Fess up, who collects but then dosen't play?

[STICH666]

I have about $5000 worth of electronics in my basement.

[Rik]

Yep,sometimes the temptation of buying that game you dont have is too great.I buy the game,put it away,and forget about it,quite a few times.

[shadow460]

I play most of my older games on actual hardware with the carts. If you look at the 2600 HSC, you'll pretty much see what carts I have or don't have. Now granted, there are some I'm just not that interested in that are on my shelf, but chances are that if I don't own the cart, I won't play the HSC even if it was a cart I played when I was a kid.

 

I give my games some good TLC when they come in. I change save batteries, take discs in for a polish if they need it, clean up the cases and instruction books, etc. Sometimes I get too lazy to do all this and I slip behind. Castlevania: DXC still has price tags on it, and Super Mario Land 2 needs a battery. And I just spent several hours cleaning games up...including removing some ugly yellow rental store gunk from Revolution X. Sometimes I leave price tags on if I got a good deal, like FF8 for $25 from Game X Change (the price went up on it there).

 

I've got CIB 7800 games whose carts haven't seen light in two years (don't worry, ken, Beef Drop is not one of them!) Yars' Revenge hasn't been out of the box and played since I got it (I play my Sears cart of it instead, which is loose). Grand Theft Auto 1 hasn't been out of its box, but I really mean it--I have been meaning to get around to it!

 

Now here's where ya'll are gonna kick my tail: My Genesis has not been used in over a year, and I have never played a game on my DS. Ever. I only recently remembered I had the thing. My wife will probably play it before I do. I'm thinking of getting GTA: Chinatown Wars for it so she can play that, but I gotta beat the first GTA in order to understand everything, right? So that's out, then.

 

Let's see, what hardware do I have just sitting about? A Saturn Twin Stick (funny how the amount of dust on that is always the same as the amount of dust on Virtual On), a four player adapter for the Game Boy, hmmm, A Gear to Gear cable, lots of stuff, really.

 

But then there's hardware that's got put to good use, too, like my light guns, and the GT Force wheel. I got a second GT Force a couple of years back at a thrift shop, and it's getting plenty of hours put on it with my latest run at GT4.

 

I do both. I collect more games than I can play, but I always get the chance to play some of the games I have. Honestly, I'll probably never play some of my games. I'll probably never play Ben 10 (doesn't help that I don't own a Hyperscan, though). I might never get to Wing Arms or Virtual Hydlide. That London 1969 GTA expansion pack will probably spend a lot of time in it's collector box before (and if) it ever gets played. Power Hitter will probably sit there, even after I get a CD-i.

Other staples like Yars' Revenge (remember, for me it's the Sears cart only!), NiGHTS into Dreams, Final Fantasy, Shining Force, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Coded Arms will get played senseless. Oh, and let's not forget Galaga. I'm not a 7800 junkie anymore, but I still need my fix.

 

EDIT: Classic games are like Lay's chips: You can't play just one.

Edited May 27, 2009 by shadow460

[Mord]

 

I have about 6 14-gallon rubber maid 'rough neck' storage bins full of PC Games that I've collected since 2006. Other than playing 3 games I already owned (Doom, Syndicate, and Full Throttle), the rest have collected dust ever since

 

I just collect a lot faster than I play.

 

It got to the point that I started keeping the new games sealed until I'm ready for them (and this further fuels my resolve not to buy "new" games from ebgames/gamestop), and have about 15+ sealed games since I started doing that a year ago. I have a LOT more unsealed but not played. Since adding a Games Complete list to my website for me to update as I finish games, I've actually been playing more.

[+FujiSkunk]

There are a shamefully high number of games on my shelf that have yet to see any playtime. A lot of that is due to time as much as anything else.

 

Admittedly though, there are some games I probably won't play much, if at all. I decided to keep any Sega Master System games I find, simply because that collection is so amusingly eclectic, with so many region-specific games. I can't honestly say I'm interested in a lot of them, though, so they just sit on the shelf looking pretty.

[jhd]

I have a decent size box of PS 2 games that I have yet to play -- I am a big fan of RPG games, so I will buy any that I can find cheaply (i.e. <$20). Because I have a job and other more pressing commitments, I can only dedicate so much time to playing games. I'll get to them eventually.

 

I also had a modest pile of PC strategy games collecting dust (also mostly titles found in the discount bin), but much of that went to the thrift shop before my recent move.

 

My Atari 2600 languishes because I don't currently have a TV that can use the original switchbox/antenna inputs.

[16-bit]

Add me to the list too. There's probably at least 3 games for each system I own that I haven't gotten around to playing. I blame it mostly on my 360. I'll buy something for one of my older systems and before I hook it up something good will come out for 360 and I'll end up playing that instead. Damn new generation systems with all their fancy type graphics.

[fiddlepaddle]

I have a whole bunch of crap I've never played with. My objective has always been to have a surplus of new games to try. It's more like having a library to draw from and go to when I want to find a specific game (or maybe a bunch of similar games). I do the same thing with books and music. Who the heck wants to keep a whole bunch of books around the house you've already read? The only difference is that there seem to be more games with lots of replay value than there are books that are worth reading more than once (or maybe twice).

[4Ks]

I have a whole 7-foot bookshelf full of boxed Atari 2600 games of which I've only played 5 or 6 of. However, since I played Tac-Scan and Karate, my liking for actually playing the games dissapeared, so now they just sit on a large shelf looking nice. The only reason I buy them is to get a really huge collection, which is actually pointless unless I wanted to sell them and turn a huge profit or something...

[+Charlie Cat]

Hi guys,

 

 

I try to play my gaming collection systems & software as much as possible. But do to my condition, its limiting me to just sit in my room and collect dust at this point 8^(.

 

In the meantime, I play the modern units such as the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

 

 

 

Anthony....

Edited May 30, 2009 by fdurso224

[4Ks]

I have a whole 7-foot bookshelf full of boxed Atari 2600 games of which I've only played 5 or 6 of. However, since I played Tac-Scan and Karate, my liking for actually playing the games dissapeared, so now they just sit on a large shelf looking nice. The only reason I buy them is to get a really huge collection, which is actually pointless unless I wanted to sell them and turn a huge profit or something...

 

Nah, I'm only joking.

[shadow460]

There are a shamefully high number of games on my shelf that have yet to see any playtime. A lot of that is due to time as much as anything else.

 

Admittedly though, there are some games I probably won't play much, if at all. I decided to keep any Sega Master System games I find, simply because that collection is so amusingly eclectic, with so many region-specific games. I can't honestly say I'm interested in a lot of them, though, so they just sit on the shelf looking pretty.

 

Answer: Master Gear, and take em on the go. Simple.

[carmel_andrews]

perhaps you people should stop calling them a collection and just call it a library (after all, you don't get to read every book in the library, apart from a handful)

[Frizo]

who would do that? 5 of my 6 consoles are hooked-up. I cant find any place to plug my Saturn in. So sadly, right now, it sits on my shelf =(.

But i play one of my consoles at least once a day.

[MagitekAngel]

Are you kidding? I don't own a single game I haven't played the hell out of. I only buy cartridges I think I'll enjoy. Well-intentioned but misguided gifts from my non-gamer friends do not count. This is why I have 3 different golf games on NES.

[Zenoff64]

I put a chunk of money aside of every paycheck into a mad money account and let it collect, then on occasion (generally every 2-4 weeks) i'll go out and buy any used games that are fairly cheap, compulsively.

 

I'm certain I probably haven't played 1/4 of my collection mostly because the want for more games from when I was a child still exists, even though the time no longer does when having a job, but, you need to think of a video game collection as insurance.

 

In other words, you may not need it, but if you do its there for you. Also , its sexy as hell to look at.

[1982VideoGames]

In this economy I think more people will be buying to play instead of collecting. I recently had to move in with my Aunt and right now i'm thankful for what I have and can play.

 

 

fdurso224: hope things are getting better for you...

[mattyg]

I seem to have time to buy but not to play

 

With over 20 different consoles and over 300 games it's near impossible.

 

I mean I just bought another 50 Saturn games today! but all I plugged in played was centipede and Empire Strikes Back on my JR 2600

 

Woe is me.

[Legend]

I collect board games and old gamebooks like fighting fantasy that I almost never play. The board games mostly because most my friends are not into them. The others are solo board games, but take too long to set up sometimes. I payed about $200 a few years ago for a complete DUngeonquest and both expansions, and almost never play it. Same with Chainsaw warrior and complete SHerlock Holmes consulting detective with expansions. I should at least get to some of the gamebooks. I have over 50. I also have over 100 decks of playing cards that I almost never play with.

[carmel_andrews]

reading between the lines, i think we could be talking about several 00'k's worth of games (computer/video and non) that lies untouched, untested and unplayed...i'd hate to think that all that stuff that goes unplayed might be defective in someway

 

And if we had everyone on atariage posting here (over 19k members at last count), that could ammount to several million dollars, doesn't that amount to the entirety of some (not all) of atari's legendary landfill sites

 

And remember, we all in our own way took a side swipe at atari for their wasteful ways

 

Come on peeps...get playing those games (your not a retro gaming personoid for nothing you know)

Edited June 15, 2009 by carmel_andrews

[CARTRIDGE STEALER]

I have an intellivision I Would love to play some day.

[4Ks]

I'm serious this time. I have 36 Atari 2600 games, of which I really only play about 5 of.

[raregamer]

I buy alot more than I actually play too.

I end up playing PS2 and Dreamcast mostly.

Just unhooked an N64 and put it away for later.

 

My Dad is a fisherman for sport.

When he catches a fish , he then releases it back into it's habitat.

So he fishes for the sport of it.

 

I look at collecting videogames in the same way.

It's like sport, something that you love to do.

Get's you up early in the morning.

[lhfreak]

I ALWAYS at least fire up any game that I have purchased just to make sure it works. That said, there ARE some games that I dont play right now (mostly RPG stuff like C64 Wizards Crown, the AD&D gold box SSI games, etc) But I keep them in the thought that someday when I am retired and have some time on my hands I'll hit these quests at least once more......

[Rev]

i have about 1800 games across many systems.

 

its hard to play them all!