Atari collector demographics

[Keatah]

We're going to have to agree to disagree, because..

 

Bullcrap. I get the same benefit experiencing it as an adult as you did experiencing it in your youth AND as an adult.

 

Playing it for the first times in 2012 is the same as me having played it in winter'77. It's the first time. So you get the benefit. You will note in mid-2020's, remembering this post, So THAT'S what nostalgia is..! But not before.

 

 

Memory reference or lack thereof doesn't magically change what happens when you plug in a cart and toggle the power switch.

That's right, the physical experience is same. The game experience should be the same. With the same games, with the same display, same console. In 15 years from now the emotions associated with it will have matured, simmered on the pot, and be moderately different. Be of more contrast. Don't worry. You'll get there. Nostalgia won't pass you by.

When you plug in a cart, turn it on, and get going, That isn't nostalgia. That is an individual experience. Self-contained, like anything else. Distinct. Separate. Time is required to bring it all together.

It may make you think of the 70's or 80's but the nostalgia is for those times, and not for Atari.

 

And noone would collect for anything they didn't own as a child, much less buy new and exciting homebrew for that matter, if this "nostalgia" if applied in the strictest dictionary sense, were the sole motivation for collecting.

 

Many people collect for many things they didn't have as a kid. New collections are born every day for every thing imaginable.

 

So in the whole definition of nostalgia is a return to childhood, period, which brings my next point:

 

That is the antithesis of your dictionary nostalgia definition. Name one individual, who as a kid, had a whole bookshelf or even an entire wall dedicated to Atari 2600, or NES carts? Who, as a kid, had 12 systems hooked up to the poor little TV all at once? Nobody. I'm sure even rich millionaire kids didn't do this. More than likely you had a few crappy game carts scattered across the floor with dirty socks and underwear, and a crusty slice of half-eaten pizza laying on top of the NES (or Atari), while your best friend was lying on the bed trying to look up tips on where to find the warp whistle in the latest issue of Nintendo Power.

 

Anyone who looks upon their game collection and thinks "herein between these walls lies my entire childhood" is delusional. And a wall of perfectly curated CIB games is not a realistic childhood dream either, it's a man-boy collectard fantasy. A childhood dream opening your bedroom closet and finding a Chuck-E-Cheese parlor or Aladdin's Castle tucked away in there, with all you can eat pizza and all the games on freeplay. After you've had your fill of games and pizza, you hop on top of that beast from Never Ending Story and fly around through the sky like Peter Pan, high on pixie stix dust.

 

That's about the speed of things.. Except I did have the arcade in my closet and a computer store in my bedroom. I won't get into it because I do not have the photos scanned to back it up. I prefer to avoid nagging and poking for the moment.

 

We're looking into getting a conservationist to recover them from a waterlogged box.

 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Keatah

[atarilovesyou]

Never? You never had a memory that takes you back and kind of gives you a feeling of missing it? Like maybe it is Christmas and you remember ones where a grandparent was still alive. Then you feel kind of happy and sad at the same time. You feel happy because they are good memories but sad too because you wish they were still here this Christmas? Or maybe you hear an old song that you like or maybe even one that you don't but it still triggers memories that you miss because they were good? Or you look at a pet cat or dog that are now old and lazy but miss when they were youthful, cute, and playful? Etc.? It just seems like there would have to be some memories that were good enough to make you feel happy when thinking about them but also have a kind of homesick like sad feeling because they are lost to the past.

 

For me, it's one thing to let memories take me back to a time...but a totally thing altogether to actually WANT something like that to happen. That's why I think the psychological aspect of nostalgia is viewed as, by professionals anyway, as detrimental: you simply CAN'T go back. Hell, even when you 'can' go back to your hometown, visit an old friend, etc, years after the fact? It's not the same. You're not the same. It just ain't the same. Sure, it's a real trip to do that kinda stuff...a few years ago I was lucky enough to go back to my old high school and explore around...it's kinda deserted these days. But in the empty rooms, the old gym, the stairwell that I used to make out with CZ ...that's the stuff that really blew my mind. That this place may be old and empty now, but in my teen years, it was FULL of action...it was my world, lol. Every room told a different story. I really wished I brought a camera that day, but...no matter, it was a surreal experience.

 

I would never want to actually RETURN to that time period, however, lol. I had my fun and I moved on. I enjoy the memories, though. And that's nostalgia, to me...enjoying the same things today that I enjoyed then, albeit in a different light. That's a healthy thing, to me...there's no negativity in my definition or experience of nostalgia, 'my' definition of nostalgia (as incorrect as it may be, but until someone comes up with a better word, I'm using this one). And I never feel like I want to go back, because at least as far as music, movies, video games, books...I have ALL that stuff now, it's right in my basement Memories of loved ones passed, well that's something entirely different in my opinion. Pretty hard to compare human beings to inanimate objects from our youth. Of course I miss those who have passed away, but haven't gotten to the point of nostalgia. Who knows, I'll let you know in a few decades how that changes. I'm sure it may, but for now we're talking video games.

 

Another thing I'll speak to: Collectard. I don't like the term. If you want to get a rise out of me, lol, call me a collectard. I've read the gripes here that people have with some of us who collect physical media, and to be honest, it largely goes unheeded. I collect stuff. I collect a lot of stuff. All of it has its place, and a focus. Some of it is worth something (in monetary terms), some of it is only valuable to me. Collecting is something that humans have been doing since the dawn of time, and I refuse to think that what I do is somehow dumb just because a few people on the internet deem it so. Collecting vs hoarding vs buying up all stocks in order to make money off limited supply are NOT the same thing. I would encourage those of you who think negatively of collecting video games, stamps, bottlecaps, whatever, to go easy on the negativity. Life's too short to throw insults at others in such a niche community. As long as someone's not hoarding, or causing harm to themselves, collecting video games has gotta be one of the coolest hobbies around. It just seems many here have had negative experiences with some aspect of it, and have now become preachers...preaching to the 'collectards' and their non-sensical ways. That's great for you if you got tired of the storage issues, or the money issues, or whatever other issues lead you away from collecting. I'm honestly happy for those of you who shifted their focus away from the physical media and still get the same kick out of the hobby. But please, don't judge or insult me for how I go about the hobby on my own terms. And don't be surprised if you hear me call you out on your use of 'collectard'.

 

Speaking of the 'wall of MISB games'...what's the big deal? Name me one kid who didn't DROOL at the thought of such a thing back in the 80s! And now it can be done, and has been done. I know a few of them myself. At least one has moved on, sold his stuff and hasn't looked back. He's no longer in the retro aspect of the hobby, he just felt like it was a drag. I benefited a lot from picking up many titles for my own collection. And having his collection in my collection just makes even MORE memories and stories...that's what I love most about retrogaming: the story telling aspect, the fact I can pick up any game I own and tell you (or anybody who's interested) just why this game is special to me and is in my collection. Yes, a few of those games will only have a short story, including "I only own this game because it's valuable on the secondary market, and I have no desire to sell it"...but not many. Having a collection that is too large, too cluttered and unfocused can be a drag for sure. I've never let mine get to that point, other than when I had a literal garbage bag full of VCS games back in the early 90s (that went missing before the end of the decade, grrrr). I would have killed for a nice MISB collection just to remind me of what Sears used to look like back in the early 80s during Christmas. I harbour no ill will towards those collectors, and they are certainly not 'collectards'. Even the assholes out there who do it strictly for the money (what little money it does in fact bring)...those are collectors, and just like there's many types of people, there's asshole collectors and there's awesome collectors. Why on earth would I start to focus my anger or disdain on the hobby rather than the actions of the person(s)? No hobby should be negative, ultimately...the whole point is to have fun. And I do, man, I do. Not everybody gets it, understands it, but hey, that's ok too. It only has to make sense to ME, and it does. I don't expect my family or kids to get it either, but it sure is a lot more fun to have others around to enjoy the hobby in all its aspects. And I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like Medieval Madness on my VCS

 

Anyways, that's my thoughts on that.

Edited June 21, 2017 by atarilovesyou

[Keatah]

I'm glad I got away from collecting. It consumed too much time. And with me tending to be a completist it would be an endless source of frustration. And most collections in the public consciousness seem to ALWAYS have a few unobtainables. It's like they are put there for evil and just to piss people off. Lesser-known, less popular things, don't have that problem too much. So yeh, I don't do that anymore.

[Andromeda Stardust]

That would be nostalgia for the other older time. Not nostalgia for Atari.

 

Also, if you knew of something decades ago, and really really wanted it, you will have imagined doing some of it in your head at the time. And then it would be nostalgia for those imaginations. Not the actual thing. Many folks see that as a gray area, yet nostalgia remains specific in that you have to have experienced it, waited a long time, then want to experience it again.

Like the NES I literally begged my parents for every year as a kid, even sat in Santa's lap despite being too big for my britches (to try and trick my parents into buying one), then as an early teen they finally bought me one, stowed it in the attick for Christmas, and forgot about? So my childhood fantasy of opening that shiny new NES Action Set was fulfilled, only when I was 21 years old. I came home one day from college, and there's a CIB NES and a brand new CRT TV sitting on my bed. I nearly jerzed n mah pantz. Except that MEME didn't exist in 2002...

 

Seriously mom, who buys an NES for their son then forgets about it for ten years? And it was a brilliant move. I would not be on this forum right now were it not for that NES she stowed away and forgot. Also I was headed down a dark path in my early 20s. Perhaps NES helped me channel that energy into a new direction...

[Andromeda Stardust]

That's about the speed of things.. Except I did have the arcade in my closet and a computer store in my bedroom. I won't get into it because I do not have the photos scanned to back it up. I prefer to avoid nagging and poking for the moment.

 

We're looking into getting a conservationist to recover them from a waterlogged box.

Photos got wet? Stuck together you say? Simple solution: run water over them. They'll unstick. No damage. Now hop to it. No excuses. Give us those scanned photos. And no, a Polaroid of a 200-in-1 electronics project kit from Radio Shack stuffed in your closet, with half the components missing, does not count as a computer store. I had like ten of those stuffed in my closet!

[Schizophretard]

 

For me, it's one thing to let memories take me back to a time...but a totally thing altogether to actually WANT something like that to happen. That's why I think the psychological aspect of nostalgia is viewed as, by professionals anyway, as detrimental: you simply CAN'T go back. Hell, even when you 'can' go back to your hometown, visit an old friend, etc, years after the fact? It's not the same. You're not the same. It just ain't the same. Sure, it's a real trip to do that kinda stuff...a few years ago I was lucky enough to go back to my old high school and explore around...it's kinda deserted these days. But in the empty rooms, the old gym, the stairwell that I used to make out with CZ ...that's the stuff that really blew my mind. That this place may be old and empty now, but in my teen years, it was FULL of action...it was my world, lol. Every room told a different story. I really wished I brought a camera that day, but...no matter, it was a surreal experience.

 

I would never want to actually RETURN to that time period, however, lol. I had my fun and I moved on. I enjoy the memories, though. And that's nostalgia, to me...enjoying the same things today that I enjoyed then, albeit in a different light. That's a healthy thing, to me...there's no negativity in my definition or experience of nostalgia, 'my' definition of nostalgia (as incorrect as it may be, but until someone comes up with a better word, I'm using this one). And I never feel like I want to go back, because at least as far as music, movies, video games, books...I have ALL that stuff now, it's right in my basement Memories of loved ones passed, well that's something entirely different in my opinion. Pretty hard to compare human beings to inanimate objects from our youth. Of course I miss those who have passed away, but haven't gotten to the point of nostalgia. Who knows, I'll let you know in a few decades how that changes. I'm sure it may, but for now we're talking video games.

 

I don't think your definition is outside of the actual definition to need a new word because if there was a distinction where literally wanting to go back is being within the definition and enjoying the memories and the same things in a different light in the present is outside of the definition then those who you would count as being within the definition would display different behavior. They wouldn't be doing the same things as you by going back the only way that is possible by just bringing the past to the present and enjoying it in a different light but instead would be doing things like obsessing over making time machines because displaying the same behavior as you wouldn't be good enough.

 

I also don't think there is a distinction where the actual definition contains a negative meaning and your own contains a positive meaning because the actual definition contains both negative and positive meanings. It has both a homesick feeling and being home feeling mixed together. You enjoying the memories and the same things in a different light is the being home feeling. You coming home to discover that someone broke into your house to steal it all would be the homesick feeling because now instead of being able to enjoy these things you would be yearning for these objects from the past. In other words, your home would feel less like home and the nostalgic feeling would go from a positive to a negative.

 

I don't really take issue with the positive and negative meanings of it. It is more of the negative connotations people apply to it kind of like how you feel about the word collectard. I find it annoying when people claim that nostalgia is somehow impairing my judgement. For an example, my preference for CRT's. If I claim that I think that retro games often look better on CRT's then the rebuttal is that nostalgia is clouding my judgement because it can't possibly really look better to me. If only I was cured of nostalgia the "optical illusion" of flat panels looking like MS Paint would disappear and I would be able to see that retro games "objectively" look better on flat panels. But if I turn around the same argument on them that them enjoying retro games even on flat panels is from nostalgia because if they were cured they would be able to see that modern games are "objectively" more fun then they wouldn't accept that explanation because they "know" that only I have the "disease" and they don't. It is also annoying when they claim that my "disease" has to be consistent by only using a CRT that existed when the retro console in question was on the market or even to the extreme as the exact model I once owned. But again, if I turn it around where they have to be consistent by only hooking up consoles that were or still are on the market at the time they bought their flat panel they apply the same double standard again.

 

They can't seem to grasp the concepts that my preferences aren't being clouded by nostalgia affecting my judgement and that what I mean by the authentic experience isn't an exact replica of my past but replicating what I would have considered the ideal experience in the past even if it wasn't an option yet. For an example, playing an a/v modded Atari on a good CRT made in the late 90's while using a Harmony Cart still feels like an authentic experience because back in the 80's those were the kind of things I was feeling were lacking from the experience and hoping would later be added to the experience. Why would I want to replicate what I saw as lacking along with what I saw that wasn't? I think that would be more of an example of nostalgia clouding my judgement because replicating what I felt was lacking and somehow being able to turn that into a positive because the authentic experience requires me to still be in a state of hoping for these kind of improvements while knowing that these improvements already exists seems a little bat shit to me. If part of the authentic experience for me back then was aiming for the ideal then it is just as authentic for me to aim for the same today. For an example, having the exact same Atari games I had then would be authentic but so would having all the games I didn't back then because back then I wanted them. Having the games I had and the ones I didn't is authentic because it is the ideal experience I was wanting back then but was lacking at the time. I don't want to replicate a museum exhibit of my past. I want to replicate the ideal of my past. To me that is the authentic experience of enjoying retro gaming. Enjoy the ideal instead of a re-run.

 

Yes, people and inanimate objects are different things but you can still feel nostalgic feelings for both and they could be tied together. For an example, I don't just love my parents for who they are today but who they were in the past. I also don't just love the nature of our relationship now but also how it was in the past. I kind of miss it and I think they kind of do too. I can feel a little homesick and they could feel a little empty nest. So, sometimes I put myself in a position where they are the parents and I am the kid to fulfill both our needs. Like maybe I'm having car trouble, could ask others which shops they would recommend, and get a ride from someone. But instead I ask my dad which shop he recommends and ask my mom for a ride. Then later when they are dead I would still have the other options in a similar situation and wouldn't really need them to get my car running but I emotionally would. And not just because I'm missing two adults on an equal level with me being an adult but also because these two adults are the only ones I'm capable of putting myself in a position of being the kid again. In other words, I would feel like an adult that misses two adults and like an orphan child missing parents at the same time. I would miss daddy and dad. I would miss mommy and mom. I would miss everything about who they were from my birth until their deaths. When those days come I would feel very homesick. That would be the negative side of nostalgia. But hopefully there would be the positive side too like things that put a smile on my face from triggering good memories. For an example, right now my little brother has a little boy and girl. The boy looks identical to Papaw, dad, and I. When people say he looks just like me instead of my brother it annoys the shit out of him but I love it. And the little girl makes me think,"I have a Chinese niece!" So, maybe as they grow up they would start looking even more like my parents and start to show similar personality traits. In a way, it would be like my parents are alive again. Or maybe I will look in the mirror someday and see the same old man that I see when I look at my dad today. Then cry and smile at the same time. Hopefully a version of my dad with hair and teeth still though. LOL!

 

An example, of people and inanimate objects being tied together would be the thought of having Street Fighter 2 in the Super NES with no one to pick up the second controller. That isn't just a lonely feeling but a nostalgic one. All the neighborhood kids fighting for their turn, everyone talking shit, people throwing controllers out of frustration, kicking ass over the thrown controllers being broken, etc. is Street Fighter 2. A lot of games require that social aspect. And nostalgia is "clouding" my judgement that doing it online isn't the same. Maybe someday I'll get to be an old man and say,"Hey, kid! Get the fuck off my lawn and pick up this controller!" Then when the cop comes hopefully it is an old dude near retirement that understands what I was trying to accomplish wasn't an example of pediphilia and he picks up the controller, we talk shit, he throws and breaks my controller, I throw his hat and yell,"What the fuck, Barney Fife?!", he gets offended and puts me in handcuffs, I bribe him with a game of Twisted Metal and say that he can use the Outlaw cop car, I notice he is winning so I distract him by throwing a donut across the room, he gets offended again, etc.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

...

 

Mmm 'kay?

 

= = = = = = = =

 

I think surrounding ourselves with old tech is the closest one can get to genuine time travel. But the collection is new and old stuff, kind of a cornucopia of all video game generations rolled into the mixing pot. Plenty of people collect antiquated items that predate their own birth so it isn't strictly about reliving the past, but experiencing all the flavors of past generations.

 

And the "collectard" argument is overblown. Yes, people get offended by it's use. It isn't meant to be interpreted as some sort of mental deficiency of the video game collector, though some may interpret it that way. Some people don't make rational buying choices or stick to their financial means. The guy buying everything in sight, and then selling it all at a loss when he can't pay the mortgage is a prime example.

 

And some people make the transition at some point from retro gamer to museum curator, forgetting the whole reason why they started the hobby was to play games, not stare at a wall of CIB games all day. That wall will have "holes" in it, and those "holes" will eventually drive the collector insane. The walls of games become a prison cell. So I used the term primarily to differentiate when it goes from being a fun hobby to being a disorder. That is a line never want to cross...

 

I am severe ADHD and I know others in the forums who have Aspergers or other disorders. I would never apply the "-ard" part to anyone, ever. Just people need to lighten up and not be PC police. "Collectard" is simply someone who makes unwise or uninformed buying or collecting decisions. If collecting gets in the way of family, finances, job, then it becomes a problem.

[Schizophretard]

Mmm 'kay?

 

= = = = = = = =

 

I think surrounding ourselves with old tech is the closest one can get to genuine time travel. But the collection is new and old stuff, kind of a cornucopia of all video game generations rolled into the mixing pot. Plenty of people collect antiquated items that predate their own birth so it isn't strictly about reliving the past, but experiencing all the flavors of past generations.

That makes sense. Some even collect things that have nothing to do with past generations. For an example, I have a fossil collection.

 

And the "collectard" argument is overblown. Yes, people get offended by it's use. It isn't meant to be interpreted as some sort of mental deficiency of the video game collector, though some may interpret it that way. Some people don't make rational buying choices or stick to their financial means. The guy buying everything in sight, and then selling it all at a loss when he can't pay the mortgage is a prime example.

 

And some people make the transition at some point from retro gamer to museum curator, forgetting the whole reason why they started the hobby was to play games, not stare at a wall of CIB games all day. That wall will have "holes" in it, and those "holes" will eventually drive the collector insane. The walls of games become a prison cell. So I used the term primarily to differentiate when it goes from being a fun hobby to being a disorder. That is a line never want to cross...

 

I am severe ADHD and I know others in the forums who have Aspergers or other disorders. I would never apply the "-ard" part to anyone, ever. Just people need to lighten up and not be PC police. "Collectard" is simply someone who makes unwise or uninformed buying or collecting decisions. If collecting gets in the way of family, finances, job, then it becomes a problem.

I think I may fit into this understanding of collectard and have a collection of real mental disorders which is why I picked the screen name.

 

For me it isn't so much of a museum curator thing but more of an OCD thing for a game room to feel organized in such a way that makes sense to me for it to be comfortable. I'll use flash carts as an example. Let's say I got rid of all my Atari carts that could be played on my Harmony Cart and only kept the carts that haven't been dumped. I would feel the need to do the same with all my consoles that have flash carts or similar options. There would be a consistency there but something about only having physical media of games not dumped for these systems and for systems that don't have these kind of options at all would feel off to me somehow. The shelves of physical media would look like they don't have many must have hits on them because those are more likely to have been dumped and then the physical media for consoles that don't have these options at all would look like I have a bunch of physical media for systems that themselves weren't must have hits because the more popular systems have more and better versions of these options. So, it would have this look and feel that would seem very odd to me. It would feel something like if someone had all their favorite bands, albums, and greatest hits in an iPod only but then had everything else on Vinyl on display on their shelves. That seems the opposite to me of what would feel right because the greatest hits are what should be jumping out at you when looking at a shelf of what is on display instead of only the more obscure stuff.

 

So, it is OCD thinking like that which determines how I go about collecting. I feel like there needs to be a focus and theme to collecting instead of just buying everything at random but it also has to feel right so that when walking into a game room it doesn't just look organized but looks nice and comfortable giving off good gaming vibes.

[Keatah]

That's a bane of many collectors and collections. Finding the appropriate focus. Do you become a completist? Do you focus on certain systems? Do you go after certain genres? Many collections don't have a theme.

 

Then there is organization and display. Many collections simply reside in rubbermaid tubs under the bed. That's pretty uninspiring. To me a collection doesn't have to become the centerpiece of the whole house but it should be displayed nicely. And each piece in it should have personal meaning. It should not be full of haphazard acquisitions.

[Andromeda Stardust]

That makes sense. Some even collect things that have nothing to do with past generations. For an example, I have a fossil collection.

But fossils ARE past generations, so many extinct genus and species represent our planet's rich biological history. I recon if the Earth itself were sentient, it would say, "I remember those..." I loved dinosaurs ever since I was a kid, and my parents brought me to see Jurassic Park in 1993 when I was 12 and it was the coolest movie I'd ever seen. Then later as a teen I saw authentic reconstructed dinosaur skeletons (not replicas but the actual fossils of complete dinosaurs) at the Smithsonian in DC...

 

I think I may fit into this understanding of collectard and have a collection of real mental disorders which is why I picked the screen name.

A lot of us with any variety of mental disorders may have OCD complexes in some form or fashion. I'm not a completionist but sometimes I try to corner obscure subsets, like ie collect all pinball simulators for every system I own. That can be a fun discovery...

 

I bought into all the Pinball Arcade stuffs on Ouya and later Wii-U only to find Wii-U did not receive a single update since launch. And people on TPA forum thought I was mad for supporting obscure stuff instead of just running steam. But gaming on the computer for me is very uncomfortable because PC is for work and internet. Consoles are for games. Also touchscreen only devices suck IMO. Buttons or GTFO. I still use a flip phone for that very reason...

[atarilovesyou]

The 'tard' in collectard doesn't bother me...it's the concept that's thrown around, mainly on this board. I see it in a few other websites, but here in particular, because it usually comes up as 'anti-collector', or 'anti-physical copies'. Where people make fun of others who buy expensive NES (or other) carts. And they blanket us all in the same vein, like the only reason I buy them is to resell or hoard couldn't be farther from the truth.

 

Sorry dudes, but I grew up in the era of physical copies of media and that isn't ever going to change I still buy DVDs, Bluray...vinyl, and cassettes (when and if you can find em, lol). I can't relate to a terabyte of downloaded movies anymore than I could of music (or porn, lol, but I digress ) I would love to have a legal way to backup all my DVDs and Blurays, and I'm sure there's a way to do it, but I could be bothered. That way, however, I could actually feel better about putting the physical copies away in storage, keeping out only a few in a small display.

 

Flash carts have made things a bit different. Only my Wii has a current on-going collection of discs, and it's a nice throwback to how I used to game before multicarts. I keep things very tight withhit, though, and there's not a ton of games I get for it. But having a nice display is cool as far as I'm concerned. I've got a nice corner of the man cave devoted to the physical carts, even though I usually just play them using a multicart. I keep limits on stuff, and it does take a bit of work to do...it's easy to get carried away. Almost happened with Genesis, lol...but luckily only got to one cart (Gauntlet 4, hardly collectible, but makes me cringe that I passed up boxed Starflight, Earthworm Jim 1,2 and Desert Strike...gah!).

 

Anyways, far be it for me to go PC or police terms. Use it if you like, I'm just saying that I'll call you out if you call me out

[Andromeda Stardust]

True it's not the best word to use, and probably derogatory and very anti-PC, but the issue I think is when it becomes more about ownership and completing sets (especially CIB or sealed) than actually playing. Also people who fly into the hobby at 100 miles per hour, buy everything they can find at inflated prices, then get burned out and sell it all at a loss to pay the bills. This kind of destructive collecting to me is real "collectard" behavior.

 

Any fun hobby can be carried into excess until it becomes an addiction. So there needs to be balance. But I do believe a lot of people throw around the term (and I am guilty of this) to point towards other collectors, who choose to collect differently than they do or have different goals. Some might want a cart that works. Some want the box and all accompanying material as pristine as possible. Some people even open sealed games to sniff the ink or give them that virgin play, and surprisingly the ink in the manual still smells fresh after 30 years under shrink wrap.

[Keatah]

True it's not the best word to use, and probably derogatory and very anti-PC, but the issue I think is when it becomes more about ownership and completing sets (especially CIB or sealed) than actually playing. Also people who fly into the hobby at 100 miles per hour, buy everything they can find at inflated prices, then get burned out and sell it all at a loss to pay the bills. This kind of destructive collecting to me is real "collectard" behavior.

 

Any fun hobby can be carried into excess until it becomes an addiction. So there needs to be balance. But I do believe a lot of people throw around the term (and I am guilty of this) to point towards other collectors, who choose to collect differently than they do or have different goals. Some might want a cart that works. Some want the box and all accompanying material as pristine as possible. Some people even open sealed games to sniff the ink or give them that virgin play, and surprisingly the ink in the manual still smells fresh after 30 years under shrink wrap.

 

It's possible to have 500 carts and boxes and display them nicely, provided you've done so in a nice room without pubes in the matted carpeting. I always like to believe that collecting should be done slowly and richly over time. And not instantly.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Keatah

[fiddlepaddle]

I'm not offended by the word, but it's imprecise, negative, and not even a real word.

 

In my opinion, it's use is usually as an expletive designed to insult, and a substitute for making the effort of thoughtful composition, similar to the use of f**k inserted multiple points in a sentence adding no real value other than the social aspect of promoting tribal acceptance.

[atarilovesyou]

I'm not offended by the word, but it's imprecise, negative, and not even a real word.

 

In my opinion, it's use is usually as an expletive designed to insult, and a substitute for making the effort of thoughtful composition, similar to the use of f**k inserted multiple points in a sentence adding no real value other than the social aspect of promoting tribal acceptance.

 

Very much my point. When the definition of a collectard varies from collecting CIB games (quite common, I have a bunch myself) or MISB games (bit more involved, certainly more expensive), all the way to blitz purchasing that leaves one without money to pay the rent (which very FEW collectors do)...that's my problem with it. It throws collectors into the same pile as someone who either has a compulsive disorder or is just, at best, stupid. The 'collector' and the 'tard' need to be separated. The term is mostly thrown at collectors who have the money to buy exactly what they want, and what 'they' want can sometimes impact what other people want...be it getting that limited edition homebrew, or something else that may be tough to get in on. Then, it's a term used for jealousy, essentially.

 

Who are others to critique the reasons anybody else collects in the first place? CIB, MISB, loose n' gritty?...what difference is it to anybody? I get it, when a collector has a distinct lack of social skills to know when they're coming across as obnoxious (several youtube retro gamer 'celebs' come to mind), you might want to come up with a catchy insult to hurl, but...please, come up with something better than 'collectard'. Those people you're angry with or trying to target, for valid or even semi-valid reasons, have more do to with the term 'jerk' or 'asshole' than the word 'collector'.

 

Anyways, just some food for thought...and I hope some of you out there who perhaps may not have given thought about this might look at it a bit differently. FTR, I am not offended by the word, and it's not like I can somehow stop people from using it (foolishness)...there's certainly a lot WORSE you could be called in this life, right? It's just one of those things.

[Schizophretard]

I'm not offended by the word, but it's imprecise, negative, and not even a real word.

 

In my opinion, it's use is usually as an expletive designed to insult, and a substitute for making the effort of thoughtful composition, similar to the use of f**k inserted multiple points in a sentence adding no real value other than the social aspect of promoting tribal acceptance.

 

I agree. It isn't even a real word and those who treat it as such are completely fucktarded.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

I agree. It isn't even a real word and those who treat it as such are completely fucktarded.

Fucktarded. I like that one.

[up2knowgood]

 

I'd compare it more to the Ford Model T.

 

It was the "first" home console, it was a product that people ween't sure would catch on.

You have to have "been there at the time" or be interested in the history/chronology/evolution of video gaming to appreciate the VCS.

 

By the NES... then you hitting the 30's + 40's, functionality and practicality have been optimized, so now they can focus on aesthetics and bells & whistles.

 

I'd consider the 16 bit generation the 50's style muscle cars...

Optional CD-ROMs like customized engines; using specs and jargon as selling points...

 

I'm kinda rambling.

I disagree. I am in my late 20s, and started collecting in my late teens for the history and an interest in the games themselves, and share my love with all. In fact, several guys in several stores just call me, "The Atari Guy." One store owner even calls me his "Atari Expert."

[Torr]

I disagree. I am in my late 20s, and started collecting in my late teens for the history and an interest in the games themselves, and share my love with all. In fact, several guys in several stores just call me, "The Atari Guy." One store owner even calls me his "Atari Expert."

 

Yeah... and my post (which you quoted, and it said "You have to have "been there at the time" or be interested in the history/chronology/evolution of video gaming to appreciate the VCS")

 

Much like someone else who quoted that same post and proceeded to to me how their interest in the history of video games led them to Atari.

 

So yeah... you've both helped prove my point.

 

Amlost everyone likes to watch movies.... not as many like to go back and watch the first ones made or see the transition to talkies and color pictures.

But some do. Just like everything else...

And we here at atariage MUST have an interest in the history of gaming, or what in the hell are ya doing following these forums???

Edited June 28, 2017 by Torr

[up2knowgood]

 

 

And we here at atariage MUST have an interest in the history of gaming, or what in the hell are ya doing following these forums???

 

Well, you got me there.

 

Yet for me it didn't start as an interest in the history, but in the games. My Mom got my Dad a "Flashback," but I played it more than he did. Simple, maybe even primitive, yet still oddly entertaining, sometimes more so than the Wii games that were all the rage at the time, it was amazing. However, the buttons on the thing shorted out after a while, so when I saw a system and some games for sale in an antique store, I bought it. Over time I wanted to know more about the games I enjoyed, and that is when I became interested in the history too, and well, here I am.

[fiddlepaddle]

So today, when you play a real Atari for the first time, you can experience "nostalgia" for way back in the old days when you spent time with your folks playing on a Flashback.

[Torr]

So today, when you play a real Atari for the first time, you can experience "nostalgia" for way back in the old days when you spent time with your folks playing on a Flashback.

 

Exactly. I see this showing up a lot in posts but that summed it up in a sentance.

 

It may not be nostalgia for the 1970's, playing a sunnyvale model with text only carts,.. but it IS a nostalgia for Atari.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Well, you got me there.

 

Yet for me it didn't start as an interest in the history, but in the games. My Mom got my Dad a "Flashback," but I played it more than he did. Simple, maybe even primitive, yet still oddly entertaining, sometimes more so than the Wii games that were all the rage at the time, it was amazing. However, the buttons on the thing shorted out after a while, so when I saw a system and some games for sale in an antique store, I bought it. Over time I wanted to know more about the games I enjoyed, and that is when I became interested in the history too, and well, here I am.

Congrats, another convert to the Atari brotherhood! I grew up in the NES generation but was a late bloomer to Atari myself. Didn't get my first Atari until 2012, and I was instantly hooked!

 

So today, when you play a real Atari for the first time, you can experience "nostalgia" for way back in the old days when you spent time with your folks playing on a Flashback.

Pretty much. Nostalgia is being created for the first time. It is a beautiful thing.

 

And really, who gives a flying duck what decade the Atari is first enjoyed in? 1970s? 1980s? 1990s? 2000s? 2010s? Someone will be enjoying Atari for the first time in the 2020s as well...