The method behind your madness: What is the philosophy behind your collection?

My philosophy on game collecting is that I do not want to miss out on any title that I would enjoy.  The almost-reality is that I would be better off buying games when they go over $70 on Ebay and only those, but then I would miss out on the hundreds of quality experiences that come from lesser know games.

I would also like to cut about 200 titles from my collection but there is no worthwhile reason to try, including money.

I didn't really become a collector until I made a really bad trade and horribly regretted it almost immediately.  I'd love to say that there's some profound reason that I do it.  But the best I can come up with is that I don't want to give up anything that I might want to play down the road.  I'm giving my sister my copy of Intelligent Qube for Christmas and it's like pulling teeth.  I really don't want to give it up, but it's the holidays, she really wants that game (has for a long time), and 'tis better to give than receive.

I'm not a very particular collector either.  A lot of people are concerned with the condition and completeness of their games.  I'm only like that with disc-based games.  If it's a cart, I don't need the box or manual.  As long as it works, I'm happy.  It sits on the shelf waiting for the call that will eventually come.

As for my acquisition habits...I'll play anything once.  And since I've gotten to the point where I hate going into rental stores, I just buy a game that looks like it might be interesting.  I also seem to gravitate toward the odd (ie Circus Maximus) and the cheap (Geist for $5 is a good example).

I've really tried to cut back on my game buying in order to rebuild my gaming setup, since I'm considering going to a two tv rig.  Unfortunately I live within an hour of two Sears stores and they always have stuff ridiculously cheap, which I buy whether I'm interested or not.

There's really no rhyme or reason to my collecting habits...I guess I'm the ultimate impulse buyer if you want to boil it down.

My philosopy is "It either be really good or really cheap.". There are so many great, cheap games that I dont have, I cant justify paying anything close to MSRP for anything that I dont expect to be outstanding and will get my immediate attention. The only two console games I bought at MSRP this year (as far as I can remember) is Okami and FFXII. I also will buy games that I do want but will have a hard time getting later or that their is some reason that it is beneficial to get it asap- Castlevania POR, I wanted the preorder bonus (Note above I said Ive only purchased 2 "console games" at MSRP, DS games tend to be harder to find used and complete).

I also will very very very rarely buy a disk-based console game without at least the box being in decent shape. In fact the only current gen game I have without the box is soul reaver 2. Older, cartrige, games I could care less if they have the box, except for Genesis games.

I buy only stuff that I could, at some point, see myself playing. I know I'll never get to them all. I usually only by complete stuff in good condition. I'm a weirdo about stuff being perfect. I don't plan on selling any of it, but I do like knowing that I could probably get $125-150 for the sealed copy of Tactics Ogre that I have. I will only buy one copy of a game usually, unless I see it dirt cheap. What I most like doing is searching for good/rare games on clearance. To me thats the most fun part of collecting. The only problem with being a bargain hunter is my inability to pay full price for games anymore. My mind won't let me.toppsseller

[QUOTE="toppsseller"]I buy only stuff that I could, at some point, see myself playing. I know I'll never get to them all. I usually only by complete stuff in good condition. I'm a weirdo about stuff being perfect. I don't plan on selling any of it, but I do like knowing that I could probably get $125-150 for the sealed copy of Tactics Ogre that I have. I will only buy one copy of a game usually, unless I see it dirt cheap. What I most like doing is searching for good/rare games on clearance. To me thats the most fun part of collecting. The only problem with being a bargain hunter is my inability to pay full price for games anymore. My mind won't let me.waflerevolution

I just want to play it... waflerevolution

Sigh... me too.  I knew about the game since it's release but only realized that I'd like to actually play it after it became a "really-expensive-even-for-used-copies" game.  Same with MvC2 (I only have PS2, no XBox or DC).  Although I really don't know why I waited so long to buy MvC2; I was playing that in the arcades from day one.  Waiting on that one is probably one of the stupidest things I've done as far as game buying goes.

[QUOTE="waflerevolution"]I just want to play it... inkwolf

Sigh... me too. I knew about the game since it's release but only realized that I'd like to actually play it after it became a "really-expensive-even-for-used-copies" game. Same with MvC2 (I only have PS2, no XBox or DC). Although I really don't know why I waited so long to buy MvC2; I was playing that in the arcades from day one. Waiting on that one is probably one of the stupidest things I've done as far as game buying goes.

I found that copy of Tactics Ogre at a Gamestop for $35.  Someone had traded it in with a bunch of other sealed games.  I must have been the first person to see them and I bought pretty much everything they had.  I'll post the lot sometime.  I felt like I was stealing.

I found that copy of Tactics Ogre at a Gamestop for $35. 

toppsseller

Only $35?!  How long ago was this?  It couldn't be too recent; I doubt Gamestop would let it go for that cheap!  If I saw TO, sealed, at that price somewhere, I would contain my excitement as best possible, purchase the game, and then do backflips as I left the store. 

The last used copy that I bought was $40 to $50 (I can't remember) at Rhino, and I swapped manuals with my not-quite-as-nice copy and sold it to a friend of mine for what I had in it.  $35 for a sealed copy would be quite nice.

I bought Tactics Ogre about 2 years ago.