I am described as a very quiet, very mellow individual in real life. That same basis seems to translate into me when I go shopping for video games. Before I began working, I looked to getting 3 or 4 games for Christmas from the family. It was how I had built up my RPG collection, having secured the bulk of my PS1 games in recent years.
Final Fantasy 7 was the first RPG I ever played. I had gone to a friend's house, looked at his PS1 collection, pulled out an interesting looking case that had a man with a giant sword overlooking a building beyond that seemed so foreboding. Asking me if I wanted to play it, I agreed. I had mixed feelings about it. The moment the first battle dawned and the (at the time) greatest graphics utilized on a PS1 console reached my eyesight, I hit the X button to execute my first 'Attack'. I watched the enemy disappear in a flash of red. Nearly an hour later, I am negotiating with my friend to borrow this game. He obviously said no. The next day, I had gone to Gamestop and managed to find a great condition preowned copy of the game. I also bought the strategy guide since it seemed like a good idea at the time (just before 20 bucks became the new 15 for a copy of the strategy guide, and they had UNOFFICIAL guides for certain games, which included FF7). I kept the game for a good 7 years.
My collection expanded based on what I read about in gaming magazines. I had gotten ahold of well known hits like nearly every Final Fantasy (Chronicles escaped my grasp at the time) Legend of Dragoon, Xenogears, Lunar: Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue (the special editions!), and Brave Fencer Musashi. I had others like Star Ocean: The Second Story, both Saga Frontiers, both Breath of Fire 3 and 4, and both Wild Arms. Some hits like Grandia, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 1 and 2 and both Suikodens were unknown to me (apparently cause of how hard they were and still are to find). Before I graduated high school, I had a shoebox full of RPGs...until someone stole them. I found out who did it, but by the time I found out which Gamestop he sold them to...nearly all of them had flown right out the door. So in the end, I only got back a fraction of what I owned originally, minus the bonus content if they had any...and he had to pay me around 600 dollars in damages for the theft. That money I used to get my PS2, some of the PS2 games I owned for it, and a bike.
To this day, I only have a small collection of RPGs. Some I had to buy off of eBay, others I got through recycling at Gamestop before all PS1 inventory got removed...the only real gems I have are FF7, Xenogears, Star Ocean the Second Story, and Legend of Dragoon. I do own both Suikodens, Castlevania: SOTN, Tales of Destiny II, FF Anthology, FF8, FF9, Wild Arms 1 and 2, and Grandia. All of these games do have some wear and damage up to and including looking like total -bleep-. Yet my PS3 (yes, PS3) can read all of these games perfectly and play them all.
So what is left for me now? I still collect RPGs when I find the time and money to do so. I collected a considerable amount of them on PS1, PS2, and on DS. My PS3 collection of them is merely beginning with games like Valkyria Chronicles, White Knight Chronicles, Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, Eternal Sonata, and the eventual US releases of Tales of Vesperia and Final Fantasy XIII.
This may seem like a rather obscure tale, but its all true for me. I was a gaming recluse for a few years. But now, I actually love going into Gamestops and talking with people. I love going online and playing with others. Does that mean I have a disorder? No. I still get out of the house. I go to college and socialize. I work a lot and socialize. I'm starting to build my life up. But 15 years later, video games still hold a place in my heart. And my wallet.
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