Collector/Gamer/Both?

[lurpak]

I have noticed by the threads how...very into gaming a lot of you are, wheras Im a collector and was intrested in how many of you do one or the other, though I supect the majority is both

so I have to word this correctly

do you collect because you love to play
do you play because you collect

[G4MZ0v3R]

Gamer. I love to collect, but only fun games. No complete sets for me unless its a fun series. :D

[Cryomancer]

I collect because hunting for stuff is in itself a game, and I would SO TOTALLY play a "collector simulator" game. "Go -> Garage sale -> pole position- vectrex (R8) - $2 -> BUY? Y." Probably also why I play lots of pokemon/cardfighers/whatever. I like filling in the holes on a list and whatnot.

However, I am also a big game player, it's just that you gotta burn through a lot fo shoverware to find the good ones. The ones I do like, I occasionally go back to experience again, like today I just started up Earthbound again, and Shenmue bugs me to play it now and then.

Also, a good motivation for both collecting and playing the games I do is a form of what I call "avenging my childhood", going back and doing the stuff I always wanted to do, like owning all for a system, playing the games I couldn't, or even just nerding out and playing one for ages.

I keep editing this post to add stuff.
Had I infinate money, I would spend my days jetsetting around the world looking for collection feed, and my nights playing the spoils. Whoo.

[anagrama]

These days, I'm probably around 60/40 collector/gamer. That'd be the other way around if I had more free time to play 'em all.

[-hellvin-]

I mostly collect. I usually have time to play games at night but I don't like too, I'd rather watch a movie instead. Sometimes during the day I'll game a little bit and maybe work my way through a game eventually, but I enjoy hunting/trading/collecting a lot more.

[Iron Draggon]

I collect because I love to play, but I voted "true collector who plays". I've always collected far more than I've ever played, but that doesn't mean that I haven't played alot. It just means that I own far more than I could ever play. If I played just one game a day, it would take me years to work my way through my entire collection. And that's a pretty scary thought too, because I could easily spend at least a day with any game in my collection. I've often thought about trying to do that too. It would be cool to start with the A and work my way all the way through to Z, playing each game until I beat it before I move on to the next one. But that would probably take even more years than just playing one game a day. It still would be an awesome accomplishment though. Kinda like reading all the way through an encyclopedia. You'd end up with so many great memories of all your games.

[pineapplehead2]

I love retro games, i love collecting them, its fun, like when u picked up a game u been looking for for ages or some A+++ Rare game u got for $2 at a dump or 2nd store or yard sale, i also love to play them, i like the feeling you get one you just won some NES/SMS/Commodore 64 with out cheatting, its great

I am a collector aswell as a gamer, its fun

[Xantan the Foul]

I buy more then I play... but that's only because I buy alot...

I'm working on beating them all eventually @_@

[kainemaxwell]

I'm in the both camp myself.

[mr_nihilism]

I don't consider myself a collector as I only have around 45 NES games (30 complete) and about 20 PS/PS2 games. There are a few hard to find games in my collection (Bubble Bobble 2, Rhapsody, etc), but nothing truly rare.

[Lady Jaye]

I'm in the camp of the gamers. I don't collect for collecting's sake, but because it's a title I'm fond of and that I like playing.

[digitalpress]

As much as I love collecting, I collect because I love gaming.

So I picked choice #1.

[NESVIDIOT]

I voted collector- only because I collect way more games than I'll ever get a chance to play. However I only collect games of interest, not everything I come across, if I put away everything I could, my collection would be more than double what it is now. Then of course I do play the games that really catch my attention, in the little bit of time that I have left over.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Above all else I'm a player. If I ain't gonna play it I ain't gonna want it.
I'm not picky about the games I do want either. No box, no manual, no label, cosmetic flaws are A-OK to me. Loose carts and disks are great, they're cheaper (usually) and let me play/experience more games.
Hey, collectors! If you got uglies or loosies lemme know. Maybe we could help each other out.

Voted: True player, collects to expand gaming knowledge.

[NeoSNightmarE]

im both. but ive recently been collecting a lot more than ive been playing. i also just ordered my 15th gold Zelda cartridge last night :D

[GobopopRevisited]

I don't know... I guess you could put me down as both. I don't intentionally go out there to buy a game that will sit on my shelf for the purpose of looking good. I buy my games to play, I just never get rid of them so the collection is just a nice side-effect.

[Flack]

For years, ROMs and CD-Rs were good enough for me. I'm all about the playing.

Over the past couple of years (mostly from hanging out here at Digital Press), I've rediscovered the fun of owning originals, and thus, collecting. I've got about 100 boxed Genesis games, 200 or so loose Atari 2600 games, and several current-gen original games as well.

Count me as a gamer turned collector.

[djbeatmongrel]

i'm not a total collector since i play everything i own but i am working on a complete wonderswan collection

[tholly]

i collect more than i game.

[vulcanjedi]

Hmm

I am an obsessive compulsive pack rat that just so happens to like playing games. I have hoarded away every system and video game I have ever bought in the last 23 years.

VJ

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I like to play games.

I like to collect games.

I am both a collector and a gamer.


At the moment, I like to collect games, and as many of you know, I like to collect sealed games.

I perceive games as works of art. Future antiques which can be appreciated in many more ways than just playing them.

I understand many of you will say "But why buy it if you are only going to keep it wrapped and never play it?" - Well, I like to look at them in teh same way as people like to look at staues and paintings in the Louvre or the Tate.

But, if I want to play those particular games, then it isn't to hard to track down another copy from a mate, or via Rom etc. So I don't exactly lose out in the long run.


See that PlayStation in my sig? That stays in it's box pretty much all the time. I get it out every so often to just admire it in all it's glory. It is to me, what the Declaration Of Independence (Constitution) is to many Americans. It is my Mona Lisa. It's my Venus De Milo.


I collect for collecting's sake. If I wasn't spending my money on collecting games, i'd only be wasting it collecting something else - Or it would just be piling up in my bank going to waste.


At the end of the day, I am investing my money. I am buying something which looks good and which I can appreciate in many ways, but at the same time I am buying my little part of history, and looking after my future...

[Cmosfm]

I mostly collect. I usually have time to play games at night but I don't like too, I'd rather watch a movie instead. Sometimes during the day I'll game a little bit and maybe work my way through a game eventually, but I enjoy hunting/trading/collecting a lot more.

Exactly how I feel, It's so hard to get off work at night and get into a game when you don't even feel like moving your fingers. I'd much rather just watch a movie or something.

I play when I can, and when I feel like it. But on my days off....I'm out buying more games. LOL

[NintendoMan]

I take it me, as well as others on here, probably buy games and look for games ALOT MORE than actually playing them. That's what I do. I don't feel so bad now that I know other people also don't play their games, as much as they should.

The past couple years I definately have been more into collecting, I have more fun with it. BUT, I do play quite often though.

[Damaramu]

I collect stuff I like, obviously, and play them as well. Gently I might add, but I do play the stuff I buy! 8-)

[SoulBlazer]

True gamer. I don't collect unless I know it's going to be rare AND that I'll actually PLAY it. Having sealed games around is just a waste of time to me, games should be opened and played! I also have a 'one year rule' -- if I have'nt played something in a year it gets sold. As a result I have very little collectable in my collection, which is fine by me. :)

[SegaAges]

The problem I found with collecting is that once your numbers get to a certain extent, you won't play everything you buy. I try to play at least everything I buy, but there are a few that I still have sealed which is a shame. My problem is that I find a game I get "addicted" to and do not stop playing it until I beat it, and by the time I beat it, I have already bought 5 or 6 more games to play if not more

[SuperNES]

I'm a Gamer/Collector/Modder, in that order. i mean, the whole point of games is playing them, right? games just make realy good collector items. i collect to play. i keep all my games in nice condition, but unless it's a really rare or old game, i take the wrapper off, cuz the reason i buy games is to play. i just happen to like games from all eras, so i have a good collection so i can play anything from SNES to XBox. and modding comes third, cause i like my stuff to look good but i nver mod anything colectible. the collector in me just says "no! don't paint that!"

[jdc]

I'm sorta both. I'm not the average DPer by a long shot.

I buy LOTS of current gen games. But......every few years I dump a system and all of it's games and peripherals and choose something else for a few years. I just dumped my PS2 and 60 games last week in favor of another Xbox and nice starter library. It keeps things fresh and interesting for me.

My Cube is a constant now (second one) because of the Zelda games and PSO. I also have a NES, a sealed Genny Model 2, a DC and some "A" titles for each system that are keepers.

Other than that, I avidly collect the N64 only, and do not get rid of N64 stuff under any circumstances.

[Porkchop]

I guess I'm a collector because I have more games than I will ever have a chance to play. I play mostly at night on the weekends. No time during the week with work and everything.

Maybe when I retire I can start playing them and then sell each one when I finish it. Headline: "100 year game collector dies with game controler in hand". :D

Then again if my kids get into game collecting I will just pass the collection on. That would make them second generation game collectors. :hmm: Are there any second generation game collectors out there LOL yet?

[Bluteg]

I'm a collector who plays. By the time I complete a game I've usually bought about 20 more.

[RazorElite]

I'm much more of a Gamer then a Collector. If I find a rare/uncommon title, I might buy it, though...

[FlufflePuff]

I was a gamer first, but that obsession quickly blossomed into a full-blown collector/gamer hybrid. I typically buy more games than I play. I would estimate that I've actually played less than 25% of my collection. My problem is that I love collecting for the NES, but I love playing SNES and PS1 RPGs. So I'll buy 15 NES games a week, but won't play any of them because I'm enthralled in some RPG which takes 40+ hours to complete. By the time I've finished it, I've added 30 to 40 new games to the collection. The real solution here would be to stop going out and thrifting, but then I worry that I'm missing out on some miracle find and I end up going anyway. I think the true solution will be when I complete my NES set. Once thats done I'll be able to sit back for at least a bit until diving into the Master System and 7800 libraries (both a lesser commitment in time, space, and money than the NES).

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

Right now, I'm mainly a collector.

[AMG]

I'm a 50/50 collector player.

I love playing games, I also love collecting.