Nearly done. Are you?

[Schizophretard]

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.

 

But what would 70's mean when I get there in the 2050's? What I mean is that,"So stop just amassing and play them while you can" for the most of human history would have meant just play them for the first time when I was a child because by now I would have been dead but the average life expectancy and health has been increasing and it is increasing even faster now. As a side note to that I have already been in situations where if it wasn't for modern medicine and science I would be dead by now. Therefore, I have already lived past what my death would have been in a natural state before modern advancements. So, when I reach my 70's it might not mean what it means for me today. It could mean that the 70's are the new 50's which would push forward what I think of as my 70's to the 2070's. Then after I finish that extra 20 years the extra 20 years of advancements I get to see could push it forward again and therefore in the 2070's I'm in the new new 50's. Anyway, I don't think it is correct to treat aging as if it has a fixed unchangeable clock where the number of years we have been alive we equate with our state of health. The clock has been changing and is changing.

 

I also think it is psychologically unhealthy and not a good way to live to assume death around a certain age, assume a state of health at each age in between, and then schedule out our lives accordingly. Think about how easy it was to have fun and how alive we felt as children. A big part of that was because death felt like it was a thousand years away and we weren't living our lives with a constant worry about it. We lived like there was always a tomorrow and we should try to remember how to think like that again.

 

So, what does this have to do with collecting and gaming? I choose to do both with the mindset that I'll always be a Lost Boy instead of a mindset that I should make a bucket list type schedule as if I'm living with a terminal illness. If I eventually die my finished bucket list would be erased anyway because all the meaning I assigned to it with all the memories of those experiences would go with me. Death has the same effect of not even have been born in the first place and therefore I'm not a big fan of it.

 

[HoshiChiri]

Yeah, I'm not too set on the 'play while you can, someday you'll be too old' idea. Life is too uncertain even for that.

 

Play what you can now, you might die tomorrow!

But if you don't, you won't be able to afford the other game(s) you wanted to play.

So you buy a few- just in case- but get sick & go blind partway through.

So it was a waste of money, right?

But now your nephew who's helping take care of you is curious about the games.

So you listen to him play through them instead.

So it was a good thing-

Except now he's obsessed and stops leaving the house

His mom has to put him in therapy

So it was bad

But then it turns out the games are rare now

They pay for an operation to fix your eyes

It's a miracle!

Except you have nothing left to play

 

Life is Weird. There's no right way to do it. Just try to make sure you're happy with it, however you need to.

[Silverfleet]

I don't know if I'll ever really be done, but I have definitely slowed down. Three big reasons for this:

 

Cost.

Prices have skyrocketed in the past few years, and I don't want to drop $500+ on a game cart when I can just play the thing on an emulator for cheap/free. I used to love picking up big lots of games from people looking to unload them cheap, but that never happens around here anymore. Everyone in my area thinks anything old is worth $$$$$, so deals are few and far between. I have other hobbies (cars and playing music) that are justifiably expensive, and owning/running a house isn't exactly cheap, but there's no way I'm paying a ton of cash for just one game even if I had millions of dollars. Plus, the thrill is in the hunt anyway!

 

Space.

I live in a small house. I have one very small room dedicated to my collection, and that also houses my record collection and my wife's book collection. The modern systems are in the living room, and the biggest closet in the house holds even more gaming items. And then there's the overflow: that's in the basement. I don't know how much more I can fit without going on an episode of Hoarding: Buried Alive! Plus, it's not fair to the wife. She is a saint for putting up with it! I do want to find a better way to organize it all though. I would love to have everything on display instead of boxed up all over the house.

 

Time.

Back about 10-15 years ago when I started seriously collecting, I would go out and buy big lots of games. When brick and mortar stores (like FYE, Circuit City and others) would go out of business, I'd be there snagging cheap deals on then-current stuff. I amassed a lot of stuff before the prices got out of control. I figured that when I bought my own house, I'd have all the time in the world to kick back and play everything! Yeah right! Owning a house means upkeep, yard work, cleaning, etc. Then, there's all the other "being an adult" stuff, like working, going to this place and that place, etc. And when there's down time, I usually spend it with my wife and dog doing other stuff. I usually get a couple hours a week to play games right now. In the winter, when going outside hurts, I usually get a little more time.

 

All that said, I still tend to pick up a couple games a month. The days of getting a huge box of 2600 games for $25 at a yard sale are behind me, at least around here, so you have to get what you can get. Lately, it's been the last-gen systems. I'll be out shopping and I'll pick up a couple cheap used games at Gamestop or a big box store bargain bin. Just last night, I snagged Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remastered and Super Mario Galaxy at a local Target for under $30 new, which is not terrible. Still haven't played Galaxy, so I'm excited about that. And my wife actually will play a Mario game every once in a while, so that might be fun.

[Keatah]

I don't know if I'll ever really be done, but I have definitely slowed down. Three big reasons for this:

 

Cost.

Prices have skyrocketed in the past few years, and I don't want to drop $500+ on a game cart when I can just play the thing on an emulator for cheap/free. I used to love picking up big lots of games from people looking to unload them cheap, but that never happens around here anymore. Everyone in my area thinks anything old is worth $$$$$, so deals are few and far between. I have other hobbies (cars and playing music) that are justifiably expensive, and owning/running a house isn't exactly cheap, but there's no way I'm paying a ton of cash for just one game even if I had millions of dollars. Plus, the thrill is in the hunt anyway!

 

I suspect emulation is the major force, however strong or weak it may be, driving down costs. I and many others are NOT going to spend time and $100+ trying track down a 2600, joystick, CRT, switchbox, power adapter, and cartridge just to play Asteroids. We can get 98% of the way there with an emulator on the PC or a Flashback from Target. For free or a fraction of the cost of original BITD hardware. And we'll enjoy superb reliability and added features as a nice side bonus.

 

Regarding, "old" stuff. Everybody thinks old stuff is worth more than it really is. It's not just in your area, it's universal.

 

And the thrill of the hunt? I never really got to experience that with physical games other than a short time around the dot-com era. Or when I was a kid. Every time afterwards has always been an exercise in frustration. Wasting money on gas, consuming time, and all that. with very little in return. I AM DONE! No way am I baggie-chasing some dumb ass game for completion's sake.

 

But with emulation, you can call up the internet and find new versions of emulators supporting new games, or improving the games they already support. You can find new ROMs, modern-day homebrews, and hacks. And all sorts of coolness like documentation, scans, interviews, .PDF magazines, and more!

Begin Building Your Virtual Collection Today!

[Silverfleet]

 

I suspect emulation is the major force, however strong or weak it may be, driving down costs. I and many others are NOT going to spend time and $100+ trying track down a 2600, joystick, CRT, switchbox, power adapter, and cartridge just to play Asteroids. We can get 98% of the way there with an emulator on the PC or a Flashback from Target. For free or a fraction of the cost of original BITD hardware. And we'll enjoy superb reliability and added features as a nice side bonus.

 

Regarding, "old" stuff. Everybody thinks old stuff is worth more than it really is. It's not just in your area, it's universal.

 

And the thrill of the hunt? I never really got to experience that with physical games other than a short time around the dot-com era. Or when I was a kid. Every time afterwards has always been an exercise in frustration. Wasting money on gas, consuming time, and all that. with very little in return. I AM DONE! No way am I baggie-chasing some dumb ass game for completion's sake.

 

But with emulation, you can call up the internet and find new versions of emulators supporting new games, or improving the games they already support. You can find new ROMs, modern-day homebrews, and hacks. And all sorts of coolness like documentation, scans, interviews, .PDF magazines, and more!

Begin Building Your Virtual Collection Today!

 

I still like going to flea markets, yard sales, and junk shops trying to find a good deal on something. I'm no completionist, but I like picking up games for cheap. I've scored big time in the past on stuff, but I don't see many deals like I used to anymore. For instance, about 6 years ago, I went to a few yard sales and spent $55 on two Telegames 6-switch consoles (one with instructions), about 15-20 boxed games (most were sealed!) joysticks, paddles, an Atari hardshell briefcase, a N64 with 10 games, and a PS2 game with a strategy guide. That would cost about $400 here now. But sometimes the deals are still out there, and it's fun to hunt. At least for me it is! I just know now not to always expect to come home with stuff.

 

On emulation... I've been doing it since the mid 1990's. I still have floppies with Atari roms on them somewhere! I love using my softmodded Wii to play all sorts of retro consoles. It probably gets the most use out of any console in my house right now. Sometimes, there's nothing like playing on the original consoles though.

[atarilovesyou]

With the 'real gamers playing real games' turn this thread took, lol, I have to admit how wracked I was back when the Game Genie was released for the NES....was it 'cheating'? What does that MEAN for gaming?!?!...lol, all the wasted time 'worrying' about that shit.

 

Here's the thing: old school gamers DID have it tough. And if you want to beat those games, legit? You've gotta work. But perhaps the pay-off was more in those days, you know? I mean, I could go online and get all the cheats for NES games, but don't. Why? It's the challenge I want, and if it could be done back in the day without hints, then I should be able to do it today. And because that was my generation, it's still extremely satisfying to do so. But I can get why folks today might not feel the same way.

 

Instead of the Game Genie, somewhere in the 32 bit revolution, we got 'Options'. How many lives you want?...continues?...what else, difficulty levels, sure! Now it's a great way to allow accessibility for gamers, but I'll argue that it took away the universality of the CHALLENGE. When someone you knew beat Mike Frickin' TYSON on the NES, you KNEW they had the goods! Or Zelda...heck, even SMB. The challenge of the games was the equalizer. Sure, some games sucked hard due to poor game design. But many did not.

 

I don't use save states, but wonder at how much time it would save. I can't just grind on Battletoads forever, lol, to get to the Flame Gates anymore. But...it's the challenge.

[icemanxp300]

It's all about what's important to you. I generally don't use cheat codes, devices, or guides. That's just my preference. I want the challenge and satisfaction of beating it with no help. If you only care about experiencing the game w/out putting the time and effort to do it the long hard way then that is your call.

 

I do use a turbo controller on some games to allow rapid fire in shmups or make my moves in street fighter II flow perfectly. That is technically a cheat device, but it makes the game more enjoyable to me. So if save states, game genies, and guides make the game more enjoyable to you then that's all that matters.

[mozartpc27]

I am more into classic computers than classic gaming systems, and with those computers I am more interested in what they can do as computers than as gaming systems. Of course, if you discount the gaming abilities of a classic system, with what are you left?

 

Well, in the case of my Commodore 8-bit, at this point I have it pretty well tricked out. I can go online & post to Facebook or this site (like I am doing right now), and I have a fairly complete GEOS suite, which allows for a surpringly high degree of functionality. I do do real work on the Commodore - albeit very occasionally.

 

Of course, I once read a post from someone on this topic about how one day they looked up and realized that none of the equipment they had wa stuff they had when they were a kid. With the Commodore, aside from the printer, that's where I am at. I still have a 64C and my original 1541 - in a box. I use a 128 with all kinds of things I didn't have as a kid.

 

As for other systems, I am still collecting, but it sometimes feels as though I am wasting money. I only have so much time to play with these things, and with a 13 month old in the house, that time gets shorter every day. My main games system is a ColecoVision, for which I have just about all the games I want, except for maybe one or two - and I am not sure I want those at the prices they fetch. I also have the Atari expander for it, with about 8 2600 games. I never had the Atari expander growing up, and thus never played much Atari except at my cousins house - who did have the expander - and my friend's house, who had the 2600. In the end, though, I don't think there are many more 2600 games I really want, and I am maxed out on space.

 

I have a TI-99 and a handful of games, and an Atari 800XL with another small handful. Also have a Tandy CoCo. not sure what I will do as the kid gets older and he wants stuff of his own.

 

There are a few more things I want, like a disk drive for the Atari, but I am closing in on done I think.

[Keatah]

SaveStates allows me to start off at a more challenging level of Enduro for example, like track 50, without having to waste hours working up to that level.

[atarilovesyou]

SaveStates allows me to start off at a more challenging level of Enduro for example, like track 50, without having to waste hours working up to that level.

 

 

That's pretty much how I'd use save states for games like that. Use it to practice the higher levels. But if I were to sit down and log in a best all time game, I'm starting from scratch.

 

Or like I mentioned before, bypassing early stages that you can do in your sleep...and all they really do is waste your time, after a point. Battletoads is a perfect example.

[Schizophretard]

SaveStates allows me to start off at a more challenging level of Enduro for example, like track 50, without having to waste hours working up to that level.

 

Does the game reach its maximum difficulty at day 5(Roadbuster) or continue on indefinitely? If it is the first then you could just save it on day 5 instead of 50 to get the same result. But if it is the second then that is 10 times more difficult than getting a Roadbuster achievement. That would be cars driving 10 times faster and 10 times more of them spread out across the road. Is that even playable? If so and there is a YouTube video showing someone doing that then I really want a link because that would be an awesome play through.

[AtariLeaf]

I am definitely near or at the end of collecting. I have looked at various other systems or old computers to possibly collect for and found nothing that interests me, and I've exhausted my want list and other than the occasional homebrew or some unexpected game or system that pops up locally cheap, I don't foresee adding to the collection at all. I hardly even browse ebay anymore.

 

If anything I may be selling more stuff I've either played through or don't play anymore.

[Keatah]

Does the game reach its maximum difficulty at day 5(Roadbuster) or continue on indefinitely?

 

Seems to be getting more difficult albeit at a slower rate.

 

[Keatah]

Any list I make is a casual list, and not set in stone. That means if I happen to come across it in my travels I'll likely pick it up. If it's convenient. And it only relates to the systems I have now. No new/different architectures coming into the fold.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Nearly done? Perhaps with everything else but it's been a childhood dream to own every ColecoVision cart officially released (135 or so) and I intend to accomplish that, I gotta have a full set for at least one of the consoles I own. Same for NES but there are so many carts that were made, it may never happen and it's crazy expensive right now to collect, so it's a slow process. Intellivision seems to be quickly falling into this group, not too hard to get a full set but we'll see. Wouldn't mind collecting more N64 stuff too. Was going to go for Vectrex but I have enough stuff and the VecMulti really hits the spot for me. The rest, I have flash carts or SD/HD solutions for. That'll probably be my thing for now on. I've been concentrating on buying homebrews for my favorite systems, not so much original releases. I've sold off most of what im not passionate about or just plain had to at the time.. hard to turn down piles of cash I've had sitting there for years collecting dust, waiting to be sold and using that money to fund something else more important.

[+phoenixdownita]

... hard to turn down piles of cash I've had sitting there for years collecting dust, ....

you had piles of cash sitting there for years collecting dust .... never heard that one before.

 

<smartass>I know what you meant to say, it just sounds funny the way you wrote it</smartass>

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Should have used the word 'Making' in there... it's hard to turn down making piles of cash. That would have made more sense.

 

That's how I look at it sometimes though, glancing over at the wall of NES and CV games in my entertainment center.. a gigantic pile of cash sitting there, easily a nice used car. Selling that many games takes time though, it almost took me a year to sell off all my SNES games.

[wolfy62]

I only collect for the Intellivision now as that was and is my personal favorite system.

 

Yes, I have piles of games for other systems I am going to clear out, space time and a little money come into play. I just have too much stuff!!!

 

Watch for my auctions for many systems coming up when I have time to sell. Wolfy

[Mayhem]

I'm selling off large parts of my collection currently, but more a case of slimming down the games in general and keeping the ones I want. But in terms of what I'm looking for still for the systems I own, yes, there's not much left I'm still after, and what I am, turns up very rarely.

[Professor Gull]

I as until yesterday when I saw a lonely Saturn looking for a new home....I don't need another one really but I took it home anyhow and cried cause its laser was dead. But really sadly I bought a few boxes of randoms games PC and SNES and NES and what not from a garage sale recently and I really do't need any of them but maybe i hope to trade for something I want eventually. It's tough now just getting to what you want to have rather than just snagging everything in sight.

[atarilovesyou]

 

Seems to be getting more difficult albeit at a slower rate.

 

 

If it's anything like another Activision games, the difficulty definitely has an upper limit. It just becomes a battle of attrition, really. Kaboom and Chopper Command both do this. It's hard, no doubt, but if you can get used to it, all you're really battling for is bragging rights...which is enough for me! Like with Chopper Command, the game simply stops when you wrap the score: 999,999,999 or however many digits it is. Endurance though, would be the key to Enduro, right?

[Ska_music_fan83]

I'm basically done, minus a few games here and there and a few homebrews that I want to purchase someday: Bentley Bear's Crystal Quest for Atari 7800 I'm looking at you.