Awesome gaming collection VS collecting retro game systems

[PROTOTYPE]

Watching some game room tours on You-tube today made me think of this, Whats more important to you as a collector... Games or the systems? Having the systems and a few games with them or having a few systems and awesome game collection? Mmmm me... its about the games. but what you do you guys think? By having more retro systems makes you look better as a game collector or maybe are you just showing off? which we all do sometimes.The oldest system I have is Ps1 but I have a crap room full games.Does that make be less of a collector or just different? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to start a flame war here.I like both, just stick to the topic please..

[Aussie2B]

Even though my collection sort of says otherwise, I'd take a bunch of games over a bunch of systems and not a lot to play on them. At this point, buying systems is sort of a necessary evil for me. I want to be able to play the games in whatever system's library, but it's a pain bringing in a new system and either having to find room to store it or clear a place in my maxed out entertainment centers. For the most part, games are pretty small, so it's not too difficult to accommodate a new game (or several, even).

[retroguy]

I'm more interested in collecting systems. However, at this point I have most of the ones I really wanted with only a few left to go so I'm starting to switch focus to collecting games for the systems I have. So I guess for me, the answer is both.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

I'm a system collector. I enjoy the unique character of each of them. The different controller designs, the colors, power switches, even the carts and cd-drives. I enjoy comparing the video output of each of them. It's a hobby all to its own.

I currently own 13 systems, and I have owned a lot more than that, but I only have about 40 or so (legit) games at the moment.

[bust3dstr8]

Games for me...much easier to store and use.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I went the system route. I'm not sure if it makes me "look better," but it's the way I wanted to do it.

[Cornelius]

To me it seems good games and lots of systems goes hand in hand. By that I mean that the more systems you have, the more good games there are that are opened up to you. That said, I tend to collect more than just good games. I'm trying to be better about that with systems I'm not focused on.

[buzz_n64]

I'm a system guy. I like to obtain new systems in order to have new experiences. Once I have the system, collecting games for it becomes the new task, but many times it sits on the back burner as a task and just becomes another system I have the option to play. Sometimes I will buy a few games for systems I don't own yet in anticipation that I will own the systems soon. I have games for the Colecovision, Neo-Geo MVS, and so on, but no system to play them on still.

[BricatSegaFan]

I'm mainly system but I tend to cheat and buy lots to inflate my game collection from time to time.

Whenever I have company over I love the looks on their faces when they find out that there were systems other than NES, SNES etc.

[ncman071]

i try to collect systems and a decent library for each one....like a good top 25 or so games for each...i kinda had that before i sold a bunch last summer but trying to recollect everything now

[wiggyx]

I flip-flop. Currently into finishing up my SNES collection (not a complete collection, but just finishing what I actually want), and my complete Gameboy micro console collection. Consoles are far more fun show pieces, and that's really where I see my collection going very soon. There are only so many games that I'll ever get to in a lifetime.

[StealthLurker]

I would say both. First I like to get a foothold on the platform by getting a basic system. Then I go for all the games on a want list for that system. Finally I cap it off by getting all the system variants I'm interested in for that platform. If possible, I'll even get a duplicate for hardware modding. Usually in the pursuit of higher quality video output.

Then I move on to the next platform. Sure it's a lot slower than just going pure games or pure system collecting, but imho it just isn't complete to haphazardly rush through on one side or another. It goes without saying that the games are a huge part of the experience of a platform.... especially all the examples of "good" games for it. Hardware-wise, experiencing the feel and features especially with some of the lesser known quirky variants can be rewarding too.

The main drawback though is increased need for space and funding. However you don't necessarily have to have a "huge" collection to be considered a "collector" in my book. I think it's much more meaningful if you have a few pieces/platforms that you have a lot to say about in terms of knowledge, personal experiences, etc than having a gigantic collection that you don't have much connection with...
.

[theclaw]

I for one tend to favor audiovideo quality as another part of the complete experience. A collection intended for gaming should feel like one during actual use.

[Atarileaf]

Hmmm. More about the games for me. Mostly systems I grew up with and my favorite games for each. I used to collect for any system I could but I tired of the sheer volume of it all.