General and Gaming => General => Topic started by: scott on March 23, 2011, 01:13:54 pm
Title: Why do you collect?
Post by: scott on March 23, 2011, 01:13:54 pm
I'm sure all of us have our reasons for building collections we have. Be it nostalgia, value or challenge. Why do you collect the games & systems you do?
(I'll post mine later today)
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: matt on March 23, 2011, 01:18:10 pm
Nostalgia.
I was a child of the 80s and have amazing memories of the early Nintendo and Sega days. Those were the best times.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: scott on March 23, 2011, 06:20:31 pm
I traveled all over the States while I was growing up. With me for most of those road trips has been a Game Boy. That system is a big part of my childhood, possibly more than my NES was. Countless hours were spent playing Zelda, Super Mario Land, Metroid II, TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan during those vacations. Even though we needed to have enough batteries to handle the Game Boy and my Light Boy for the entire trip.
Ha, While I bring my DS with me on trips now, I still rock my Game Boy Light and Game Boy Color in the travel bag, it along with a decent selection of games from my collection.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: monochrome on March 23, 2011, 08:03:41 pm
Most of the games I want now are ones I either used to own or rented back in the day. So, nostalgia for me too.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: tpugmire on March 24, 2011, 10:16:27 am
I still have all my games from when I was a kid except my 2600 and games. I often wonder where it ended up. Anyway, a few years ago when the Wii was really hard to find, my sister in law got one from her work and didn't want it so she gave it to us. It brought back so many memories, my last system i owned was a SNES, so I was out of the loop for a while. I gradually got more into gaming, and made up for lost time by buying the consoles I missed out on. So I guess you could say I'm an old school gamer, but a newer collector.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: jobocan on March 24, 2011, 11:12:57 am
Well, I can't think of anything more fun to collect than video games. Not only do you get a bunch of items to show off, but each of them houses a different experience, and any of them can be fun, even if just for a minute or 2 if you have some time to waste. Almost any game can have some entertainment value (just setup a small Shaq Fu tournament with friends, you'll see what I mean :P), so no game is ever truly worthless (other than Heavy Rain, but that's a topic for another day). Collecting something like stamps or rocks or whatever other people collect will never be this fun... I think.
So yeah, I collect because it's fun. Heck, I wasn't even aware I was collecting until, suddenly, I woke up and realized I had over 100 NES games in my room (probably some time early last year, or the year before). I just started this "collecting" thing about 3 years ago when I wanted to pick up just a few NES/SNES/Genesis games I had missed out on or that I rented as a kid and wanted to have myself, and it snowballed to what I have now... and I don't regret it. I guess nostlagia has a small part to play here too.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: possebon on April 08, 2011, 06:30:44 pm
Mostly to play the games I missed as a kid, I remember being a bit of an J-RPG geek as a kid but never really having any money to buy anything myself - mostly I'd just get whatever FF title was out that year and that would be it, as FIFA would also be a definite purchase.
And every time I buy a new one I get so much closer to a bigger collection, that it would be silly to stop collecting and being so close to having a *real* collection.
Plus, it looks good on my shelves =)
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: soitsgh3 on April 09, 2011, 03:04:50 am
I started playing video games when I was 4, and I simply loved every minute of it. Every hour of mario bros on the nes and beating pokemon yellow over 25 times and memorizing every detail of the game. Now that im older, I enjoy the history of video games and I started collecting 2 years ago and would spend sleepless nights just reading about console after console trying to learn and understand what that console did to help future consoles succeed and of course those that dont succeed but have great ideas like the hyperscan. Great idea for marketing but it never took off and was simply horrible.
So to sum it all up, I collect to gain knowledge and enjoy the wonders of technology.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: scott on April 26, 2011, 03:07:28 pm
bump
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: mariokarter on May 25, 2011, 02:52:25 am
I collect games because I like to be able to play them anytime. Recently I have gotten quite interested in the history of video gaming. Whenever I read about a game that was groundbreaking or great or horrible, I love being able to go and take it off the shelf and play it. I think of my game collection as more of a library than anything. I loved collecting sports cards as a kid, and now for whatever reason it makes me feel happy to look at a shelf full of video games. I love not only the nostalgia but video games as a form of media in general. But now I am starting to worry about space!
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: scott on May 25, 2011, 01:15:14 pm
@mariokarter oh ya, I've got the same issue with space. I just needed to trade out my original shelving with my dvd shelving thanks to the thickness of stupid Saturn cases, haha. Eventually, I may need to devise a better solution.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: coaxial on May 28, 2011, 02:00:34 pm
I don't buy often its a slow build but there are many reasons why I hold on to what I have from nostalgia to regret (after selling or getting rid of things like my Game Gear collection for $25). Just for example, one of my first computers was a Coleco ADAM. The printer quit printing and was eventually thrown away. One day I went to fire it up and found that was no longer possible because the power supply was housed inside the printer. Oops. Most of my lessons are learned the hard way.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: scott on May 28, 2011, 02:13:35 pm
@coaxial oh man I feel your pain on the Game Gear. I sold both my NES collection and my Saturn collections for super cheap. I still haven't rebuilt my original NES library yet. :(
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: amauriel on May 29, 2011, 12:13:11 am
I never sold any of my games back as a kid, I still have everything I owned (which is why you'll see games like Barbie for the NES in my collection) but my husband traded almost everything he owned to get an XBox when they first came out (before we were married, or I wouldn't have allowed it!) ...every time we go buying, we pick up games he used to have.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: scott on June 20, 2011, 10:03:45 pm
I never sold any of my games back as a kid, I still have everything I owned (which is why you'll see games like Barbie for the NES in my collection) but my husband traded almost everything he owned to get an XBox when they first came out (before we were married, or I wouldn't have allowed it!) ...every time we go buying, we pick up games he used to have.
I used to trade in games, until I realized how much money I was losing doing so. Also I sold off my original NES and Saturn collections for ridiculously cheap (stupid, stupid). I did sell off some games that I never played and reign in my PS2 collection to "favorite franchises" though and didn't regret it. But, now I don't sell or trade or sell anything... unless of course I build up some doubles in my Saturn hunt.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: urbanchaos on September 30, 2011, 06:34:28 pm
I think I collect for multiple reasons. One of them would be nostalgia. I grew up playing NES & SNES. I used to have a Genesis with a couple of games, but never really cared much for this one. I recently decided to get back to NES collecting when I found on kijiji a NES system with 2 controllers, 1 zapper, 1 RC adapter and the RF thing with four games for only 30$. That's what really started it again for me. Christ, it's only been 2 weeks that I've bought that NES, and I have up to 20 games now (including the original 4 ones).
The other reasons why I collect would certainly be for sentimental values. When I buy something like a game or a movie, it's because most of the time, I have a particular feeling or memory attached to the object in question. Be it a bad movie or a bad game, I simply want to own them because they bring back such good memories. As an exemple, I just recently bought on eBay for only 4$ The Simpson's: Bart Nightmares. It not a really good games, but I remember the fun I had playing it as a kid.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: madmax on September 30, 2011, 06:45:26 pm
I think for me it started with nostalgia and the want to play all the final fantasy games and then it just grew into an addiction.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: hexen on September 30, 2011, 07:27:14 pm
My general collection habit started with the first system I ever owned - the Intellivision. My dad had it from when from when it first came out, and while we waited to get an SNES we had it. I got a chance to experience old-style graphics and highly point based gameplay even though by the time I was able to play, it was the SNES/Genesis generation. Every now and then he'd bring home new games from the flea market, and me and my brother would play Frog Bog, Night Stalker and Astrosmash for hours. I got my SNES eventually (Which, to be fair, also contributed a large part to my urge to collect) but the Intellivision always fascinated me. From then on, older systems where always a mystery to me. For example I could never get much NES playtime due to my daycare's NES constantly blue screening and that has been a major contributer to my NES collecting.
Also, my family has always been one of collectors. My dad collected all sorts of things, we have a two-story garage packed to the brim with random stuff, but mainly he collected coke bottles, and had a room full of them equivalent to what I have to games today. I was always collecting something (Pogs, Beanie Babies, Pokemon Cards, etc.) but Video Games is the one I stuck with.
I also really love the functionality of a video game. It is more then it's physical appearance compared to most knick-knacks. For example I have Earthbound, which is (annoyingly) becoming a collectors item, but I bought it because it was Earthbound (luckily before it became as pricey as it is now.)
Anywho, that's perhaps a little too comprehensive, but there is my answer.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: empovyle on September 30, 2011, 07:45:12 pm
To be honest, I'm not sure. It all started with the original Spyro, and then Pokemon came along. I don't know if its nostalgia or what, because nostalgia is the only real game feeling I've ever had.
Even though the games aren't worth very much used, it just seems necessary to say they're worth something altogether & buy every single copy in the store (is that just me?).
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: kaizlu on October 01, 2011, 04:33:57 am
Some years ago I actually used to trade-in a lot. My excuse was "what matters is the experience, not the physical game". At some point I realized that some of the games I traded in were actually somewhat valuable or at some point I wanted just to have them or play them again.
I will never forget that I bought a black label Final Fantasy VII for 20 bucks (YES 20!) and in mint condition.....I traded the game for ... [can't remember]
So yeah, I decided that if I buy a game, I'll keep it no matter what. I don't want to experience another "WHY DID I SELL IT?" shock again.
And also all my physical games have a value that no digital game will ever have. It's been around 16 years since I got my first console/game (original Gameboy - it's damaged, but still works!) and I still love reading the manual, the box and admiring the game itself. Every time I get a new game I feel like a kid again. I wonder if buying digital will ever give me that feeling one day.
Other "WHY DID I SELL IT" items: - My Nintendo 64 + some games - Pokemon Yellow Version - Resident Evil 2 (N64) - Resident Evil 3, Code Veronica X (GC) - Baten Kaitos (GC) - Metroid Prime 2 (GC) - Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA)
(most of them are not really valuable in terms of money, it's mostly a personal value)
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: desocietas on October 05, 2011, 02:06:45 pm
Yeah, there's nothing worse than buying a game that you had already purchased ages ago. I've never traded in games, but have sold one or two off if it was something I was pretty confident I'd never play again (ex: Touch Detective after completing it fully).
I don't really collect in the sense of needing to have every game ever made. I just want to have a nice collection of "good" games and usually have a desire to go back and play something, even if just for a few minutes. Sometimes, it feels like re-reading a book that I never finished but finally want to know how it ends.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: pceslayer on October 05, 2011, 10:19:53 pm
I collect because I'm bat shit crazy... lol
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: jonathonstriker on October 23, 2011, 06:36:34 pm
Back in the day, it started out that I would collect RPGs because those were my "books" on my bookshelf. Now though, I have found games that I felt would later have nostalgic replay value, as well as games that may be a history lesson to my future gaming children. Many of my own friends don't even know that back in the day, there was no strafing in FPS. They would cry if they tried to play old-school Doom or Zero Tolerance. And I got games myself like Target Earth that the difficulty was like a joke and you only questioned how you were supposed to beat the game without cheat codes. I have learned some gaming history from my dad, and wish to pass it on to my children. If they can't play Robotron, they really shouldn't be playing a dual-stick game period.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: ffxik on December 06, 2011, 06:04:17 am
Why Do I collect. It's mainly for nostalgia. I grew up with the them, and have been very fond of video games all my life. However there were also alot of games and systems I never got a chance to have a go at. I realize that alot of the games I really want to play is available on XBL, PSN, or the Wii. For me though there is nothing that takes you back better than firing that original system up, grabbing a controller and just going nuts.
Another reason is that alot of my friends are of the newer gaming generation. They really have no concept of anything before the Xbox/PS2 time. So it's always a sight to see them gaze in wonder at it, and realize that great games have been around forever.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: desocietas on December 06, 2011, 05:14:37 pm
If they can't play Robotron, they really shouldn't be playing a dual-stick game period.
What about Katamari Damacy? Geometry Wars? :P
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: forte on December 06, 2011, 05:41:38 pm
When I was a kid, we didn't have much money, so when I was a kid I only had the pack in games for my consoles for the longest time (Mario/Duck Hunt, Super Mario All Stars + World, Tetris, etc) because game cartridges were like 70 bucks. Now that I have a high paying job, I can afford to get all the games I wanted when I was a kid and could never have. Mega Man was always my favorite series, which is why I collect those, but anything else I wanted is in play too.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: amauriel on December 07, 2011, 02:11:15 am
You know, you bring up a good point...I paid $50 for The Little Mermaid for the NES when I got it (first game I ever bought with my OWN MONEY!)
I complain when my husband wants to purchase a $60 game, in this day and age. We really do get a lot more game for our money now, for about the same price...and if you consider inflation over the last 20-25 years, really it's cheaper than what we paid back then. Hrmm.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: ffxik on December 07, 2011, 05:33:36 am
Think about it like this. Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger retail was $99.95 and $89.95 respectivly. So it's definatly cheaper now days. I still complain about the prices though.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: desocietas on December 07, 2011, 12:33:05 pm
It is funny though that some of the 3DS games that retailed for $40 have dropped to $8 at Best Buy... It's a tricky game to play with game pricing... Buy it now for full price? Wait for the price to drop or risk it going out of stock and shooting up in price on eBay?
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: amauriel on December 08, 2011, 01:14:38 am
If it's Atlus, I just go ahead and buy it. I've gotten burned too many times, trying to find them later, and those games never come down in price. (Exception: The Dark Spire. I wasn't sure I wanted it, got it for $10, whoo hoo.)
Indie/Small Developer games, I get from the get-go if I know I want them (Example: Bit-Trip Saga and Retro Game Challenge). I want to support the companies that are doing the things I want to see. If they're smaller companies, they rely on those first few days/weeks to know if they have a hit.
If it's a big release, I generally hold off, depending on the franchise (Layton/Zelda are Day 1 buys for me, but most of the others, not so much). There will always be another store that might have it in stock.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: bikingjahuty on May 24, 2015, 10:39:49 am
There are several reasons, but it boils down to my love of video games and nostalgia. I seem to get just as much enjoyment these days out of playing some of my games as I do just staring at them on my shelf or holding a specific game and enjoying the box art, instruction manual or whatever.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: fighterpilot562 on May 24, 2015, 10:50:51 am
Miss all my old systems, I foolishily sold off and wanted them all back. And I think it be cool to have a nice display off all my old games and systems. I dont wanna be 40 and be like, I miss N64 and they are impossible to find.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: maximo310 on May 24, 2015, 04:04:51 pm
For me, I've always enjoyed games and was bummed that I missed a ton of games from 6th gen since I didn't have many games as a kid. Over time, I read about other systems and decided to get games for those systems too and keep the enjoyable ones. I also like how they're fairly easy to display as well.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: Oheao on May 24, 2015, 07:11:35 pm
There have been games in the past that I either destroyed when I was young or gave away and regretted. Now I am afraid of getting rid of a game and regretting it, so I hoard all of the games that I have. As for why I continue to buy games, well, I love them!
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: burningdoom on May 24, 2015, 09:13:16 pm
Simple, because I want to play them. And just like my CD, DVD/VHS, and comic collections; I want to have a library of material to choose from at any time.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: stealthrush on May 24, 2015, 09:26:20 pm
To play them.
I consider myself a gamer rather than a collector. Since my primary focus is just to play games, buy games I love. Also have little interest in current, and next-generation games as well (although that is another subject). I've always leaned towards high quality original gameplay with colorful aesthetics primarily (imported) JPN titles. That has not changed. Focusing my interest, narrowing down to two consoles; PC-Engine and Sega Saturn.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: stethebubble on May 25, 2015, 01:43:26 am
To play
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: doafan on May 25, 2015, 12:46:02 pm
As most of all people I do have different reasons, the first one without a doubt I collect to remember all those joyful moments that spent in front of the TV playing like as if there were no tomorrow even when my parents get angry for it, they were the happiest days of my life even my mom did some times a big sacrifice to purchase me those games that I really wanted, used to go with my uncle to the arcades to play titles like Moon Patrol, Pitfall or even Pac-Man, as a teenager spent all my weekends playing at the arcades with my two best friends, entered a lot of tournaments at my city, always enjoyed to see the face of my rivals every damn time that I beated them, the emotion of playing a new game, to master it can be only compared to the day that my daughter was born and this is the second reason why I collect, to share with her all those fantastic moments that I lived before I pass away, am collecting not for me am collecting for her, trying to create a link where she can feel as I do how fantastic is to play, to enjoy those amazing stories, to feel like the character and became part of the game also that she can see even when am old that I don't feel it this way cause playing makes me feel young, have to stop writing cause there's a fucking ninja cutting onions at the office.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: topspot123 on May 25, 2015, 03:40:45 pm
Simple, because I want to play them. And just like my CD, DVD/VHS, and comic collections; I want to have a library of material to choose from at any time.
Ditto. I built my collection (and still do) from the games that I wanted to play. I just never got rid of any of them. I am into multiple consoles because of exclusives and now I am fully invested in being interested in the business as a whole and I like having a working knowledge of everything that is out there.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: abe on May 31, 2015, 01:22:00 pm
I like being able to have a large selection of games to play, and I find it really satisfying when I find a good deal or a game I've been trying to find for a long time. The reason I started was probably because I sold a few of my games once and regretted it, and decided I wouldn't sell any more of my games because I'd just end up wanting to play them again later.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: Veilor on May 31, 2015, 01:47:48 pm
Because I want to play them, I actually only buy games I want to play. Then the games go inte my collection because I don't want to sell any of them.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: thomascozine on May 31, 2015, 11:00:56 pm
I collect cause I'm a gamer. I love playing games. Good, bad, mediocre, whatever. I want have as many experiences as I can.
On top of that I have a big desire to play games I missed out on as a kid. For example I had never even heard of the TurboGrafx-16 growing up. And I wish I had. It's an awesome system.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: kamikazekeeg on May 31, 2015, 11:25:39 pm
Most of it is about getting the games I use to have, but got rid of them for whatever reason. I don't regularly play my retro stuff, but it also fuels my collecting habits I have, so if I'm collecting stuff that I want, it works out no problem! lol I like having shelves organized with cool old games. I don't particularly collect games I'm not interested in, though I do want to get a full N64 collection some day since it's a fairly realistic collection to have.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: wvdoom on May 31, 2015, 11:49:33 pm
nostalgia, love of video games, and a quick fix for my OCD
i then trick myself into thinking it's all for posterity, and so my kids have something rad to do when i eventually have 'em lol
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: woahsweetgreyphix on June 01, 2015, 09:54:58 pm
I collect because for me, video games are such an interesting blend of technology, music, story, artistry (or not ;) ) in an interactive package. It's unfortunate that video games are probably one of the most misunderstood forms of media out there. (Comic books maybe too, but I don't know enough about them to comment :-X ).
In any respect, I think that video games can really provide a lot of unique experiences that cannot be found in other forms of media (books, TV, movies, etc.). My favorite games are the ones that can achieve that. I dream of collecting a diverse yet refined library of games that I enjoy and sharing them with the people I care about! That probably sounds reallllly cheesy, but think it would be pretty shweet haha
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: dashv on June 02, 2015, 01:41:09 am
I collect because for me, video games are such an interesting blend of technology, music, story, artistry (or not ;) ) in an interactive package. It's unfortunate that video games are probably one of the most misunderstood forms of media out there. (Comic books maybe too, but I don't know enough about them to comment :-X ).
In any respect, I think that video games can really provide a lot of unique experiences that cannot be found in other forms of media (books, TV, movies, etc.). My favorite games are the ones that can achieve that. I dream of collecting a diverse yet refined library of games that I enjoy and sharing them with the people I care about! That probably sounds reallllly cheesy, but think it would be pretty shweet haha
^^ also this.
Title: Re: Why do you collect?
Post by: turom on June 10, 2015, 02:20:48 am
I guess this video is just the perfect answer to this question...