How do you organize your 2600 Collection?

[SlowCoder]

I have about 120 carts, not really enough to bother categorizing by company. Besides, when I think of a game, I think of the game's name, not it's company or genre. So, just plain ol' alphabetical works great for me. Half the time, I'll just pull out the pile and look to see what strikes my fancy at that moment.

[ls650]

I keep my Harmony cart and about 10 homebrews right next to the TV. I then have an old wooden winebox that holds about 20 of my favorite carts next to that, organized alphabetically. I then keep the rest of my carts organized alphabetically by name in a large box under the desk.

[pis]

Company and labeltype, in no alphabetical order.

 

Interesting, do you do it by favorite to least favorite or is there no order at that point?

 

Yes the least favorite games is in the bottom of the pile, and the favoirites id on top.

When im done playing (for exampel) a atari red label game, i put it on top of the pile of the other atari redlabel-games. Currently joust is my numberone atari game and are on top of the pile.

[disjaukifa]

Company and labeltype, in no alphabetical order.

 

Interesting, do you do it by favorite to least favorite or is there no order at that point?

 

Yes the least favorite games is in the bottom of the pile, and the favoirites id on top.

When im done playing (for exampel) a atari red label game, i put it on top of the pile of the other atari redlabel-games. Currently joust is my numberone atari game and are on top of the pile.

 

Hmmm . . . I might have to do that, I've got so many games that I'm sure I would forget the games that I enjoy playing, thats a very interesting way of doing it. Thank you for posting your method of organizing your games!

[mtshark7]

I just organize all my stuff by buying order

[Dr Manhattan]

From best to worst. Activision, Imagic, and M-Network games separated into their own groups.

 

Mystique/Playaround games stored in a dirty shoe box hidden under my bed.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Dr Manhattan

[Necron99]

By letter. Never understood the 'by company' method. It looks neat, but I like to know where my exact game is that I'm looking for. Commavid currently poses a problem for me in my gaming cabinet, but that's the only issue.

I used to have mine organized alphabetically, but I was never satisfied on how it looked on my shelf. I have a book shelf and only collect loose carts so it just looked cluttered and messy all the time. Somewhere on AA I saw someone with their collection sorted by company and I liked the look of it. It probably only take a second or two more to find a game this way. Plus it kinda a nice feeling when you finish a set by a specific company.

 

I guess it ultimately depends on how you collect. some people want the cheapest games, others go for everything. some like label variations, other don't. Some only want mint condition, and others don't care as long as it works.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Necron99

[ozatariprincess]

I organize my games by label type, then alphabetically

[disjaukifa]

Yeah I'm debating between Company -> Label -> Alpha or Company -> Label -> Favorite to least Favorite . . .

[Atari Punk 78]

Atari company games go by CX number. Activision games go by color (kinda like the rainbow in their logo). All other companies go alphabetically

[A_Locomotive]

I organize them by which carts have most cosmetic damage in conjunction with alphabetization using the 3rd letter in the title.

[bomberpunk]

+1 for alphabetical by company.

 

on my Harmony cart: by company, year, programmer, controller type, full alphabetical, and also commercial/proto/homebrew. most roms are on there 6 times with 1GB+ room to spare on the SD card. finding any game is easy as hell!

[Schizophretard]

I first organize them by company(I put the companies in order from most games owned to least games owned with M Network last because they are also ordered for how rectangular they are), within each company I put them in alphabetical order, and within each game I put them in order of label variation. Sometimes I change my mind or can't decide how I want to organize them. For an example, I can't decide if I want to consider Atari Corp. and Atari Inc. two companies. When I get it exactly how I want it, I might eventually make a my collection directory that matches in my Harmony Cart. I use the long under the bed totes, so I'll order it something like tote one with the games in the same order as the tote. So, I could look up which tote and where each game is located before I look.

[mtshark7]

I don't understand why ppl organize there games alphabetically by company? Wouldn't it be easier to just organize the game's themselves alphabetically?

 

OR an easier way, I would organize alphabetically by cart type...seems more simple that way That to me seems to be a more simplistic version of alphabetically by company.

[disjaukifa]

Yeah, I still need to get around to re-organizing mine which I still haven't done, but company and cart type are basically the same thing . . . except when it comes to Atari Carts, you have 3 ~ 4 label variations depending on how specific you are wanting to get

Edited September 20, 2011 by disjaukifa

[Pioneer4x4]

I store in containers by manufacturer sorted by name. I just started sorting out major label variations of my dupes and will probably sort them in with the rest.

[mtshark7]

I store in containers by manufacturer sorted by name. I just started sorting out major label variations of my dupes and will probably sort them in with the rest.

 

Do you keep your dupes with your regular games? Or do you keep them separate?

[phattyboombatty]

By company and then by label type. Placed in Sterilite containers.

 

However I've ceased collecting major numbers of carts from particular vendors, and instead I've gone with just rarities from those vendors.

 

I want a nice, small, successive numbered collection of Atari text labels... possibly all.

 

I am collecting an impromptu collection of "perfect label" Atari picture labels, just because I keep finding them; this will be a slow-grow collection.

 

Then I have my rarities/my keepers. Won't ever go for a full collection from the vendor of the rarity, but moreso they're "precious-precious" to touch and hold, and then--after a time--trading fodder.

 

Edited September 20, 2011 by phattyboombatty

[+Nathan Strum]

Like this. It's mostly visually organized. I know... kind of weird.

 

It starts by company, although the overall organization is by how many companies I can fit into a row. Within companies, it's then either chronological, or by color (see: Atari, Activision). The later Atari silver labels are, oddly enough, by descending length of title.

 

Homebrews, 7800 games, etc. are alphabetical.

[Pioneer4x4]

I store in containers by manufacturer sorted by name. I just started sorting out major label variations of my dupes and will probably sort them in with the rest.

 

Do you keep your dupes with your regular games? Or do you keep them separate?

My true dupes are in totally seperate containers, I keep the best looking of each label type in the main containers.

Then... I plan to do it all again in my dupes, as if I was making an entire seperate collection (obviously smaller). Then any multiple duped carts will go in an area to get rid of. I want a already created set of carts I can either sell or hopefully one of my kids might want someday. ANd all of the ones I have more than 2 of, I will sell or trade off for more goodies.

[vanderveen88]

Mine are largely "organized" by company, then label type, then alphabetically -- much the same way I organize my games for each system. Duplicates are kept together, and boxed games are kept separately from loose games.

 

However, my 2600 collection is anything but organized at the moment. I left a couple hundred cartridges at my parents' home in Ontario when I moved out west, and now I've amassed around 50 games here in Saskatchewan. I'll focus on putting them in order once I have them all in the same place, but who knows when that will be...

[BydoEmpire]

Loosely by company, but I have two big drawers with 2600 carts. The top drawer has "games I play a lot" and the bottom drawer has "games I rarely play plus dupes." I think I had them alphabetized at some point, but various moves have demolished that system and I haven't gotten around to fixing it and it doesn't seem worth the effort. I don't think I even have 100 carts so it's not hard to find what I'm looking for.

Edited September 22, 2011 by BydoEmpire

[R.O.T.S]

carts alphabetical and by company also alphabetical

[esplonky]

i do by company, label type, CX #, and If they have an end label.