Is collecting games still fun?

[hoshichiri]

I don't feel like it's knowing where to look as much as it's there isn't much left at those places. I know geography plays a big part in it too.

Seconded on the geography thing. I'm firmly in the middle of the Nerdy Northwest, so the churn around here is much higher than, say, where my grandparents live. (Based on what I've seen online, if I were an hour or so north I might have a chance with yard sales again!) Although, as I learned visiting grandparents one year, if you can find where the concentration goes you can still do ok. Not games, but we found a comic shop in a half-dead mall in the closest thing to a big city out by Grandma's place- they had stuff in, but it was all around 2 years out of date... which meant things that had sold out & gotten rare in neck of the woods were just on the shelf. My sister flipped when we gave her that copy of Jhonen Vasquez's I Feel Sick, becuase it was long gone were we lived!

[kashell]

Collecting? Not really. If i'm out and about and come across a game store, then I may stop and check it out. The thrill is about gone.

Luckily, playing games is still fun.

[ignition365]

That's gonna be a hard no from me.

[Cartagia]

I see a lot of people equivalating “easy” with “fun”.  I never found collecting easy.  That’s why it’s fun.

[98dgreen]

Yes

[sworddude]

I see a lot of people equivalating “easy” with “fun”.  I never found collecting easy.  That’s why it’s fun.

very true but I highly doubt people who had amazing deals in the past had it easy. they most likely put time and effort in to get those deals even if it was allot more easy back in the day.

some people took this to the extreme like the guy who called every winner of the nintendo world champions ships and bought like almost all the grey and gold carts. that's quite an impressive
achievement imo.

while there where less people collecting when stuff was still cheap just like today you still had to be one of the first few people to buy those games for 3$ a pop in those pawn stores or funkolands before the good stuff was gone. a bit more time back in the day for sure but still collecting was never truly easy.

if there was a massive turbografx deal or any kind of interesting retro console deal back in the day for dirt cheap you better believe that one guy would take it all. the other few collectors would be left empty handed. I think the difference is that for example copies of mario world and contra III not to mention a ton of common uncommon games including hidden gems would most likely be leftovers wich is pretty decent if it where in this day and age for the people who came in late. or obviously spots in wich you where the only collector.

[marvelvscapcom2]

I fell off a bit with retro games but have gone way up in my modern game collection.  I love buying modern games.  I just play them more at this point.   But I'd say collecting games is still fun.  Collecting anything is fun if you like it.  I do think a lot of the bandwagon collectors that surged around 2012-2016 have fallen off luckily,  prices are climbing steadily on SNES and Gamecube but PS2 has been a sinking rock.   Maybe within 5 years or so prices will go down to about where they should be so we can collect what we love without scalpers getting involved


I'm on Amiibo collector pages and Wii U and Switch collector pages.  Nintendo has sure kept the spirit of collecting alive this gen.  Everyone is collecting those beautiful red spines and some are so hard to get.  I think it'll survive off of their branding. 


Xbox and PS4,  especially Xbox,  they both see the future.  Both intend on going digital only soon.  I sense it.  If not this upcoming gen then the one after that.   It will certainly be an option to have discless consoles.  And I don't neither care as much as Nintendo about collectors.  PS4 pushes the limited run games and the VR stuff, but I don't see them as desirable in 5 years.


I have fun collecting so many things, so i'm not the best to answer.  But yet, I do think collecting games is still fun.  Might actually be funner if the prices keep dropping.   I just wish SNES would do the same.

[lordsofskulls]

Hell yes, but my obession, i need to take chill pill, so i limit myself to maybe 3 times i am on buying spree.... Black Friday, around  Birthday, and sometime between holiday and my birthday.  =) Save little bit off to the side, than spend more and more.   Pickedup couple games recently, Greedfall, Code Vein (on pre-order), Surge 2,  and a bunch of Playstation 1 games that i was either missing cases, manuals, to complete my series. (finally got my hands on Suikoden 2, last game i was missing in my series)

My collection is slowly getting to point of catching up.  Almost have complete PS1 collection of all games i wanted as a kid/wish my single working mom could afford when i was little, and i just understood her situation and was happy with my copy of Legend of Dragoon, Final Fantasy Tactics, Warcraft 2,  and Final Fantasy 7/8/9 and played those games to death (my 5th grade to 9th grade childhood) .  (down to last 10 of needed for my collection).  Got couple games left in PS2/Gamecube/Xbox Era but not too many.   Finish up getting few last weird titles in DS age.  Almost done with my PS Vita Collection. 

I am hoping withint next 5 years, i be caught up to Playstation 4 era.  Were only things i have to collect my games for is PS4/Switch/PS5. 

I got to the point in my collection, were it used to be frustration how much stuff i am missing, to now getting strength from it, considering myself being lucky in finding alot of the games at prices i did find it at.  Happy knowing that they are in my possession to safely hold on to, and slowly going thru years of backlog, that probably take me to old age.

So no, collecting for me never stops being fun, but their comes responsibilities that require my attention first. I just hope that in future generation will have something similar for next generation of gamers to fill the void when some stuff becomes "digital" only.

[vivigamer]

I think so, I find myself still aiming for little sub catagories - currently it's 360 games which are backward compatible, ones that I care for anyways.

I also find that there are so many PS4 games coming out, at least one interesting title a month that I'l always excited for what the industry will bring.

As for Retro Collecting that has gotten much worse! Pawn Stores like Cash Converters see pre-PS4 games as Retro, so they own price hike them now, even PS3 titles which last year would usually be a generic £2.99.

I still check out my local Chairty Stores though, often stirking a <£3 deal on something. Last time I got a PS3 Slim for £30 & A DSiXL which I'm pretty pleased with.

[hoshichiri]

I see a lot of people equivalating “easy” with “fun”.  I never found collecting easy.  That’s why it’s fun.

There's a lot of truth here- it's not like 20 years ago where you could pop out to the secondhand sales any ol' weekend and have heaps of cheap treasure to pick from. The hunt is a lot more hunt-y these days... you have to hit the same shops repeatedly to score anything good, or scour the internet for deals on shopping sites, or just be willing to pay a marked-up price from the people doing those things. It's an effort!

Something I have noticed recently, that I kind of enjoy: even back in the easier days, one of the best things to do for collecting is tell everyone you're doing it- sometimes people just have stuff sitting around they'll give you if they know you'd want it. Some of my best 'scores' have been friends/family/co-workers cleaning out their old junk. Having picked up enough stuff to have a few spares from time to time, I find nowadays I am the source of the freebies! My brother-in-law was over & mentioned his only PS2 controller broke down. I turned around, opened a drawer, & threw one at him. He tried to protest, but I shut him down- I had 4 others, one never opened. I could spare a controller. That's happening more & more lately- or I find something at a too-good-to-pass-up price that I already have, & pass it on to someone I know who'd want it for cost/minimal profit. Or I find something rare a friend is looking for & pick it up for them. Honestly, it's fun! I'm the game fairy, spreading retro goodness to folks far & wide!

[oldgamerz]

I see a lot of people equivalating “easy” with “fun”.  I never found collecting easy.  That’s why it’s fun.

There's a lot of truth here- it's not like 20 years ago where you could pop out to the secondhand sales any ol' weekend and have heaps of cheap treasure to pick from. The hunt is a lot more hunt-y these days... you have to hit the same shops repeatedly to score anything good, or scour the internet for deals on shopping sites, or just be willing to pay a marked-up price from the people doing those things. It's an effort!

Something I have noticed recently, that I kind of enjoy: even back in the easier days, one of the best things to do for collecting is tell everyone you're doing it- sometimes people just have stuff sitting around they'll give you if they know you'd want it. Some of my best 'scores' have been friends/family/co-workers cleaning out their old junk. Having picked up enough stuff to have a few spares from time to time, I find nowadays I am the source of the freebies! My brother-in-law was over & mentioned his only PS2 controller broke down. I turned around, opened a drawer, & threw one at him. He tried to protest, but I shut him down- I had 4 others, one never opened. I could spare a controller. That's happening more & more lately- or I find something at a too-good-to-pass-up price that I already have, & pass it on to someone I know who'd want it for cost/minimal profit. Or I find something rare a friend is looking for & pick it up for them. Honestly, it's fun! I'm the game fairy, spreading retro goodness to folks far & wide!

thnakfully collecting around me is still easy,, my sister started to give her collection me and I offered to pay her for it $100 a month a total of $300 and she quickly moved and gave me every game and console she owned.

 I got 4 consoles Gamecube, games Wii games, PlayStation 2 games, and even Xbox360 games and a brand new Xbox 360 that was barly used at all in fact all the consoles I got from her were like new. and last year my sister bought me a brand new wired Xbox One controller for my birthday.

Another relative of mine games bought me a new copy of the original Halo Combat Evolved, and a 500gig Xbox 360 harddrive that only cost about $40 USD or $50 USD new.

Walmart is now selling PS1 classics and SEGA Genesis Mini in the store near me for $40 USD a piece

[Cartagia]

Oh man where can I get a $40 Genesis Mini? I’ll drive

[wartoy]

Definitely yes for me though it is harder to find reto games and yes it can get expensive.But if your very patient you can still find games for a reasonable price.Of course it might be easer for me to find stuff because I collect for alot of different systems so I'm betting it is easer for me than someone who is only hunting for one or two systems.also you can sometimes find imported games on the cheap too. When I cant find retro stuff to buy I'll buy a good used modern game for cheap.And their is nothing wrong with that.

[oldgamerz]

Oh man where can I get a $40 Genesis Mini? I’ll drive

(edit)
I may not have remembered correctly

Walmart near  me it was $40 from what I remember this was an in-store item at the time, I didn't pick one up because I need an HDMI to RCA converter, and I needed a new PS3 I found one at GameStop conveniently located just outside of Walmart parking zone.

 Taylor Trade Center is also a great place to go. they are a year round indoor flea market with tons of media and toy vendors last time I went. their Ecourse road located Taylor Michigan 1 or 2 miles from metro airport located in Romulus Michigan but the metro airport I don't think is on Ecorse Road. If you coming this way than use a google map.

I know you're probably only joking but near Detroit Michigan suburban mostly inside Taylor Michigan this area is a fantastic area for finding great deals on retro video games

Mostly everything game wise is in Taylor

1: Disc Replay
2: Taylor Trade Center
3: GameStop's
4: Walmart
5: Best Buy
6: Target
 
taylor trade center has at least 3 video game vendors sometimes more. there are only at their booths Friday Saturday and Sunday but even then sometimes there not in on those days either

this post was on 9-25-2019
If any of you plan on going here in the future make sure you call them first on the phone before comming because

[redblaze57]

I've stopped caring for Special Editions in general. Quite honestly most of it now just come off as bulk items (excluding soundtracks and some art books).

Spending my every weekend going around to garage sales and the flea market has also lost its appeal.

However my interest is still there its just different now. Now if I do it feels more genuine and it's 80% from my LGS. Probably because I'm nore there to play MTG and just browse what games they have in stock between rounds so it feels less impulsive and feel a lot less that i must grab a game.

Then again, it is very possible I just replaced one addiction with another considering my modern Spirits deck is valued around *prepares butthole* $626.10 and i still have anoter $50 worth of cards to put in for "optimization"
Boy I'm glad i bought most of it when certain cards were cheap and either opened up or traded for the most expensive cards in the deck