face it most older games are not worth playing more than once :)

I have an entire childhood that disagrees.

Sotenga

01-17-2004, 11:08 AM

Definitely a gamer, I am. Everything I purchase gets played. Sure, I do get some excitement trying my best to win a game on eBay, but I get a greater thrill over playing said item.

8-Bit Master

01-17-2004, 11:25 AM

I'm a gamer first, but I do collect too. I've got over 1000 games and I've played every one of them for at least 30 minutes.

atomicthumbs

01-17-2004, 01:01 PM

Gamer... Collector... I'm the guy with the gun.

http://atomicthumbs.freehosting.net/boomstick.jpg

GamecubeFreek

01-18-2004, 11:18 PM

Gamer first, but, um, I collect gaming experiences if that makes any sense. I just want to play them all, even the bad ones, so that makes me need to collect as many as I can, to play them. But Gamer first. Yup.

My thoughts, exactly. I would want to play any game just because I love games so much (Not to imply that anyone else on this site does not feel the same way, I just am able to enjoy a game and the fact that I own it even if it is not good, or rare, or new, or whatever).

undead455

01-19-2004, 01:19 AM

I'm both I like to play and collect. Nothing beats going out and buying a vintage game for next to nothing then going home to play it for hours 8-)

hu6800

01-19-2004, 04:36 AM

Niether,,, Im a GAME MASTER

hu6800

01-19-2004, 04:38 AM

Definitely a gamer/then a collector. I say for my age i definitely can call myself a collector, 17 /w 166 across 13 platforms. i do make an effort to atleast put a few houors of play into each game i own, even if i don't play it ever again. :texaschain:

dude , franken furter came in after they sang the Time Warp
your just a sweet transvestite ,,, from,, well you know where.

vision89

01-20-2004, 10:28 PM

I'd say I'm a gamer more than collector, however I tend to go in waves. Meaning, If I'm doing a lot of collecting I tend not to do as much playing, and if I'm doing a lot of playing I tend not to do as much collecting. Basically I go from playing to collecting then back to playing. It's an endless cycle

NintendoMan

01-21-2004, 01:47 PM

THAT is an EXCELLENT question!! I would have to say collector (60%) and gamer (40%). Years ago I used to play for hours on end, but nowadays I don't have time to play as much as i would like to, and I definatley can't cut out of my collecting time I use to find things I want or need.
I definatley buy 100 times more games than I can actually play. But every game will be played be it 5 minutes from now or 5 years:)

AMG

01-24-2004, 12:18 AM

I'm both. But I voted gamer. Nothing like getting a fun new game to tear into for hours. :)

MonkeyWizard

03-29-2004, 10:48 PM

Gamer. I don't buy a game so that I can complete a collection. I buy a game because I honestly think I might have a fun time with it.

DigitalSpace

03-29-2004, 11:35 PM

I voted gamer. Even though I'm a little bit of both, I'm more of a gamer than a collector, if that makes any sense. I want to have a big library of games, and since there's a lot of stuff out there I'd enjoy, it's plausible. I probably won't ever go for a complete collection because I don't want to waste money on games that I won't enjoy. I would rather see those games in the hands of someone who would enjoy them. Also, it saves money.