Game Collectors: Why Do You Collect Games?

Game Collectors: Why Do You Collect Games?

there is no one reason , most of them its just to play, but some games I have like Digital Dance Mix , or different (and sometimes worse) versions of the same game, are bought mostly collecting purposes, despite the fact I won't play them as often

There is no one reason for me. First and foremost I collect games because I love games. I've never been the type of person to trade or sell anything that I've enjoyed, instead I choose to keep things so that I can revisit them any time I want. Collecting games was a natual progression for me. It started with PS2 and current gen games, I started buying lots of games I was interested in and wanted to play and before I knew it I had 100s of games. From there I went back to older consoles and games I'd enjoyed or missed out on as a child, so there is an aspect of nostalgia in there too.

Man, all I can say is that I just love video games. I didn't intentionally start collecting games...its just that when I got old enough to start buying my own, I bought a bunch and never had the heart to sell any of them. That on top of being able find all the games that I could never find as a kid, online now. A game has to be really REALLY bad in order for me to consider selling it or giving it away, which is rare since I usually give games the benefit of the doubt in some way, shape, or form. The only game that I've owned that I can remember ever giving away was Resident Evil: Director's Cut...but I even regret doing that even though I'm not really into survival horror games.

I only collect games to play them, most of the games I buy are ones I played as a kid but there are a lot of games I've missed out on so I'm always looking for new additions.

I don't see the point though in buying games, especially the expensive rare ones if you're never going to play them, that's just crazy.

I am not a game collecter, I don't think. I buy more games than I can play for sure but I do not worry about the things collectors worry about like cosmetic condition, original packaging and all that stuff. That said, the reason I buy more games than I can play is I just like having them around. For one, it is nice to have them for pick-up and play if I need a break from something and for two, you never really get a chance to try a game unless you own it. Honestly though, I have to admit part of the reason I buy a lot is just because I can. All these games I wanted at some point can be found used for next to free and it's just awesome to have them.

there is no one reason , most of them its just to play, but some games I have like Digital Dance Mix , or different (and sometimes worse) versions of the same game, are bought mostly collecting purposes, despite the fact I won't play them as often

Darkman2007

Same here

I am not a game collecter, I don't think. I buy more games than I can play for sure but I do not worry about the things collectors worry about like cosmetic condition, original packaging and all that stuff. That said, the reason I buy more games than I can play is I just like having them around. For one, it is nice to have them for pick-up and play if I need a break from something and for two, you never really get a chance to try a game unless you own it. Honestly though, I have to admit part of the reason I buy a lot is just because I can. All these games I wanted at some point can be found used for next to free and it's just awesome to have them.

logicalfrank

Yeah, now that you say that, I don't really worry about a lot of that stuff either. I'm also the same way in that I usually buy more games than I have time to play but the intent is always to play, lol.

A couple of reasons:

1. I love to play them

2. Going to probably one day play some of them.

3. I like collecting games lol.

i mostly collect games to play them. I only buy cheap old games too. A few games I buy because they are extremely horrible and really cheap too. If a legacy game is more than $10, it better be really good.

I collect videogames to play them. It is impossible to collect an entire collection. I have just gotten a MegaDrive with 30 games While dirt cheap $25.00 which is a small price. I played WonderBoy 3 Monster lair. All day. Even though it was a old game. I played it and enloyed doing so. Strangely it was still fun in 2011. If I like the Arcade original back in 1988 I still like it today.

Videogames are meant to be played. There are about 956 different MegaGenesis Games released worldwide from 1988-2002. Plus 100 or so unofficial "bootleg" homebrew games kicking about. I would be impossible to find and collect a complete Sega Genesis/MegaDrive collection.

But I collect videogames to play them. The sega MegaDrive/Genesis is Segas best home videogame console. Which Sega briefly held the #1 title of Leading sales of videogame machines during the first console War. The fabled and legendary 16-bit era. Back when "bits" were a huge deal. 16 bit consoles SNES and Sega Megadrive/Genesis were the best during the Golden age.

My favorite era of all time. Even "better" by a tiny marginthan Sony Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. But not better technology wise obviously. Just more pick up and play.

Since I was alive in the 16 bit era. I still find the games playable. So for me I collect to play videogames.Games=Play since I was alive during the 4th Generation I remember that these old games were fun. and still can be in 2011.

I collect games only that I like or I think would be really cool. I'm not one of those people that obsessively collects every single game released for every system. lol one of your options did make me laugh however; the only game I ever bought simply because it is so infamously horrid was ET for the 2600. I picked it up for $2 I think several years ago and it sits on one of my selves as just a decoration :p

Don't really know, I just find it fun to grow a collection of games.

I collect games that I love to play. When they break I make them into decoration for my Man Cave/ Nerd's Nest. I love 2 gold Zelda and 2 gold Zelda 2 games that I placed in a black frame. They are the only 2 games I played so much that I burnt out the batteries and they stopped working lol.

Some of it is also that if I have a game I beat and probably wouldn't hold on to, I actually end up keeping it. Mainly because of two factors: its rare and if I want to play it again I don't want to have to search for it (which is how I will be treating my almost mint copy of Odin Sphere I got online) or that its rare and I might be able to sell it for a good price later. I had FF2 for SNES and sold it for like 50 bucks. Bought me a new game I probably still have to this day lol

I don't really consider myself a collector, but rather a person who loves gaming! I want to experience some games that I never got a chance to, hence why I want a Neo Geo, and 3DO. I also like having the great games on the platform they were designed for, as far as third party titles, which appear on all the systems, I guess I would go with controller preferences, or which ones perform better. I love gaming plain and simple, and I hope to continue until my hands don't work! I'm 37 years old and I don't see any signs of wanting to give it up.

It is a question that has more than one answer for me. I do it to relieve the feeling I got when I played (said game) for the first time. I also collect to have a piece of gaming history. Once these gems are gone, they are gone. I like having certain systems and games that I can go back and play.

I do play many of what I collect, but there are certain games that I will never get to, but I bought because they were dirt cheap on clearance or used bin, and I wanted to get to fill out my collection on a system. I don't have a huge collection by any means.........with all of my systems I have just shy of 100 total games, but they are mainly games that I cherish.

I started collecting games mainly to play them, but there are a few other reasons. I like the artwork, instruction manuals and stuff like that. I also think of it as having your own personal arcade. The more games the better. It's always fun to have friends over and pick a game out from a large collection rather than having just a select few games that are the current flavor of the week. I also like to replay games that I enjoyed from previous generations.

The number 1 reason why I collect games though is because I made the mistake of trading in all of my retro system and games when I was younger, and as an adult now I regret trading it all in and wish I still had it all. Back then, I traded it all in so I could put the credit towards the new latest and greatest stuff, but looking back, I wish I still had all that stuff and I won't make the same mistake twice. I know that I'll be glad to have what I have now in the future.

I just sort of accumulated them. I'm trying to clear out my collection nw, but it's so hard when I can't even remember what I have any more.

Frankly, I'm not all the way out of my childhood yet. I won't lie, I'm only 15, but I honestly think in general a lot of games from before were a lot more creative. So, quite simply, I play them. Not much else to it.

Though if I were to truly "relive my childhood," atleast the majority of my earlier years, I would get out my LEGOs and start building. Which I still do, by the way.

EDIT: I should have mentioned, I'm not really up to a huge collection... Or really one at all. I'm kind of just beginning, but I have experience with retro gaming. Pokemon Crystal was my first game, and one of my favorites. SMB3 on GBA was one of my first, and my favorite of all time. I have a Contra remake, Ocarina, DKC2, Metroid, Paper Mario, and several more on the VC, and I just repaired an NES for my Youth Center. Noone really plays it, but they have a fair bit of games for it, and I volunteer there for 4 hours each Saturday and Sunday, so I get my time with it. :P

Also, for retro gamers, you almost have to buy them if you want to play them because you can't rent them, and older games are getting near impossible to find. I play the games I buy, but I will admit that I have a fairly large backlog. I do intend on playing them all, but I find myself grabbing a rare game when I come across one because I never know if it will ever come across my path again.

But, I only do this with legacy systems. I stopped buying consoles with the Gamecube, and will most likely not be purchasing the new wave of handhelds, at least at this point. It is getting far too expensive and I'm getting bored with the games they release anymore.

So, if I want to play games, I've got to buy them, so they do tend to get stockpiled. But, it just makes for a fun library.

I consider myself a collector in the sense that I've never sold a game. Even when I'm done playing a game, I'd rather let it sit on the shelf in case I ever want to play it again.

I consider myself a collector in the sense that I've never sold a game. Even when I'm done playing a game, I'd rather let it sit on the shelf in case I ever want to play it again.

soulless4now

I see myself as a collector for various different reasons. A bit of history ...

When I bought my first system in 1991 (Sega Game Gear) I didn't have a lot of money to buy all the games I wanted. In 1992 I bought a Mega Drive and still only managed to buy about 12 games for it over the years. Then when I needed a PC for school by the end of 1995I sold my Game Gear and Mega Drive to be able to pay for the latest games, on the PC this time.The GG and MD games were just collecting dust on the shelf I figured and I was probably never gonna play them anyways as I was bored with them. Boy, was I wrong.

Fast forward to 2000 when I bought a Dreamcast alongside my PC. I had a job and thus more money, so I could afford more games. In the meantime I started a DVD collection and so needed to choose between that and my old games. I didn't have the money to buy all the latest games and also buy every movie that I wanted. So again I sold my games. I figured, as they were just collecting dust on the shelf and I probably wasn't going to play them ever again anyway (see the pattern here), I could sell them so I could still play the latest games (Xbox this time) and see the latest movies (old and new) released on DVD.

Then late 2007 I decided to finally buy an Xbox 360. By this time I had already sold all my Xbox games and most of my DVD collection as I had turned back to PC gaming in the meantime. Around that time I also started wondering about all the games I sold back in the day, all the games I ever played and all the games I never got to buy (especially in my GG and MD days when I simply couldn't buy all the top releases).

So now it's 2011 and I own a fair share of Xbox, Xbox 360, NES, MD, GG, 32X,DS, 3DS, Lynx and PC games old and new and of course the consoles to play them on. Nowadays I do not sell my games anymore because I don't really need to anymore, but also because I like to own the top rated games for any given system (I never hold on to games that I think are crap) be it new games or retro games. I also like to collect all the games I once owned or played and top games I was never able to buy at the time.

One thing in this respect worries me though ... will there come a time when all games are distributed digitally? I prefer to own a physical copy. For me there is less incentive to play a game when I simply downloaded it. There's no disc, no box, no manual, no collector's edition. Colleagues and friends sometimes say I'm crazy because I buy all my movies (Blu-Ray) and games physically. Of course downloading illegally saves a lot of money or buying them from portal like Steam saves a lot of shelf space, but for me it's just not the same.

I sort-of collect genres that I love, so I have a lot of FPS. "DOOM" made a huge ripple in my life, along with "Wolfenstein 3D" they pretty much solidified me as an addict to a hobby I already loved heavily... But another reason I don't get rid of a lot of games anymore is because I had copies of "ET" and "Custer's Revenge" and I got rid of them, for whatever reason, and now that my nephew and his friends are teenagers heavily addicted to their PS3s, I would like to be able to show them (and tangibly allow them to experience these games, as all games really should be to get a complete processing and understanding of gaming history, I feel), what it was all about.

Now, I wouldn't show them "Custer's Revenge" because I'm not an amoral **** - But you see what I'm saying.

I was reading the other day about the proposed Video Game History Museum project, and how it would need to incorporate hands-on presentation, but I never want to leave history in the hands of too few people, or it can get lost entirely. Sometimes titles discussed on this forum are in danger of becoming lost, and we should all consider keeping this history alive and bleeping or blooping, for future generations of gamers in our own way. Mine is to make sure that certain "objectionable" or in the case of "ET", bad games, don't fade. I have a Hot Coffee version of "San Andreas". I got a copy of "NARC" the other day because you can (laughably, of course) ingest hallucinogenics and such... Some games like "Custer's" are pretty hard to come by today (understandably, from a lot of different perspectives). And we need to learn from the past. Not bury it in the Nevada desert like all those "ET" carts.

:)

I'm happy having a little museum set up in my house, with a Sega Genesis (WITH the 32X, I'll have you know! 8) ), Dreamcast, 'Cube, PS2, Xbox... Like an arcade for friends to pick up and play - You haven't seen funny until you see 40 year-old dudes light up and start screaming over a game of "TechmoBowl"! It brings us all together to experience these games again, so I do my little part in collecting. I don't bid on eBay for pristine boxed copies of $200 value, but I cruise for stuff off the beaten path, and stuff I can buy on the cheap.

To play them.

But anyways I have a friend at highschool who father is a Game collector (well actally he is a collector in general but still). Every game his father would get buy two of each game; one to play, and the other one for looking at.

A lot of it is memories, and a lot of it is stuff that I never got a chance to enjoy or didn't get enough time with.

Example: I used to rent the Virtual Boy when it came out. I had memories with it, but I never actually owned one. Of course now I purchased it, own several games, and it's great just to have it. I also forgot how great it was (contrary to popular belief).

If I had a lot of funds that I could burn, I would collect systems and games that I wouldn't necessarily play. That would be a dream to have a museum in a house of all old video game consoles. I think the Virtual Boy is as far as that goes for me, lol.

A lot of it is memories, and a lot of it is stuff that I never got a chance to enjoy or didn't get enough time with.

Example: I used to rent the Virtual Boy when it came out. I had memories with it, but I never actually owned one. Of course now I purchased it, own several games, and it's great just to have it. I also forgot how great it was (contrary to popular belief).

If I had a lot of funds that I could burn, I would collect systems and games that I wouldn't necessarily play. That would be a dream to have a museum in a house of all old video game consoles. I think the Virtual Boy is as far as that goes for me, lol.

A lot of it is memories, and a lot of it is stuff that I never got a chance to enjoy or didn't get enough time with.

Example: I used to rent the Virtual Boy when it came out. I had memories with it, but I never actually owned one. Of course now I purchased it, own several games, and it's great just to have it. I also forgot how great it was (contrary to popular belief).

If I had a lot of funds that I could burn, I would collect systems and games that I wouldn't necessarily play. That would be a dream to have a museum in a house of all old video game consoles. I think the Virtual Boy is as far as that goes for me, lol.

I started to collect games because I like to possess rare games , and I really like to surf the net to read reviews on games and when I see a game that many many people like I start to search and find the game to add it to my collection , the thing that is really fun in collecting games is to hunt rare games I really like it , its my passion , I only wish I could have more money to buy more and more of those gems !

I started to collect games because I like to possess rare games , and I really like to surf the net to read reviews on games and when I see a game that many many people like I start to search and find the game to add it to my collection , the thing that is really fun in collecting games is to hunt rare games I really like it , its my passion , I only wish I could have more money to buy more and more of those gems !

To mainly play them. And some of them help me relive my childhood. I guess. lol

When a lot of kids back in the day were ballin' at ToysRUS with their rich parents buying them Genesis & SNES games, i was the one that was looking through the glass window wishing i could have one of those games. With our low income my parents were able to get me two games in a whole year - 1 for birthday & 1 for Christmas. Eventually when I was old enough to get a job I saved up tons of $ and started collecting ever since. I mainly collect the games that I like so I do not collect just any game to have. Also I do play all of them so I don't just keep it packaged. Keeping them all in poly bags and neatly stacked. And games in general - the process of how they are made and all the hard work artists pour their long hours into has inspired me in my everyday job as an Art Director so collecting for me has come a long way. Thanks for posting the topic Emerald. Cheers!gokuofheaven

I want to play most of the games I purchase, sometimes ill buy that odd game that I wont play and just buy for collection...I just love video games and I never got the games I wanted as a kid so now I just buy everything I wanted...does it make me happy....no not really but its fun......

gotta get a girlfriend... :roll: