Do You Collect Games to PLAY or PUT on the SHELF?

[BladeOfOsiris]

 

Well, now I've gone and depressed myself a bit.

 

Don't worry, m8. Maybe our grandchilden will keep our collections and not sell them off for jetpacks and self computing computers :/

[Keatah]

At the risk of sounding morbid, other longer-lived hobbies have the benefit of their members dying, and their collections coming back to market.

 

This has been happening in the Apple II community.

[HoshiChiri]

 

Don't worry, m8. Maybe our grandchilden will keep our collections and not sell them off for jetpacks and self computing computers :/

 

I don't intend to have children, so not a worry on my end. I mean for my collection to be donated to a classic gaming group, or sold off for charity (probably child's play.)

 

Let my fellow gaming vultures decend upon the bloated form of my life's work and tear it asunder! 'Tis the cycle of collecting!

[Keatah]

For a while at the turn of the century I was all crazy and nuts about collecting. But with the hard realization that Steve Jobs nor Steve Wozniak are never going to come over and personally endorse my collection, the steam has kinda been let out.

 

No one really gives a rat's ass about a nicely displayed wall of dumb old babyish games from the 1980's.

 

And having too extensive of a collection does get you labeled as a hoarder, an eccentric, and oftentimes you have to explain why you "collect" in the first place. It's like dreading "coming out of the closet".

 

 

[+FujiSkunk]

If collecting doesn't do it for you, get out. Simple as that.

 

I don't collect to impress or explain myself to anyone else.

[AtarinDave]

I'm definitely a gamer. I have sealed games, but I usually go for the loose ones.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Hmm.. well both I suppose, since I buy games to play them and when done playing, they are displayed on my shelving.

[BassGuitari]

Both. I only get stuff I actually want to play (except in the case of about a half-dozen systems where I'll get anything I don't have yet, just because I'm such a huge fan of those systems), but I also want it to look good since I put it all out on shelving*.

Lately I've been getting stuff faster than I've been able to play it, though, so maybe I should slow down a little bit. (Hey, sometimes when you see a great deal, you've got to jump on it!) They're not items I bought just to have, though; I do actually want to play them.

 

(*The dilemma I'm having is how to organize and display my collection while also making sure my house looks like a functional adult lives there (key words: "looks like" ). The whole "wall of games" gameroom doesn't really have the same appeal to me that it used to, yet it still seems to be the best way to keep my games accessible. I'm at the point where I really need to build some custom shelves for it all, which I'm not averse to, but I don't necessarily want to take the time out for another project, either.)

[0078265317]

Do You Collect Games to PLAY or PUT on the SHELF?

 

Both...

[Keatah]

The dilemma I'm having is how to organize and display my collection while also making sure my house looks like a functional adult lives there (key words: "looks like" ). The whole "wall of games" gameroom doesn't really have the same appeal to me that it used to, yet it still seems to be the best way to keep my games accessible.

 

This seems to be a common problem. Another is fitting a collection of cartridges into modern interior design themes. Cartridge and console collections are clutter magnets. I've never every walked into a millionaire's house and seen them as a centerpiece. If they have the stuff it's relegated to a workshop or utility room.

Edited December 21, 2015 by Keatah

[vitaflo]

Collecting for the shelf always reminded me of those old ladies who collected Beanie Babies and put them in plastic cases to display. They're childrens toys, they're meant to be played with.

 

I have a feeling in about 10 years the retro collecting scene will be about as similar, people who spent way too much money on crap that's not worth anything anymore and just sits around collecting dust.

[Keatah]

When I was a kid in the golden age of videogames I didn't really think anything about collections or future value. It was simply all about the games. Ohh there may have been some inkling about gathering all kinds of games into one area - but that's about it.

 

I don't know how the collecting "thing" invades one's psyche or when. But I discovered and projected (long term) it would be untennable and unsustainable when all the different ports started coming out. And some of those ports were very similar across many systems. That's when the drudge work and tedium set in. I wasn't too keen on having 7 versions of Zaxxon. Especially, when the original arcade game was out of reach forever. Till emulation and mame came along.

 

Can you imagine the excitement and fever in 1982 if mame all-of-a-sudden popped onto the scene? Hard to believe it was only some 10 or 12 years away till the project got underway! Then we could have bought the arcade home for real.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Keatah

[Schizophretard]

This seems to be a common problem. Another is fitting a collection of cartridges into modern interior design themes. Cartridge and console collections are clutter magnets. I've never every walked into a millionaire's house and seen them as a centerpiece. If they have the stuff it's relegated to a workshop or utility room.

This millionaire has a nice utility room.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVa9cdo7GuM

[Keatah]

Oh that guy.. I've seen this collection before.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Keatah

[Keatah]

It's an impressive repository. But I can't stand the styling and layout however. It isn't warm and inviting and moody. Everything is harsh white shelving and metal and glass. No warmth of nature or style to the decor(or lack of it)

[vitaflo]

It's an impressive repository. But I can't stand the styling and layout however. It isn't warm and inviting and moody. Everything is harsh white shelving and metal and glass. No warmth of nature or style to the decor(or lack of it)

 

It's certainly not like a library, which is the one thing that always bugs me about these collection displays. They just seem so ridiculously...weird looking. I think part of it is because anything from the last 20 years looks like a DVD or CD collection, which nobody has sitting out to show off. A big row of NES loose games might look interesting from a shape perspective, but it doesn't really catch the eye unless it's arranged by label color, not title. But then good luck finding any of the games.

 

The reason libraries with books tend to look interesting is every book is a little bit different in size, shape, spine, etc. They're also not popping with neon colors everywhere. Plastic cart shells and cases just don't really have the same effect.

Edited December 22, 2015 by vitaflo

[Keatah]

The first thing I think or ask about when seeing a large collection is how accessible and practical is it to play the games in a comfortable elegant upscale environment. How quickly can you find a specific game? How attractive and readable is the collection? Do you have to cock your head 90 degrees, bend down, and shine a flashlight to read the labels? Do you have to pull out cartridge after cartridge after cartridge to read those labels? Do you have to unpack or unbox a system and wire it up and adjust the TV every gaming session? Do you have to hunt down controllers or wiggle intermittent connections? Constantly clean cartridge slots and match up power adapters.

 

My modest collection of only 900 or so carts when I was a kid was always consuming time when trying to find a specific game. I hadn't yet developed any logical organizational skills at such a young age and thus learned by trial and error. My idiot parents didn't have a clue either.

 

Organizing by system alleviated the problem somewhat but did nothing for the VCS. So I had sub-categorize them by manufacturer. The cart housing shapes and label styles helped a lot. Having a physical display does help make a mind-map of what is where.

 

But it took work in adding and inserting new games, because all the carts were in cassette-like slots that were hung on the wall. Insert 1, move the remaining ones down. Tedious!

 

For the Apple II I tried using PFS database. It was limited to 1000 records. But that wasn't the issue, I could always make another database. The root problem was lengthy searches on floppy disk media. Iit took forever if you searched by anything other than the first field. It took literally 6-10 minutes. And to a kid that was frustrating. I didn't discover the speed issue until I had entered like 300 games, then the slowdown became noticeable. Might as well had a virus. I gave up on it. Fuckers...

 

Fast forward to today:

With virtual collections in the digital domain you need to become "expert" at using a search function and building a folder tree. One nice "feature" though is you can pool all your favorites into one folder (or more) for instant access. This is very practical. One moment I'm playing arcade Tempest, and the next Zaxxon for the VCS. Should I want to look at the box and manual, it's all there in the documentation folder. Should I want to adjust something it's all there in menus and configuration files. Dip switch settings? Motherboard manuals and cabinet Marquees? We got you covered.

 

At a whim you can use the simple Windows search function to find more obscure and less used material, provided your filenames are complete and descriptive. This is paramount. And you absolutely want to categorize by systems. Yet you can find all versions of Space Invaders for all systems or a range of systems, or just the arcade. Don't like the Windows' search function? There are replacements available.

 

The other day I wanted to add Phantoms Five to my favorites on the Apple II, so I searched and found 3 or 4 versions and copied the full-disk nibble crack over to my instant access favs area. This took like 5 seconds to find the game, and a moment more to make a copy and place it in the Apple II favorites area.

 

Just weeks ago I conducted a thorough review. This means integrity checks like backup and media verification, de-duplication, file-by-file MD5 hash comparison, FTP mirror synchronization, log and history, dispersal of new files into their appropriate sections, changing a few branches around, opening some new sections, concatenating others. Testing that everything is working. Opening a guest sandbox. And more! This was a rather lengthy review and information gathering session for strategic planning for the next 5 years - to see which way the repository will be going. What changes in topology and content will be taking place. But normally I just conduct simple & standard backups every now and then.

 

So you see, a digital collection isn't maintenance-free, it can be very easy and almost automated once you have a procedure established. Or it can become quite complex.These activities might be seen being equivalent to dusting & cleaning, building shelves, keeping things neat and in place. Perusing online auctions or traveling to real auctions. Getting insurance and security. Making things look aesthetically pleasing for guests. Checking lists of duplicate carts. Deleting old revisions of documents and crap that serves no purpose. Determining what you want to add to the collection. Writing bug reports and updating emulator executables - the digital equivalent of a console repair and update.

 

The beauty part is the "procedure" can change as the collection grows and morphs naturally over time. And you can do as much or as little as you want when you want.

[bretthorror]

One thing I hate about a large collection is a lack of identity. I know with my horror movie collection, though it still shines through, is the fact I had so many you really couldn't tell what I was into specifically. I like to look at someone's collection and learn a little bit about them, rather than that person just having everything, it's no fun that way. There's cheap shit to be had a long the way, and that's inevitable, but it doesn't make me look higher on my collection, it makes me look down on it. Like I got a shitload of PS3 games from Movie Gallery when they were closing out for $3-5 each. At that price, rightfully, I just literally bought all I could find (if only I'd have gotten there sooner, Jesus would I have some collection). But getting stuck with the ok leftovers doesn't really impress me at all despite having 30 or so games for it because it doesn't mean a lot to me because I didn't specifically seek out this stuff. If you're like that guy in the video and look to have like 900 PS2 games, if it was my collection, all I'd see is half bad games/games I have no interest in. I have all the great old and most loved horror movies, but when I look at my shelf, I see about 33% of shit that really didn't need to be in there except for the sake of trying to see like every horror movie. Then I'd look at people with collections of, say, 400 horror DVDs and I'd be so impressed at how solid title after title was.

 

Now, here's the thing, you can absolutely, ABSOLUTELY own bad games. There is no shame in that. The last thing you want to be is a pompous asshole. If you like beat 'em ups, Final Fight Streetwise will look damn fine in your collection. However, if you don't like beat 'em ups... or sports games... or kid's games... or whatever and you buy them... then more power to you, but you are a dumbass. I will admit to buying Devil's Third for Wii U (I'm currently catching up on the Wii U stuff I never bought thinking I'd get a deal on down the road) partly because it's rare, but I'm also a third person shooter, beat 'em up, ultra violence fan. It's a game that I would usually buy in the bargain bin anyways, but I had to bite the bullet on it at full price.

 

Now, pre-modern era internet, I would definitely have bought any NES game I could find, if they were readily available to me. In 2000 I would have spent a few bucks to experience Caltron 5 because I'm just curious about games like that. Unlike games of today, you never knew what you were gonna get back then and emulation was in the stone age. But when I can see gameplay now on the internet for every game easily, the need to do that is gone. And if I can't get a deal on something, there's always the rom to fall back on. I don't mind being in the past video game wise, but to not take advantage of modern convenience is ridiculous. Ultimately, whatever floats your boat is cool, but don't be delusional and act like the only way to experience the riveting experience of reading the Hardball '95 manual is to actually have it when scans online give you the same information. Don't act like your Conker's Bad Fur Day cart is any different than what someone is playing on Rare Replay. The limitations of carts and having paper manuals, etc were limitations of the times. Try renting any game as a kid where you needed the manual to figure out the game and tell me that in-game manuals aren't better than printed. If you're collecting baseball cards, I ain't arguing shit to you. They are baseball cards. I get that. Like it or not, video games are not baseball cards. The only thing that matters about video games is if it's a good game. If person A is playing roms for an hour a day and person B is putting plastic on his shelf for an hour a day browsing eBay, who are you gonna ask to recommend you a game?

Edited December 23, 2015 by bretthorror

[J.Ivy]

I tend to only buy the games that I will actually play. I dont really display my video games, prefering to keep them organized in drawers for easy access. Buying the games that I loved as a kid, so i can relive those memories

[Unbeliever]

As of late, I'm focusing on my Xbox 360 collection. The games I'm hunting for are ones I will play. Made a mistake and went into Gamestop today looking for it, saw the mob of 100 people in line, turned around and left. Think I'll get an Xbox 360 Live card and get it that way. Didn't find a used copy, anyway, so that seems like it's going to be my best bet.

[RetroGamingBlog]

I used to collect and not play, mainly due to the time restraints on being a parent - but also to have some kind of completionist satisfaction, something i never hit. But as time has gone on, I sold a lot of my collection and systems off because i felt i just didn't get the time to play - and the clutter drove my wife crazy.

 

I'm now collecting predominately only games I will play. So for now, that's the MVS. Desperate to get a pinball machine. That won't fit on the shelf!

[The Mr. Video]

I collect games to play them, but if I get a duplicate of a game I already have that is different variant, then I'll keep it.

[high voltage]

Games are like books, on a shelf with it.

 

WiP:

 

 

 

[Schizophretard]

If you're collecting baseball cards, I ain't arguing shit to you. They are baseball cards. I get that. Like it or not, video games are not baseball cards. The only thing that matters about video games is if it's a good game.

If you can get baseball cards then it seems like you could get video game collecting. Some baseball fans that aren't into baseball cards could argue that they don't even matter and all that matters are the actual baseball games but the other fans could argue that they still enjoy collecting the cards anyway. It is pretty much the same thing with those who enjoy collecting video games except that with baseball cards the only option is to put them on the shelf because you don't play baseball cards. Anyway, like it or not, for those who enjoy collecting video games they are like baseball cards to them. The reasons that just viewing baseball cards on their computer and/or printing them out wouldn't be good enough for a baseball card collector are similar to the reasons that viewing online manuals, downloading ROMs, etc. wouldn't be good enough for a video game collector. Video game collectors aren't just video game fans. They are fans that like to collect things for which they are a fan of. Some baseball fans are just satisfied watching games on TV. Others like to collect cards, go to the games, get their baseballs autographed, wear baseball caps of their team, have posters of their team, riot when their team loses, etc. Some gamers are satisfied just playing games. Others like to also collect for them. There are fans of things and then there are superfans of things. Video game collectors are the superfans.

[bretthorror]

If you can get baseball cards then it seems like you could get video game collecting. Some baseball fans that aren't into baseball cards could argue that they don't even matter and all that matters are the actual baseball games but the other fans could argue that they still enjoy collecting the cards anyway. It is pretty much the same thing with those who enjoy collecting video games except that with baseball cards the only option is to put them on the shelf because you don't play baseball cards. Anyway, like it or not, for those who enjoy collecting video games they are like baseball cards to them. The reasons that just viewing baseball cards on their computer and/or printing them out wouldn't be good enough for a baseball card collector are similar to the reasons that viewing online manuals, downloading ROMs, etc. wouldn't be good enough for a video game collector. Video game collectors aren't just video game fans. They are fans that like to collect things for which they are a fan of. Some baseball fans are just satisfied watching games on TV. Others like to collect cards, go to the games, get their baseballs autographed, wear baseball caps of their team, have posters of their team, riot when their team loses, etc. Some gamers are satisfied just playing games. Others like to also collect for them. There are fans of things and then there are superfans of things. Video game collectors are the superfans.

"I like to buy shit" gains a person no credibility with me. Anyone can do that. I could buy 10 000 comic books tomorrow, doesn't mean I know what the hell I'm talking.