What do you enjoy about game collecting?

[seether]

Is it the thrill of the hunt?
The feeling you get when you find a good deal on something?
The enjoyment from playing the games?
The community behind it?
The nostalgia?
Just having something to do, the hobby of it?
Just something to spend money on?
Bragging rights?

I like the treasure hunt feel of the activity and also the significance I attach to the items, I only collect carefully selected games that I think are totally awesome so really rather than a game collection it's more a collection of treasures, things I really really like. I just like to amass items that are very desirable to myself - and the scarcity aspect makes that kind of fun.

[burningdoom]

It's a bit of all of that together.

But mostly it's just to have my own accessible library of video games.

[98dgreen]

I enjoy the hunt as well as playing the games

[ferraroso]

In my case, I think it's mostly about making old dreams come true (such as having a collection of Saturn stuff) and rediscovering things that, in a way or another, represent a large part of my childhood and teenage years.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Ever since as an adult, we have adult responsibilities and stress but video games preserve a shred of that fun and simplicity of being a kid again.   The highs and lows of life were always admist digital pixelized nirvanna. The scent of fruit roll ups and angst.  The memories engraved in the fabric of my life all center around video games and some of my fondest days were with video games and the people I love.  I have bonded with my dad and brothers and my best of friends through games. 

In way collecting the Video games is an extention of life itself. I have been  trying to capture the lightning in a bottle twice, an artist trapped in his own drawing.  and trying to revisit my youth through the sights, scents and even the sounds of the games.  Each entry into my catelog has a near and dear memory attatched to it,  and in holding the cartridge in my hands and looking at it,  I see myself as a kid again.   I feel the warmth I felt when I picked up the sticks for the first time.  The same warmth we all felt every christmas unwrapping the wrapping paper.  The glow of the christmas lights, the smell of egg nog, the clammering of adults, and holding that very same plastic cart in our hands.  That warmth is unreplicatable but it sure comes close when you sit as an adult, with responsibilites and reminisce on the good times.   To me video games are hubs to relive the bestest of times and to also create new ones simoultaneously.  I can't ponder life without them. 






 

[bikingjahuty]

At this point in time, collecting is secondary to playing for me. I simply collect only as a means to secure games I intend to play as soon as possible. Collecting for the sake of collecting doesn't do much for me like it used to, where before I found a bunch of holes in my collection I wanted to fill regardless of how I felt about actually playing the game.

Because of this I have downsized substantially and now if I play a game that isn't worth it's value to me to keep, I generally sell it off now.

[hoshichiri]

Pretty much everything you listed, except for 'something to spend money on' (there's always something to spend money on!) and very little bragging rights (becuase I have to know someone who'd care first.)

There's also a preservation aspect to it- I'm keeping a little slice of pop culture history around for the next generation. It's a lot easier to teach someone about something from the past when it's tangible. I can tell someone 'the Channel F had the weirdest, but most amazing controller!' Or I can drop it into their hand and show them how it's more functional than an NES controller while being more accessible to differently abled folks, and without having buttons- that gets people, the 'no buttons' thing.

I also like the tinkering- these old thing need some TLC from time to time to keep running, so it's fun to open them up, poke their guts, learn how they work & get dead machines going again.

[pizzasafari]

I wanted to get into collecting when I saw other peoples' collections on YouTube and stuff. Seeing all these rooms where the walls were just lined with thousands of pristine games, weird collectables and all that, and TV setups made purely for gaming in that room, etc, just got me like hell yeah, I want to have that. So I guess I mostly enjoy the feeling of building myself closer and closer to having that.

Being surrounded by things I love is a good feel.

[turf]

• The thrill of the hunt?     Check!
• The feeling you get when you find a good deal on something?     Check!
• Enjoyment from playing the games?     Check!
• The community behind it?     Check!
• The nostalgia?     Check!
• Just having something to do, the hobby of it?     Check!
• Just something to spend money on?  maybe a little...
• Bragging rights?  Not really, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like showing it off.

[kashell]

The thrill of the hunt? Not so much anymore. Going to non-Game Stop stores isn't nearly as fun as it used to be since nearly all of them enjoy hiking up their prices or matching them on eBay. It used to be fun, though.

The feeling you get when you find a good deal on something? This is fun when it's at a convention.

Enjoyment from playing the games? This is the biggest one. I'm a gamer first. Collecting is just an after effect of my gaming habit.

The community behind it? There will always be a few jerks that can sour things for everyone, but the community at large is great. This website, for example, has its share of wonderful people.

The nostalgia? Nostalgia helps. It's fun finding a game you used to play. It's just a shame when said game is really expensive.

Just having something to do, the hobby of it? It's a fun hobby. But, not as fun as gaming.

Just something to spend money on? Nah. Just throwing money at something just because is not something I do.

Bragging rights? Absolutely not. If someone is impressed by something I have, then that's cool. But, I didn't buy it just so I could be like, "Look what I have and you don't."

[sworddude]

Mostly nostalgia and Playing them games the main reason why I collect but I won't deny that i have not enjoyed collecting and the thrill of the hunt during the years.

[oldgamerz]

In a world where a person can't or don't want to afford traveling and seeing the real world. video games, movies, and even music can fill that gap.

I enjoy having video games, I enjoy buying video games I also enjoy playing them.

[mark1982]

Mainly playing the games now is what I enjoy the most.

When I was younger I enjoyed the hunt, going to game swap meets or thrift stores to find titles I will be interested in. But these days finding retro titles is harder, unlike before. People seem to be charging higher amounts for older games as well. I'm pretty happy with retro collection that I currently have.

A lot of the retro games I have I got growing up back in the day during their initial release. I never got rid of my collection and was pretty particular about collecting games at an early age, so I just kept it all. Except I sold a bunch of X360 titles last gen, trying to re-buy some back though... 

These days mainly playing though, If I find an older title in the wild that I'm interested in I will probably get it, but I'm not actively looking for older games. I mainly buy new titles on PS4 or Switch, but of course I still play my older games. That will never change.