Just to respond to some of the feelings elicited by these posts, collecting and gaming should go hand-in-hand, collecting just to have things simply takes the joy out of it, or leaves you feeling empty or wasteful. For me, every game has a story, or a feeling, or historical significance. I am attached to much of it for sentimental reasons, however, I won't let it rule my life, or take away from other things I enjoy, or that are a part of who I am.
one of my biggest mistakes was collecting without playing i think. i mean, i do like buying things, i like having the collection, it is super neat, but what isn't is staring down 100 games like... what to play...? i think for me that was the moment i realised that i should wrap up the collecting side for a bit, on top of being like 'what to play next?' but honestly not ready to move on from the game i just beat, as well. partially too it is that i like huge sprawling JRPGs and i enjoy the grind in them, but i also work a job, and i draw for about 20 hours a week and have since aug 2017, except last june, where i also spent the month on the platinum trophy in
atelier sophie, vs 2 months for
firis's platinum after that. my days off work, though, i split between drawing and gaming, it's p hard to juggle tbh.
Because of the time and energy this hobby can take, I find myself making time for gaming or collecting often at the expense of sleep, so it doesn't take time away from other things. This gets difficult as you get older, or work crazy hours, crazy jobs, on-call, etc. It can be quite hard to regulate your routines, but I realize collecting has become as habitual of a routine, as anything. I'm like a robot sometimes. Anyhow, it might not be for everyone. In my field of work people are very prone to burnout and injury. Sometimes I just want to relax, and gaming should provide that, but collecting can take away from it.
collecting is also habitual for me, sometimes this is fine, like finding cheap games at a secondhand store that maybe i don't have a lot of interest in except rarely... but it's less than a pack of cigs for
gran turismo 3 or
formula one 2001 and they're cib and in good condition, so like... why not? it's blowout sales where i end up like, is this hobby good for me? spending $150 for a pile of games i won't play for a long time, which all boast dozens or hundreds of hours of gameplay, like, y'know, is this relaxing, or am i just an addict of some kind? but that's a pretty recent 'bad feeling' vibe for me, which is why my post in particular comes off rather gloomy in tone.
my post was gloomy as hell in tone but i am actually very glad to be hitting this point of feeling like i have plenty and considering slowing down and maybe stopping with this generation, i'm glad to be learning how i like to interact with games as an adult because i didn't have that for years, i'm glad to be wondering about the affects of collecting on me so i can do something about it if i feel it has become a problem, and how to manage it in a way that feels more like 'fuck yea, i got
phantom dust cib for $5, and it seems like a neat game' and less like 'did i really just blow $150 on b2g1 games i wouldn't have much interest in normally?'. honestly, just typing this out (and erasing and retyping a lot...) has made me realise a few things already, so thanks for this post.
i know it was not aimed at me in particular, but thanks.
My games room reno. has been going on for 3-4 years, juggling it with many other demands. It seems like a pipedream or some sort of midlife quest to complete my mancave on a timeline, while I am still young and energetic enough to enjoy it. Is it vanity, or manifest destiny? Having these goals does push me, but sometimes I truly wonder if the time and effort is worth it. Hopefully after the time I put it, the effort is realized by sharing my passion with friends and family, on the site I'm putting together and eventually, through youtube or social media.
i don't think people ever get too old not to enjoy a comfy space dedicated to enjoying the things they like, i wouldn't worry about the age thing. lemme tell you, i talk to a lot of old truckers, cause i work at a warehouse that deals with live loading docks and flatbeds, a lot of these old truckers will be shoulder to shoulder throwing freight with you cause they're paid by distance, not time. but they only go home like once or twice a month, so they're chatty, they haven't talked to someone for an hour in days. it's easy to get them talking, and a lot of them do have dedicated space for their interests at home for their days off. you drive for a living, so most of these folks admit that their at-home days, they don't leave. but they're long-haul, so they have to have hobbies, part of the job is learning to enjoy spending time by yourself. so they set up the cinema experience in their living room, or they set up a music room to make a recording studio a touch envious. i'm sure in the next 10-15 years, a fair number of them will have mancaves and a killer set up for retro games as the 50+ truckers retire and the current 25-35 crowd has taken the reigns on the career.
i don't think gaming is a hobby that is limited by age, either, tbh. it's not like stock car racing or a highly physical pursuit where eventually your body just can't keep up. oh, for sure as we get really old, our reaction speed and shit decrease, so competitive gaming becomes harder*, but there's a ton of games and what you find fun can shift to be less reliant on those skills anyway, and your collection seems very accommodating to any shifts along the way so... i mean, i guess my point is, the only 'waste' of time and effort is if you hate the process, because if listening to truckers about their hobbies has taught me anything, it's that the process never really ends... every cinema set up over 10 years is great except for... every music room is great if it wasn't for that one... y'know, we're our worst critics when it comes to these things we care about.
*tbf too experience can make up for a lot of reaction speed and whatever, otherwise teen kids would dominate competitive gaming leagues but in reality, currently, it's closer to 30 yr olds dominating the field... slower reaction times, maybe, but experience allows for outwitting or outsmarting the young'uns. and i am pretty sure reaction speed is something you can prevent significant loss of by exercising it frequently... brain is like a muscle, you use it or lose it, so 'becoming harder' isn't 'impossible' and as the age of gamers goes up, i am sure leagues will have age categories to accommodate if it does seem to be a significant hindrance. i wouldn't worry about losing your preferred way to play, if competitive is it, tbh.
