Going For Quantity Or Quality In Games

[undertakerprime]

Definitely quality. I have no interest in (or room for) a crapload of $1 Madden games I’ll never play anyway, or other garbage just to pad my collection numbers.

[theflea]

While I'd have to put myself in the quantity category. I usually only spend higher prices on quality games. I personally don't like many sport games and only buy them at garage sale prices or when I'm ready to complete a systems library. But I also love just buying a game I have no idea if I'll like it and discovering the game for the first time like when most of us when we where kids. I'll see a game (old or new) and buy it just because I liked the cover art or liked the style of game it is. Which is why I'm really getting into imports, so much stuff I never knew existed. Some games I know I'll never play but buy them for the story behind them or the shock value.

I'm telling you all right now a large game collection is not for everyone. If you have limited space and it looks like clutter then a collection then you need to limit your collection to what you love to play. If you walked into my house you would never know there was a giant game collection downstairs. Many people I've had over had no idea unless I told them.
 
When new collectors want to have a collection like mine and ask where to start, I say just collect what you like.

[droaa]

While I'd have to put myself in the quantity category. I usually only spend higher prices on quality games. I personally don't like many sport games and only buy them at garage sale prices or when I'm ready to complete a systems library. But I also love just buying a game I have no idea if I'll like it and discovering the game for the first time like when most of us when we where kids. I'll see a game (old or new) and buy it just because I liked the cover art or liked the style of game it is. Which is why I'm really getting into imports, so much stuff I never knew existed. Some games I know I'll never play but buy them for the story behind them or the shock value.

I'm telling you all right now a large game collection is not for everyone. If you have limited space and it looks like clutter then a collection then you need to limit your collection to what you love to play. If you walked into my house you would never know there was a giant game collection downstairs. Many people I've had over had no idea unless I told them.
 
When new collectors want to have a collection like mine and ask where to start, I say just collect what you like.

This in particular resonated with me as the last few days I have been considering downsizing my collection because I dont have the room that I would like for what I have. I dont own nor have my own place to allow anything of such high magnitude. In a case like this, I would rather have less and for those games I dont want I would rather sell it off, give a good home for someone who can really appreciate it. The clutter is getting me is what I have been feeling over the past week to put it simply.

[NickAwesome]

For some systems I got for quantity- PS1, DC, Saturn, Jaguar, 3DO- One day I want full cib NA sets of all these consoles.  Why? because it's fun.

But otherwise I just collect for quality for other systems.  Don't need every game ever- I can't turn into John Hancock. 

[ignition365]

Both.

You didn't specify good/high quality.  I do specifically aim for high and low quality games.  There is a certain entertainment factor to playing absolutely atrocious games.

[dashv]

Personal choice of course.

But for me, quality in the console space. Quantity in the arcade and pinball space.

Games are meant to be played.

In that vein and in both cases I focus first and foremost on games I hope to someday pull out of the backlog and give a try.

That said, as I’ve built my arcade, it really takes up a lot of space so I have had to think very carefully about how I fill it. I want more pins and cabs than I can physically fit.

Pins and cabs can also be ridiculously expensive and/or a lot of work to restore.

So I kind of cheat.

I have a VPin (pinball cab with a PC and Visual pinmame). While NOT the same thing as my physical tables, it allows me to have more tables than my house could ever hold and scratches the itch for tables I’m not committed to, just want to try, or can’t find/fit. I can also play some great tables that may never exist in real life... including a table design of my own that I am fiddling around with off and on.

For most of my arcade cabs, I bought cabs that have common control panel layouts (a gun cab, a 4p 2 button cab, a dual stick cab, a racing cab, a Sega Mega Play, and a Play Choice 10.

Then I worked with a guy that does high end custom jamma switchers and put as many boards in those cabs as could reasonably be supported. Even my Punch Out!! Cab is multi jamma switchable to Super Punch Out!!.

Effectively making the arcade much more populated than it appears.

I know I could technically get away with just the vpin and a mame cab.

But I like the feeling of a fully populated arcade with all my favorite games and life’s too short to settle for less than what you really want (in general, not just gaming).

Ones that have a special significance in my life got dedicated cabs/tables. Ones I enjoy but don’t really have a good personal story to go with them got slotted into an existing cab.

[oldgamerz]

Looking at my what I have I realize I collet for quantity and quality at the same time, Every single game I have means something to me, My collecting strategy is to pick up low priced games for consoles I have. and I think I'll enjoy first, than spend the often more expensive games, I personally think it is a good strategy, because prices can go both up and down at random both online and in an actual stores.

Going for more games for less, does have it sacrifices for example. I'll miss out on all SEGA  Saturn and Sega Dreamcast games. Since those games don't come in compilations and they a lot of them cost as much as an entire console does. I will not pick up a game that I will not enjoy at some point.

I am glad to have a game like Earthbound on my SNES/classic mini which came with a lot of other good games that often run $20 a piece or more. all for $65 like new. I see no point in getting an Earthbound cartridge Or Panzer Dragoon Sega

[mrkonasoni]

I am open to buy and play everything except most licensed games and sports while the price is cheap.

I consider 5$ games like a combo from McDonald.
It's cheap, it works and it last like 20 minutes.

So a cheap game is at least a fun entertaining or burn timer.

[smudgy]

Quantity only for systems I'm the most passionate about (PS2, PS1, Wii). For everything else only things I'll want to play (good or bad) or any other valuable finds in the wild.

[Warmsignal]

Depending on what your standard of quality is, it can be possible to have both.

I've never wanted to focus on only just the games that everyone hypes up as the best. There's a built-in bias with video games where it just so happens that everyone's favorite games were the ones with the biggest marketing behind them when they came out. Are we to believe that only the games with the biggest budgets and the most hype are actually worth playing? I don't think so. Some of the most fun I've had has been playing games no one else seems to care about. Games by small studios, with small budgets, and no marketing. That doesn't automatically make them filler titles.

One of the first games I ever played as a kid was Boulder Dash on the NES. You know, that legendary must-have game that all the magazines of the day adored... What, no one remembers that one? Still it was a good game, and I'm happy to have it in the collection.

[jipsy]

Honestly I have enough games that it would impress most non collectors which is what I was going for before, now I'm pretty much just getting games that I want or games that other people tell me they like, I want people to be able to walk up to my shelf and pull their favorite game off no matter what it is.