Consoles you had the most and least fun collecting for?

[bikingjahuty]

This topic got brought up on a Facebook gaming group I belong to so I figured why not lighten things up here with the topic too. Here are mine.


Most fun: PS2

I got into PS2 collecting at the perfect time. It was in the late 2000s so the PS3 was in full swing as the Playstation console of choice and most people were practically giving their PS2 games away. Also keep in mind that video game collecting was very, very niche in the late 2000s so there was nearly no competition for it at the time. As a result I regularly picked up really hard to find and now very expensive PS2 games for less than $10 each regularly. There wqs one store in particular I picked up the bulk of my PS2 games and they had them at $3 a game regardless of the title. I grabbed games like Haunting Grounds, Gitaroo man, Kuon, God Hand, DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 3, and many other heavy hitters for a few bucks each, and some games I found multiple copies at these ultra low prices. It was an absolute goldmine when I was heavily collecting PS2, and there were probably only about 30 or so games that I had to spend more than $10 to obtain. I miss when it was that easy and cheap. PS2 collecting also really fueled my overall collectorism back in the day too.


Least Fun: Sega Saturn

I've never found Sega Saturn collecting to be enjoyable despite loving the console. Funny enough it was the first console I started collecting for back in 2008 and even back then no one had the games and if they did it was mostly the stuff that everyone had in their collections like Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA, and Virtua Cop. Don't get me wrong, I adore those games, but it was nearly impossible to find a decent selection of Saturn games at any store, and even back in the late 2000s games lie Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, and House of the Dead were still pretty expensive. I started accumulating games off ebay using money from my minimum wage job and some leftover scholarship money and would pick a game up every other month or so. I eventually had to sell my initial Saturn collection, but a few years later I decided to collect Japanese Saturn only due to it being substantially cheaper online. The only problem still were those pesky RPGs that I'd have to get in English due to not being fluent in Japanese. A few years ago I essentially said screw it and started collecting US Saturn again, and holy god, it's even more miserable now. I spent the most I'd ever spent on a game ever with Panzer Dragoon Saga only to find it's only a slightly above average JRPG for the time. But since getting back into Saturn collecting a few years ago my collection has grown at a sloth's pace to the point of more or less stopping. Due to the US dollar being worth less than the paper it's printed on now and the government's gross mismanagement of our economy, pretty much everything, including Saturn games have mooned. I highly doubt I'll be adding more than a single game or two to my Saturn collection every year or two from here on, unless of course something dramatically changes. But yeah, Saturn collecting has sucked ass ever since I began collecting and I hate doing it despite loving the console and its library.

[soera]

Most fun - PS4. Simply put ... such a wide variety of everything available on this console. And adding in all the LE consoles and controllers and its such an amazing set up.

Least fun - NES. I know Im in the minority here but the games are hardly enjoyable anymore. Plus a good 50% of them costing way more than they should made it more stressful than it really should be.

[ignition365]

Least fun - NES. I know Im in the minority here but the games are hardly enjoyable anymore. Plus a good 50% of them costing way more than they should made it more stressful than it really should be.

I'll think on my response, but I agree with this.  NES might have some interesting games, but I just can't get into it enough to justify going any further than I already have... and I don't even have "good" games.

That said.

Most fun - PS2.  It was just a perfect storm to be quite honest.  Development was pretty easy so it allowed for tons of releases due to stuff like unreal engine, havok engine, etc.  This was the start of universal engines that could ease porting.  We didn't have digital marketplaces for games to get buried and forgotten in yet.  DVD cases made it so much easier to keep things complete compared to jewel cases, cardboard boxes, etc.  PS1 had a lot of good titles too, but the jewel cases made the process a little harder collecting wise, and a lot of the games were already rare to start with whereas PS2 didn't get too bad until recent (possibly covid times).

Least fun - Honestly, anything Nintendo, but especially NES.  Everything Nintendo is always wack in the secondary market, and NES just is a pretty boring platform for me.  That said, I'll also put something about PS4/NS.  The advent of limited print releases has made collecting for PS4/NS kind of just absolute shit because buy at 2-10x MSRP to get it physical or pay 6-30x MSRP down the line from a scalper on the secondary market... plus FOMO driving sales... plus retailers following suit limiting printings and making things even at retail a thing that you gotta buy near release or be boned... plus the downfall of Gamestop in general means finding games second hand for either platform is hard to do as well.  PS5/XSX is gonna be worse when you consider the rise of limited printing, the fall of retail, and the push for digital.  PS4/NS already has LRG holding the majority of physical release on platforms, it's gonna be worse for PS5.

[wartoy]

Most fun

Super Nintendo is the most fun for me. I know about every game released for the system but often never have actually seen many of them. So for me it's exciting to finally find one.

Neo Geo

I guess the Neo Geo would be the least fun first thing I never find any,then if you actually do it's expensive as hell so it impossible to scratch more than one at a time off your collection wish list.

[burningdoom]

Most fun for me:

NES
It's what I grew up on and fell in love with gaming on. It's hard to come across games I want that I don't already have anymore, though.

Least fun for me:
I've got two answers for this: First of all the Atari 2600. I just can't get into it. I respect it's history in video games and love the story behind Atari the company. But I just can't get into the console. It's games are too basic for me.

And my 2nd answer is because the spike in video game prices. Sega Saturn. It was already expensive to collect for, but manageable for a certain tier of games. But now, it's just crazy. The Sega Saturn has crossed the line into rich collector's territory. And this is a recent thing. I wish I had never sold my original collection when my first Saturn died. Because all I have are 2 games, right now.

[mrkonasoni]

》》》Most fun.

PS2, Wii and Xbox One because most interesting games are pretty cheap, that's something I am thankful for.

》》》Less fun

GBA.
Not a big fan for buying such small cartridges without box and most interesting game with box are way too expensive, nowadays, still I consider this is a problem with other cartridges based consoles.

[starbronze21]

Most Fun: PS1
I am a big fan of GRIMEY early 3D games and there are some pretty interesting games on the console. Lots of great RPGs, lots of weird little walking simulators, PAC Man World. It’s all so cool! There are tons of PS1 games laying around just waiting to be played!

Least Fun: American Sega Saturn
American Sega Saturn games are so rare that it’s impossible to find them in the wild and anything that’s fun to play costs so much that it makes me sad. In Japan, it’s really fun to hunt down Saturn games because the console didn’t fall over and die over there. You can almost find games buried in the dirt. In America, I only see five Saturn games a year. Four of them are NHL All Star Hockey, and the last one costs $600. Plus the boxes are so fragile that looking at them funny will break them and you can’t just get another longbox case. It’s a shame because I DO love the Saturn, it’s such a dud that I can’t help but love it. I just don’t have the heart to collect for it seriously.

[koemo1]

Most fun
Playstation 2 and CD-i
Affordable games in any genre and both consoles consists of a partially very obscure library of games. Being on the hunt for games that nobody on this site owns and then putting them in the database myself is very rewarding.

Least fun
Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Genesis. I have never found one of these games in the wild. In stores they are wayy too expensive and I never really have a chance to experience any of the games.

[kashell]

Most fun: PlayStation 2.

Least fun: Nintendo DS.

[sworddude]

Most fun:

Tie between GBA and ps1. while definitely more popular nowadays usually the consoles that where less looked for and thus deals where fairly easy to come by. had a blast collecting for these consoles and coming across stuff that I've never heard off.

Honorable mentions to ps2, ds and sega genesis/megadrive


Least fun:

While I could say neo geo or turbografx because they barely exist or atari 2600 since I don't have an interest in it. I'm just going to put a console here that I actually collect for.

It's got to be the NES. Unlike the states nes supply is allot worse in europe let alone that the boxes are quite fragile compared to the cardboard released nintendo games that came after it. CIB supply in nice condition is trash. Fun console but in my experience the worst console to collect for cib. The prices are not even the highest far worse consoles to collect for like snes saturn etc but it's tough to find nes deals not to many deals out there for this console compared to way more pricy consoles ironicly.

Nes ain't my favourite console though so I guess that's a blessing in disguise that more pricy (more fun) consoles to collect for have more plentyfull supply in wich I did come across the good stuff way more often. It makes no sense but I'm definitely okay with that.

I'm putting in N64 as the 2nd worst console to collect for, not allot of suprises left, also pretty tough to find cib deals for because it's mostly pretty popular stuff.

Still really pleased what i did manage to get with these 2 consoles but It's definitely quite a bit more challenging compared to the rest.

[aliensstudios]

It's hard to say. I think overall, Nintendo stuff is the least fun to collect because everybody's pretty much looking for the same thing. I can't even imagine trying to buy the desirable GameCube games now. NES and SNES are ridiculous now too, but overall, I do like how several games are available as imports for much cheaper prices. That's how I was able to get and play games like DuckTales 2, Bucky O'Hare, Bonk, Mega Man 7 and Demon's Crest for much much less than their North American counterparts. I used to think the Genesis was great to collect for, but the better games are prohibitively expensive and unlike the Nintendo systems, Japanese imports are very hard to come by. I still like collecting for the Saturn because the Japanese library is still mostly affordable. The Nintendo Switch also sucks to collect for, very few exclusive titles and tons of limited and special editions, most of them overpriced as balls.

Lately, I've enjoyed collecting for the Intellivision, Atari 2600, the OG Xbox and PC Engine. The Atari and Intellivision have lots of great little games that next to nobody knows about; I couldn't believe how advanced Pitfall II, Pengo and Double Dragon are on the 2600. I hadn't really been using my Xbox because it barely works at all, but I got a copy of OutRun 2 and it was amazingly fun, but it kept freezing, so I took the time to open the thing up, deep clean it, replace the disc drive and the clock capacitor and now it's running like new more or less. Some of the higher HD resolution games on the OG Xbox look simply stunning, better than stuff we're seeing on the Switch nowadays even. The PC Engine has a lot of great games too. If you're willing to learn how to use Japanese auction sites, you can get much better deals than eBay.

Overall, my collecting has slowed way way down in the past year though since I got my house. I've gotten rid of probably 60 games or so, and now I only buy what I intend to play. I used to buy whatever I could find, thinking having higher numbers is better than having a more curated collection, that's why at one point I had like 110 PS2 games, and most of them were cruddy sports and licensed games.

Overall my current thoughts:
Most fun: OG Xbox, Atari 2600, Intellivision and PC Engine
Least fun: Switch, North American NES and SNES, and Sega Genesis

[bikingjahuty]

Overall my current thoughts:
Most fun: OG Xbox, Atari 2600, Intellivision and PC Engine
Least fun: Switch, North American NES and SNES, and Sega Genesis

OG XBOX was definitely the easiest console I've ever collected for, which in a way made it fun. I was collecting heavily for it around the same time I was really into PS2 collecting and it was also the first game collection where I obtained everything I wanted for it. And that was like 8 years ago now lol. Even games like Operation Genesis and the Otogi games were not difficult to find for way under ebay prices. In fact, I specifically remember picking up Operation Genesis at a used media store for $3, CIB. Original XBOX is still fairly easy to collect for surprisingly given how many great games are on the console.

[bikingjahuty]

Most fun - PS4. Simply put ... such a wide variety of everything available on this console. And adding in all the LE consoles and controllers and its such an amazing set up.

Least fun - NES. I know Im in the minority here but the games are hardly enjoyable anymore. Plus a good 50% of them costing way more than they should made it more stressful than it really should be.

I can definitely relate to both your picks. NES was big when I was born, but by the time I got into gaming as a young kid, the 16-bit wars had already started. A neighbor of mine had the NES, and I thought it was cool, but having a Genesis I was hardly impressed by many of the games outside maybe Super Mario Bros 3. When I began collecting for the NES it was just starting to get popular so you could still find some pretty hard to find games for cheap. I never found anything like Samson or Flintstones 2, but did find a few heavy hitters when I was actively collecting for it. I realized I wasn't as interested in the NES as I thought by the time I had around 100 games for it and sold most of my NES collection off. My nES collection has grown since then, but mostly as a result of circumstance rather than me actively seeking out certain NES games like I used to. It's just a console that was unfortunately just slightly before my time in terms of catching my interest.


I LOVE the PS4 and its libraries. I already have a pretty sizable PS4 collection, but I cannot wait until it's no longer desirable and the games dramatically drop in price similar to where the 360 is, and where the Wii and PS4 were a couple years ago. I can easily see the PS4 becoming my largest collection eventually. I've been actually meaning to create a list of PS4 games I still want to find, but with the console still getting regular releases I've decided to hold off until few games are still coming out for it. Hopefully the PS5 stock issue will get resolved soon and devs can start shifting their attention to it fully. But yeah, in 3 or 4 years I fully expect the PS4 to be prime collecting territory for me.

[aliensstudios]

OG XBOX was definitely the easiest console I've ever collected for, which in a way made it fun. I was collecting heavily for it around the same time I was really into PS2 collecting and it was also the first game collection where I obtained everything I wanted for it. And that was like 8 years ago now lol. Even games like Operation Genesis and the Otogi games were not difficult to find for way under ebay prices. In fact, I specifically remember picking up Operation Genesis at a used media store for $3, CIB. Original XBOX is still fairly easy to collect for surprisingly given how many great games are on the console.

Yeah, there's a few titles still want that are around the ~60 dollar range, but that's peanuts compared to what people are paying for extremely common games like Mario Sunshine and Smash Bros. Melee. I think from now on, I'll exclusively buying multiplat games for the Xbox as they usually run better and they look great on our modern TV screens.

[sworddude]

og xbox was definitely the easiest console to collect for, got to agree with that.

I'm pretty sure I got almost my entire collection in just a few months with not much left to do after it. indeed pretty easy to find the good stuff and even rarities like stubbs zombie for flea market prices.

I don't believe og xbox is as easy to collect for as some years ago, but it's probably still the easiest console to collect for by far. unless ofcourse ps3 and xbox 360 are considered retro than it gets allot closer.

I personally don't rate it super high in terms of fun collecting wise simply because I don't think the library is all that great compared to many other consoles. so while it's easy to collect for I've way less excitement for collecting for xbox. Fun console regardless though definitely one of the few retro consoles that is beginner friendly to collect for.