Ed Oscuro
06-08-2005, 02:20 AM
I hate writing this because it's not possible for me to avoid seeming preaching, but I'm genuinely interested in how people are doing. I have first-hand knowledge of the importance of being fiscally responsible, and the dangers of not being so..!
I've noticed that many, many new topics are made asking whether somebody should 'stick with' a system, get some game, sell some game, or otherwise ask us to make up their minds for them. Now this isn't a dig at anybody, because I know that getting other people's opinions is a good idea. The sort of question in the form of "which system should I complete a collection for first" has some troubling implications, though.
Firstly, emulation has made a lot of these questions pointless. The only way you can know for sure if you want a game is to try it out. If you don't have time to do a trial play, do you really have the time (or money, since time is money right?) to be buying games in the first place? If you're asking whether you should complete a collection for one system when you haven't a single game for another, you've got to be doing something wrong.
I can understand why people would want to get complete collections, but I think that only certain people should get them. I don't mean this because I'm an elitist (I don't plan to complete a collection for any system, ever. Well, instant complete FM Towns, x68K or SG-1000 collections wouldn't be too bad...but I'm not going to forfeit better stuff for the sake of getting them). I definitely see the merit of asking for comparisions of systems for which is "better" overall, but the truth is we don't know you or what you like. If you want to complete a system, you should have enough information on this to answer the question yourself. I don't mean that just as a smartass comment, because nobody here knows what you like as well as you do (as another observation, I've noticed that "what to get" posts don't give an outline as to what sorts of games the player likes nearly often enough).
As I see it, you only want a complete collection if you want access to any of those games on short notice. Complete collections don't sell; if you want to invest I'm sure you can do just fine buying up a rare title here and there (though playing games for profit doesn't really help the rest of us, it's a reality these days.
Lastly, I'd like some feedback as to why people post the general "Here's some systems or games, what should I keep" style of topic, just to see if I got some of my guesses right. Is it ever to brag (if so, rarely, I'd think)? Most often the result of not having enough time to look things over carefully? Anyhow, any feedback (to what is admittedly a more hostile topic than not) would be welcome.
P.S.: I'm not getting any meseta on this, so you can't second-guess my motives!
I've noticed that many, many new topics are made asking whether somebody should 'stick with' a system, get some game, sell some game, or otherwise ask us to make up their minds for them. Now this isn't a dig at anybody, because I know that getting other people's opinions is a good idea. The sort of question in the form of "which system should I complete a collection for first" has some troubling implications, though.
Firstly, emulation has made a lot of these questions pointless. The only way you can know for sure if you want a game is to try it out. If you don't have time to do a trial play, do you really have the time (or money, since time is money right?) to be buying games in the first place? If you're asking whether you should complete a collection for one system when you haven't a single game for another, you've got to be doing something wrong.
I can understand why people would want to get complete collections, but I think that only certain people should get them. I don't mean this because I'm an elitist (I don't plan to complete a collection for any system, ever. Well, instant complete FM Towns, x68K or SG-1000 collections wouldn't be too bad...but I'm not going to forfeit better stuff for the sake of getting them). I definitely see the merit of asking for comparisions of systems for which is "better" overall, but the truth is we don't know you or what you like. If you want to complete a system, you should have enough information on this to answer the question yourself. I don't mean that just as a smartass comment, because nobody here knows what you like as well as you do (as another observation, I've noticed that "what to get" posts don't give an outline as to what sorts of games the player likes nearly often enough).
As I see it, you only want a complete collection if you want access to any of those games on short notice. Complete collections don't sell; if you want to invest I'm sure you can do just fine buying up a rare title here and there (though playing games for profit doesn't really help the rest of us, it's a reality these days.
Lastly, I'd like some feedback as to why people post the general "Here's some systems or games, what should I keep" style of topic, just to see if I got some of my guesses right. Is it ever to brag (if so, rarely, I'd think)? Most often the result of not having enough time to look things over carefully? Anyhow, any feedback (to what is admittedly a more hostile topic than not) would be welcome.
P.S.: I'm not getting any meseta on this, so you can't second-guess my motives!