Rarity Vs Playability....a ramble.

[metal_head]

Hi,

I've been reading through some of the DP archives, and this has set me thinking.

How many hobbies are there where the sole measure of desireability is based on rarity?

What I mean is, take "Chase the chuckwagon". I dont own it, I've never seen it or played it, but all I have read suggests it is not a good game.

Now I'm thinking it's a game cartridge..a medium designed to get the game code to the player....If the game is no good, why lust after it....I wouldn't hang a painting I didn't like.

Also, I did read a bit about a guy who used to look down his nose at commons, with the inference (to me at least) that rares were more desireable for the collector.

What about the player collector?

It seems to me quite often that if a game is good and generates a lot of interest and talk from people enjoying it, it sells a lot. A fair proportion of the time a poor game will not sell....no one wants it.

Would someone exclusively specialising in 80's console rares end up with a collection of poor games?

If you could keep one desert island VCS cart, would it be something that played great, or something like Chuckwagon?

It seems to me a bit like collecting ugly antiques that you dont find aesthetically pleasing just because they are rare.


I suppose the completeists want it all....but I did read that it is not possible to own the definitive 2600 collection, as new variations, prototypes, labels and games keep appearing. To a collector, what is more important, the experience of the game, the code that brings it to life and makes it an experience, or the medium it is distributed on...the plastic case and PCB and chips .

If Chase the chuckwagon is a desireable title not through the playing experience but because of scarcity, then surely a dead non working CTC cart is just as desireable....it is just as rare.

Sorry...just rambling.

[Arrrhalomynn]

I collect the rare games and play the good ones.
It all works out in the end .

[kainemaxwell]

The game collection I aim for are that of games I do want to play mostly as well as collect, such as the mega Man titles, FF games and most the tengen carts.

[dreamcaster]

I collect:

1. Good games
2. My favourites
3. Extreme rarities - but only the playable ones (e.g: I would buy Panzer Dragoon Saga - I would not buy Chase the Chuckwagon)

[ubikuberalles]

The first thing I look for when collecting is playability. If the game has a good reputation then I'll check it out on an emulator (if possible) first then buy it. Rarity is only important to me if I find a rare cart at a bargain price (usually at a thrift store) and I can brag about it. I'm not going to pay big bucks for a cart just because it's rare.