How To Narrow Down The Number Of Systems You Collect For?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I feel like this is one of those posts that should start by me standing up at the front of the room and saying "My name is Jin and I have a problem". To cut right to the chase, the problem is that I've been collecting for way more systems than I can realistically afford to collect for; so I'm looking for advice on how to to reduce the number of systems I own and collect for without feeling like I've lost something precious in the process. I've tried a few times in the the past to whittle down the number of systems I collect for and was unsuccessful at doing so, mainly because I had some silly attachment of one kind or another to whatever system and it's corresponding game library that I was thinking about excising from my collection; so I could really use some advice from other collectors about how to moderate and focus my collecting down to just a couple systems.

 

For many people I imagine that collecting for several different systems wouldn't be a problem, but as someone who lives on a fixed income (and will be for the foreseeable future due to medical circumstances preventing me from working) I'm finding that there's just never enough money to go around for me to able to afford to collect for more than a couple systems. At this point I've been actively collecting for the Atari 2600, NES, Sega Genesis, PS1 (to a lesser extent, since the PS1 is pretty much my wife's system), GameCube, Game Boy / Color, and Game Boy Advance. I've been continually finding myself feeling really frustrated with collecting because it seems like there's always so many games and peripherals I'd like to pick up for all of those systems, and every month I'm faced with the nail bitingly difficult task of deciding which system to spend the small amount of discretionary income I have on. That frustration and indecision has really taken a lot of the enjoyment out of collecting for me, so I feel like it's time to narrow my game collecting focus a bit.

 

Of those systems the only one I can safely say that I'll never sell a single game or accessory for is the Atari 2600, and I wouldn't dare touch the PS1 library since at least 80% of it is my wife's, but I'd really like to find a way to whittle down the rest so I can focus my collecting efforts on the Atari 2600 and one or two other systems. Any suggestions for how choose? Every system I'm currently collecting for has played a significant role in my life at one point or another, and they all feel special to me in their own way, so I could really use some insight on how to let go of some of them without feeling bad about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Jin

[Schizophretard]

You could get flash carts for systems that you feel you are more interested in playing than collecting for and then only collect the hardware/peripherals for them. Or maybe only collect the rarer carts. For an example, having stacks of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong,etc. carts for Nintendo systems doesn't feel really collectible to me because everyone could say,"I remember that." but having all those common games on a flash cart would make people say,"What kind of cart is that?!" because in a way they become rarer in that form. In other words, don't narrow down the systems you collect for but narrow down how you collect for them.

[SIO2]

Collect: Atari 2600, NES, Sega Genesis

 

Forget: PS1 (to a lesser extent, since the PS1 is pretty much my wife's system), GameCube, Game Boy / Color, and Game Boy Advance.

 

You are welcome.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Or if you want. Get an original xbox and soft mod it or install an xecuter chip and install a 500 gig hard drive. I have around 30 emulators with every single rom installed for each one including mame. And you can also softmod a Nintendo Wii and Wii U.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Thanks for the replies and insight you guys! I'll admit that I've always had a bit of a dislike for playing games off flash carts or emulators, because half the fun (probably more than half, if I'm being honest with myself) of retro gaming for me is hunting down physical copies of the games I want to play with the best condition labels I can find and enjoying holding the cartridge or jewel case in my hand, admiring the label art, reading the paper manual, etc. I'm someone who really enjoys the visceral aspects of physical media, and I've never been able to get into flash carts or emulators because of that. I wouldn't be opposed to getting a Harmony cart for the Atari 2600 at some point so I could use it to try out new homebrew titles that haven't gotten a physical cartridge release yet, and for testing out my own Atari 2600 games if I ever take the time to learn Batari Basic like I've been thinking about doing for the last few years, but outside of the 2600 I can't see myself ever owning a flash cart for any other system.

 

I have already soft modded my Wii to run the Homebrew Channel and tried out several different emulators for the systems I like on it, but playing the games emulated like that instead of off the original physical media just feels… unsatisfying. I know it shouldn't make any difference if the game looks and plays the same, but it just doesn't feel "real" to me. I think I'm just really not a emulation or flash cart kinda guy. In a way I suppose that's kinda funny since I play emulated arcade games all the time on the household multicade running an iCade 60-in-1 JAMMA board (which is based off a fairly old version of MAME) and that never bothers me, but I'm guessing that's just because they're arcade games as opposed to console games and I've plunked a whole lot of quarters into restaurant arcade machines running iCade 60-in-1 boards in the past before I got my own machine.

 

In any case, when I brought up the situation with a non-gamer friend of mine earlier tonight he had an interesting bit of advice that I hadn't considered. He suggested that I base my decision about which systems to collect for on which systems I actually play the most (as opposed to which ones I have the most nostalgia attached to), which reminded me that for the better part of half a year now the misses and I have been participating in the What have you actually PLAYED tracker for 2015 thread here on AtariAge. So, tonight I took some time to go back through the past 5 months worth of play time submissions that I've made to that thread and see what I actually play and enjoy the most. They were all total household play time submissions, so a fair bit of the time logged (mostly on the PS1 and NES) belonged to my wife, but it definitely gave me a more clear perspective on which systems I actually use the most and which ones sit on the shelf gathering dust.

 

For those interested in reading it, you can see the results for my household's Top 10 Most Played Systems & Games over the last 5 months in the spoiler tag below.

 

 

Top 10 Most Played Systems

1. Atari 2600: 4,547 minutes

2. Sony PlayStation: 3,706 minutes

3. Game Boy / Color: 2,778 minutes

4. Arcade: 2,644 minutes

5. NES: 2,332 minutes

6. Sega Genesis: 1,998 minutes

7. Android: 1,967 minutes

8. Game Boy Advance: 1,148 minutes

9. GameCube: 492 minutes

10. Wii: 395 minutes

Top 10 Most Played Games

1. The Pinball Arcade (Android) - 1,967 minutes

2. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PlayStation) - 1,096 minutes

3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PlayStation) - 1,003 minutes

4. Harvest Moon 2 GBC (Game Boy Color) - 707 minutes

5. Metroid (NES) - 598 minutes

6. Resident Evil: Survivor (PlayStation) - 501 minutes

7. Resident Evil (GameCube) - 492 minutes

8. Kirby's Adventure (NES) - 480 minutes

9. Atari Anniversary Advance (Game Boy Advance) - 434 minutes

10. Final Doom (PlayStation) - 434 minutes

 

 

 

What it taught me wasn't too surprising: I spend a ton of time playing Atari 2600, Game Boy / Color, and arcade games on the household multicade; and my wife spends a pretty fair chunk of her time playing PlayStation and NES. I'm not sure those results would make me feel any better about selling off the lesser played systems and games to help fund my collecting for the systems that I do actually play a lot, but it's certainly food for thought.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Jin

[carlsson]

From what I understand, the systems you might consider tinkering with would be the Genesis, GBA and Gamecube. Do you have any approximate figures how many games and peripherals you have for those systems, to get a feeling how much space you'll save if you get rid of them? As for financial matters, perhaps you can get multicarts or similar for the systems you decide to keep, plus your favorite games as originals.

 

Generally, what size is your collection? Are we talking a total of 200, 500, 1000 games filling shelves and drawers?

 

Personally, I am fond of owning many systems but just a handful of games for each but I've begun culling those systems that I really don't like or are not in functional state. Soon, I'll be able to hang a pair of jeans or sweaters in my wardrobe without them getting in the way of boxed computers filling the bottom of the wardrobe. More than once I've had the thought what would I've done if I (or someone I was living with) was wearing long dresses that should not be bundled up and wrinkled, but perhaps I had come up with a solution for that, a different place to store the boxed machines.

[Schizophretard]

Thanks for the replies and insight you guys! I'll admit that I've always had a bit of a dislike for playing games off flash carts or emulators, because half the fun (probably more than half, if I'm being honest with myself) of retro gaming for me is hunting down physical copies of the games I want to play with the best condition labels I can find and enjoying holding the cartridge or jewel case in my hand, admiring the label art, reading the paper manual, etc. I'm someone who really enjoys the visceral aspects of physical media, and I've never been able to get into flash carts or emulators because of that. I wouldn't be opposed to getting a Harmony cart for the Atari 2600 at some point so I could use it to try out new homebrew titles that haven't gotten a physical cartridge release yet, and for testing out my own Atari 2600 games if I ever take the time to learn Batari Basic like I've been thinking about doing for the last few years, but outside of the 2600 I can't see myself ever owning a flash cart for any other system.

I know exactly what you mean. The only flash cart I have so far is the Harmony Cart for the Atari 2600 but I still keep my original carts, manuals, few boxes, etc. It makes the playing more convenient because I don't have to change the cart but it also helps with the collecting because I can keep the games in good condition. I'm that way because I enjoy the hunt like you do but also enjoy the convenience of a flash cart. In other words, I use my flash cart for playing and carts for collecting. However, I also collect many systems like you and will eventually have to narrow my collection down. So, if I do narrow it down then I could either get rid of a system entirely or just get rid of the carts by using a flash cart which is most of the space and money I would be saving by giving up collecting for that system. Either option would be getting rid of the fun of the hunt and narrowing down my collection but at least with the second option I could still have the system just to play while other systems like the Atari 2600 I would still fully collect for. For me personally, it would be harder to give up a system entirely than just giving up collecting for it.

[mikey.shake]

I'm certainly a "casual" collector, but flash carts have actually helped me focus more on the games I *really* want on my shelf.

 

For instance, I've got an Everdrive N8 (NES/Famicom), fully loaded. So when I go to my local game stores now with my "gaming wishlist", it makes things clearer. Let's say I'm trying to decide between an NES copy of Castlevania III (on my list), an impulse-grab NES copy of Yo Noid, and a SNES copy of Maximum Carnage in that sweet red cart. Realizing that I can already play 2 of those games perfectly via original hardware (w/Everdrive in an NES) makes me look more at what I want to OWN (not just play!), now that "you've gotta buy a physical copy to play it" isn't necessarily a steadfast rule. Being able to play it on the N8 might rule out that impulse buy (YN) and keep me focused on either the games I'm really dedicated to having a physical copy of (CVIII), or a game on a different system that I can't otherwise play yet (MC)*.

 

Mostly, it's kept me focused on largely buying games I'm sure I want physical copies of. And frankly, it's made my NES cart collection better, and full of higher-quality games, leaving me time/money/resources to filling out my SNES shelf with the games I really want to play for that system. All the same stuff has happened with my 2600 collection after getting a Harmony Cart -- I'm much pickier about what carts I buy, and my collection has "improved" as a result. Higher quality titles throughout, and I can afford to be pickier on label condition if I want to be. My shelf is stocked with lots of good-condition (personal) classics and very little filler because of it. I still hunt carts, I still love buying original copies every weekend, but the flash carts have reined me in and made it easier to realize which games/system I really "need", on which systems.

 

(*For the record, I already own and love all three of those games.)

[+5-11under]

Keep all the different systems.

Sell all the games, except for your favorite ~8 for each system. Keep more than ~8 games for your favorite 1-3 systems.

[BydoEmpire]

I've unloaded big chunks of my collection over the last 5-10 years. What I ask myself is:

 

1) How often to I really play it, and do I see myself spending time with this console in the future?

2) Are there a lot more games for the system I want and haven't already played? Do I see myself actually wanting to spend money on games for a given system? Do you want that more than other systems?

3) Is there something specific I'd rather use the money for? For me, there was a lot of music & studio gear I really wantedd to buy - the way to fund it was to sell games. I use the music stuff almost every day, but some of those consoles & games I've sold sat on the shelf collecting dust for months on end. I didn't want to sell my games "just because."

 

I've never been a big emulation fan - it's convenient to try games I don't own, but it's not my preferred method of play. That said, the CV and Inty Flashbacks are geat, and there are lots of good sd card solutions for various systems that let you use real hardware. I've gone that route as a replacement for some systems and I'm perfectly happy.

 

FWIW, I've enjoyed focusing my efforts on fewer systems that I actually play.

[byonddrivn]

Jin,

I feel your pain. If it makes you feel any better I have about 10 totes (all from around 15-20 gal) full of games/peripherals/systems (& backup systems), 6 more small totes for manuals, about a dozen printer paper boxes for my boxes and that doesn't include my Vectrex collection & Adam computers plus my Wii and Xbox 360 games, which are in a cabinet. I live in a condo, so no basement, and I have little ones, so my game room has been turned into a bedroom which is why most of my collection is being stored for right now.

 

While I can't offer much in the way of sound advice, it seems the suggestions you're getting are good and you might have to pick the route most acceptable to you even if it's not the most desirable. I too have a similar dilemma. My resources are dwindling, my space is tight and my wish list & collection keep growing. I'm a little luckier in the fact that most of the cart based titles I want or play I already own and what I've been collecting for recently is disc based which, for me, means lots of modding. Due to a modchip in my PS & Saturn I can now play games without breaking the bank, I have a WASP Fusion in my Wii for GC and Wii games & an Acekard 2 for my DS so I can put games on an SD card and not take up more space with discs and cases, and soon I'll have my PS2 and Xbox modded as well which means both, less money and discs on a hard drive, so less space. It's allowed me to also check out games that I might later regret buying because I have different tastes then a lot of the reviews I read. I also have a modded SNES and there are many Japanese titles that are in english that can be picked up for cheaper. Yes, I don't get the satisfaction of having boxes, manuals, actual discs/carts but I'm really more a gamer than a collector, even if I am that to some extent. With my "must have" games or systems I try to shoot for getting a manual, with my "I do want" games I get the game and try to pick up the manual at a later date, and the others I just get the game. For example, I own almost no manuals for my INTV or O2, some for my 2600 & Genesis, and many for my SNES & Coleco, along with boxes. Disc based games have been easier since they come in a case with manual generally. I do own a 128-in-1 for my Coleco but that hasn't stopped me from growing that collection unfortunately.

 

Another alternate I've been dabbling in is picking up lots on eBay or Craigslist, culling what I want and selling the rest to achieve break even. I bought a PS2 the other day (my 4th now) only to get the light gun and a game I've been wanting, it was a newer fat model too so I will sell one of my older models and hopefully I will come out with a free game and gun.

 

I'll be monitoring this thread to see what other ideas pop up & maybe there's some win here.

[jhd]

Rather than shop online, just limit yourself to what you can find locally. This will put a natural constraint on how many games you can buy (and for which systems). That's my cardinal rule for collecting -- if it is not available in a local retail store (including used game shops), it simply does not exist in my world! I have purchased exactly two game through online retailers in the past 15 years; neither source was e-Bay.

 

Another alternative is to limit the collection to a specific genre that you really like -- sports games, shumps, RPGs,, etc. For example, I especially like classic game collections (PSX, PS 2), RPGs, and strategy games, and I will not sped any money on platformers or fighters. Sports games are, for the most part, dirt cheap and widely available.

[+Gemintronic]

Pick a theme. I've stopped collecting broadly and just focused on homebrew, unlicensed games and clone systems.

[thadsilverfox]

I feel like this is one of those posts that should start by me standing up at the front of the room and saying "My name is Jin and I have a problem". To cut right to the chase, the problem is that I've been collecting for way more systems than I can realistically afford to collect for; so I'm looking for advice on how to to reduce the number of systems I own and collect for without feeling like I've lost something precious in the process. I've tried a few times in the the past to whittle down the number of systems I collect for and was unsuccessful at doing so, mainly because I had some silly attachment of one kind or another to whatever system and it's corresponding game library that I was thinking about excising from my collection; so I could really use some advice from other collectors about how to moderate and focus my collecting down to just a couple systems.

 

For many people I imagine that collecting for several different systems wouldn't be a problem, but as someone who lives on a fixed income (and will be for the foreseeable future due to medical circumstances preventing me from working) I'm finding that there's just never enough money to go around for me to able to afford to collect for more than a couple systems. At this point I've been actively collecting for the Atari 2600, NES, Sega Genesis, PS1 (to a lesser extent, since the PS1 is pretty much my wife's system), GameCube, Game Boy / Color, and Game Boy Advance. I've been continually finding myself feeling really frustrated with collecting because it seems like there's always so many games and peripherals I'd like to pick up for all of those systems, and every month I'm faced with the nail bitingly difficult task of deciding which system to spend the small amount of discretionary income I have on. That frustration and indecision has really taken a lot of the enjoyment out of collecting for me, so I feel like it's time to narrow my game collecting focus a bit.

 

Of those systems the only one I can safely say that I'll never sell a single game or accessory for is the Atari 2600, and I wouldn't dare touch the PS1 library since at least 80% of it is my wife's, but I'd really like to find a way to whittle down the rest so I can focus my collecting efforts on the Atari 2600 and one or two other systems. Any suggestions for how choose? Every system I'm currently collecting for has played a significant role in my life at one point or another, and they all feel special to me in their own way, so I could really use some insight on how to let go of some of them without feeling bad about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Don't get rid of any of them. Use them for testing games and consoles that are missing cords that you find at thrift stores, garage/yard sales, and estate sales. Take those tested games/consoles and resell them for a profit, and use that money to purchase the stuff you really want. My whole collection has cost $0 and I just started in February. I must own like 15 consoles now with numerous games as well as like 8 handheld systems. Sounds like you have free time to make this a reality.

[fiddlepaddle]

Threads like this seem to come up regularly from time to time, so I guess it's pretty common.

 

It sounds like your real issue is money spent, not space, and those are really two different things. I've found after I play many games, I realize it's nothing I can't live without. There are usually only a small number of games for any system I find I really want.

 

Also, what I always try to do is only buy something if it's a really good deal and I know I won't lose money when/if I sell. Sometimes it hard to be that way, but it means I'll usually come out ahead by selling something I've played with. Then it's just a matter of making choices about what I don't want.

 

The flashcart route is great for saving space. Like you, I also like the physical aspect of real carts, and I haven't actually gotten rid of my Colecovision carts yet, but I've been using a flashcart with it for a couple of years now, and I never even remove it anymore. I think at this point I just keep them "just in case the flashcart stops working".

 

I also really like the Gameboy stuff, and find I play it a lot. But there are consoles I haven't used in many years and after a certain point, it's obvious I don't need them anymore. I haven't touched my PS2 in at least 5 years. And I have an Xbox I've never even plugged in. And there are others just taking up space, which is my scarcity right now.

 

Something I've found, though, is that I go through phases, and get interested in game types or systems I haven't played in a while. So I do keep things around I have fond memories of, even if I don't find them presently engrossing.

[Lentzquest]

The original post makes it sound like you've already chosen and don't want to admit it. 2600 & PS1. Pick up flash carts for the rest.

 

If space becomes a major concern then focus on the Game boy lines. I sizable collection there still fits in a small tote.

[Flojomojo]

I suspect most people on this forum have this problem to some extent. I know I do. I recently (re)discovered my 3DS's system log, which tracks the amount of time I spend on playing each game in total, and per session. The most depressing part is how many things were barely touched. I know why of course -- we favor the new (I recently developed a habit of coming here to AA and clicking the "check new content" link), and because we are searching for the thing that will hold our attention. Or make us happy, whatever that is.

 

My 3DS stats pretty much prove that Sturgeon assertion that "90% of everything is crud," yet I hold on to the stuff I bought because I might like to play with it someday.

 

CAUTION, PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOLLOW.

 

1. If you're really into the thrill of the hunt, maybe that's what you should focus on, and leave the transactions, shipping, and physical collecting out of it. I believe that you can scratch that collecting itch pretty well with Pinterest. Make a board of stuff you like, sort things, catalog them, find other photos elsewhere and stick it where it belongs. Make copies! They're only pictures.

 

2. You could do the same kind of thing with your collection -- photograph and catalog it, then stick it somewhere in a sealed box for a year or two. If you haven't touched it, it's ready to ship to Ebay. If you miss it, you have some photos.

 

3. YouTube! OMG, I think much of my 1980s/1990s hoarding behavior was just curiosity to see something in action for myself, especially when the only alternatives were magazine reviews and screenshots. Watching someone play a mediocre game is often a better experience than playing it yourself. You can sort and slice and dice and even download videos, add them to channels, hoard them on disks ... again, simulating the collection experience but in a less tangible (though probably no less useless) way.

 

I put a pre-emptive thumb in the eye of anyone who says, "bbbbbut --- financial speculation! some of this $hit is worth a lot of money!" Answer: not really, not in the scheme of things, and certainly not on average. It's not like flipping houses.

[Nebulon]

For modern systems it's pretty easy to reduce things down, since the PS4 and Xbox One are pretty much the same system running a lot of the same games. The PS3 and 360 have a similar dynamic. In either case, pick one of the two platforms.

 

For retro systems, consider which ones you actually enjoy gaming on. Then look for similarities between systems and games.

 

An MSX-1 and an SG-1000 are mighty similar. Maybe just pick the SG-1000.

 

Lose the PS1 in favor of a PS2.

 

I also like the comment about limiting your collection to games that you actually play. Leave out the rest.

[HoshiChiri]

Perhaps, rather than sell off systems, you should just pick a few to not buy for right now. I've got about twice the systems you do, and limited money to buy for them as well. Just keeping a couple of focus systems in mind helps me a lot- for example, I have no idea when I last bought a NES cart, or a PS2 game. As my two largest collections, I'm often hard-pressed to think of anything I'd be hunting for them, so I don't. Right now I'm really only buying for Atari (lots of cheap, good commons I don't own out there), Master System and N64 (my two newest, so smallest selection.) To be honest, I'm really not buying that much for N64, either- I didn't realize it was in a bubble market right now, so I grabbed a couple choice titles to have something to play. Otherwise, I'm being pretty picky on that one.

 

Buying locally is good advice- Ebay makes things way too easy. Keeping things limited to what you can pick up in person can really help curb frivolous buys, especially if you have good discipline and hold out for specific wants.

 

Be very careful about keeping want lists- it's easy to add games to a want list on a whim, then promptly forget about them the moment they're bought. Try to only use want lists for a few choice hard-to-find titles or favorite series you might need help keeping track of. Otherwise, if it can't stick in your head on its own, do you really need it?

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Flash carts are a nice way to slim down collecting. That's the route I went for 16-bit consoles, currently selling off my SNES games in fact.

 

I pretty much only collect 8-bit stuff anymore, with exception of N64.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Thank you to everyone of the abundance of really good ideas and collecting advice! I really wish I could take the time to reply to all of you individually, but that could take literally an entire day of typing. I will say though that I have read each and every one of your posts and given everything that all of you have had to say thorough consideration. After taking a few days consider peoples' advice here's where I'm at at this point:

 

 

The original post makes it sound like you've already chosen and don't want to admit it.

 

It sounds like your real issue is money spent, not space, and those are really two different things.

 

Perhaps, rather than sell off systems, you should just pick a few to not buy for right now.

 

I go through phases, and get interested in game types or systems I haven't played in a while. So I do keep things around I have fond memories of, even if I don't find them presently engrossing.

 

You guys (and everyone who said similar things) all hit the nail on the head. I have more than enough space to store my game libraries with plenty of room to spare, it's just an issue of deciding which systems to dedicate my limited financial resources to collecting for. And I already know which systems I play the most: Atari 2600, Game Boy / Color, and PS1. Between those three I get a really good variety of gameplay options, from the arcade style gameplay of the Atari 2600 to the "half hour adventure" style quick fix gaming of the Game Boy / Color, and the longer more engrossing games of the PS1 when I want to play something with serious depth to it.

 

Those are the systems that I enjoy playing—and thus collecting for—the most, but I don't think that means I should run out and sell off my Sega Genesis, NES, Game Boy Advance SP, and GameCube. I may not play those systems as much right now, but they're still systems that I play now and then for certain titles or types of gameplay that I just don't think are done as well on other systems. I tend to go through phases with my gaming habits, and there are months where almost all I'll play are some of those systems that I don't usually play as often. I love the Genesis for the early Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Sonic titles, the NES for it's light gun shooters and classic Mario and Zelda games, the Game Boy Advance for it's abundance of classic game ports in just about every genre imaginable made portable, and the GameCube for a few select titles that just aren't on any other system (I'm looking at you, Star Fox Adventures) and it's Game Boy Player for enjoying all the Game Boy games I like to collect at home on a larger screen. In short, there's a good reason I decided to add all of these consoles to my retro gaming center, and while I may not play some as much as others, I know for a fact that I would really miss the games they had to offer if I got rid of any of them.

 

With that in mind, I think the best thing to do is to hold onto all of my systems and just narrow my collecting focus to say "I'm only going to collect for the Atari 2600 and Game Boy / Color until the spring". Then once the spring comes I can evaluate my game library and pick a different system or two to collect for if I feel like my interests have shifted a bit and there are other systems that I'd like to play more frequently and devote more attention to. From there I can collect for whatever two systems I choose during the spring and summer, and pick a different two when the fall comes around again. I do think I'm going to sell off some of the games for a couple of the systems that I know I'll never play, or at least can't imagine myself or my wife wanting to play at any point in the foreseeable future, but I am going to hold onto the systems themselves and all the games that I really enjoy and like to play on them. The only exception might be the Game Boy Advance SP, which I'm thinking of putting up for sale just so I can replace it with an original Game Boy Advance that's been modded with the backlit screen from an AGS-101 SP; but that's just because I'm tired of going through proprietary lithium ion battery packs for the SP and would rather have a GBA that ran off longer lasting and easy to replace rechargeable AA batteries. Other than that though, I think my systems will be staying right where they are.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Jin

[darthkur]

Don't get rid of anything. You'll regret it eventually. Only buy stuff when it's a bargain. Don't focus on any particular item as a must have to be acquired immediately, no matter what. That's when you end up spending far more than you want to or can afford. Just get things when you stumble across them at a great price not matter what system they're for. It's takes more patients this way, which can be horribly frustrating, but getting something for a great deal more than makes up for it. Yes, there are always exceptions, especially with super rare stuff and limited run items, where if it's not bought immediately the odds of getting it later are slim to none. I'm on a limited income as well and I have to accept that items like that I'll probably never have the opportunity to own. I'd rather have a bunch of other stuff to enjoy versus spending the same amount on one really pricey item.

[TPA5]

Heaps of good advice, so there isn't much I can add except a personal anecdote.

 

Over the past year I have sold my Dreamcast, Original Xbox, PS1, Atari 2600 (ouch), Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance SP collections. Why? Because I simply did not play them. I would purchase a game, play it for a few minutes, then stick it in a box with the rest of the stuff. I realized it was the hunt and purchase that got me, not even the actual playing of the game. When I really considered it I spent most of the time in which I was able to sit down and play games using my PC for my GOG and Steam libraries, and my Gamecube. After I came to this conclusion, I decided to bite the bullet and sell off the systems I simply wasn't using. It was definitely difficult, and every time a system left my house I had moments of regret. There was also times I was tempted to buy back the systems, but I just rode it out and told myself it was for the better. Ultimately, it was actually for the better. Once the "pain" of letting the systems go faded, I realized I enjoyed my time collecting more than I had before, because I was working on collecting or playing things I really cared about. Now, when I get a Gamecube game, it feels more special and I actually dedicate some time to playing it. It hurt in the short-term to let the systems go, but now I honestly never even miss them. I also appreciated being able to use the cash to pay off some debts we had and get rid of credit cards.

 

I felt like a bit of a weight had been lifted, and I am much more relaxed now that I only purchase games for a couple systems. Whatever you decide, just make sure it brings you some kind of inner-peace, that's what matters in the end. It's all just stuff when all is said and done.

Edited October 30, 2015 by TPA5

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Heaps of good advice, so there isn't much I can add except a personal anecdote.

 

Over the past year I have sold my Dreamcast, Original Xbox, PS1, Atari 2600 (ouch), Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance SP collections. Why? Because I simply did not play them. I would purchase a game, play it for a few minutes, then stick it in a box with the rest of the stuff. I realized it was the hunt and purchase that got me, not even the actual playing of the game. When I really considered it I spent most of the time in which I was able to sit down and play games using my PC for my GOG and Steam libraries, and my Gamecube. After I came to this conclusion, I decided to bite the bullet and sell off the systems I simply wasn't using. It was definitely difficult, and every time a system left my house I had moments of regret. There was also times I was tempted to buy back the systems, but I just rode it out and told myself it was for the better. Ultimately, it was actually for the better. Once the "pain" of letting the systems go faded, I realized I enjoyed my time collecting more than I had before, because I was working on collecting or playing things I really cared about. Now, when I get a Gamecube game, it feels more special and I actually dedicate some time to playing it. It hurt in the short-term to let the systems go, but now I honestly never even miss them. I also appreciated being able to use the cash to pay off some debts we had and get rid of credit cards.

 

I felt like a bit of a weight had been lifted, and I am much more relaxed now that I only purchase games for a couple systems. Whatever you decide, just make sure it brings you some kind of inner-peace, that's what matters in the end. It's all just stuff when all is said and done.

 

 

Thank you for sharing your story TPA5! That was a really good read and, frankly, I'd love to get to where you are some day. I do feel like my collecting and gaming experiences would be a lot more relaxed and enjoyable if I had less systems to focus on, and I know exactly what you mean when it comes to buying a game, playing it for a few minutes, then sticking it on a shelf where it will remain untouched for the next 6 months or so until I one day decide to break it out, play it for a few minutes, then put it back on the shelf to gather dust. It never feels good to spend money on things you won't actually use, but there's always that "collector compulsion" there in the back of your head insisting that you should be acquiring more stuff that you probably won't play all that often.

 

And you're right, it is all just stuff. None of it is anything that can't be lived without, it's all just luxury items for a bored gamer with nostalgia for "the old days" to fill their free time with. Now, if only I could come to terms with the idea of letting go of some of it. Inner-peace doesn't always come easy. #FirstWorldProblems

[TPA5]

 

 

Thank you for sharing your story TPA5! That was a really good read and, frankly, I'd love to get to where you are some day. I do feel like my collecting and gaming experiences would be a lot more relaxed and enjoyable if I had less systems to focus on, and I know exactly what you mean when it comes to buying a game, playing it for a few minutes, then sticking it on a shelf where it will remain untouched for the next 6 months or so until I one day decide to break it out, play it for a few minutes, then put it back on the shelf to gather dust. It never feels good to spend money on things you won't actually use, but there's always that "collector compulsion" there in the back of your head insisting that you should be acquiring more stuff that you probably won't play all that often.

 

And you're right, it is all just stuff. None of it is anything that can't be lived without, it's all just luxury items for a bored gamer with nostalgia for "the old days" to fill their free time with. Now, if only I could come to terms with the idea of letting go of some of it. Inner-peace doesn't always come easy. #FirstWorldProblems

 

You're very welcome! I will say that it was a journey to get to the point where I was able to let those things go, it certainly was not overnight (though I wish I could claim to possess herculean self-will).

 

I do understand what you mean about "collector compulsion", as even now I am occasionally tempted to pick up an old system again. Usually I ask myself when I am tempted, "What specific moments do I hope to have with this console?", and "What is the exact reason I have for purchasing this?". If the answers aren't something concrete such as, "I want this system because it has these specific games I can only play on this system, and I will play them often." then I realize it's most likely something I can live without.

 

I feel that the desire to obtain things isn't so much a selfish first-world desire, but more of a base neurological process. Back when we were hunter-gatherers, we were wired for "the hunt". We set a goal in our minds (obtaining food) then put all our resources towards that end. During the hunt the brain would release doses of dopamine the closer we came to obtaining food, and finally when we did obtain it (gather the berries, down the animal) we received a surge of pleasure as a "reward". These days we don't do much hunting, but our brains are still wired for that drive. So we find other things to hunt for to find the same dopamine releases. That's why almost universally collectors find the hunt more satisfying than whatever particular item they obtain. The good news is we aren't slaves to those impulses. Like anything, with time and continual reinforcement, we can change how we respond to those desires. Even starting as simple as boxing up your least-used system and having a friend or family member store it, well out of your reach may help. What you are doing is slowly reinforcing in your mind that it is okay to be without that system. The longer you go, the less your mind hungers for it. Of course, this also requires that you stop hunting for anything related to that particular system to truly work (i.e. not looking up anything related to the NES for example), but that's part of the effort. At the same time, if you continue collecting for and playing your favorite system(s), you'll still give your brain that thrill of the hunt it is asking for. I'm not a psychologist, but you may just find your desire for other systems decreases to the point where you may feel confident enough to let some go. The single most important thing to remember is give yourself time. Don't try to rush through everything, or you'll make yourself miserable. If you feel that you may want to consider reducing your systems, just take it slow and steady. Our minds prefer gradual curves, not sudden turns.

 

All that being said, I wouldn't dare to try and tell you what you should or shouldn't do. That is simply what worked for me, and I found much peace with myself. What works for you may be quite different than what worked for me.

 

Next, I have to take a look at liquidating my camera collection! Not looking forward to it, but again when I realized that I never touched them I knew the time has come to let them go.