Collecting for the sake of it?

[neoboy259]

Anyone else feel they're collecting retro goodies for the sake of it?

I've got far too many games to play this gen, don't even talk about 8/16-bit stuff. I recently bought a load of MD and SFC stuff even though I know I'll never get to play them properly, in fact, it's too much hassle to set them up for a play! I reckon I'll just have a bash on them via an emulator as I'm on my PC for about 50% of my free time.

I have a nice AES collection, however, it's sitting in my mum's loft so I can't even appreciate how awesome the boxes look on my shelf. When we get a place of our own I know I'll be on the lookout for new AES titles, despite the fact I only ever play a bit of MotW and KoF.

I've been contemplating selling off all my retro gaming gear and keeping just the current gen stuff. Though I know I'll end up regretting it and buying retro tat again.

Basically, anyone ever sell their retro shizzle? And how what happened after? happy? Depressed? Or did you end up accumulating it all again?

[beecee]

sold off my retro collection 6-7 years ago, didin't regret it at the time...

and just got bitten by the bug recently, and am regretting it now, some people are asking way too much for the games, especially cart only ones!

if i had only kept it all, sold it for decent money but most games have doubled in price, and they are not particularly rare games, ie super metroid, castlevania iv etc, then you get the odd prat on ebay (spence) hogging the decent games and trying to flog em for 100's of pounds....

glad i'm not a collector, and only want the games i'll play, a few titles i admit would like them boxed minty fresh, but then its a few select titles.

[vanpeebles]

I had a neo geo aes with a handful of games nearly 10 years ago and sold it due to not having the right setup at the time to play it. It's the only machine I've regretted selling(compared to a large Jap Saturn collection or a PC Engine) and I've recently got another one with a steady supply of games.

I wouldn't sell it again as it's twice as tough to get it all next time round. I have come to release though that you have to keep some degree of focus. Too many machines and you can't enjoy any of them as they all battle for space canceling each other out.

[rmoxon]

I'm not a collector, but I do understand the appeal.

I dont think theres such a thing as "collecting for the sake of it" really as if youre a collector you must be one becuase you enjoy it, doesnt even matter if you play them or not. So in that case its not a waste of time.

[neoboy259]

I had a neo geo aes with a handful of games nearly 10 years ago and sold it due to not having the right setup at the time to play it. It's the only machine I've regretted selling(compared to a large Jap Saturn collection or a PC Engine) and I've recently got another one with a steady supply of games.

I wouldn't sell it again as it's twice as tough to get it all next time round. I have come to release though that you have to keep some degree of focus. Too many machines and you can't enjoy any of them as they all battle for space canceling each other out.

That's strange, I think it's easier and cheaper to get hold of AES games now than when I first had a collection 10 years ago. I think the prices for SNES and MD stuff, especially stuff in decent nick, has skyrocketed though.

[vanpeebles]

The lower end games have gotten cheaper but some of the mid to high end stuff has gone even higher.

[Arashikage]

I had lovely MD and SFC collections that looked awesome on my shelf. Unfortunately it seemed I spent more time looking at the cases than I did actually playing the games. I sold the lot off and didn't look back. A mate of mine bought alot of my SFC games and I still see them when I visit him so they are kind of still around.

[nakamura]

I think it is always worth keeping the very best games on a variety of systems as you always end up wanting to play them again.
Since buying a SNES I have totally embraced 16 bit gaming again and I can appreciate it on an even higher level than I did before.

It is easy mind to get involved in buying stuff for the sake of it. I recently sold a lot of PS2 games because I would just never play them.

[tokyochojin]

I once sold off my entire collection of Dreamcast stuff (over a 100 games as well as accessories etc.), regretted it so much that I made it my mission to get the whole lot back. Will never do the same again.

[Ebisamaru]

i would be to scared to tally up the money ive spent on games/arcade machines over the years gulp!

[Wools]

Threads like these must pop up every few months, as someone else is deciding to offload their collection!

I had built up a massive collection of games during my teens to the point that most of the loft and my room was flooded with hardware and collectable tat. However I started to get cold feet in 2004 when I was coming to the end of my driving lessons, needing to save up ?2000 insurance, and the realisation that my enthusiasm for gaming was dwindling. It was not because I was beginning to tire of gaming itself, but the sheer amount of stuff I had collected was taking up so much room and time, I had barely completed a handful of games in years and spent more time buying than playing.

I started to slowly sell the consoles and games I decided I would not go back to, and begun to pick apart everything. Games that meant a lot to me would remain even if I did not own the console to play them on, and I kept anything that I wanted to play or re-play at a later date. The majority was sold, however I had trouble shifting some classics and games that would only net small amounts of money. If they had not shifted after a few months, I would lower them to the lowest price possible and if they still remained, I threw them out. A lot of people said how I could do such a thing, and with hindsight I would have passed them onto a charity shop, but I was younger and happy to let this pile go.

It took nearly 2 years to sort out and refine my collection, and I would recommend it to anyone who currently has a massive collection themselves, and is becoming apathetic to retro or modern gaming. It gave me back space and money, with me able to enjoy gaming again, completing the games that I buy rather than just keeping an overwhelming amount of stuff.

With only 2 consoles and 40 titles, I can safely say that I’ve never been happier playing games, whereas in the past, I had hundreds of games with not a chance of playing them all.

[samanosuke]

Threads like these must pop up every few months, as someone else is deciding to offload their collection!

I had built up a massive collection of games during my teens to the point that most of the loft and my room was flooded with hardware and collectable tat. However I started to get cold feet in 2004 when I was coming to the end of my driving lessons, needing to save up ?2000 insurance, and the realisation that my enthusiasm for gaming was dwindling. It was not because I was beginning to tire of gaming itself, but the sheer amount of stuff I had collected was taking up so much room and time, I had barely completed a handful of games in years and spent more time buying than playing.

I started to slowly sell the consoles and games I decided I would not go back to, and begun to pick apart everything. Games that meant a lot to me would remain even if I did not own the console to play them on, and I kept anything that I wanted to play or re-play at a later date. The majority was sold, however I had trouble shifting some classics and games that would only net small amounts of money. If they had not shifted after a few months, I would lower them to the lowest price possible and if they still remained, I threw them out. A lot of people said how I could do such a thing, and with hindsight I would have passed them onto a charity shop, but I was younger and happy to let this pile go.

It took nearly 2 years to sort out and refine my collection, and I would recommend it to anyone who currently has a massive collection themselves, and is becoming apathetic to retro or modern gaming. It gave me back space and money, with me able to enjoy gaming again, completing the games that I buy rather than just keeping an overwhelming amount of stuff.

With only 2 consoles and 40 titles, I can safely say that I?ve never been happier playing games, whereas in the past, I had hundreds of games with not a chance of playing them all.

This is exactly my sentiment. I had so many games across so many platforms and I felt myself becoming bogged down by so much clutter. Like you, I spent more time buying than playing.

A few years later I sold everything - my Japanese Saturn collection, my AES collection, my PCE collection, all the (then) current gen consoles I had including a modded Pana Q - kept the Megadrive and SNES and never looked back.

I have around the same number of games as you and have never been happier. If I ever get the itch to play other consoles I just use my Wiz.

[garrz32]

Sell the lot,I was like you but decided to sell all my retro stuff and I can honestly say I won't be buying it back again.

I even sold my jp 360 cos I didn't have the time to play it, the only machine I have now is the ps3 purely for DVD,oh and Killzone 2 online. lol

[Asura]

I can only really offer my own experience, but I sold my collection some years ago now (though it was hardly the size of some you see here) and I'm happy I did.

The fact of the matter was that for me, with the output we get regularly from the industry, and that these days I'm primarily a multiplayer gamer, I realised I'm never going to have time to play them. I got rid of a load of old Guilty Gear games, for example, because I know I'm never going to play them alone and these days I'd always prefer to play SSFIV online - not a comment on the games themselves, but rather that I only really play fighters in vs mode.

[kernow]

Always makes me laugh when you see people say they have a 4000 game collection. I've never broken 100 I don't think. it's probably around 50 at present.