Differences between console and computer collecting?

[Greg2600]

Computer collecting of systems from the 70's and early 80's are pretty common. Atari, Commodore, Amiga, etc. True gaming computers, of which the Amiga was the last, and largely died out by the start of the 90's. Many of these systems used cartridge games, the same as the consoles. Those are fair game. However, I would agree that the condition of the old equipment and media, particularly the floppy disks and drives, would likely be a wreck by now. However, many of the old computer games had similar if not better box artwork, manuals, inserts, etc. Personally, I still have a ton of old PC games (CD) and some 3 1/2" disks. But I cannot be bothered installing them and getting them to work. It was always such a hassle. Therefore, I would stick with games that run without installation, like the old Amiga or Tandy did. In terms of rarity, I would figure complete games from the 80's would be pretty hard to find these days. But how do you collect for a Commodore 64, where many of the thousands of games were available via modem download or mail order, and most were clones of something else and stunk?

[JustRob]

But how do you collect for a Commodore 64, where many of the thousands of games were available via modem download or mail order, and most were clones of something else and stunk?

Well, I hadn't really thought of that part. I suppose I'd have to limit it to commercially released games that were distributed on physical media (or electronics distribution only, *that'd* be an interesting collection to complete). Then, by genre, publisher, programmer, box art specifics...shit, anything can be used to structure the collecting. Then again, that's true of any collection building scheme.

Personally, I'd narrow it down to physical media, graphical adventures, sci-fi, horror, cyberpunk type themes...

Uhm, any recommendations for those btw?

[willowmoon93]

Me personally I collect both video games for consoles as well as for computers from the 1970's thru the very early 1990's. It's true, it's much harder to find the original computer games in their original packaging complete like that, but when you find one of them out in the wild, so to speak, it's definitely worth all the searching. I've found some great adventure/RPG games on 5 1/4" and 3 1/2" disk formats for Apple, Commodore 64, PC, Amiga, etc. usually for around $1-$3 each (and complete) just hitting various thrift stores from time to time. Some of these games I owned way back in the day, and some I didn't. But for such a minimal cost, I feel it's worth the risk of not enjoying the game. And who knows, maybe someone else would like the game better. Good luck with your search!

[neopeius]

I prefer to play on the original systems if at all possible. I've got a 7800, a Colecovision, a Turbografx 16, a NES, a SNES, an American Saturn, a Japanese Saturn, a Dreamcast, an American PS1, a Japanese PS1, and an American PS2. All of them see use.

On the other hand, while I have an extensive collection of old computers (Atari 8 bits, Commodore 8 bits, and an Atari ST), I generally emulate those. This is because I have copied all of my disks over to the PC, and I worry the disks on the computer will die at any time. My ST monitor just died (after I'd just replaced the floppy drive!) so I use STEEM.

Somehow, disk based software feels less collectible to me. As much loyalty as I had to Atari back in the day, it's not a big deal for me to play on it in the comfort of my own keyboard and monitor.