the gaming regrets thread

[Edmond Dantes]

This is a thread for us to lament mistakes we made in our lives as gamers.

Here's one I think we all agree on: Not saving the boxes and manuals for our games. As a kid I thought they just took up space and who needs 'em anyway, only the game counts. Now I realize not only did I subtract value from my game but sometimes the manuals and boxes actually ARE important.

I personally have a bad habit of not getting into a series until its no longer relevant--IE playing and marathoning Metal Gear Solid 1-3 at around the time MGS4 was the new hotness.

Selling games that later became high-priced and hard to get back. In particular I kick myself for selling a complete MUSHA and especially a cart-only Resident Evil Gaiden (The latter I would gladly buy back if I could find it for like $20 or less, but MUSHA is beyond all hope now). I also used to own Lucienne's Quest, but never a 3DO to play it on. Now that it looks like I might get a 3DO I kinda regret that (but the copy I had might not have worked anyway).

[celerystalker]

Missing boxes are definitely on my list.

Back when I worked at FuncoLand, I passed on so much stuff. I used to see Fire N Ice and Bonk literally once a week on NES. I already had the Turbo version of Bonk, so the few bucks seemed like a waste. Hagane, Aero Fighters... I had that stuff constantly, but I'd often cheap out for the $2 and under stuff and bring a bag full home. I mean, I did okay still, but I just didn't see the collector's market becoming what it did.

I used to have 6 copies of Resident Evil: The Book. I gave all but one away, several to random folks. That's a small fortune these days.

I lent my original Earthbound to guy who fucked off and stole it. I replaced it with another copy while it was still cheap, but it wasn't as nice as my pristine new copy.

I wish I'dve picked up more Neo Geo AES stuff and Turbo stuff 15 years ago. I mean, I have 50 or so US Turbo games and 30 AES carts CIB, but it was so cheap back then... I'dve also picked up the loose Magical Chase I passed on at $40 back then. Seemed high, so I grabbed Neutopia and Cadash in the cases with manuals for a combined $30. Should've just bought it all.

In retrospect, the two copies of Brigandine I bought my sister, both of which her kids broke, feel frustrating.

[SparTonberry]

Having to pass up Chrono Trigger SNES for $23 on clearance at Target back in the day because I'd already bought my birthday game (Tetris Attack GB).

Also regularly passing up Shantae for GBC new at GameStop/EBGames "it's probably some shitty licensed shovelware game" like half the GBC's library. I should've AT LEAST bought it back when it was $40 loose. Should've figured that's about the point of no return.

[kainemaxwell]

Definitely not saving all my boxes and manuals. and selling off certain games.

[Aussie2B]

Definitely on the boxes. I at least never threw away a manual, as those seemed useful to me. To this day, I'll read through a manual cover to cover before starting a new game (if I own the manual), and back in the day, before looking up game info online was an option, I did refer to some manuals throughout playing a game. It didn't help its condition any (though it's still not bad), but my Chrono Trigger manual was often splayed open at my side. I didn't stop throwing away cardboard boxes until '98, I believe, so that's a lot of SNES, GB, and N64 boxes that went in the recycle. What really stings is that even in my mid-teens I had pretty niche taste in games, so it's not like I was throwing away dirt common boxes that I could easily replace without spending too much. I mean, like, I threw away the boxes to Lufia II, Harvest Moon, Castlevania Legends, etc.

As for passing on buying stuff, probably the worst was passing on Earthbound for like $20 or $25 in the early '00s, instead getting Arcana and Illusion of Gaia for a few bucks less combined. That was a standard price for Earthbound back then, so it's not like I was passing on a great deal, but I still don't have Earthbound, sooooo......yeah. Also passed on Tales of Destiny for around the same price, similarly getting a couple other PS1 RPGs for less. Still don't have Tales of Destiny either. Also passed on Conker's Bad Fur Day many times over, at prices that ranged from $20 (for a complete copy) to $5 (for a loose copy) and loose copies of Mario Party at $5. Yet again, I don't have either. What's great is the rare occasion that I get to make up for passing on something. Like back in the day, I was choosing between buying Mars Matrix or Raycrisis, and I went for the latter, as it was a little cheaper. A complete copy of Raycrisis isn't super cheap these days either, but it's like half the value of Mars Matrix. But just a few years ago, I stumbled across a complete copy of Mars Matrix for like 3 bucks, so all's well that ends well.

[Gameguy]

I luckily kept the boxes and inserts for my games so I still have everything from then in overall good condition.

For passing on stuff I passed on a loose Aero Fighters for $4.99 which still bothers me. At another point I could have bought a beat up Sega Saturn system in a rental case for under $20, the system was missing some hookups and most likely wasn't working properly but having that rental case would have been worth the price for everything. Also passing on a loose Gamecube system with Gameboy Player, network adapter, and a loose Zelda Twilight Princess in the drive for $7.99. Now I would want to keep that network adapter, I could have sold that Zelda to break even easily. I'm sure there's more I passed on that I should have purchased, if I spent more time thinking about it I'd be more bothered.

I previously sold several new sealed copies of Conker's Bad Fur Day for $15 each. At the time I couldn't get $20 for them, I should have just held onto them a bit longer. Other stuff sold over the years include a loose S.C.A.T. for $5, Gun-Nac for $20, a bunch of loose or just boxed Genesis games that I felt I would have found complete later on(still haven't), etc. Probably should have kept some of the Turbografx/Turbo CD games longer too, they spiked in price after I sold some. Same with my Virtual Boy collection, everything was complete or still sealed and I sold it all because I never really played it.

I guess the biggest regret is not going after everything I wanted as hard as I should have years earlier, I just assumed it would still be easy to find and I would just come across the stuff I want eventually. I've found so many rare games in the past I would have thought more common ones would have been easy to get by now, yet I'm still waiting for them. Same with strategy guides as I rarely find any now for anything.

[Highwind Dragoon]

Not getting some RTS games when they were at their height (empire earth series, dune RTS series, various other strategy games).

[Tron 2.0]

Trading away,original genesis collection i had in the mid 90's.Sure a few years back i bought one again but rebuilding it can be taxing some times.Beside my biggest regret giving a copy away of snatcher to a friend of a friend.

[Niku-Sama]

not many regrets really since I save so much from going to a land fill for no reason. clean it up and sit on it or trade it off for something else.

I think maybe one regret is not importing stuff when it was much cheaper, I mean even 2 years ago it was good but now, its not the same. most of the time these places have jacked up the shipping costs for no real reason. then the costs of the games.
I noticed today that imported Hagane loose was going for over $100 imported (+$15 shipping for a loose cart) not that long ago it was dirt cheap, its not a game I'd ever play. the spendy ones i'd play on the system I already own (x3, metal warriors, chrono trigger, ect.) but shit. and then the places that charge a lot for no reason.

I have my usual sellers but even them some times just seems unreal. one of them though sells junk FDS units for like $2 they almost all just have broken belts.

[Cornelius]

I sold a loose Sculptor's Cut on here for like $40 quite a while back. Hadn't planned to sell it, but somebody posted a 'need help' thread and I was feeling generous. Plus I wasn't into N64 that much, I'm still not really. Part of what bugs me is that he messaged shortly after he got it that he found another one dirt cheap at a flea market. I really should have asked to buy it back, but didn't for some reason. So that one bugs me.

I've written about this before, I'm sure, but our family used to sit around together taking turns at Tetris on the NES. I was the youngest and wasn't good at puzzle games (still not, really), so my turns were always short. I completely lost it one time and yelled at everybody and stomped out. We didn't sit around like that anymore after that. I mean, the thing was that I loved that time with my family, but I also felt really inferior, and that frustration came out in a big, raging ball of 12 year old tantrum. This would have been around 1991. Anyway, after nobody played the system for a long time (SNES had come out, I know) I wound up giving it and our 10 or so games to a sort-of-friend that happened to be in the right place at the right time. I really didn't get back into gaming until n64 Mario Kart // FFVII/Bushido Blade // Baldur's Gate in college, so I missed out big time.

[BlastProcessing402]

I have no regrets regarding boxes and manuals, anything I have that lacks either was bought used and didn't come with one. Anything I have that I bought new still has them, all the way back to the pack in SMB that came with my Nintendo Control Deck.

My regrets come with the huge number of NES games I sold to a rental store back in the late 80's. I just needed money to buy new stuff. My parents didn't believe in allowances, so it was pretty much the only way to get money to buy stuff rather than waiting for the next Christmas.

Next, after getting a PBC, I sold my Master System and a few games to this kid that was sort of a friend of the family.

Then in the early mid 90's when I sold almost all of my SNES and Genesis games to one of the mail order places (could have been Funco, don't completely remember) to buy a Smart Bros. console copier. Sure I could still play all the games, but man, that collection (all with box & manual, remember) would be a treasure trove these days.

I did sell 1 N64 game (WCW vs nWo) to Funcoland, but it was because I got the Japanese version (VPW 64) which was chock full of extra content and features, and it was early enough in the game's lifetime that I got a pretty decent amount (in cash!) for it. Don't really regret that.

[calgon]

I've said this probably a few times in different threads over the years, but the one that stings the most is selling a pristine boxed model one sega cd with final fight. I also sold Vay but I had no interest in that game and would have sold it anyway.

Backstory: I was on summer break from college and happened upon a garage sale in my parent's neighborhood. I was shocked to find a boxed sega cd that looked as if it was never used. Same with final fight and vay. Bought it all for 15, had a blast with final fight and then foolishly sold it all on eBay like a week later. I somehow convinced myself I wouldn't ever play it despite being completely new to its library. Later on I really got the itch to try snatcher, sonic cd, shining force and more.

Luckily we did get the amazing sonic cd port and it's still one of my favorite games but man do I miss that console. Trying to find one these days in the same condition has largely been a waste of time

[Emperor Megas]

I honestly can't think of many right off. Most of the losses that I've had were for reasons beyond my control. I lost most of my original childhood game collection in a house fire back home in New Orleans, a few other things were stolen here and there, or lost in the Katrina flood. Nothing I could really do to predict those losses.

Truthfully, I think my biggest gaming regrets stem from focusing TOO MUCH on gaming, and spending WAY too much time on it when I should have been doing other things, like completing college, or working and saving more in my late teens and early twenties, among other things. It was a very dark and difficult time in my life though, and video games offered something of an escape from my problems. I don't think I would have offed myself back then, but I probably WOULD have just dropped out of society or something if I didn't have a distraction like gaming to focus on, and I'm not even kidding (though most of the credit for me not ending up dead in a forest somewhere goes to a very dear friend who sadly isn't alive anymore).

Ironically, my lesser gaming regrets stem from not gaming MORE later in life when I had a more stable existence. I have a massive backlog of games now that could last several lifetimes, and have become more of a collector than gamer, and I'm really not happy about that and never set out to be a collector first. I still only collect games I think that I would like to play though, besides the occasional trade fodder acquisition here and there that comes in odd lots.

This is why I really enjoy the Game Completion Challenge we've started here. It's given me an incentive to bust out some of my dusty games and systems and actually play them, not just stare at their cases and boxes on the shelf.

[Aussie2B]

Ironically, my lesser gaming regrets stem from not gaming MORE later in life when I had a more stable existence. I have a massive backlog of games now that could last several lifetimes, and have become more of a collector than gamer, and I'm really not happy about that and never set out to be a collector first. I still only collect games I think that I would like to play though, besides the occasional trade fodder acquisition here and there that comes in odd lots.

I hear ya on that. Everything I pick up is something I'd like to devote some time to, but even with dialing back my rate of buying (I barely even buy retro games anymore), I'm still bringing in way more than I'm beating. And this is just compounding over the years. I've still got loads of PS1 and N64 games I picked up when those system were active that I've maybe put 30-60 minutes into each just to briefly try them out, and then they've sat on my shelves for nearly two decades. It doesn't help that I also like genres where the games tend to be long, like RPGs and visual novels. I just wish I was better at time management and wasn't stretched thin with all the various things I need and want to do such that I could spend more time digging into and enjoying my backlog.

[Mad-Mike]

I think one of the more recent ones has to do with retro-computing in general more than gaming, and that's not holding onto the hoarder's-worth of 8088-80486 Hardware I accumulated during the 2000's and sitting on it for profit if I could have done so. I could undercut the costs of such stuff now and STILL make good money at it, and I'd not be scrounging E-bay cross-referencing chip numbers and other crap to finish tweaking the three PC's I have to perfection.

[exit]

One of my biggest (if not biggest) regrets is in the early 2000s there was this Mom and Pop video store that had a lot of older games for sale and I always wanted stop by and buy a bunch of them but never did. By the time I got around to it they downsized the store and no longer had the games there, not sure if they just tossed them or did some kind of liquidation sale on them, but a lot of them were now hard to find TG16 games and (from what I could tell) were complete in their original boxes. I still kick myself for never going in after getting paid and just buying all of them, especially since I had a TG16 that was collecting dust and could have finally been put to good use.

[SpaceHarrier]

I may have thrown away or Goodwill'd a complete copy of Mega Man X2 sometime in 2001.

[WulfeLuer]

Mostly, mine is a common enough tale. I went through a cycle of buying games at a Babbage's and a EB practically next door to each other, then bringing them back to sell for a pittance; like a lot of dumbass teenagers, I really didn't care about the deficit spending. I wised up after a while, but some bad stuff happened in my life, and after a bit of a roller coaster, I was ready to turn in all my gaming stuff/books/knickknacks. A big part of this was a SNES collection that I dragged to this...bootleg anime store (it was an interesting place, but kinda kooky) that was offering to buy games. Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Mario RPG, Mega Man X1 and X3, a few others. The guy making offers was a lazy prick; refused to even look them and let them (and my console) rot in the back for a couple days while he stared at a wall (for the record, mine was the only stuff on the table for him, ever). Finally he bothered to quote me...$40 for the lot. I was kinda going through this whole turning a page thing, so like a moron I took it. As far as I know they never left the back of the store, and likely wound up in a dumpster when it went bellyup.

Some with happier endings: I let a buddy borrow my Lunar 2 boxset. He was a great friend, but really naïve and fiscally ignorant. He let some other guy borrow my game, and they took off with it. BUT! As penance, I wound up with a full Risk 2210 (the big box version) and my folks and I played the hell out of it.

Also, during the above selloff frenzy, I sold a friend my ps1 stuff for cheap (I wound up buying some of it back, no big overall) the chief piece of the collection was my copy of Final Fantasy VII. From a collector's standpoint it's nothing special, a battered green label that endured an ignorant nerd that didn't take care of his toys (me), but it has some sentimental value since I bought the thing before I owned a PS1 and took it to buddies' houses and stuff. I missed it a lot. Then a collector's edition of Final Fantasy XII more or less fell into my lap. Guess what I traded it for?

Yes, a complete tinbox FF12 set, plus the collector's edition guide, all in excellent condition, for my battered old FF7. And I don't mind that one little bit.

[AdamAnt316]

Back in the late '90s, I was perusing the fire-trap aisles at a local flea market (now long-defunct) when I spotted something in one of the booths which I'd read about, but had never actually seen in the flesh: a GCE Vectrex. The only game it had, of course, was Minestorm, no overlay. I started playing it, and was immediately hooked by the awesome vector graphics.

The seller told me that the price was all of $10; unfortunately, I didn't have enough on me at that time, and my mother wouldn't loan me any money, so I had to pass. I returned the next weekend with a $10 bill proudly in hand, only to find out that it was (naturally) long gone. Going on eBay only compounded my frustration, seeing how they were going for $100 on a regular basis.

Fortunately, I was able to find one several years later thanks to a friend who found it in a record store, of all places, for $45. Like the one at the flea market, it only came with the 'pack-in' game, but I didn't care. It had some issues at first, but somehow managed to fix itself, so it all worked out in the end.
-Adam

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Didn't buy Plumbers Don't Wear Ties in 2006. Had an opportunity to get it for less than $20. Got it July 20, 2011 for $75. I was 13 in '06 but probably could have got PDWT... however, it probably wasn't a good idea for me to PLAY it until '08 or '09 due to the content.

Focusing too much on Sega games over Nintendo games pre-2009. I could have got some NES/SNES/N64 games for pennies on the dollar compared to what they're worth today. Damn scalpers and resellers. Sega stuff has appreciated but not as much as Nintendo stuff. I mean, in the late 2000s SMB/Duck Hunt was 50 cents cart-only. Now it's 10 freaking bucks.

The 2000s were the best time to collect. Stuff was much cheaper in the wild and there was still eBay/Amazon for the rare stuff. I'm glad I got into collecting precociously (at age 13) so I could capitalize on that.

I got interested in classic gaming in late summer/early fall 2005 (September?) and didn't start collecting until February. (My "official" start date is January 7, 2006 when I picked up my old Sega Genesis and three games from my grandparents' house, but didn't *buy* anything until about a month later, I think my first classic gaming purchase was an SNES on February 11, 2006). If I had actually started collecting in fall 2005 I could have had some 4 months more collecting when it was still cheap. I even knew about the Genny in late (Sept/Oct?) 2005, but for some reason didn't bring it home until January 2006.

Not getting an SG-1000 model 1 in 2006 because me and my parents balked at the $300 or so they were going for then. Now you're lucky if you can find one near $700. I do have an SG-1000 now, but it's the cheaper but functionally identical SG-1000 II. It was $233 in VERY early November 2011.