Nearly done. Are you?

[MotoRacer]

So I envy your self control and you're ability to focus you're collection. I however am going the opposite route. Speaking specifically of my NES collection, If I had your control I would have been done a long time ago with the exception of the extremely rare games. I have lately been making a point of buying all the crap games at the lowest price I can find them. Most of them I may never play but I see them as being almost like trading cards. When I get a new one I clean it up as best as it can be, I take a moment to admire it, then I file it alphabetically on my shelf. For some reason that whole process brings me great joy. I fear I will not be able to say I'm done until I own 1 of every game ever made. Even then there would be label upgrades to get, boxes and manuals. Collecting can become a sickness and I say that very literally, it's a combination of hoarding and ocd with extreme focus. I love it. So far I have managed to indulge these tendencies without having any negative impact on my life. I do believe if it took that turn I could change.... but I guess well just have to see.

You're very right on how it can be dangerous, and I agree it's an ocd thing. I'm a very visual person, and having the real cart in my hand, admiring the art, and having it in good condition is pretty important to me. Probably why I couldn't keep doing the flash cart route, despite it being the most economical route. And while I've bought some games I won't want to play all the time, I can't say I'll be keeping any games I think are downright terrible or nearly unplayable. But if you are going for that complete nes collection, I can understand to a point.

 

Hopefully you have a lot of spare room in your home. I couldn't afford to have so many games at my disposal.

[icemanxp300]

I hear you on space. That sucks that you have double rows for games, that would bother me. The shelves look nice though! Maybe do what I do and have a system of drawers and bins? You can stack the bins/drawers so you don't have to slide your games to the side to see what's behind them.

 

 

Well honestly this is only temporary. Those shelves when I purchased the wood for them about 2 months ago lol were not intended for my cart only. I have a separate section that was designed for that which is on another wall. However I don't have the time to get into the project right now and I really want this Hutch out as it takes up too much space.

 

I have another wall that is reserved for larger shelves to hold my systems on. A project I started last year and after I built the initial wall of shelves which is 4 shelves 20 feet long each I was pretty burned out after making those lol. I then needed more space in my garage as I built the play gym that overtook half of my basement so the system wood got used as some quick shelves in the garage.

 

There is a section in my basement corner that has a sub pump in it and the previous owner boxed it in but boxed in twice as much space as he needed to so eventually that will all need to be ripped apart and redone, then I will have an open concrete floor section w/no carpeting....which is why I am not enthused about that project.

 

I have used plastic stackable bins but they take up a lot of space. I try and keep my games as tight to the wall and as high to the ceiling as I can so as it doesn't look like much but it really is a lot lol.

[BassGuitari]

I'm a very visual person, and having the real cart in my hand, admiring the art, and having it in good condition is pretty important to me. Probably why I couldn't keep doing the flash cart route, despite it being the most economical route.

Same here. There are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of physical media that flashcarts and emulaton can't replicate. A stack of 2600 carts from the likes of Sega, Coleco, Telesys, M-Network, Atari, Imagic, Activision, etc. is far more pleasing to me than a list of ROMs. More impractical and expensive, yes, but that's the price I'm apparently willing to pay.

 

It's the same reason people go to museums or spend all kinds of money to collect art instead of firing up an SD card loaded with scans of Rembrandts and Monets. Or why audiophiles buy expensive boutique sound systems and collect vinyl instead of (or in addition to) scrolling through a playlist of 12,000 songs on their phone.

Edited July 4, 2016 by BassGuitari

[MotoRacer]

Same here. There are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of physical media that flashcarts and emulaton can't replicate. A stack of 2600 carts from the likes of Sega, Coleco, Telesys, M-Network, Atari, Imagic, Activision, etc. is far more pleasing to me than a list of ROMs. More impractical and expensive, yes, but that's the price I'm apparently willing to pay.

 

It's the same reason people go to museums or spend all kinds of money to collect art instead of firing up an SD card loaded with scans of Rembrandts and Monets. Or why audiophiles buy expensive boutique sound systems and collect vinyl instead of (or in addition to) scrolling through a playlist of 12,000 songs on their phone.

Couldn't agree more. This all is me rebuilding the collection I once owned. I thought flash carts and emulation would be great. And don't get me wrong, they have their advantages. But I realized after a while that I never wanted to play the games. The process of booting up the computer and selecting a rom, then trying to get controls and driver settings to behave in a half decent way....just got so annoying after a while I basically gave up it. I sold my equipment and used it to reinvest in what you see here. Couldn't be happier!

[Skippy B. Coyote]

There are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of physical media that flashcarts and emulaton can't replicate. A stack of 2600 carts from the likes of Sega, Coleco, Telesys, M-Network, Atari, Imagic, Activision, etc. is far more pleasing to me than a list of ROMs. More impractical and expensive, yes, but that's the price I'm apparently willing to pay.

It's the same reason people go to museums or spend all kinds of money to collect art instead of firing up an SD card loaded with scans of Rembrandts and Monets. Or why audiophiles buy expensive boutique sound systems and collect vinyl instead of (or in addition to) scrolling through a playlist of 12,000 songs on their phone.

I agree completely! Unfortunately my budget isn't such that I can collect physical media for all the systems I like though, so over time I've ended up splitting my systems into two categories: Systems that I just enjoy playing and systems that have a strong personal sentimental value to me. For the systems that I just find fun to play I either play the games on original hardware with flash carts or emulate them on my Wii, but for the small handful of systems that I truly love I collect physical copies of the games I want to play. For me it creates a nice happy medium of being able to enjoy collecting lots of games for the systems that are really special to me, while still being able to enjoy playing games for a wide variety of other consoles without breaking the bank.

[Keatah]

Same here. There are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of physical media that flashcarts and emulaton can't replicate. A stack of 2600 carts from the likes of Sega, Coleco, Telesys, M-Network, Atari, Imagic, Activision, etc. is far more pleasing to me than a list of ROMs. More impractical and expensive, yes, but that's the price I'm apparently willing to pay.

 

It's the same reason people go to museums or spend all kinds of money to collect art instead of firing up an SD card loaded with scans of Rembrandts and Monets. Or why audiophiles buy expensive boutique sound systems and collect vinyl instead of (or in addition to) scrolling through a playlist of 12,000 songs on their phone.

 

I could argue there are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of emulation and flashcarts that physical media can't replicate.

 

Heh, flashcarts seem to swing both ways here. But it is now time to go blow off fireworks the crowd is waiting.

[icemanxp300]

 

I could argue there are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of emulation and flashcarts that physical media can't replicate.

 

Heh, flashcarts seem to swing both ways here. But it is now time to go blow off fireworks the crowd is waiting.

 

Let me guess besides the space you save all you got is stuff like save states. Real gamers can play the games w/out save states! lol.

 

This generation of gaming is a bunch of ..."fill in the blank"... Old school people had to beat games the hard way.

[NinjaWarrior]

I just buy what I like to play, I don't buy just to collect ..I play it, Yeah I have the Super Mario All-Stars Wii Collector Edition & Kirby's Dream Collection

 

I don't get people with there Collections filling there room, or When a LE Game comes out They plunk like over $100 for it, Just to keep it on there shelfs, That's a huge waste

[Flojomojo]

Let me guess besides the space you save all you got is stuff like save states. Real gamers can play the games w/out save states! lol.

 

This generation of gaming is a bunch of ..."fill in the blank"... Old school people had to beat games the hard way.

Oh look, it's the "no true Scotsman!" Great.

 

"Real gamers" don't exist. There are just dorks that like to make things hard on themselves, and dorks that like to make things easy on themselves.

 

"This generation" is doing fine. And "beating" a game? That's so NES, son. "Real games" don't have endings.

[CatPix]

First game with a save feature? Zelda, 1986 (Famicom Disk System version)

Password systems are even older but I can't find data about this.

Cheating devices? Introduced for the Famicom an the NES, and maybe older as well.. not counting the tons of books and magazines with tricks and solutions to beat games, and the game company hotlines.

Yeah, old generations gamers were "real". No cheating any second.

 

 

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

Edited July 5, 2016 by CatPix

[icemanxp300]

Oh look, it's the "no true Scotsman!" Great.

 

"Real gamers" don't exist. There are just dorks that like to make things hard on themselves, and dorks that like to make things easy on themselves.

 

"This generation" is doing fine. And "beating" a game? That's so NES, son. "Real games" don't have endings.

 

It was a joke get your panties out of a bunch.

[Ramses]

My collection is all about games I played as a kid and games I always wanted when I was a kid. So it's pretty manageable. I'm mostly finished with the 2600, 7800, Colecovision, NES, Super Nintendo, and Turbo Grafx. I don't have anything close to a true complete collection for any of these systems, however I basically have most of the games I want (which comes out to about 50 games for the 2600, 12 for the 7800, 8 of the Colecovision, 65 for the NES, 18 for the SNES, and 22 for the Turbo).

 

Now the Sega Genesis and Master System are another story. I just started this year and I lost my original collection when I was a teen so I have a long way to go there.

 

Although I technically have a plethora of games for the PS1, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and the Wii, I don't consider them a collection as they don't have any nostalgic value for me and I never go back to them.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Ramses

[Keatah]

I agree completely! Unfortunately my budget isn't such that I can collect physical media for all the systems I like though, so over time I've ended up splitting my systems into two categories: Systems that I just enjoy playing and systems that have a strong personal sentimental value to me.

 

Early on that would be me. Not having enough money to get ALL the games I wanted. But back then in the 80's I bet none of us had the notion of collecting to collect. So it didn't bother me in that sense. No desire to be CIB NIB MIB or anything. It was simple accumulation to have stuff to play. All I knew was that 5 games were better than 2 games.

[Keatah]

Let me guess besides the space you save all you got is stuff like save states. Real gamers can play the games w/out save states! lol.

 

Of course space saving is a plus. But reliability and repeatability even more so!

 

Save states also serve as a record of your achievement. Just save periodically throughout the game. SS allow allow an expert to bypass tedious novice levels. Eliminates the grind. Last thing I want to do is sit through 2 hours of baby levels on Missile Command.

 

 

This generation of gaming is a bunch of ..."fill in the blank"... Old school people had to beat games the hard way.

 

I'm old school and I do it both ways. With SS and without.

[high voltage]

First game with a save feature? Zelda, 1986 (Famicom Disk System version)

Password systems are even older but I can't find data about this.

Cheating devices? Introduced for the Famicom an the NES, and maybe older as well.. not counting the tons of books and magazines with tricks and solutions to beat games, and the game company hotlines.

Yeah, old generations gamers were "real". No cheating any second.

 

 

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A

Personal Game Programmer 1983 Cheat Device for Atari 2600

The Epoch Cassette Vision had a pre-Zelda game with battery back-up.

[Schizophretard]

I don't think I'm even close to done. I'm kind of scared of it too. What would be my main motivation to work? What would become my meaning of life? What comes after? Is there a collecting afterlife? If so, would I be going to a good place or a bad place? Being done is one of those unknown Game Overs that is frightening. Like putting together puzzles in a nursing home frightening.

[Keatah]

Like putting together puzzles in a nursing home frightening.

 

But challenging! And an accomplishment to be praised by all visiting family!

[mikey.shake]

Is there a collecting afterlife?

 

 

Hopefully, it's just sitting back, looking at all the awesome games that you've acquired, and playing anything you've ever wanted.

 

Sounds nice, doesn't it? And it can be yours...

 

Have you heard about the Good Book? The Nintendo Player's Guide...?

[+GoldenWheels]

Probably pretty close to done. I've got everything I loved as a kid (Ataris, NES); I've also got the stuff I always wanted but never had/barely touched (TG + PCE, Sega anything). I've even started culling certain systems out (sorry Intellivision and Colecovision).

 

I'll likely always be up for buying an oddball controller (I have a softspot for them) but so far as games/systems themselves? Close...very close.

[Flojomojo]

I don't think I'm even close to done. I'm kind of scared of it too. What would be my main motivation to work? What would become my meaning of life? What comes after? Is there a collecting afterlife? If so, would I be going to a good place or a bad place? Being done is one of those unknown Game Overs that is frightening. Like putting together puzzles in a nursing home frightening.

 

 

Phase 1: amass a huge collection of games

Phase 2: play those games

Phase 3: die

 

It is not the beginning of the end, just the end of the beginning.

[phoenixdownita]

 

 

Phase 1: amass a huge collection of games

Phase 2: play those games

Phase 3: die

 

It is not the beginning of the end, just the end of the beginning.

Kind of, except that once "collecting" gets out of hand one realizes he/she has no time to play all of those games so it's time to downsizing

Acquiring the games in ROM format (flash or backup or whatever) makes it so the attachment is heavily reduced and so is the need to "play them all", thus it allows for a more relaxed attitude towards all of it a la "I'll play if I'll have time" or even more "there's better things to play than such and such".

(I know because I spent quite some times with the systems without flash carts [in my case 7800 and Jaguar] and I have to admit most of it was just because "I bought it" not because "I enjoy it" ... thankfully I managed to build my own multicarts for the 7800 and all of a sudden I got the full library and freedom from "play because I paid", but the Jaguar .... ouch!!!, I could have built my own multicarts but I still did not want to pay for a 42pin EEPROM programmer, maybe it'll change soon)

 

I'm not too keen on phase 3 [the "die" thing but hey there's not much I can do about it] and I'm pretty sure we all realize that we cannot play these games once we reach our 70s or so, we would just not have the required reflexes and this assuming we have no other physical illness to hamper us (arthritis comes to mind, but there's worse).

So stop just amassing and play them while you can but make sure you play what you like and not just what you bought .... a cursory look at bad games is not a terrible thing but wasting hours in the hope that a bad game will turn good later on (you know once you stick to it) is just plain stooooopid.

[BassGuitari]

 

I could argue there are certain intangible qualities--and even tangible ones--of emulation and flashcarts that physical media can't replicate.

 

You could. And I wouldn't disagree.

 

I don't get people with there Collections filling there room, or When a LE Game comes out They plunk like over $100 for it, Just to keep it on there shelfs, That's a huge waste

It might be a waste to you, but if that sort of thing is something the individual enjoys, who are we to judge?

[godslabrat]

I would truly like to have a complete Virtual Boy and NES collection. I also have a lot of other priorities in life right now that have nothing to do with video games. It's very possible that those priorities might keep me from getting more games, and if so, I can honestly say I'll be perfectly content with what I have now.

 

So I'm not done, but if I get stopped before going any further, that's just fine.

[Professor Gull]

I go through phases with buying and selling and kinda collecting. I want some of the stuff back I got rid of when I was younger but I tend to be pretty patient about waiting for the most part. The bad thing is when you have 2 friends who also buy and collect we tend to buy more and do mean crap like give each other systems they don't have as gifts. One such exchange was I got 4 controllers and another friend got a Dreamcast and then we got some crappy sports titles and bundled it to give to our buddy who did not have the system. $500 later he has lots more games for the system and less money in the wallet. For the most part though there is not much else besides a bad wishlist hanging over my head and a lack of storage for games.

[atarilovesyou]

I made a new list about ten or so years ago with my 'gotta haves'...starting with NES stuff. Well, that slowly grew to a few more titles...and I still have about a dozen or so to truly get there. These are games that are special to me for whatever reason, and maybe don't have any collector value, but so what, lol. The problem is that I do have some rarer titles that I don't intend to play, but also don't intend to sell just due to their value. I stick my loose carts to around 100.

 

It's way too long a story (and probably only interesting to me, lol), but I increased the number of my vintage systems recently, but now there's a cap on it. OH...ok, gotta get a new Lynx. We're not counting portables, are we?

 

My thing is space. It needs to fit in a certain area, but...I just added more shelves to get around that self imposed rule I mean, as long as it takes up the same VOLUME, right?

 

As you can tell, things can get outta control with me and collecting. But!...it's not like my 1st retro go around from early 90s...where it was all in large cardboard box, TONS of Atari stuff...and then I lent it (what a DUMMY I was...) to a buddy's old man. Never saw it again, and not because I didn't follow up on it. You simply don't carry stuff in garbage bags, or you get what you deserve. I didn't realize what a loss that was for years to come, but there was a lot of superfluous shit in there. Near 300 titles, though...I miss it still, but when I decided to get back into collecting in the mid 2000s, I made those lists and they've been great so far. I wish I moved faster on ebay, because lots of the stuff I want now is just priced outta there. Buying from personal collections has been the best way to get quality stuff, and not for shitloads of cash. Something about people selling to other collectors, knowing the things will live live on in respect!...but I've turned down some stuff I've regretted, even recently (I'm looking at YOU, boxed minty SNES Super Scope with all carts....painful...for $50 bux...d'oh!)...one day, though, it'll be done.

 

And i might even play some of this stuff, you never know

 

It's the journey, right?