Age of Collectors on DP.

[Gurn13]

I'm 41, so all you young'uns need to stop buying up all the cheap games. LOL I had a Odyssey 200, a 2600 and an Apple ][ back in the day (late 70's early 80's). My parents got rid of that stuff around 1988, and I never even considered playing again, much less collecting until the Great Dreamcast Closeout of 2001 where I got a DC (with NFL2K1, NBA 2k1 & WSB 2K1)
for $69.99. I then started getting all the sub-$10 games I could for it, and the fever hit.

[Zadoc]

I'm 24 and I owned my first very own videogame when I was 9. I have never understood how people could disgard their boxes and manuals, even at that age, so I guess you could say I've been collecting since then.

At the time I was a big time Genesis fan-boy. Since then, I have matuerd a lot as a gamer and can no longer tolerate fanboyism.

At first I wanted to collect and own every weird off-the-wall game console possible. I wanted peices of interest. I have ended up with several:

Odyssey
Virtial Boy
X'Eye
R-Zone

When I got older and got a job my next goal was to go back any buy all of those wonderful games and systems that I've always wanted when I was a kid but could never afford it.

I amassed a number of excellent games for my Genesis and Saturn.

I also purchased consoles like the Sega CD and Atari Jaguar that for some reason I always wanted when I was a kid.

Now I only collect games that are desirable to me; games that I like, want and enjoy playing.

I am a sucker for complete games. The box, the paperwork, the maunals and inserts... these are things that make me a happy gamer.

Once I discovered this website, the "complete collection" bug bit me, and I am attempting to complete a US 32X and Microvision collection. I am nearly done with both. (Help out if you want!)

I have realtively few games in comparison to most. The majority of my game collection can be viewed below via the link in my sig.

[Zadoc]

I'm 24 and I owned my first very own videogame when I was 9. I have never understood how people could disgard their boxes and manuals, even at that age, so I guess you could say I've been collecting since then.

At the time I was a big time Genesis fan-boy. Since then, I have matuerd a lot as a gamer and can no longer tolerate fanboyism.

At first I wanted to collect and own every weird off-the-wall game console possible. I wanted peices of interest. I have ended up with several:

Odyssey
Virtial Boy
X'Eye
R-Zone

When I got older and got a job my next goal was to go back any buy all of those wonderful games and systems that I've always wanted when I was a kid but could never afford it.

I amassed a number of excellent games for my Genesis and Saturn.

I also purchased consoles like the Sega CD and Atari Jaguar that for some reason I always wanted when I was a kid.

Now I only collect games that are desirable to me; games that I like, want and enjoy playing.

I am a sucker for complete games. The box, the paperwork, the maunals and inserts... these are things that make me a happy gamer.

Once I discovered this website, the "complete collection" bug bit me, and I am attempting to complete a US 32X and Microvision collection. I am nearly done with both. (Help out if you want!)

I have realtively few games in comparison to most. The majority of my game collection can be viewed below via the link in my sig.

[Anthony1]

Man, I'm really feeling old with all you youngsters on here. I'm 35 years old, heading towards 36 in September.


My video game journey began in earnest on December 25th, 1977 when me and my brother received an Atari 2600 system for our Christmas present. I was 7 years old at the time. To be honest, I didn't really get into video games until 1989, when I sold all my NES stuff and got a Turbografx-16. A couple of months later I also got a Genesis. That was when things really began for me.


In regards to collecting, I started during the summer of 2003. Before then I would always sell my older stuff to pay for the newer stuff. Right now, in 2006, I only collect for a few systems, TG-16, SNES, Genny, 32X and Jaguar.

[Mr.collection]

15 and collecting since 12 and with the goal to have every system ever produced. At 80 systems(~60 differ) i have looked at selling off half and go all Nintendo, but I've kept it. I've also owned the same NES since birth and played SMB and Contra insted of drawing and coloring like a little pansy. I wanted the new gen stuff when it came out but since my grandpa took me to flea markets I realised I could get a bunch of old systems and games for a fraction of the price. I always buy stuff in the wild so it makes it harder and more fun, generally at the same flea market that I've been going to since I was 5 and all the guys that sell games their know me and give me discounts 8-) . I also buy/sell/trade/fix systems to get money for more. Not to mention I'm an only child and my parents buy half the stuff (I'm not a snoby rich person though). Another thing was in the 90s my mom worked at Sears in the kids part where bake then the games were, so I have a ton of old promo stuff. I only wish I had started collecting then and I would have all the displays and every thing from Genesis-Virtual Boy.

I will never stop collecting. Even when I'm 90 and have everything, I would forget what I have and just buy it all again.

[chaoticjelly]

20 (21 in May.. oo err!)

Started collecting when I was about 15, remember going in Cash Converters at Wigan (opposite the railway station) and they had this wierd looking console (Sega Master System 1)

I'd never seen it before (only the SMS2 which my mate had back in the day), it was about £7 with all the cables. I had a Playstation game with me (a crappy one) and ended up swapping it for the Master System 1, and they even threw in a game, I chose Afterburner. I then spent ages playing it, and found out that on Afterburner you could simply hold up and right/left throughout the whole game and the enemy missiles just duck under you.. haha

Got lucky and managed to get a lot of 150+ Master System games off ebay (all nearly like new and complete, including most of the rarest titles) paid a very cheap price too, that was one of my first forays into eBay. Got into selling the games after I bought a few SNES games and ended up getting over £25 for Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures (boxed & complete).

My original aim was to collect ANY games console/computer, and one of each game I came across!

After filling up about the equivalent of two rooms full of the stuff, I sold a huge amount, and decided to concentrate on ANY Sega (must be complete and in VGC/Mint condition) and ANY Nintendo, except N64 which I never liked (which also have to be the same conditions as Sega stuff..)

[drwily008]

Around 1979 or 1980 my Dad won an Atari 400 from his work at his company picnic. I used to watch him play and eventually started playing the easier games like Boulder & Bombs, Pac-Man, and others of the time. I remember him playing StarRaiders with a big book and the keyboard and thinking it was like controlling a real spaceship.

In 1987 I bought a Nintendo with Metroid, Castlevania, and Super Mario/Duckhunt.....it was all over from there. I practically stopped ALL outdoor activities and playing with most toys.LOL All I ever wanted for birthday or Christmas presents were Nintendo games. We kept the Atari hooked up and I played that about 20% of the time.

My best friend (who was my next door neighbor) had a Master System. Then he got a Genesis and I got a SNES, we never sold any of our games and amass quite a large shared collection between the two of us...this was around 1991 or 1992. I had even started a small Import collection of around 4 or 5 games by this time that was a result of me having a job and being impatient....no way was I waiting for Mario Kart!

In 1993 I wanted an Turbo Duo so bad I could taste it so my Mom decided that if I could find a used Duo for around $100-150 that she would buy it for my big Christmas gift. I tracked one down in Erie, PA which was around and hour or so away. My Mom bought it (secretly) along with around 20 games including Y's, Neutopia, Cadash, Cosmic Fantasy, and others. Right after I recieved that gift, my Grandma gave me $50 dollars for Christmas I used this money to bribe my friend Kyle into selling me his Sega Genesis with 2 controllers, Sonic 1, and Castle of Illusion! Now I had access to my best friend's 40+ Genesis library.

That next summer in 1994 I had an Atari Lynx that I bought new (from old stock) with 6 games for $59.99, my next conquest was a Sega CD! I was now working at Babbage's Software and pulling in a little cash so that year was a blur....I started the year 1995 with an Atari 400, Atari 2600 Jr. (hand-me-down from a buddy), NES, Genesis, Sega CD2, Atari Jaguar, Turbo Duo, SNES, Gameboy, and an Atari Lynx.

My parents were not into games anymore and I had taken over the basement as my base of operations. I had all of my precious systems hooked up to a 19" Zenith with a GE stereo calibrated just like the Sonic CD manual told me to! All of this along with a collection of around 200 games made for fun times for a 17 year old kid!

I bought a Saturn at launch day for $399.99 along with Virtua Fighter and Daytona, I was in heaven! I continued to buy all of the systems from then on out right around launch and kept on playing the "old" ones too.

Years passed and I sold/traded here and there. Until one fateful day I ended up losing my Turbo Duo and Atari Lynx in a trade to Captain J (another DP member and my cousin) for a N64 w/Zelda: OOT & Castlevania! :angry:

Now I am 28 years old and I now own 1000's of games and dozens & dozens of systems. I start off a collection with the ones I like(d), then I go into the ones I couldn't afford when they were new, then I buy the rare games, lastly I move into the crap commons I will never play. The problem I have always encountered is that with so many different platforms to choose from I never focus on one as much as I would like too.

I still find tons of joy playing the "classics" and have recently rediscovered the almighty Neo Geo (I had one for a breif stint about 5 years ago).......there goes all they rest of my cash! :D

[snes_collector]

I'm 13 turning 14 in a few months. Been collecting since I was 11, I always liked looking in the Collector's Colest section on Tips & Tricks and saw the article about rare SNES games. I had the issue awhile before I decided I wanted to start collecting SNES games. Thankfully GameStop was clearning them out so I bought much of my collect from 1 GameStop that was cleaning out their games. I've been collecting since them and I'm up right now to a little over 400 games. My main systems I like to collect for are SNES, Genesis, and GC. I lifelong goals for collecting are to have complete SNES, Genesis, TG-16 and GC collections. I grew up on SNES and that is my favorite system of all time, and nothing will ever be better, thus, my username. I grew up on 16-bit games, and games from this period are my favorite. It looks like I'm the youngest person on the forum, but I suppose that's a good thing.

[l_lamb]

I'm about to turn 38 in May. We got our first VCS in 1977, and my parents bought games all the time. When I was 13, I started buying games with money earned from mowing lawns. I never got rid of a single game from back then, so I guess I've been collecting for about 25 years off and on. I did sell off my NES and games in 1992, but I didn't have that many games.

I really got into collecting when I started working at Toys R Us back in 1994. That's when I started collecting displays, POP, and game merchandise. I've got enough to fill a whole house and it's crammed into one room and the attic.

[Bronty-2]

30... been collecting for three and a half. Light bulb went off one day and I decided I wanted to play tyson's punchout again :) Add that to my already collector tendencies and here I am x_x

[CYRiX]

Im only 15 but I don't really consider myself a collector as I only go for DC, PS2, XBOX, and PC games. I do plan on going after older games though when I get a job.

[DreamTR]

30...starting collecting SERIOUSLY in 1997, but I had around 400 games by that time...I just did not have the disposable income until then! First console system was an Astrocade in 1982, but I had been playing the arcade since 1980 when I was 4....

[youngamer]

Im 14 goin onto 15. I started collecting at 11 years old. I dont really have a strategy for collecting. If I want it, ill buy it LOL

[Bronty-2]

30...starting collecting SERIOUSLY in 1997, but I had around 400 games by that time...I just did not have the disposable income until then! First console system was an Astrocade in 1982, but I had been playing the arcade since 1980 when I was 4....

I wish I'd started back then... damn it!! :-P There's a number of games I've never seen on ebay that I understand sold before I started up. Aargh..

[pragmatic insanester]

22

serious gaming since: 11
serious collecting since: 19
first console: snes
currently playing: resident evil outbreak 1&2 (finishing up on getting all the artwork)
current game collection: almost a thousand. need to recount it, but its at least mid 900.

[mizarkgram]

22, been collecting since I was 16

Am on a really tight budget right now, being in University, so I rarely buy anything (everything I have gotten recently I have gotten for my Bday or Christmas)

I have somewhere in teh vicinity of 700-800 games, but I had to pack up everything in a recent move, and I have not been able to keep track of all that I have.

[wavracer]

My name is Mark, I'm 26, and live in Canada. I've been playing video games since i was in Elementary School. I remember being awed by Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt on the NES when I first played it and then playing Nintendo at friends' after school all the time.

I've been collectiong video games for the last 3 or 4 years now. It all started when I remembered how much fun my younger brother and I had with my SNES and N64 way back when.

Believe it or not though, my first system was a Nintendo Game Boy I bought broken from a friend for cheap in Junior High School. The rubber contacts under the directional pad were worn out, so I replaced them with some from an old calculator and it was still working great when I sold it years later. I had fun games like Tetris, Super Mario Land, F-1 Race, Donkey Kong Land, and a few oddballs like Boxxle and Shanghai.

My second system was actually a NEC TurboGrafx-16! This lasted about a week. After I had enough with Keith Courage In Alpha Zones, only 1 controller port, and hardly any games available, back to the store it went (now, I wish I still had it of course).

With the TurboGrafx-16 gone, I promptly picked up a used NES from a friend, and enjoyed it immensely for a few years. I had games like Ice Hockey, Rad Racer, and of course Super Mario Bros. 3.

The time came and I sold the NES and bought a used SNES. Little did I know then that this would become my favorite console of all time. Classics like Super Mario Kart, Pilotwings, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario World, and Star Fox entertained me for years.

Next, the buzz around the Ultra64 was starting so I sold my SNES and games to get what became the N64, my second favorite console of all time. I enjoyed games like Super Mario 64, Golden Eye 007, Mario Kart 64, and Wave Race 64.

Around this time my brother traded his Nintendo Game Boy in for a Game Boy Color and The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. It was O.K. but I found the screen hard to see unless there was a lot of light.

Then I go away to college, and a few months later I find out my brother has sold the entire N64 collection (mostly mint and complete), in order to buy the new Nintendo GameCube. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy that he basically traded in a complete N64 setup and ~15 good games for a new system with one controller and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. But later games like Super Monkey Ball and Burnout grew on me, and I started to enjoy the GameCube more.

Finally, my brother traded his Nintendo Game Boy Color for a Game Boy Advance and Metroid Fusion. The screen still required a lot of light, and I was loosing interest in portable systems. I do most of the driving now so I can't play in the car anymore (Game Boy used to be great for long road trips).

To fast forward to the present, I've been rebuying all the old consoles and games I used to enjoy, plus many more I never had (like the Sega Genesis I just got). My brother still has a Game Boy Advance and a GameCube, but he's mostly a PC gamer now (yeah for Counter-Strike I guess). Thanks to eBay and a few local pawn shops, I now own:

Nintendo Entertainment System & 17 games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System & 24 games
Nintendo 64 & 23 games
Nintendo GameCube & 27 games
Nintendo Game Boy Pocket & 5 games
Sega Genesis & 14 games

That's a total of 110 games.

I guess I should mention the fact that I'm a computer tech and also have my share of PC games (which I don't really play much anymore, consoles seem to be much more fun after fixing PCs all day). Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my story.

[The_Kodiak65]

im 19, and ive been a gamer since i was....well, since i could hold the NES controller! ah, the good ole' days, playin nes into the wee hours of the morn.....i guess i've been a collector since i was 14-15ish, when i came across the old nes in the attic...since then, ive been building up my collection, focusing mainly on SNES and PS1

[sharkbates]

39, got a 2600 for Christmas when I was 11.

Never had another console until the Sega Genesis came out, although I had plenty of friends that had an NES. Really got into collecting during the PS1 days about 6-7 years ago when I discoverd Ebay. I have since taken control of my addiction and only occasionally hit Ebay, instead opting for the "thrill of the hunt", ie Thrift stores, Flea markets and the like.

[Lady Jaye]

Well, this thread has been done before in different forms, but anyway...

I'm currently 30 and I'm not a collector, but a gamer. In any case, I've been into gaming for 21 years, since 1985. And I've gamed through almost every generation of consoles.

[Snapple]

I'll be five years old next month. My kindergarden teacher says my writing skills are ahead of my class, but she's just trying to flatter me.

I've been collecting for nearly all my life, and my SNES collection is nigh completion.

[scorch56]

My nym's scorch56 for a reason. There.. I win OK? (Sorry tom) Where's my prize?

<heavy sigh>..

Man.. this sucks.. everytime someone asks this in a gaming forum.. I officially get dubbed "old fart" (see segaXtreme). I have "console dust" older than some of you guys.

[dark.thunder]

I am 29 now, started collecting on the age of 11, as a nipper I could only afford 1 game every 2 months, that means I have tons of nostalgia with my old sega master system games LOL

Time flies :( , In a few months I'm going to be a father myself, :D

[lostchild]

I am 22. Started gaming at about 7 years old. Nostalgia is with Sonic 2 and NiGHTS on the Saturn. Amazing games. Not really a 'fanboy' anymore, although I love SEGA. Just don't really like much stuff of today that much. Dreamcast rules and I cannot wait until the Revolution!

[jhd7]

Geez, I hate to admit it... 45. I was a freshman in college when Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Missile Command hit the local arcade. I've been addicted ever since.

jeff d

[shertz]

I will be 32 in June. I always been a hardcore "gamer" since I was 6 starting with Pac-Man. I started collecting arcade games in '97 and its been going strong ever since :D

[alec006]

16 in November ive been collecting since I was 4,first console Sega Genesis and first game Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

[diskoboy]

31 here. Pac-Man was what got me hooked. My first real console (that wasn't pong only) was the Odyssey 2 for Xmas 1978, but it was my sisters. I didn't pay it any attention until KC Munchkin came out. 2 years later, my parents bought me an Atari 2600 and Pac-Man for my very own. I loved it. I still have both, to this day. My sister gave me the Odyssey before she left for college.

My dad decided to bring our family into the computer generation when he bought us a C-64 for Christmas of 82. It was completely unexpected when I opened it, a disc drive, and a copy of Jumpman, christmas morning. To this day, still rates as my all time fave xmas gift. My dad still tells me how priceless the expression on my face was.

And I don't really consider myself a collector. I just consider it a passion. I've loved video games since my childhood. Most of my rarities were just me being lucky at buying games when I was a kid, and keeping them. I just never had the heart to throw my video game related items out. I still have my Donkey Kong googly eye, and Tron stickers from when I was 9 (In a photo album, still on the sheet, all in pristine shape - when everyone went through that sticker collecting thing in the early 80's. Still have all mine! LOL ).

[MRMOD]

16, I've been collecting mostly vintage nintendo related things for a while. I have a complete nintendo power collection up to the new jump for joy one.

[mario2butts]

19 here. My cousin gave me his NES after getting his new SNES when I was 7. A year or two later I found an Atari 7800 at a thrift store and started accumulating tons of 2600 games, since they were usually plentiful at $1 apiece at the flea markets, which my dad and I hit (and still hit, when I'm home from college) almost weekly. I remember the unit didn't have an AC adapter, so my dad took it to this electronics repair shop and the guy there took a Radioshack AC adapter that fit and reversed the polarity. I gradually accumulated more stuff until I really started collecting around age 11. Now I have almost 500 games for over 20 platforms. I focus mostly on home console stuff NES and newer.

I've always collected games that I want to play, starting with reccomendations from magazine reviews and word of mouth, then focusing on franchises or developers that I particularly like. Back when I was 12, my mom came home with a copy of the 100th Issue of EGM she found at the grocery store. My first clear collecting "goal" was to acquire every game on their top 100 list. About a year later my parents got me a subscription to Game Informer, which I still read today to guide my purchases.

[dojosky]

33 here ! LOL time goes fast anyways I started playing video games when i was 4 in 1974 (atari pong) my uncle worked at atari from when it first started till he and the other guys went into chuck e cheese (showbiz) business... anyways from 1978-1982 i begged my parents for a home console systems at first i wanted atari 2600 but then i looked in montgomery ward's catalog i saw some weird consoles such as bally astrocade and colecovision and intellivision so anyways at first when i saw the colecovision i said those controllers are weird (first proto controllers with roller track in the controllers) .. anyways so finally in 1982 my dad got me tandyvision (radio shack) hes a HUGE RADIO SHACK FAN himself hahahaha LOL ... i was alil bit disappointed cuz i wanted colecovision after playing it at my friend"s house so 6 months later after my tandyvision my dad bought me the colecovision at toys r us ... i was a huge colecovision fan ... still have my original colecovision and tandyvision :D the prototype atari pong my dad was idiot he sold it to a neighbor for $25 back in 1980 x_x ....

my brother left me his tandy trs 80 in 1984 i kept it and played a lil bit with it but was always addicted to colecovision !!! :evil:

fast forward to christmas 1986 I finally got my NES system then became addicted to NES !!! ...

1987-88 got Sega master system so I could play those sweet RPG's Phantasy star miracle warriors etc ...
YEP im a RPG freak and fan LOL ...

1989 Got gameboy and sega genesis systems
1990 Got turbografx-16 system
1990-1991 Got atari Lynx and snes system on launch date !!! :D

then it continued on and got into amiga and collected many systems for years and have LOTS of games !!!

then when i finally became a father in 2001 I started to selling off some of my game systems and games cuz had no time for games when raising my baby LOL but later on regretted it and kicked myself and got back into collecting will never let anything stop me ever again from now on :evil:

[The Shawn]

Well i'll be 34 in a couple weeks. Have been playing video games since the atari back in 79-80. After that played a lot in the arcades, back when there were stand up games worth playing.Played a lot of NES/Genesis in the late 80's. Really piped in on the Mortal Kombat games. Started serious collecting about the time the 64 came out. I try to find games that I would enjoy playing. Also Condition is important. I prob. Only have about 750 games. And we bought a house with extra bedroom specifically for gaming. (except for my beer fridge!) I Have about 25 systems and still growing. If your just starting I would try to get games for one system.
that's what I did, and am still doing! Because if you try to get them all at once your gonna be a broke dude. And it looks sharper to have a whole wall of just one platform.
Good luck!

[pacmanhat]

I'm almost 23, and I've been collecting for a bout a year and a half. My collection has grown rapidly over that time, but my one strategy and rule has been the same throughout the years - I get games and systems that I know are good and that I'll enjoy. Really rare and valuable stuff doesn't interest me much unless it's something I know I'd be likely to play and enjoy. It doesn't hurt that I'm easy to please, either. LOL I might come to a point in the future where I decided to get a complete collection for a single system, but that's probably quite a ways off still.

[PentiumMMX]

I'm now 14 (So far, I think I'm the youngest member here!).

I started collecting back in 2003, when I bought a NES. After that, I was given a Sega Genesis 2 by my grandmother (She used to have it at her house so I (Or my cousins) would have something to do, but eventuly I was the only person playing it!). I have a decent sized collection, as my main startigy is "Buy only the games you like or think you like". Instead of trying to get a complete NES collection, for example, I'm just getting the games I like.

BTW, My first system was a Nintendo 64, and my first game was "F1 Pole Position 64" (which I sold a few years ago to get "Banjo-Tooie"), However, the first games I enjoyed for it where "Mario Kart 64" and "Diddy Kong Racing" (I still have both).

[EricRyan34]

I am 21 now, and I have been collecting since late 2004, so abuot 2 years. I started with the Super Nintendo, then quickly got sucked in to collecting NES, and recently, I have been collecting PS1 games, and somehow, they are the most games that i have to date!!

[Truffle]

Im 19, and Ill be 20 in a couple months.
I moved on from casually procureing games in the wild, to obsessivly scouring every yard sale around 5 years ago.
Who needs a social life right?
It stems from being too poor to afford those damn SNES games when I was little.

I mostly collect for nintendo portables , and any system NES and prior. I LOVE Atari 2600 and the Vectrex, so you cant say people only play/collect for systems they grew up with!

I look forward to inviting my brother & sisters future children over to play my games and arcade machines.
I can be the cool aunt! :D

[PDorr3]

18, been collecting since around 1997, and got hardcore into colelcting (buying tons of new systems) about 2 years ago (added 3do, AES, NUON, tubro grafx, sms, sega cd to my collection).

I have been playing games since colecovision (passed down from my dad), and then moved onto genesis.

[snes_collector]

[quote="PentiumMMX"]I'm now 14 (So far, I think I'm the youngest member here!).[quote]

13 here.

[Abman]

I am 13 and I just started collecting. Usely someone my age does not take good care of the games and stuff so they are never really collecters but I make sure all my games are nice and neat make sure they are clean I spent about 5 hours one night cleaning labels and crap off NES games. My main stargey in collecting is check on eBay often I scored a factory sealed F-Zero game for the SNES a week ago. I also like to check out flea markets. I have even had some luck at school I just bought a NES off one of my friends never knew he had it. It is in pretty good condition and he gave me the classic grey Zapper with it now I have both a top Loader and toaster version NES. The only problem is the NES needs a new 72 pin connecter just bought one :)
Now back on topic I started collecting when I relized I had alot more fun playing NES SNES N64 games those are the main systems I collect for I also am starting to get some Genisis games mainly because I found 6 GEN games with there boxes and instuctions laying around on my attic :) Another thing I am going to try to do is get some odd systmes that did not go over well such as the T-16. I really enjoy collecting and I plan on doing it for years to come.

[orrimarrko]

Wow. I can honestly say that I'm surprised by the number of 19 and under collectors here. Certainly not a bad thing, but it would make more sense (demographically speaking) that the majority of collectors be at least 27 or so.

In my opinion, there are three landmark episodes in video game history.

These three can arguably be said to garner the most home players and introduce the largest number of people to a home console at any one time.

Atari 2600 (1978-1980)
NES (1985-1986)
Sony Playstation (1996-1998)

The parentheses are the dates where most people got involved, and the peak of the "upswing", if you will. I realize that the lifespan was longer for each machine, but these are the years that garnered the most "new" gamers because EVERYONE had to have one...

So, to me, these provide three separate generations (if you will) of gamers, and the potential for nostalgic-based collecting.

For the Atari 2600 crowd, that would basically put you in your early 30's on up. These folks have probably seen every home console release and have either had them all or most of them when they were originally released. Collecting games from older periods like this can be associated with great memories, and these folks have a genuine life-experience connection with those games. This is a natural reason for collecting the 2600 era games and those released after that.

The next crowd is the NES crowd. These folks are probably in their mid-twenties and older, but the NES was their first "real" video game experience. Chances are, they still have their games and machine in the basement, and pulled them out for fun. Remembered the good times, and started to pick up games on the cheap. Since they were now buying the occasional new console that emerged onto the market - they already had/have some other games for other machines. The NES would be, however, their starting point for collecting. It may or may not branch into earlier consoles.

Finally, there is the Sony Playstation crowd. The playstation was around for almost a decade, and had a LOT of gamers jump on board - both old and new. In fact, the Playstation is a household word - just as powerful as the Nintendo name itself. These folks could be as young as 13, and as old as Moses, but they probably started gaming on one of these puppies. The playstation is their first true gaming experience. As such, they started there and moved forward. Collecting anything before that probably came out of interest or accessibility to cheap games. Either way, a collector from this period may collect older games, but for different reasons than the Atari (or even the NES crowd.)

These are just my opinons, of course, but since I'm a part of the first group (I'll be 36 in August), that's just the way I see it.

I've owned more systems and games than I'd care to count, and have sold them all away on more than one occasion (unfortunately, but for good reason.)

My focus at this point is pretty narrow. I collect for the Neo-Geo MVS, Nintendo Gamecube, and will eventually attempt the Atari 2600.

Everything else, I will leave for the rest of you... ;)

Good luck!

Orri-

[Porkchop]

My nym's scorch56 for a reason. There.. I win OK? (Sorry tom) Where's my prize?

<heavy sigh>..

Man.. this sucks.. everytime someone asks this in a gaming forum.. I officially get dubbed "old fart" (see segaXtreme). I have "console dust" older than some of you guys.

Your not the only "old fart" hanging around here, but I perfer to call myself a "ventage fart". Will be 51 in 11 days.

In college I remember playing pong in the Student Union bar. Yes the drinking age in Texas was 18 back then. My first game system was the C64 and I still own it. I now have every system in the two DP guides, but the Adventurevision. Just can't bring myself to spend that much for a video game system yet.

The joy of being an "old fart" is playing SMB on your NES with your 4 year old GRAND daughter. For now I can still beat her. LOL

[AMG]

I'm 30, been gaming since the Atari 2600.

I didn't actually start "collecting" games until the mid to late 90's.

[pr8cjb]

Just turned 28. Been playing since I was 5 or so, starting on the 2600 and then the Spectrum +2 (the wonders of R:Tape Loading Error). Got a MegaDrive when I was 14 that's the main focus of my collection. I've been collecting for 3 years or so - before that I used to trade stuff in for new titles :embarrassed:

[nik]

26 as of march 25th...

casual collector... modest collection, most of its just cream of the ebay crop stuff, Lunar II, Final Fantasies, Gunstar Heroes, SOR 3, etc...

I'll be around, hopefully get a standup fighter cab with my new house.

[Slimedog]

I'm 28 and have been playing all my life. I've been seriously collecting for about 6 years now, pretty much everything NES and later. I tend to gravitate to dirt cheap currrent gen games and anything portable. I hate to pay retail and only do so on very rare occasions. My current inexplicable collecting fetish is getting "Trifectas" of one title across PS2, Xbox and Cube.

[Austin]

21.

[Nate Nanjo]

20, I've been an avid gamer since I was 5. (SNES FTW)

I didn't start collecting till last year. I wish, I knew the value of games and stuff. I would have never traded in Valkyire Profile and Suikoden II, 4 years ago. :(

[NESaholic]

I am 27 at them moment, 28 on the 3rd of september. :)

[odyeiop]

I'll be 22 in July. first game I ever played was probably Pharoahs Tomb. First console I owned was an NES when I was 5, and the only game I had for it was the SMB/Duck Hunt cart for 3 years. I played that game pretty much all the time =) After a few years I got Tetris, Legend of Zelda and Kid Icarus.

I've pretty much been into games since I was four, but only started collecting seriously when I was 15. I've got just over 1000 games now, Cheetahmen II complete being in my collection =D. I'm mainly big on collecting Nintendo games, but I'm really hoping to finish my Genesis collection soon.

[The Shawn]

Well 13-103. Game on Brothers and sistahs'
So sayeth THE SHAWN.

[tylerwillis]

26 as of march 25th...

LOL

Me too.

"Seriously" collecting for only a few years, but I've always kept good care of the stuff I had from my childhood.

[jboypacman]

alot of youngster collecting these days...i just got back into
collecting myself the atari 2600 and colecovision so far.am 35 years old and i got tried of the same old same old games that are on todays market so went back to the classics and i have not look back.