Don't lose touch with what it's all about...

[The Clonus Horror]

I recently had to sell my X-box and PS2 to cover new glasses and dental costs, then hooked up my PSOne and decided to play a little Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. After playing games like Halo and Splinter Cell for a long time, I couldn't believe how much fun I was having with a good old 2D platformer again. I had also been playing the new WWE Smackdown game on PS2 before the sale, and was having a lot of fun in multiplayer, but had no desire to play the single mode--save only to unlock new moves, etc...Prior to owning a PS2, I had spent most of my time playing the Royal Rumble mode on Smackdown 1 and 2 with friends, which offers more of an arcade style game play.

This may sound odd, but I have never bought a single game for use on my PC. The only gaming I do on my computer is through MAME and a Genesis emulator. I do vaguely remember playing Pirates! and Battle Chess on a friends computer when I was in 8th grade.

I am 26 years old, and remember playing a Pac Man tabletop in Columbia Falls, MT when I was about 4 years old. I received a 2600 for x-mas and would play Pac Man with my grandma and she absolutely loved to play the Empire Strikes Back cartridge. Living in northern WI in 1985 was hard on my friend Vince--he was the only kid in town to own an NES. He also was obsessive compulsive and would make us wash our hands before we played. None of the rest of us got ours until the following year. My friend Jake played his Slalom cart all the way through, and I played my Soloman's Key. We both rented Goonies II and did our first "switch-off-and-stay-up-all-night" game playthrough.

My mother was stricken with cancer and bedridden for much of my middle school life. She passed away in the Fall of my eighth grade year, the same time I got into playing D&D with a group of friends. Video games took a back seat to our roleplaying sessions. I had to move again, and worked a job on top of going to high school, and still managed to have a social life. I bought a Genesis and Turbografx, but only recall playing Arch Rivals with friends for a novelty laugh or Alien Crush before I went to bed once in awhile. I pawned them off before I went off to college.

Had I been a video gamer in college, I never would have graduated. Instead, I went out a lot and had some good times and played in a band. I did return to my elementary school home in northern WI and tracked down Vince, who proceeded to give me an audio tape from 1985 that we made, which included us arguing over who got to play the Nintendo next.

My return to gaming came in January 2000. I bought a Playstation along with the Arcade Party Pack and had a good time playing Smash TV. I rented Smackdown and thought it was great.

...and then something went horribly wrong.

I started collecting games instead of playing them. I should have seen it coming, since that's what happened to me and CD's. I needed to have everything from every artist that I liked. If you like Frank Zappa, you are in for a world of hurt financially. So, I followed the gaming scene on the Net and have owned, sold, rebought, and resold just about every system there is or was in the last two years. I've repaired NES's, cleaned way too many metal strips with Q-tips and rubbing alcohol, and for what?

That's right. I forgot that it was about flying your blocky little snowspeeder with your Grandma and shooting the AT-AT walkers in the blinking square. I forgot that is was about screaming "I REGRET NOTHING!" in a goofy voice as your friend tosses you out of the battle royal and you've been in since entry no. 1.

I'm a musician and an elementary music teacher. I have good insurance, but it doesn't cover full dental or any optometry. So, here I am with a housefull of games and systems, and I worry about how I'm going to pay to see and chomp my food?!? For a minute, I was actually wondering how I could avoid selling any systems and finding some other way to pay for BASIC HUMAN MEDICAL NEEDS!?! Then I simply sold them, paid my billls, and went back to work. And I didn't feel bad about it, nor did I feel the urge to plan to buy a next gen system again if I didn't have to. I have an Atari 2600 and a Playstation, plus MAME and a Genesis emu.

But most importantly, I think that I have something more important: the rediscovery of what it's all about: game PLAYING!

[NESCollector75]

You should live in Canada. Free Health care! It really is a great system, but way to many people abuse it. It seems now everybody goes to the hospital over everything, just because its free. (Not totaly it comes out of taxes)

[Kroogah]

Amen brother. I'm a fellow ex-collector.

By the way, Parts: The Clonus Horror is a hilarious movie.

[Chunky]

how true my friend. I forgot some time too. was on a collecting binge. it is quite like gambling to me. i can do one or the other.

but i am now into getting only of those thought to be the better of the games...or something from my past. that means really only a few here and there. no more collecting the world, that included traveling at one point to appleton to visit every thrift shop along the way. I now collect to play. if i don't play it, i'm selling it.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I tend to spend one or two months a year, budget permitting, going on a collecting binge. Then I spend the rest of the year playing all that glorious silicon goodness that I accumulate during said binge.

I still spend more time playing than collecting. The hunt is a necessary evil for me - to feast on my catch, that's really where it's at.

[Raedon]

People who collect comics and cards are suckers..

[maxlords]

Well, I collect still, but it's cause I play that I collect! I stockpile all the games I want to play whenever I get a chance to buy them cheap. Then, I sell the ones I don't like and keep all the ones I play (and would play again) as I go through them. I'm way behind on playing stuff, and certainly haven't played everything I have, but I ALWAYS look for new stuff, cause not only might I see something I want for cheap, but I also sell extras to pay bills But for me, it's ALWAYS been about playing. And I like the NES/SNES generation better than the new stuff most of the time, althogh some newer games are really good. It seems like a higher percentage of hte older stuff is fun though.

I also collect comics. If I may ask, Raedon, what makes comic collectors suckers? I spend $3 per comic and I get a 30 page comic with art to read every month. Not only are some of the stories BETTER than many novels I've read, but I go back and read them over and over as the years go on, and some of them even hold a bit of value. But I buy em to READ em, not to stash them for future value. THAT would be pointless. Comics are a great and underappreciated medium that has tons of potential but is roundly accused of being childish and silly, even when many of the comics coming out ar every adult, very insightful, and very well written. </rant>

[RJ]

Another member of "the player's club" here!

[kobunheatforum]

From what I hear, Canada has a great health care system... unless you get sick!

[Chunky]

comics, heh that reminds me...

Why doesn't someone come up with a grading system. ya know this SMB cart is mint 9.8. then charge people to rate it, seal it, never play it again. and somehow the price doubles, triples, whatever.

It's the best scam going.

[Captain Wrong]

Well put. I can 100% agree with what you are saying. I kind of got into that menatlity for a while and started buying systems strictly for collection purposes because they weren't much fun to play. The problem was, I was spending all my time and money tracking down that stuff and not spending the time and money with and on the games I really enjoyed.

Bottom line is, I'm reaquainting myself with the stuff I already own and like to play. It's much cheaper that way and it's more fun than haveing a bunch of stuff just to have it and not getting any fun out of it.

And this:

If you like Frank Zappa, you are in for a world of hurt financially.

you are sooooo right on. I started collecting Zappa's stuff around the time it first started coming out on CD (1987, I think.) At that time, the records were out of my reach, so the cds were the way to go. Since then, all the old cds have been upgraded, all 70 so odd albums released during his life are out (some that used to be 2 on 1 cd are now 1 cd each with no extra music, hmm...) 2 Beat the Boots box sets, many more cds of unrelaeasd stuff, endless volumes of You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore and on and on and on. I gave up a long time ago. There's just too much stuff, and frankly (*rimshot*) it's not all good or interesting.

Same with Miles Davis. I think I have 60 or so Miles albums and only a couple of those are bootleg. And there's still a ton of legit stuff I don't own. Sometimes you gotta wonder if they really do intend on releasing every cough, wheeze and sputer put to tape just because they know the die hard fans will snap it up.

[slapdash]

Appleton? You're not TJ, are you?

[Nature Boy]

I find that collecting has entered my consciousness much more since I joined this site than previously. I always intended to pick up the systems I remember (i.e. none of the obscure ones, just the ones I had or knew someone who had), but now I find myself trying to get "Rare" games for systems whereas before I was more concerned with getting "Good" games for systems. You get caught up in the hype sometimes it seems. And I agree that it isn't a good thing either - I'd like to get back to collecting *only* those games that I'm going to play - screw rarity.

[jaydubnb]

I find that collecting has entered my consciousness much more since I joined this site than previously. I always intended to pick up the systems I remember (i.e. none of the obscure ones, just the ones I had or knew someone who had), but now I find myself trying to get "Rare" games for systems whereas before I was more concerned with getting "Good" games for systems. You get caught up in the hype sometimes it seems. And I agree that it isn't a good thing either - I'd like to get back to collecting *only* those games that I'm going to play - screw rarity.

Thats exactly where I'm at in my gaming life as well. I used to LOTS of games, but one day i realized that i have all of these carts and cds stashed about looking pretty, but not playing them. So I sold off a bunch of stuff that was just collecting dust. So what do i have left? A shade under 50 games scattered across 7 systems...and i'm happy as hell because that collector's mentality is long gone. A mentality that often leaves ones pockets empty.....

[Mr. NEStalgia]

Dear God have you all gone mad?!?!!?

Are you telling me that you don't enjoy the thrill of the hunt brought on by video game COLLECTING? I too love to play the games, but I also enjoy NES games. Not all of them are great, but that was the system I grew up with...I really want to someday complete that collection.

I don't spend ridiculous amounts of money on old carts, but when i find a deal (often have to look very hard), I snatch it up! There is nothing more satisfying to me than going to a garage sale, and see nothing...but wait! I ask the owner for games and he has a pile of em left in his closet...He didn't think they would sell!!!!

That just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I know it sounds all high and mighty to say I'm a video game player, not a collector, but I am most definitely both! I usually play my PS2, not my NES, but they both bring joy to me! Especially my growing COLLECTION! Nowadays if you want a great game, you look to the new era of systems, not the old ones. But, if you are a collector, you go back into the games that are in your fondest memories. I have to say that collecting is half the fun of video games!

I'm glad I got that out...

-=Mr. NEStalgia=-

[kainemaxwell]

As much as I love the newer games, some them don't have the same quality and insight as many the older titles do.

[dchavez2]

I went through the same thing a few years ago...

I sold off all of my carts and systems except my Heavy Sixer and Vectrex. Got some multi-carts and recently a cuttle cart. Built a MAME cabinet with tons o emulators. I actually replaced my cart-collecting with rom collecting for awhile (It was actually pretty hard to complete those rom collections!) When using direct pad pro and the original controllers, emulation is nearly as good as before.

I got back into actually playing games and also discovered that the new stuff wasnt bad either. Got a PS2 and Xbox and now fully consider myself a gamer instead of any type of collector, although I have recently been bitten by the bug again and started trying to get all the light gun carts! I guess the cycle continues...

[batmanlivesatmyhouse]

I guess you would call what I'm doing now, "collecting", if by colllecting, you mean spendinga good amount of dough. As a kid, my father was rather averse to video games (actually, he still is). I had a SMS and and NES and a PC, but that was it. When all my friends were getting the Genesis, the SNES, PS, N64, I missed out. I missed out from the 16 through the 32 bit systems. It's not like I was deprived, however. I had (have) THE biggest toy collection of anyone I know, and sometimes, heard of. So, now that I finally have a disposable income, and am actually an adult, I can say I have been splurging a bit. I have the Xbox and, though i tried to hold out on it, I now also have the PS2 (darn you, DDR!). I think I'm going to buy a Gamecube before long for Animal Crossing. I'm now buying the stuff I always wanted, but couldn't afford, or wasn't allowed to afford. Now that my childhood is officially over, I'm trying to recapture my childhood. Sound silly, huh? Not only games, and old gaming stuff, like my trying to restore my SMS collection before my parents threw it out for spring cleaning, but also old toys, like GI Joes and Star Wars. I'm enjoying everything I'm getting, although I would like to spend more time enjoying my newly aquainted childhood. What I have to say is this: some people smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, or drink a six pack of beer, or wine, or take drugs, or soup up their cars. From college, I've had my fill of most of these things, and I'm not into souping up my car. Should I deprive myself of some simple pleasures, just because I do not do any of the above? Should I stop buying games just because this is not how everyone else spends their money? I still have a life, a social life, and I sitll enjoy a night out on the town. Can't I spend my money the way I wouldl like? And if someone enjoys collecting games just for the fun of keeping them, and doesn't even play them, who is anyone to judge? I guess I feel defensive, as I might aspire to being a game collector, or might see myself going that way. By the way, what's wrong with collecting comics and cards? I had my phases of those, too. I read them, enjoyed them, and kept them, and continue to keep them, because I like to reread them, or they inspire me when I draw. Does keeping comics, and not burning/selling/throwing them away after I read them, "collecting", the bad "collecting" in this string? I have also enjoyed card collecting, mostly collectible card games. They weren't just to keep for value. I used them to play my friends, to play in tournaments. I may not have touched them in a little while, but when I do, that old feeling of good nostalgia comes back. Does my keeping of my cards, which bring back fond memories, make me the bad "collector"? I don't keep them for monetary value, though finding out how much my colletions are from time to time from other people is good to hear. Okay, I'm a pack rat, a horder. Does this make me the evil "collector"? I am glad the poster of this string had the willpower to give up some gaming equipment to pay for new glasses and dental care. I agree, these are far more important than gaming. I agree that, especially this year with so many "good" games that came out, that a lot of gamers, myself included, have done more shopping than playing. However, can't collecting be fun to some people as well?

[bargora]

However, can't collecting be fun to some people as well?

Yes. Collecting the games is excellent. Playing the the games is also excellent.

I love when I look at my (admittedly modest) collection and that Scrooge McDuck/Gollum feeling steals over me. But none of my friends or relatives would ever understand if they saw me cavorting in my game bin, clutching Battle Garegga and muttering "it's mine, all mine...my preccciousssss" shortly before I trip on a cord and am crushed to death by an Xbox

[k8track]

Collecting is great fun; there's nothing like tracking down stuff in the great hunt. However, I believe there should come a point where you step back for a while and become just a player again for a while, to play all that you have collected. Otherwise, what's the point?

This point was thrusted upon me when I became a grad student in August and my financial situation severely shifted suddenly. Up until then I was being more and more of a collector; buying games left and right with no end in sight. The past two years have been very bountiful indeed, finding wonderful personal minor grails (e.g. Frogger 2 for 2600, my ultimate grail; Flintstones 2 for NES; Q*bert 3; Pac Mania; Atari Stunt Cycle; Samba de Amigo maracas for only $15; et. al.) and stuff I never even heard of that turned out to be platinum (four Vectrex minicades). But that all changed this semester when I became hardcore broke. I haven't purchased a single game since the middle of August. And I'm OK with it. I won't be able to afford anything until at least next summer, if then. Not a single game. It kind of hurts--it'd be great to get the GameCube along with the two Metroids, for instance--but I have an opportunity now just to enjoy what I have for a while, to be just a player. There's tons of stuff I've gotten that I haven't even played! How crazy is that? Now I've got a whole month free for Christmas break to enjoy my bounty from the last few years.