Have you ever considered the unthinkable? (long rant)

[Anthony1]

Have you ever considered it?



You know......the unthinkable?



Have you ever considered quiting retrogaming and go back to playing only current gen or next gen games? You see, I used to only play the latest and greatest. You look up Early Adopter in the Dictionary, and it should have my picture right there. I was the kinda gamer that would buy the new systems, and sell off my old ones. I would jump 100 percent on the next gen bandwagon each time it came around, and I wouldn't look back.


I know it must sound like a foreign concept to most of you. Most of you guys bought your systems and games, and just kept them forever. You never thought about selling them, and abandoning them for the next level systems. But that is exactly what I used to do.


Then in the year of our lord 2003, I discovered the joy of retrogaming. It was total lust at first sight. I mean, I just totally went retro crazy, and I went on a crazy spending spree, spending thousands of dollars to buy my all my old systems and a collection of games for each of them. I totally immersed myself in retrogaming, and my XBOX and GameCube just collected dust like you wouldn't believe.


During my initial retro stage, all I did was play retro or think about retro or read about retro or post about retro. I went on a rampage trying to get all the old magazines that I used to have. Every day, I would take a couple retro issues to work with me, for glorious trips down memory lane.


Now the thing is, several times I wondered if I had just been caught up in a fad. Like when I jump on things like crazy, burn out on them, and then move onto something else. I have a habbit of doing that. So at one point, I actually thought about quitting the whole retro thing. I thought about selling everything and just keeping a modded XBOX with all the emulators, and that would be my only like to my retro fascinization (mispelled).


But each time I thought about it, I snapped out of it and regained my senses. Only to come back to the world of Retro and buy another system that I'd been wanting. Like the Turbo CD system.


Nowadays I go back and forth between modern and retro. I'll fire up the XBOX and play the latest game, or fire up the PS2. But I also play my Sega CD like crazy, and my SNES and my Turbo CD, etc, etc. It's kinda a back n' forth thing.



The thing is, I've been starting to really question the whole retro thing. The XBOX 360 will be coming soon, and the Playstation 3, and at first I thought that I would leave the new machines alone. That's what I thought when I first went retro. I remember even doing a post about how this would be the first time that I didn't get a machine on launch day in about 15 years!!!


But that was back in 2003 and 2004. In the year 2005, with all the info on the XBOX 360, and then seeing the e3 stuff, and the stuff in magazines and on the net, I'm extremely excited about the new systems. I got money down on a 360. I will have one at midnight on launch nite. Most likely the same thing when it comes to the PS3.


So I started hearing my little voice asking questions like "So, are you going to give all this Retro stuff up?". "Why do you have a Atari Lynx and 16 Lynx games?" "You know you won't hardly play it". "Why do you have a Sega Master System that you never play". "Why not sell everything?" "Just keep a modded XBOX with all the emulators, that's all you need" "Sell all your video game mags while they still have nice value"



All kinds of thoughts like that are going through my head. It's like I'm wondering to myself if I should really stay in the retro game. One side of me wonders just how much money will come back into my bank account if I sell everything. But then of course I have a very strong fear that I will regret it. Will it be the biggest mistake of my life?


I think my best course of action is to not panic, and to not doing any rash right now. I need to calm down and access things without selling everything off. Maybe I should just eliminate certain systems, and really cut back on my collections. Just keep the key machines and the key games, and sell off everything else.



Hmmm, I'm just not sure what I'm going to do. I have a strong feeling that when November comes, I'm going to get lost in a sea of XBOX 360 love. I'm going to get caught up in that "wow" factor feeling that I had during every leap to a new generation. And I'm going to go full bore into it. I'm not so sure that my retro gaming love will totally survive.


I can say one thing though. I will never, ever, I repeat, never, ever, sell my SNES and my top 10 SNES games and my RGB monitor. I think if I ever did quit retrogaming, I wouldn't sell off quite everything. I would probably just go with the less is more approach and just keep a few systems and a few games, and that's about it. Just enough to pull it out every once in awhile and wax nostalgic.



Of course, that is, if I actually did quit the whole "retro" thing, and I'm not sure that I'm going in the direction. I'm just saying that I'm thinking about it, and thinking about it seriously, and it's scaring me. I've put a helluva lotta time and effort into the whole retro thing these last several years, and I would hate to just abandon the whole thing, and just pretend it was some kind of "phase" that I was going through. If that was the case, then it was a very freaking expensive "phase"!

[Jibbajaba]

Hey dude, I didn't read any of that or anything. I just wanted to say that you don't really need to put "long rant" as a warning in your topic. It's sort of a given around here that when you create a thread, it's a long rant.

Just trying to help.

Chris

[chrisbid]

how many more 360 posts before MS gives you a free console?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Nope. It's not a phase for me. Retrogaming is not something that I discovered at some later date. It's something that I've never left. For I was there, you see, at the dawn of the first age of Pac-kind...

[Anthony1]

Hey dude, I didn't read any of that or anything. I just wanted to say that you don't really need to put "long rant" as a warning in your topic. It's sort of a given around here that when you create a thread, it's a long rant.

Just trying to help.

WABOBS

Chris

Thats funny, but I don't "ALWAYS" do super long posts. Sure, that's my normal style, but sometimes I have short, to the point, posts. I know that they are kinda rare, but I do have them, so it isn't always a super long rant.


By the way, you should read it. I'm kinda going through a retrogamers mid life crisis if you will.

[Anthony1]

how many more 360 posts before MS gives you a free console?

are you calling me a Billy Boy fanboy?



Not me, bro. I'm very unbiased towards all the systems, I buy them all.


am I excited as heck about the fact that in around 60 days or so I'll have my hands on a wireless white controller and Oblivion on my 113 inch screen? Heck YES.


oops, I mentioned my screen again. Damn. That violated my own rule. I promise not to mention it again, until I've actually played a real 360 on it.



I promise.

[Mianrtcv]

The only time I consider giving up the retro games is when I consider giving it all up. I do the whole "I could sell this stuff for plenty and use that money eslewhere".

That's about the time I say, "elsewhere, hmm.". I don't think it will ever happen. For monetary reasons or otherwise. I enjoy playing the games. Also there is a certain familiarity and comfort in knowing my games are there for me. I don't get to them nearly as much as I used to, but that's o.k.

[-hellvin-]

I will answer the question repeated in the first three sentences of the sea of text:

No.

[NE146]

Have you ever considered quiting retrogaming and go back to playing only current gen or next gen games?

Huh.. acquiring and playing "current gen games" is pretty much the primary way I've always been since the 5200 was upcoming 'next gen'. Maybe it's the 70's star wars kid in me but videogames in my eyes have always been about getting cool new videogames to play w/ new technology.

Only difference is to me, the 'new' doesn't replace the old. It just gets added to the existing library

I mean, when the Turbografx was new did you shun it to only play your by-then-old 5200 or Intellivision? Nah of course not. Did you not get a Saturn/psx/N64 because you wanted to 'retrogame' on the SMS? Man you gotta move on! But don't ditch what you got already. Granted.. I'll admit it's getting a little hard to get too excited about a lot of the next gen in this age of big corporate blockbuster.. but that's another subject.

Anyway. Bottom line is: Games is games. And that's all these are anyway.. friggin GAMES. To PLAY So why limit yourself from playing something fun based upon something as incosequential as it's age? I'll play Kaboom and jump the next moment to any ps2/xbox/gc game and back no problemo

[hydr0x]

Hey dude, I didn't read any of that or anything. I just wanted to say that you don't really need to put "long rant" as a warning in your topic. It's sort of a given around here that when you create a thread, it's a long rant.

Just trying to help.

WABOBS

Chris

i love you

[smokehouse]

You know, I’ve gone through a bit of this myself lately. I’m never going to buy another launch console but I have gotten into the whole “robbing Peter to pay Paul” thing. I have been completely tempted to sell off many of my dormant systems to feed my Neo Geo AES beast. That thing gobbles up my time and my wallet.

You need to ask yourself one thing.

Am I a collector or a gamer?

A collector is in it to…well, collect. A gamer wants to play their games. If you’re a collector them by all means, keep everything you have. If you a gamer then get rid of the unused stuff in your collection. Would I sell off stuff to fuel a next-gn purchase? No way. You’re only hurting yourself on that one. The stuff you sell now will be worth more the next time you try to buy it (it’s inevitable) and the next-gen stuff will depreciate horribly.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Considering the unthinkable is akin to pondering infinity. Sorry, not my slice of pie.

But seriously, take it from someone that made the wrong choice. Don't do it. You may not miss your older games now or even two years from now but, you will.

You got to look at it as a glass half-full scenario. There are lots of current gen games I want that I don't have. That just gives me something to look for later down the road.

[digitalpress]

Anthony, you're not the only early adopter here. Lots of us are early adopters. I'm pretty sure they'd use MY picture, not yours, in that dictionary definition, in fact! I've been buying systems on launch day since Intellivision came out.

Being an early adopter is apples and oranges to being a retrogamer, however. You can move onto the next great thing as many of us do and still go back and play your classics. I get on an Xbox kick, then I get on an Intellivision kick, then I get on a GameCube kick, then I get on a TurboGrafx kick and so on and so on...

A retrogamer simply acknowledges that every era if not every system has its own beauty, it's own perfect games, it's own nostalgia. A retrogamer embraces that and never lets go. It doesn't mean you have to stop being an early adopter - consider that in 20 years your Xbox 360 will be a relic, but it will still have games that you love to play.

[Trebuken]

Why not think of the Xbox 360 as the next great retro-console. Microdoft is only projecting a four year life-cycle for it. I'm betting most of us will be hear when it's retro. This way there is no conflict.

Anyways, if you play enough modern games (excluding sports titles) you can get burnes out on them. You usually have to memorize a dozen controller buttons, master increasingly complex gameplay and immerse yourself in ever more realistic enviornments. After a period of this it is often needful to immerse yourself in the simplicity of Castlevania, Martio, or other equally antiquated game. Sometimes it's even wis to depart from those tried and trues and randomly play a game you have never heard of.

The greatest weapon modern gamnes have over retro is multiplayer. It can suck the life out of you leaving you with little time (the desire may remain) to play SNES games.

You can always just play the retro collections that keep coming out....we're bound to see more interesting combinations in the next-gen as the PS1, and maybe Dreamcast will be compiled onto the new media...imagine these possibilities...

Trebuken

P.S. - How does the picture quality of your projector compare to a top of the line ($3,000) DLP set??
Making the transition to projector is a tough one...

[googlefest1]

well, if your retro gaming crisis ever leads you into dumping all your old stuff - dump it into my game room please

[sabre2922]

Question. How do you consider the unthinkable if its well...unthinkable

[Slimedog]

My friend did this a few months ago. He wanted to simplify his life and get rid of a lot of stuff he would never play. Now every time I see him we go out shopping for some game he recently sold. So the question would be, are you impulsive? If so, you should probably just box up your old stuff and store it instead of selling it. You will probably be digging it out again in a year and a half when all the next gen consoles have settled into a mediocre platform and FPS quagmire. On the other hand, if you aren't a collector, aren't prone to fits of whimsy, or are a graphics whore, you are probably safe selling your old stuff.

[Flack]

Why all the drama? If you like playing old games, keep the systems. If not, dump them. If you're undecided, box them up and put them in the garage for a while. In fact, if I were you, that's almost certainly what I'd do; box up all your retro systems, put them in the garage, and only pull them out when you begin to miss them. If you make it six months or so without opening a box, sell it.

[Daria]

a graphics whore.

Now there's the dictionary definition that's begging to have Anthony1's picture illustrated next to it.

[YoshiM]

Anthony, I was pretty much the same way: sell the old to buy the new. It was really necessity at first when my family didn't have the cash. Then I started collecting but years later I sold some stuff off. Thing is after a while I'd sometimes miss whatever system I sold so I'd buy it again. Then sell it again. I've already talked about my buy/sell relationships with the Genesis and TG-16.

I'd say hang onto that retro stuff. True you can emulate the games but it's just not the same as playing the real deal. You can find scans of magazines and either read them on the computer or print them off but it's still not the same as holding the magazine-stock paper in your hands. Like Flack said, box 'em up and then pull 'em out when you get a case of the Megamanias or the Marios.