Game Room Of A 14 Year Old

[gamedude45]

It's hard sometimes being a 16 year old who collects video game's especially older/obscure games and systems it's hard explaining to other people who are around the same age as you why you have so many games.

here's an example of a conversation I had with my neighbor (he's a year younger than me) when he was in my bedroom/gameroom for the first time.

neighbor (NB):wow you have alot of games!

Me:yeah

NB: why do you have so many?

Me: I collect them.

NB: oh ok. (looks around) What's that?

Me: that's a virtual boy.

NB: I've never heard of it.

Me: i'm not suprised it was a big failure.

NB: why's that?

Me: well it only displays in black & red and it was marketed as a portable.

NB: wow that's bad. you probably don't use it much do you?

Me: actually I use it quite often.

silence

NB: anyway you have alot of games!

Me:.....yeah

[jdc]

My 8 year old son doesn't really realize that some of the consoles that he fires up predate other ones. As far as his innocence is concerned, the NES was made in the same year as the 360 was, lol. He just chooses the game that he feels like playing and pops it into the appropriate machine that runs it. No old, no new. No bias. Just games. They've been around the house since he was born.

[Voliko]

On the age topic, I am 16 right now, and I have to give a lot of respect to my parents for one decision they made. Instead of getting me an N64 when I was 4 years old right when the 64 came out, they got me a SNES. I don't know why they did it (probably because it was cheaper, = P ) but that really set me apart from the other kids who were into gaming when I was younger. No kid I knew had any idea what a SNES was. Gaming never felt as good as it did on the SNES when I finally did get a 64.

The past few years I have really gotten back into the retro consoles, especially the SNES. Now I re-visit classic gaming and learn to appreciate it once more, and hopefully many good years are to come.

[Arkhan]

I started strong with the NES. and then the Genesis-->SNES-->etc.etc.

I got an atari 2600 way after the fact. Probably after PLAYSTATION was out (1995ish)

I didnt care. I played the shit out of it. Berzerk and Defender were awesome, and still are.


I collect vinyls, and still use cassette tapes. I grew up in the wrong decade!

All of us youngfolk did.

[Dire 51]

My 8 year old son doesn't really realize that some of the consoles that he fires up predate other ones. As far as his innocence is concerned, the NES was made in the same year as the 360 was, lol. He just chooses the game that he feels like playing and pops it into the appropriate machine that runs it. No old, no new. No bias. Just games. They've been around the house since he was born.

Sounds just like my kids (all girls, ages 7, 6 and 3). They have NES, SNES, SMS, Genesis, PS1 and PS2 to choose from (along with a couple of emulators) and have no bias toward any particular system whatsoever. To them, it's all just games.

Although they do still seem to have a gender-bias thing going on: they prefer games where you can play as girls (Valis, Kendo Rage, Golden Axe, Nightshade, El Viento, Run Saber, Streets of Rage and the like). It is kind of funny to watch them bargain with each other about who's playing the girl in a two player game where there's only one female character to choose from. That's not to say that's all they play, as they do play games that feature only male heroes from time to time (Contra and Sunset Riders come to mind here), but overall they prefer playing as girls.

They do prefer cute games too, but that's another story entirely (although I am happy to say I got them hooked on Pop'n Twinbee ).

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[jwlowry]

I'm a little surprised to see how young some of these collectors are. I'm 30 now and have a collection that dates back to my first Atari 2600 I got sometime around the crash of 1983, though it probably didn't become a "collection" until I got into my mid-teens.

For the younger among us, enjoy it all while you have the free time. When you are married with children you get precious few moments to devote to gaming, even if you marry someone as supportive as I did. It does seem unfair though that when you reach the point where you can financially support the hobby you no longer have time to truly enjoy it.

[drwily008]

I started collecting at age 13, unfortunately that was 19 years ago. Around 1991 I bought some Atari 400 games to go with the system we hadn't bought a game for in 10 years. That year was the start of this addiction.

I remember my parents thinking I was CRAZY for wanting so many systems. In 1992 I bought a Super Nintendo, 1993 Genesis, 1993 Turbo Duo.....etc

Glad to see you guys getting into it. I own a video game store and like when I see young people buying the old school stuff!

[ssjlance]

I'm 17 now, but I had more at 14 than I have now, I think. Sold off a lot of it because I needed money. I don't recommend it unless you just absolutely have to.

But I don't regret trading my Jaguar for a bass guitar. Because... meh.

[HYB]

I started collecting games at the age of 11/12 I think, when I got GC at launch. I was a gamer since I was a kid though. Most of my stuff is in great condition, even the stuff that I got in 98 and onwards, I have all the manuals and boxes. I always loved older systems myself, but never had the money/opportunity to buy any until I got internet access in 2004. So I think it's great to start at a young age, especially if it's older systems! The collection may grow slow in the beginning, but just go at your own pace. I've gotten 150 games out of my 215 or something in the last two years. I'm also starting to get into vinyls now, since I remembered my mom has this really sweet vinyl player. I just need to haul it back to my apartment.

The only cons I can think are that you start needing more and more space since your collection grows, and that there are not very many people who get why you want to invest "so much money" in games. Let alone those who won't tell you you could invest your money in something "better". Which is why I'm still single at 20 years old, guys suck.

[wingzrow]

Always good to see some of the younger generation playing and collecting the old stuff.

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[Emperor Megas]

The only cons I can think are that you start needing more and more space since your collection grows

While this is definitely true, I think organization is the bigger issue for most collectors. Usually when I see pics from people with a sizable collection (of anything, really -- not just games) it seems like a big chaotic mess. Other collectors are usually praising their collections, but I'm often thinking 'wow, maybe you should organize that stuff a little better'. I think there's a fine line between an avid collector, and a 'hoarder'.

and that there are not very many people who get why you want to invest "so much money" in games.

I'm probably one of those people. I do buy a lot of games, but I don't spend much at all on my hobby, and I almost never bite on new releases (unless it's something I'll play multiplayer). If I only played/purchased a handful of games and had tons of free time, I'd pay more, but for someone who plays a lot of different games and has limited hobby time, it's not very economical to pay a lot for games.

Thank God i have an amazing wife that gave me my own room.

Same here. In my case I get the whole upstairs, which is just two small areas of attic space in our tiny house, but it's plenty of room for gaming (unless we move into a bigger place anyway).

I have a game collection, but I don't consider myself a collector so much as a gamer who's accumulated a lot of stuff over time. I don't allow my hobby to spill over into community areas, or lay around in mounds like a thrift store. I suppose it doesn't matter how tidy/organized your collection is though, so long as you can enjoy it, but I personally can't if it's all piled up in stacks, bins, and towering heaps overtaking my area.

But I'll shut up; I don't want to derail this thread with my rantings.

[HYB]

While this is definitely true, I think organization is the bigger issue for most collectors. Usually when I see pics from people with a sizable collection (of anything, really -- not just games) it seems like a big chaotic mess. Other collectors are usually praising their collections, but I'm often thinking 'wow, maybe you should organize that stuff a little better'. I think there's a fine line between an avid collector, and a 'hoarder'.

I'm anal about presentation, so I tend to arrange things in an easily accessible yet nice looking way. I only have 215 games though, so it's not a ton of stuff, and I realize that organizing big collections is a lot tougher than one would think. It definitely helps to have your own apartment, my collection outgrew my room, haha.

I'm probably one of those people. I do buy a lot of games, but I don't spend much at all on my hobby, and I almost never bite on new releases (unless it's something I'll play multiplayer). If I only played/purchased a handful of games and had tons of free time, I'd pay more, but for someone who plays a lot of different games and has limited hobby time, it's not very economical to pay a lot for games.

Being a female, I need to divide my money between makeup, tattoos and games (art supplies too, more or less). So whenever I do spend 5-10 eur on a game, or ocassionally more than that, it irritates me that people are telling me I should spend it on something better (like what, booze?). If I bought expensive stuff all the time I could understand it to a certain point. But it's almost a fact that people are going to complain about spending your money better, be it 5 eur or 100 eur.

But let's not derail the thread anymore!

[squirrelnut]

whats up with

NES COLLECTION then a heart after it?

[jwlowry]

Thank God i have an amazing wife that gave me my own room.

I second that! My wife let me have the 18'x16' den in our basement, though the mother-in-law informs me regularly that we should convert it to a play room for my daughter (she already has a spare bedroom for a play room in addition to her own bedroom so I'll be keeping the den to myself). Another child may change the dynamic though...

[XxHennersXx]

never fear dude, i was retro collecting NES games when I was 8! I'm 21 now and still at it ^_^. I get newer stuff too though. Keep at it man!