Overwhelmed with game collecting!

[RetroRich]

so up to this point i've been enjoying my retro games using emulators. But for many years i've had this urge to start collecting, but i never went through with it. After watching many videos on youtube of people with awesome collections i decided to jump in.

The problem is, i feel so overwhelmed. There is so much stuff. I guess one of my first goals is to get back what i used to own, while also getting stuff for systems i never owned but wished i did.

I guess my first order of business is to acquire the systems. I bought a NES with 2 controllers, lightgun, and game for $15, and a Sega Dreamcast with 2 controllers, 2 memory units, and a game for $35. I'm on the lookout for a SNES and Genesis fora good price since those are the systems i mostly grew up with, as well as a PS1 and N64 because they were also part of my golden years of gaming.

Do any of you have any tips you can give me?

[Sunnyvale]

Do like you have been... Aim for what you want, and don't be too terribly picky. Sure, if you got 21 of the 22 games for the Arcadia (yes, I know there's multicarts n homebrews people), fork out the 50-60 for Spiders, if it floats your boat. But be opportunistic as much as you can be, and you'll find you have a decent collection in no time at all.

[PapaStu]

Game collecting isn't pokemon collecting. Getting a bunch of systems is fine, but set boundaries for yourself. Getting everything shouldn't happen unless you care that much about it. Lot buys add lots of games, but if you're spending 50 bucks, getting one game (thats worth a few bucks) and 15 shit titles you don't care about at all, then you've either made a ton of work for yourself in having to resell those items, or you're going to be burning the space you've got with crap you don't want.


Also set parameters to how you're going to collect for each system. CIB, loose. Whatever it is, stick to it. It's annoying to upgrade copies because you've swung a different direction part of the way through a collection. It also makes it much more expensive.

It's not a race, take your time. It's your money, enjoy spending it acquiring what you want, not what others are telling you to get.

No matter how you collect you're not doing it wrong. We all see sets/collections differently. Some only do CIB, some care about variants, some only want 'good' games, some only collect genres. Do what you like.

[cheesystick]

Patience is key. There may be a particular game that you want among many, (say Stafox for the SNES), and you see it out and about for $10. While that isn't a terrible deal, if you were to wait and search around, you may come to find it later down the road for $5.00. Just because you see a game out and about doesn't mean you should buy it. Don't buy everything you see. Especially for the more common games, just wait to land a good deal.

I can't speak for every collector, but I think most of us really enjoy the "landing a good deal" facet of collecting. We all enjoy getting our games for the actual gameplay value, but sometimes the story of "finding this game in a seedy pawn shop for super cheap" is more valuable and worthwhile than the game itself. For many collectors, each game has a story of how it was acquired and these stories, over time, become very valuable.

Also, learn to enjoy the aspect of hunting for games in person at thrifts, pawn shops, specialty stores, flea markets, craigslist, etc. It s really funny how finding the right game for the right price can just make your whole week, making all the other shitty parts of you week seem small by comparison. Also, it is really smart to research general sale prices of various items on eBay. That way you go in to game hunting with the knowledge of general game prices, so when you see a Turbo-Grafx for $30, you know it is a good deal. I have done this so much that I actually research sale prices for games and systems that I'm not even interested in. That way if I see a Zelda game for $5.00, (which just isn't a series/genre I'm personally into), I know to buy it straight-away to trade or resell it. If you are going to be serious about collecting, you'll probably start getting into a habit of sometimes buying things, (for good deals, mind you), that you don't personally enjoy for the strict purpose of reselling and trading. I don't personally like RPGs and adventure games, but I largely have them to thank for the collection I have today. Without picking up and reselling all of those games over the years, I wouldn't have had the money to get the games I actually wanted.

Over the years, I have heard a lot of collectors give out various pieces of advice and two things always come up. First, people say you should buy games that you personally like, not a bunch of crappy games to "fill the collection." I know it sounds silly, but it can be tempting to buy a bunch of crappy Saturn games to make the look good on the shelf, but if you aren't going for a system collection or something, ultimately you just have a bunch of games you don't really enjoy and that is no good. The second thing is collect for you - not as an investment. Collecting them as an investment is just not a good idea. Invest in something useful, like stocks or a business venture - not games. Collect games because you enjoy them and want to play them. I know this sounds painfully simple, but there are throws of collectors that have steered into pretty bad territory because they deviated from these two very simple rules. At the end of the day, it has to be fun for you. If it isn't fun and it starts to feel tedious or like work, it is time to get out of the game. You gotta have fun with it.

[calthaer]

First, people say you should buy games that you personally like, not a bunch of crappy games to "fill the collection." I know it sounds silly, but it can be tempting to buy a bunch of crappy Saturn games to make the look good on the shelf, but if you aren't going for a system collection or something, ultimately you just have a bunch of games you don't really enjoy and that is no good.

I'll vouch for this one. For most of the systems you mentioned, you will get what you pay for at this point, most likely. Of course, you could score a nice game on the cheap, but for the most part your $1-5 games are going to be crappy. I would read reviews and weigh your game purchases just like you would for any new game coming out.

[treismac]

Wise collecting advice.

Great advice, man. If there was a bible of video game collecting, this would need to make the canon. If I might be so bold, I do have a few pearls of wisdom to add to the string:

Let other people know that you collect retro video games. I have had friends and acquaintances simply give me their old video games and systems. I have a Virtual Boy in box that was presumed broken that was given to me by my girlfriend's friend along with three games. With my 4.55mm security bit, I opened it up and pulled three Virtual Boy game covers out of the cartridge slot and it works great now. My most valuable game, Darkwing Duck on the Turbografx-16 (goes for like $60 on ebay), was given to me along with an entire Turbografx-16 collection by an old friend who was being deployed overseas with the military. So, next time you have friends come over, invite them to play a round of Contra or Tetris with you, and there is a good chance it will stir up some nostalgia and philanthropy that will swell your collection.

Consider collecting video game controllers. They can breath fresh air into playing your games as well as add another dimension to your collecting. I have everything to kickass controllers like the NES Dogbone to Bandai's awkward Mega Controller. They're interesting functional pieces in the collection that add a bit of spice to the overall flavor.

Lists can be helpful and (sorta) fun- as much fun as lists can be anyway. Make a list of the games that you REALLY want, and cross them off as you go. I keep a list of the games that I have for my NES, which is the system I seriously collect. On the former list, it is fun to cross off; on the latter list, it is fun to add.

Do video game research! It is extremely fulfilling to discover a video game online that rocks that you never knew existed. Video game critics and wikipedia are your friends here. The Happy Video Game Nerd has turned me on to a handful of gems. Wikipedia gave me the bare bones of the Kunio (River City Ransom) story, which lead me to the quirky Crash n' the Boys. Also, forums are your allies, too.

I get a great deal out of playing games from Japan that never came to the USA. Of course, this involves research and, sometimes, a good bit of ebay luck. I flippin' love playing the original The Goonies on the NES and playing the Puyo series on my SNES. To me, this enriches the experience so much. Part of collecting is to own and play games that you never had as a kid. This takes that idea and multiplies it by 10x.

Get a girlfriend who supports your habit. My girlfriends takes the utmost pleasure out of deriding my collecting. We'll see who is laughing when my mail order Russian bride, Anna, comes in the mail next week. I don't think she plays much, but the language barrier will probably make it too difficult for her to effectively communicate mockery, so that's good enough.

[Sunnyvale]

I agree that you shouldn't collect as an investment for financial gain. However, I disagree on the 'worthless game' mentality. If you trade on DP for example, a 'junk' game might help someone complete a collection. Anything cheap, if you got the space, acquire it. If you never played it, how do you know if it sucks? And after you do play it, if you got it cheap enough, you can always at least get your money back, or trade it towards ?

[Damaramu]

Let other people know that you collect retro video games.

I second this.

I let slip a few times that I collected "old video games" and had coworkers surprise me with stuff they had stored in closets and what not.

[Johnny_Rock]

I think a pitfall a lot of people fall into with any hobby is trying to dive in head first and buying more than they need. Going crazy and blindly buying things en masse with no real direction is a good way to get overwhelmed, burnt out and out of funds.

Avoiding a completionist mindset is very helpful when starting. Personally, I really only collect games that fall into genres I especially like. Focusing on a specific kind of game can give you a lot of clarity and you can always expand your purview later on.

For me, I especially love Horror games. I started with Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Castlevania on the N64 and PS1 and focused mainly on that but because I had the systems I started slowly getting other games too. Eventually I moved onto PS2 and Dreamcast, then Saturn, then PS3 and 360, etc. Because I was slowly building up my collection it was much easier to find games I actually enjoyed rather than collecting just to collect.

So I guess I'm saying you don't really need a plan, but you should figure out a direction.

[substantial_snake]

Unless your concerned with hoarding video games it shouldn't be an issue.

I go after things that I personally enjoy and sell off the rest. I'll also pick up a large lot, play through the games and find what interests me, then sell off the lot. I don't see much point in keeping a huge collection unless you are really going to play every game that you collect on a semi-regular basis, but then again thats just how I see it. I collect games to have fun with them and am not too interested in a wall of stuff I can show off.

[The 1 2 P]

When you start out make sure you start small. You can find lots of cheap systems and games by completely avoiding ebay and amazon. Instead, try local yard sales, flea markets and thrift stores such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army. Those places will get you started and won't break your wallet either.