I've turned into a freaking video game hoarder!

[Ed Oscuro]

But I have to admit that I've gone to the bottom of the barrel with that.

Thank god -- I was tired of being all alone down here in the bottom of the barrel. I hope you brought some RGB cables with you; I brought my SNES, Genesis, and N64 console copiers. Now we can play our ROMs in RBG. In the barrel. On our projectors.

The BIG barrel. Woot, bring a keg in here.

I also disagree with Flack on the point of the games not meaning anything once they've been downloaded (as that's not true - in my case; if it's true in anybody else's case, shame on them). I've had all the Rolling Thunder games in MAME for a while now but only first played it last night - wow! That original game is awesome! Of course I'm not going to rave about everything I've ever seen, but emulation has made me go out and buy lots of games I wouldn't even have known existed before.

[Sylentwulf]

I've had all the Rolling Thunder games in MAME for a while now but only first played it last night - wow! That original game is awesome! Of course I'm not going to rave about everything I've ever seen, but emulation has made me go out and buy lots of games I wouldn't even have known existed before.

MAME is a VERY different story though. Arcade games were never MEANT to be owned or played at home, would take up WAY too much space, aren't for sale ANYWHERE anymore, etc...etc.... It's just too much of a different category to include mame as piracy IMO. (yeah, I know, arcade ports, that's just too much of a grey area. If you have the arcade version, I don't see the problem)

[Flack]

[quote="Ed Oscuro"]

I also disagree with Flack on the point of the games not meaning anything once they've been downloaded (as that's not true - in my case; if it's true in anybody else's case, shame on them).

Maybe I didn't esplain so good. Lemme try again.

I remember being a kid and having like 5 Atari 2600 games (not for long, mind you, but play along). I played Pac-Man for the 2600 for an entire SUMMER. These days, I sit down with my emulator, look at the ENTIRE Atari 2600 collection, and can't find anything I want to play. It's just too easy to hit ESC, pick another ROM, and start playing again.

The other night while cleaning my room I threw in Yar's Revenge on my 2600 and played for like half an hour. But when I sit in front of the laptop, I rarely play anything that long. Maybe it's a mindset thing, but the games I actually own, I tend to play longer and enjoy more.

What I see that bothers me in my son is the whole "let's play a different game" thing. He'll wander over to the laptop and want to play a game, so I'll pull up MAME and pick a game. 30 seconds later, he'll say, "daddy I want a different game." So I'll toss in another. 30 seconds later, same thing. Could be nostalgic glasses, but I can remember playing Bard's Tale for an entire summer as well, and now my kid (who is admittedly very, very young) doesn't want to play a game for longer than a minute.

And I thought *I* had that whole Nintento attention span thing going on!

[Flack]

Arcade games were never MEANT to be owned or played at home, would take up WAY too much space, aren't for sale ANYWHERE anymore, etc...etc....

:P

[tritium]

When I quit smoking I started using the money for videogames... somehow Im actually more broke than before.

As for backups. I only keep backups of games I dont have the hardware for (Joust 2600, got the cartridge, but no atari)

OR I have a select few games that I simply can't afford. My titles are less than 10 backups b/c I continously replace the backups w/ legit copies. I'm addicted to Dreamcast imports..

[Ed Oscuro]

MAME is a VERY different story though. Arcade games were never MEANT to be owned or played at home, would take up WAY too much space, aren't for sale ANYWHERE anymore, etc...etc.... It's just too much of a different category to include mame as piracy IMO.

There's really no difference between that and console games. With both you're getting a game for free. While most arcade games can be played just fine on a keyboard, I'd say even more console games can be played just fine on a keyboard as well.

For arcade machines, yes they are damn heavy and take up lots of space, but I've got a little Stratovox cocktail :) It's just a matter of finding some space, that's all.

I still disagree with Flack, even more now. I'll play some stuff - arcade games I can't get ahold of, games I've got stashed away or don't own the console for yet - for hours upon end, easily. That's the flip side of the arcade machines dilemma - a PC lets you save space and time to set up your console. Sometimes I'll find myself playing some game or other when I'd really like to try something else, but can't be arsed to switch a few wires around on the back of the TV.

[Sylentwulf]

Ed and Flack - I have 7 or 8 jamma boards and a jamma cab as well
BUT, I sure as hell don't have 1,000-2,000 of them

Also, I'm not really against burning roms of older systems, but anything from the SNES to present is a bit too new to be emulating with a clear conscience.

I also understand completely what flack means, playing an emulated game, free or not, just ISN'T the same, you don't get that warm fuzzy nostalgiac feeling.

[Anthony1]

Some people have wondered why I would admit that I have all these backups?


Because I really don't think Sega is going to come after me, because I have a copy of Batman Returns for the Sega CD on a CD-R.


Now, maybe if I was selling backups of games or something, then I might actually be concerned with something like that, but I don't sell backups, I only trade them, and I only bother with games that are no longer in the normal retail channels.

In other words, I don't deal with backups for the GameCube, XBOX or PS2.

Just the old consoles.

[Raedon]

I used to have this problem. About two years ago I threw away probably 300 CD-R's full of Anime, Apps, PC games, etc. When you look at a CD-R that only hold 650meg with Photoshop 4, Windows 95 and a new anime series that just came out called Pokemon. It's time to clean house and just get what you need threw lagit means.

Except old CD based consoles.. I may own a Sega CD but I don't think I'll be keeping it running in 20 years or so.. I've already finished the best titles.

[SegaAges]

Arcade games were never MEANT to be owned or played at home, would take up WAY too much space, aren't for sale ANYWHERE anymore, etc...etc....

:P

flack, is that a stripper pole in the middle of your home arcade?

[Ed Oscuro]

Also, I'm not really against burning roms of older systems, but anything from the SNES to present is a bit too new to be emulating with a clear conscience.

I wouldn't draw the line quite that far back. Anything that's not being sold NEW at stores - that is, the publishers aren't making a profit - is too new to be emulating. I apply that rule to all CD-ROM based games as well.

Here's a case in point. I did "acquire" Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow within days of the ROM leak, and went out and bought the real thing soon after. That copy sits on my shelf, sealed, and I'll eventually pick up another opened copy. That happens to the only exception I've made, however. I value the opinions of other people, but honestly not enough that I'll go out and buy something. What happens is that I'll just refuse to buy new stuff until I'm sure it'll be good, or am looking at something with high enough expectations it'll be good as to be virtually a certain purchase. That is -DOOM III, Halo 2, and NOT the Nintendo DS - that one might get by on account of my being really psyched on the concept.

So, in my case, Konami and GameStop (I guess it might've still been Babbage's at the time) both won because of emulation...seriously now! The only time I've emulated a new game it convinced me to buy it.

Of course, I'm not willing to emulate anything else - whether it's a Neo Geo, PS2, or PC release is immaterial. I'm not concerned about "legitimizing emulation," and if anything downloading something is something somebody else must pay money for - that's far from helpful, ceteris paribus, anyway :P

I'm not speaking for anybody else or defending their actions, though, because of course some folks will go and just emu the stuff, instead of making an effort to go track it down at Goodwill, eBay (thank god for that though! Well, okay, maybe more people need to try out stuff like Psychic Soldier Taromaru before they bid on it...), or a local game store. I feel that playing games and using them as a tool for research is fine. I've often found playing games in emulation and on a console is extending play, since it's often radically different given your options/small window on a PC screen versus a TV.

What it comes down to, though, is that if I don't like something enough, I don't need to pay full price for it. I'll likely just wait until it comes down in price, instead. My hope is that others who have the same buying habits as I do will prompt companies to create more budget titles in the future for genres I'm a fan of.

[Flack]

BUT, I sure as hell don't have 1,000-2,000 of them

Me either ... yet ...

[davidleeroth]

What I see that bothers me in my son is the whole "let's play a different game" thing. He'll wander over to the laptop and want to play a game, so I'll pull up MAME and pick a game. 30 seconds later, he'll say, "daddy I want a different game." So I'll toss in another. 30 seconds later, same thing. Could be nostalgic glasses, but I can remember playing Bard's Tale for an entire summer as well, and now my kid (who is admittedly very, very young) doesn't want to play a game for longer than a minute.

And I thought *I* had that whole Nintento attention span thing going on!

That's what I fear I'd do if I ever got into MAME. Thousands of games coming my way for free. If a game seems boring after a minute, why keep playing, surely the next one will be more interesting.
By actually buying and paying something for your game, you make the initial decision whether the game seems good or not. I mean, who would buy crap games?
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that you're a bit more committed to playing it after shoving the cash for it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Life's too short to be playing games that don't capture your attention ;)

I hope to play every action game in MAME - outside of many silly hacks and the like - but I'm not going crazy trying to and I'd like to get an appreciation for what each game's about.

[NintendoMan]

Well, that really doesn't make you a video game hoarder. I thought the post was just you buying everysingle game you could, even if you have 30 copies of a game, you want more.

Anyways, I don't play roms or anything else. Even though my gaming habbit drives me in the broke house, I still just buy the games when I can and play them on their respective systems.

[izret101]

You are not a game hoarder. I have thousands of ROMs on my computer(i have played 30 at most). I still go out and pick up all the real copies of games that i can get.
I am a true game hoarder. I have only sold 5 games (they were water-damaged cart only genesis sports games), and i have only returned 1. Not only do i keep all my videogames but i keep anything related to them i get. I have GBC codes from E.L. Fudge cookies packages for gods sake, I even have Nintendo liscensed candy.(Dated 2001 and 2002)