The Trouble with Video Game Collecting Today

Game Podunker Masteroftheclaw writes, "So, you wanna start collecting video games? Fantastic! It's a wonderful hobby that'll bring you years of searching, rejoicing, and entertainment. If you're at all interested in the prospect of collecting games I must ask you "Why?". Is it because:

A) I love games.
B) I want to have the next copy of Stadium Events..."

[Gue1]

For a moment I thought that I was rich because I saw some vids from Stadium Events and I was like "I have that game, I'm rich!". lol

But the game I have is "World Class Track Meet"... But they are sooo similar that I thought they were the same. The menu, graphics and even the music are the same! Damn!

[darthv72]

Having a copy of an old game doesnt automatically make it worth something. Although, EVERY game is worth something to someone. I have some rarities that are worth quite the pretty penny and then I have some that are so common they wouldnt even fetch a penny on ebay.

I have been more of a systems collector. The games just happen to go along with it. Some really obscure systems have given birth to some of the rarest and $$$ games seen. It is fun collecting. My good friend just recently completed collecting the entire Turbografx AND PC Engine library. That was no small feat but it is something to behold.

The good the bad and the fugly of NEC/Hudson all in one place.

[InactiveUser]

I was going to bash old, obsolete things and say, why would you waste space on keeping old junk around? But I guess that's what most collections are, so it makes sense.

Personally I think it would be stupid to have a game collection in this day and age when everything is being remastered. Why hold onto a worse looking, less portable version of the same product?

For example, all the remastered Genesis games on Sonic's Ultimate collection. Why have 40+ cartridges sitting around instead of 1 disk with them all remastered in HD?

[PirateThom]

They're not just similar, they're the same game.

The Stadium Events game was recalled and rereleased as World Class Track meet after Nintendo bought the rights to the mat that went along with the game, so the Stadium Events carts became very collectable.

As for collecting, I've found the only thing I'm really after at the minute are NES games with boxes and manuals, already have quite a few and would like to get the Zelda and Metroid games in that condition, but the cost is off putting for such old games I've played a ton of times.

[PS360fanboy]

The Megaman 9 "physical" edition had nothing physical about it. It was just a disc case.

[DlocDaBudSmoka]

since ya know mega man 9 and 10 were both download titles.

[Imperator]

I collect video games becuase I just love them. I don't do it for money or prestige or whatever. I just do it so I can have them and play them whenever I want.

[showtimefolks]

and few games for it and many games on ps2 i just put my ps2 collection in a box and far away 5 years from now that will be worth a lot of moeny hopefully lol

i want to get a few more games on super nintendo if possible like the donkey kong country series,maria world,final fight and few others

[jc48573]

I have trouble deciding what to get and what to get rid of.

[GamerSciz]

Cost...especially due to the economy. At $60 a pop for your average game that's not exactly cheap. Granted game prices haven't changed all that much but the amount of games that come out and the size of the gaming industry has.

[SaiyanFury]

What bugs me isn't the price of games nowadays, it's the length and amount of included content. There are some games like the recently released Fallout: New Vegas and the new Assassin's Creed lurking around the corner that last a fairly long time. But by and large I find games have gotten shorter and still cost the same amount. I don't play shooter games, by and large God bless those that do, but I find them very short. I thought about getting Call of Duty 4 because I watched my brother play it and I loved the first level where the ship is sinking. Then he told me he finished the single player campaign in just under 6 hours. Since I don't care for playing games online, that turned me off. I'm not paying 60 dollars for a game I can beat in a single sitting. I do buy a few new games a year, but mostly I stick to games I've already got. I do sometimes buy an original PS or SNES game for a fix since used games are substantially cheaper. But as prices rise and content goes down I really start to feel gipped.

[TANUKI]

I think I'm a minority in the game collector's group. I just collect my games, for the sake of having them... I never really thought of ever selling them in the future for profit.

[lessthanmarcus]

I was the same way. I use to have over 1,000+ games spanning 10+ systems. Until I had a child and space became an issue. Decided to minimalize my life and get rid of everything. Now, I'll only keep about 5 games and sell one when a new one comes out.

[TANUKI]

Yea, I'm dreading the moment when space/time constraints happen, and I have to sell off most/all my goodies. :(

[skyblue14213]

I am a collector, I do it mainly because I like the hobby of video games and have liked the hobby for 21 years. It is still nice to know that many of my games are/will-be worth a bit, though I don't have any intentions nor interest in selling them. So you can say that for the most part it is because I like the hobby of video games and also part of the enjoyment in finding rare but good games(THANK YOU GOD).

[MonkeyBoy92]

I have started collecting and I do it for a few reasons. One of the main reasons is that it gives me great pride to just simply look at my collection and know that it is something I have brought together and another is because I love the feeling when you find a game from your childhood (doesn't have to be a rare game) and brings back great memories e.g. mortal combat on the SNES, a game i sunk hours into with my brother =) good times!

[Vortex3D]

I also collect my games. But it's not possible to "collect" DLCs. Once the DLC code has been activated, it's locked to the gamer's account. Changing the gamer's account will loose the DLCs.

As for Collector's Edition, it's simply not possible to collect 100% of the items that come with it. Most Collector's Editions now include some or all the bonus contents as DLC. Even if I don't activate the Collector's Edition DLC items, the code will expire and becomes numbers on a piece of paper. My opinion is there is no such thing as Collector's Edition for games anymore since you can't collect every item in the package.

As for able to play old games in the collection after several years later, it's more possible on the console games as long you can a working compatible console. With PC games, good luck to the compatibility after you have upgraded the hardware and OS over the years.

[darthv72]

I actually have 3 PC's. One for general purpose and music/movie files. Then my big one for newer games that I keep somewhere near the edge of "cutting edge".

I also keep around an old 1GHz P3 that has a Geforce 3 and twin 3dfx voodoo2's. That way I can play games from the late 90's and early 2000.

The balance of Glide supported games and Open GL is nice to have. It is the early days of so called "graphics wars".

I am betting not many know who 3dfx or what Glide was.

[bananlol]

Ive always been the kind of person who prefered having a collection of roms and a good controller as opposed to actually owning a snes for instance. But i recently moved to a new town and dug out my old dreamcast that i havent used for about 8 years(got a ps2 and gta3 christmas 2002, and i didnt know better at the time) and when against all odds it actually worked an i played some power stone i got this almost magical feeling that i cant quite define. I suppose thats why people like to collect these things.

[The Great Melon]

I know that feeling you are talking about. While digging through all my old gaming stuff awhile back, I found my Gameboy pocket. I went got some triple AAA batteries just to play Megaman again (one of my first portable games). The nostalgia was great.

[Orionsangel]

That's why you use emulation. What's the point of collecting? I could understand if we lived a 1000 years or forever, but you're only gonna live so long to enjoy it. These material things are gonna out live you and don't give me this, I'll pass it on to my kids. You're assuming your kids will like the same thing you do.

[Jakev5253]

I started collecting years ago and its awesome to be able to tell people that I have almost every game they can think of