To Collect or Not Collect

[charlesr]

Need to keep the difference between "collector" and "speculator" separate

People who buy with the hope that the items will go up in value aren't collectors. Collectors are people who hoard stuff for the fun of it, e.g. bragging rights, display factor, touchy feely browsability, pokemon factor (gotta get them all) etc.

[Ostrog]

Really if you own more than 5 - 10 consoles and have a full time job I don't know how you find the time to play and enjoy them.

True that, and while I rarely have the time to play everything I own - and more often than not, some games and consoles remain unused for months - I'll always come back to them. Could be a week, a month or a year down the line, but I'll play them again.
There'll be a time when I'll suddenly feel like a blast on some old PS1 shmup, or I'll want to dig the Dreamcast out for a game or two. (such last week, when I really wanted to play Tech Romancer again)
I may have a load of games on the shelf, but they'll get played eventually - but only when I feel like playing them. Forcing yourself to play the games just because you have them just ends up being a chore.
Same goes for dvds and books; I've loads of those, but I wouldn't part with them either.
That said, there's no point in holding on to the stuff you know you won't want. I had a recent comic culling, and I'll probably get shut of a few dvds at some stage as well. (only to be replaced by newer versions, mind. )

[Escape-To-88]

I used to collect and hoard a lot, but age and increasing work load made me sell a lot of stuff. I don't really miss it though and tend to trade in a game after I've finished it, unless its really amazing. I think emulation has made it possible to dip in and out of retro games without hoarding a box of famicoms in the cupboard also.

[sj33]

I've long since turned away from 'collecting'. It's not fun, you feel no satisafaction, and you spend a lot of money. Money better going on games to play!

I rarely sell a game once I buy it though, as if I love a game, I get all emotionally attached to it. I've sold a few games over the last few years because of my blind-buying, but those days are over now. Carefully choosing purchases etc!

[huyi]

hah, i will never sell my game collection, you must be crazy to give your stuff to GAME and gamestation, they rip you off, they offer you a 20% price final deal and when you sell it to them they sell it at nearly full price making a huge profit off you, everywhere i go i see people foolishly still selling off their games to GAME or gamestation, you loose much more than you actually own when you continuously keep trading to GAME and gamestation, you trade in 2 games to buy 1 new game, you trade in 3 games to get a decent amount of cash to get 1 brand new game, and when you tire of that brand new game a week later you trade it in yet again only to find out it's worth is nearly cut by half, but will be sold at full price yet again once you sell it to GAME.

[fallenangle]

hah, i will never sell my game collection, you must be crazy to give your stuff to GAME and gamestation, they rip you off, they offer you a 20% price final deal and when you sell it to them they sell it at nearly full price making a huge profit off you, everywhere i go i see people foolishly still selling off their games to GAME or gamestation, you loose much more than you actually own when you continuously keep trading to GAME and gamestation, you trade in 2 games to buy 1 new game, you trade in 3 games to get a decent amount of cash to get 1 brand new game, and when you tire of that brand new game a week later you trade it in yet again only to find out it's worth is nearly cut by half, but will be sold at full price yet again once you sell it to GAME.

But you can sell on e-bay or Amazon and set your offer at a fair level ie. below typical high street shops used games' prices.

There are plenty of gamers on a budget who live in the sticks miles from the nearest shops who buy all their used games/equipment off the internet. They're very happy to buy your games at way above anything you'd get from GAME/Gamestation when trading in.

[MJ]

I'm a bit of a hoarder and keep games I like and think I'll go back to. In reality I never/rarely go back to them and then when I finally feel ready to sell them they're hardly worth anything, so since owning my 360 I've made a point of selling games once I'm done with them and there's no multiplayer longevity to be had.

[yesteryeargames]

can we have some pics of your collections, or non collections lol ?

[RoughOutline]

Due to not having much money, I can't afford to keep games I no longer play.

At the moment, I have 12 360 games, which has probably been the largest my 360 collection has actually been. There are one or two games I've considered selling, and once I play through more of my other games, one or two more will probably go at some point as well.

I've been meaning to add to my collections for my PSone and Dreamcast, but I find that my money for games tends to go straight towards the 360. I only bought some PSone games recently-ish because my 360 was broken at the time.

I think that when I do have more money I will probably have more games, although I don't want to get to the point where I can never decide what to play, or have a backlog. At the moment, I feel as though I've got a lot of games on the go and I don't really like it. Having more money would probably make that even worse!

[huyi]

can we have some pics of your collections, or non collections lol ?

please don't say what you don't know, here:
videos of my game collection
entire list of my game collection

[Kit]

I don’t know how you can horde so much stuff.

I only keep a select few games and they have to be absolutely awesome to justify it.

I can't even stand having crap games in my collection - if by some miracle this happens it's sold almost immediately. The same goes for DVD’s and books. I just can’t stand owning something I consider ****.

[cutmymilk]

I'm a bit of a hoarder and keep games I like and think I'll go back to. In reality I never/rarely go back to them and then when I finally feel ready to sell them they're hardly worth anything, so since owning my 360 I've made a point of selling games once I'm done with them and there's no multiplayer longevity to be had.

This. Will sell most stuff soon!

[Sylar]

I don't collect games mainly due to the fact if i did i'd never play them. Buying games just for the sake of it is silly, there mean't to be played, not sitting on a shelf looking pretty.

On a side note, some collectors (not them all) really piss me off when they sell their game for a crazy price that's nowhere near the value they priced the game at i.e. Shin Megami Tensei:Nocturne (US) $225 sealed.

I can't wait for the day when every retro game in history (from the NES onwards) is available for download as its already started with the Wii's VC, Xbox Live, and PSN.

[Eight Rooks]

I collect in order to play at some point, so I've got no problem with games sitting around - I know there's every chance I'll pick them up sooner or later. And I buy the odd XBLA game, but on the whole if gaming ever becomes download only in my lifetime (while I've still got the money/the mental faculties to enjoy it, obviously ) I'll probably give it up as an ongoing hobby. I'll always, always, always want a physical copy of something first and foremost. I've sold God knows how much stuff to ****holes like CEX in the past and dearly wish I hadn't - never again. Simply not worth it. If I can think just once "hey, I haven't touched (game X) in a while; where'd I put that? I fancy giving that a few hours of my time" and be able to dig it out and play, it was worth keeping. If I can think just once "hey, I remember playing (game X); that was pretty awesome. Let me just stare at the box a sec and reminisce about all the good times", it was worth keeping.

And I have 80-some PS2 originals, all of which I consider worth keeping in some way or other.