Author Topic: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...  (Read 3471 times)

So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« on: July 10, 2019, 07:56:17 pm »
Coinciding with the 4th of July, I enjoyed an extended 4-day weekend where I had planned on doing various things, one of which was rearranging my game room in order to make room for various collections which are on the verge of running out of space. Given how large my collection of games is this was no small undertaking, but it was something I was genuinely looking forward to. However something happened while doing this that I would have never expected in my wildest dreams


While moving this shelf over there, and transplanting that collection onto that other shelf, and while moving those other three collection to another shelf I had a bit of an epiphany; why the hell do I have this many video games? Sure, I love video games and always will, but the reality of how many I actually have sort of hit me in a place it never has before. I continued to rearrange my game room, but the feeling was still there; I had amassed way more games than I ever intended or truly originally wanted when I first began collecting back in 2008. Originally I had just wanted to get games I was familiar with from my childhood, but this eventually became games that I'd never heard of, then games that looked like they might be cool, and then at some point it had devolved into meeting a certain quota of games I could say I had in my collection. While this never resulted in me accumulating a bunch of shovelware or outdated sports titles, it certainly has led me to purchase literally hundreds of games that I had minimal interest in. On top of that, the reality of knowing that even if I quit my job and dedicated my life to playing video games, I still wouldn't be able to play and finish all of them, and that's just what I have right now.


I continued through my game room project, and while out and about I discovered that Gamestop was doing a B2G1 sale on all used games. Since recently I've been working to expand my PS4 collection even more I jumped right into this sale and purchased a bunch of titles. However, while buying these games I felt little joy in doing so despite knowing that I would be adding about a dozen cool PS4 games and about 3 Wii U games to my collection. I couldn't help but think how this is essentially how I've felt about 95% of my game purchases for probably the last 4-years.


By Sunday evening I was left with all this on my mind and wondering what to do with it. Not getting anywhere with it on my own, I decided to talk to my girlfriend about it who is also a huge gamer. To my surprise she mostly felt the same way I did, and maybe even more so. She said that outside of new releases that she is super hyped about, she doesn't have that much interest in amassing so many games like we'd been doing since we moved in together back in 2010. As for retro games she felt like we had everything she'd ever really wanted about 5-years ago and that almost everything we bought since then was somewhat superfluous; I couldn't help but agree with her.


We looked at our PS2 shelf which is still our largest collection and between the games she was really attached to and the games I was attached to, it ended up being about 25% of that whole collection, while everything else was stuff that we could do without. I thought about a lot of other console collections we have and it was about the same where anywhere from about 10% to 50% of the overall collection was stuff I wouldn't necessarily miss if I got rid of it.


Since Sunday night I've thought a lot about this and I've decided that this coming weekend I am going to start the process of significantly downsizing my video game collection. I never thought in a million years I'd feel this way, but I honestly feel that I've lost sight of why I began collecting in the first place which was to recapture the nostalgia of my youth. Instead it became this lifestyle, which I don't necessarily regret, but what I do regret is how much money and space it has taken up for far too long. With all that said, I will certainly still buy games and play games, but unless it's a game I am very fond of either because of how amazing it is or because it has significant sentimental value, I am no longer going to buy to collect. I'll still be an active member of this site as well since my passion for video games hasn't changed, just my passion for collecting.


One final thing is that I just feel like everything that has happened around me as it relates to me collecting games just sort of confirms that I want to do this. Many of my old hunting grounds where I'd find amazing deals back in 2012 and 2013 are either long gone or they've become dried up or incredibly overpriced. All my favorite game stores around town are now gone, and what's left is a combination of overpriced stores or used media shops that barely get anything decent in, and when they do it costs a fortune. Essentially the thrill of the hunt and the fun of looking for games is mostly dead to me, and has been for years now despite a few noteworthy exceptions. Likewise, the enthusiasm and excitement in the hobby decreased dramatically over the last couple years, and sadly I don't see it ever picking up again.


It's funny how radically your opinions and feelings can change on things that you once were so passionate about.

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2019, 08:53:46 pm »
We both have a similar feeling, I stopped buying video games myself and been spending my money on Music CDs for almost 2 years now, I realized that each and every video game I have should be played to it's fullest, and mastered, problem is? the truth of why  stopped buying video games is

I realized their is other things in my life I can do with my time instead of just playing video games.

I have many many compilations and I am guessing over 1500 games most are not in my collection on this site.

If I were you I'd get rid of games that you have more than one copy of first, before getting rid of anything else in your collection, but remember you might regret downsizing your collection I know I would, games make me happy but other things in my life do as well.

I know I said I was jealous, but I am over it. and I realize that I was wrong to complain since I do have so many retro games I never even played and almost none of them are duplicates
« Last Edit: July 10, 2019, 09:07:46 pm by oldgamerz »
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Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2019, 10:41:56 pm »
Definitely put your happiness first.  If it isn't making you happy, I'm glad you are deciding to make a change.


Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2019, 11:06:59 pm »
Definitely put your happiness first.  If it isn't making you happy, I'm glad you are deciding to make a change.


It just wasn't doing anything for me anymore. I felt like for a long time I did it just because it's what I was used to for so long. I used the occasional high of a great deal I came across or finally buying a rare game I'd wanted for a while and the excitement that came with it as justification for continuing on with collecting. There was also the fear that if I didn't buy certain games now that either I was never going to be able to find it again or the next time I did find it it would be worth way more. Fear as a motivator for collecting is certainly not a reason to continue on with it.

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2019, 09:12:24 am »
Yeah, I've been on that path on and off for a while.  I sold about $1k worth of games over the last few months.  Still listing stuff on ebay.

I've also realized in a lot of cases with retro stuff that if I were to play the game, i'd probably opt for an emulator anyway.

The problem I have, and maybe you'll find that too, is that there are a lot of cheap games I'd like to get rid of, but they sort of aren't even worth getting rid of.  Selling anything $10 or less online you'll lose all of the money to shipping and fees... and bundling folks won't buy it anyway.


tripredacus

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2019, 09:35:57 am »
At some point, it all just gets to be too much. It is much more satisfying to collect something limited or specific in scope, rather than everything or anything you find. We're not museum curators, after all.

mark1982

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2019, 09:54:30 am »



Heh, with all jokes aside, if it makes you feel better and its something you feel good about, definitely approach it. ;D Cutting back on certain things in life can be a liberating feeling.
  l    l 

tripredacus

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2019, 09:56:24 am »
Oh, the worst part is when you get to phase two and sell off a bunch of stuff. Then say... 10 years later you want all that stuff again.

mark1982

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2019, 10:01:22 am »
Oh, the worst part is when you get to phase two and sell off a bunch of stuff. Then say... 10 years later you want all that stuff again.

oof, basically me with my Mega Drive and X360 Collections. Glad I got them back, except for a few 360 stragglers, good thing they're going for cheap now. :P
  l    l 

kashell

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2019, 11:11:54 am »
I'm essentially in the same boat as biking. Getting rid of games that I don't have any attachment to, or that aren't part of a cherished franchise has been pretty therapeutic.

P.S. I haven't forgotten about your interest in my stuff for sale! I'll send you a PM when life stops getting in the way.

sworddude

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2019, 11:53:58 am »
Oh, the worst part is when you get to phase two and sell off a bunch of stuff. Then say... 10 years later you want all that stuff again.

I've seen worse I have seen someone buy and sell his entire snes collection 4 times in 5 years obviously rebuying everything everytime. was only couple K worth of stuff everytime but still quite allot of effort while losing money and having minimal enjoyment out of it

at that point why bother  ???
« Last Edit: July 11, 2019, 11:56:49 am by sworddude »
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Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2019, 12:19:54 pm »
Oh, the worst part is when you get to phase two and sell off a bunch of stuff. Then say... 10 years later you want all that stuff again.


That's a risk I'm willing to take, although I'd like to believe that once I downsize I likely won't be picking up the vast majority of what I get rid of ever again. I do plan on keeping at least a third of my collection, if not half so I certainly won't be getting rid of it all. Most likely I'll only be selling off about 25% or so of my Dreamcast and N64 collections since those two are very sentimental for me, but everything else will probably get downsized a decent amount.

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2019, 12:21:16 pm »
I'm essentially in the same boat as biking. Getting rid of games that I don't have any attachment to, or that aren't part of a cherished franchise has been pretty therapeutic.

P.S. I haven't forgotten about your interest in my stuff for sale! I'll send you a PM when life stops getting in the way.


Yeah, it just sounds nice to sell a bunch of it off and also move on with my life in regards to always being on the hunt for games or thinking about growing my collection indefinitely like I have for the past decade.


And it's all good! Take your time with that :)

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2019, 12:24:48 pm »
Yeah, I've been on that path on and off for a while.  I sold about $1k worth of games over the last few months.  Still listing stuff on ebay.

I've also realized in a lot of cases with retro stuff that if I were to play the game, i'd probably opt for an emulator anyway.

The problem I have, and maybe you'll find that too, is that there are a lot of cheap games I'd like to get rid of, but they sort of aren't even worth getting rid of.  Selling anything $10 or less online you'll lose all of the money to shipping and fees... and bundling folks won't buy it anyway.


I've always charged for shipping, but yeah, fees will always be there unfortunately. For anything under $5 I'm likely going to take the loss and sell them to a local 2nd and Charles that gives decent trade in on games (probably because they overcharge for on mostly lol). It will save me time by not having to post them too.

kashell

Re: So, a funny thing happened this past weekend...
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2019, 12:33:21 pm »
I'm essentially in the same boat as biking. Getting rid of games that I don't have any attachment to, or that aren't part of a cherished franchise has been pretty therapeutic.

P.S. I haven't forgotten about your interest in my stuff for sale! I'll send you a PM when life stops getting in the way.


Yeah, it just sounds nice to sell a bunch of it off and also move on with my life in regards to always being on the hunt for games or thinking about growing my collection indefinitely like I have for the past decade.

That's another thing I forgot to mention: always being on the hunt. Whenever I traveled to a new city, my first thought was "I wonder if I can find a used game store."

These days? That thought rarely comes up. If I happen across one during travel? Sure, I'll stop in and maybe come back with a souvenir. Otherwise, I'm just glad to be somewhere new.