Do you buy games to play or put on your shelf?

[seether]

?

[tripredacus]

Both.

[kashell]

Play.

[henrik85]

If I'm not going to play it, then there's no reason for me to have it. If a game remains sitting on the shelf for too long with no desire to play it anymore, I usually sell it.

[98dgreen]

Both.

[seether]

Both.

I don't believe you played that copy of PGA Tour Golf on Genesis.

[burningdoom]

Play, of course. But I'd be lying if I said I've never admired my collection before.

[tripredacus]

Both.

I don't believe you played that copy of PGA Tour Golf on Genesis.

You're right. I played the other one I own. :p

[rayne315]

I would like to say PLAY but realistically I add more to my collection every month than I would realistically be able to play in that same time period. if I were a kid again though you bet your ass id be playing them all. I used to live 2 blocks from a block buster and would constantly walk down to rent a new game almost every other day. back when I could actually put 6+ hours in a day gaming. now im lucky to get 1-2 hours a day. the only times this is not true is when I preorder games I will always clear a few days of all responsibilities (besides work) and play my new game for 5-6 hours a day. but I only actually pre-order around 6 games a year.

[Agozer]

I only buy games I intend to play and enjoy - even though there's the possibility that I never finish a game. To buy games just for the sake of collecting and displaying is worthless in my eyes.

[bikingjahuty]

I've always bought with the intention of playing my games...eventually.

In recent years I've deliberately bought games that I plan on playing soon, as in the next couple months after purchasing them. This mostly pertains to newer games, but in some cases retro games too. There are the occasional great deal I find on a game that I want, but don't have any immediate desire to play so those ones will get shelved until probably a much later date. I've never collected or bought games however for the soul purpose of filling out media shelves so I can salivate over how good they look on them.

[kamikazekeeg]

Bit of both.  There's stuff I get just to have, like the big box PC games, because the packaging is really cool, even if I'm not gonna be able to play them.

[Flashback2012]

Definitely more of a collector than a gamer but Dragon Force, Age of Mythology, and WoW/EQ were rabbit holes that took a DAMN long time to crawl out of.

[totallycrushed]

.

[aliensstudios]

Used to be both, but every game I've purchased this year has been played which is how I'm going to collect moving forward.

I get where this question is coming from but why does everyone shit on gamers who do buy games just to admire them on a shelf? If you collect stamps or coins you don't use those, or if you buy a 20k piece of art and hang it on the wall you aren't really "using" it either. To me, actually using the game is a perk of owning something special.

Society has taught us that people buying a car which depreciates in value the moment they drive it away from a lot and then owe money on it for five years is normal, but a person who collects video games and keeps them sealed is some sort of weirdo.

I know gaming isn't an investment, but there are much more foolish things to spend money on honestly. I know people who blow through money on alcohol, weed, restaurants, TV cable bills and car payments and think it's justified but raise eyebrows and think people who buy games to keep them sealed are idiots.