If you're thinking about getting into game collecting, please rethink it
I hope that this doesn't come across as gatekeeping or bashing on the hobby because it can be really fun but I think there are some things about game collecting that people that're new need to consider before getting into it.
The first thing is that it costs a lot of money. Unless you're looking to buy a handful of games from your childhood, then be prepared to spend a lot of money. The pictures that are shown of peoples gaming room with shelves of nicely organized games were either started decades ago or they devote a lot of their income into buying games. The price of most games have skyrocketed with even a basic game like Mario 3 for the NES has gone from maybe $10 for the cartridge to $20 in the past four years.
You will likely never have a complete collection. I know that there are people that want to own ever NES game, every Gameboy game, every PS2 game, every variation of a console, etc. You are not alone. For every attempt at a "complete" collection, there's going to be at least one item that will cost you an arm and leg and it likely won't even be a game you'll like, it'll likely be a game that didn't sell well with only a handful of copies available.
The consoles and games have a shelf life. As consoles get old, they'll eventually start to break down. Maybe the laser reader on a PS2 stops working, or the pins in a NES will wear down, or a battery in a PSP will run out. Those are replacable but if you don't know what you're doing, it'll break the system, and since new systems aren't being made, they'll be harder to find. Then with games, they require upkeep; the pins will degrade, discs will eventually rot over time, something we've been seeing with some poorly stored PS1 disks after 25 years.
Don't treat it like an investment. If you're thinking that you'll pour all this money into the collections and then sell it off later in life as an investment, it's not a good idea. Even though the market has skyrocketed, there's no telling what the market will be like in a year, let alone a decade or longer. That also assumes that you maintain your collection well and nothing happens to it. We've seen people who lost everything in fires, in floods, in earthquakes, theft, and so much more.
There are alternatives! With purists, they want the best of the best but if you still want the physical games, you can save money by buying a reproduction cart; for the most part, there's almost no telling the difference between an official and a reproduction cart or even a bootleg copy and that's perfectly fine if you're not planning to sell it later and pass it off as a legit copy! Even if you just want the boxes, you can buy production boxes on etsy that are great for display purposes!
Emulators exist! I know that emulators are kind of a touchy subject here but they're one of the best ways to just play an older game without having to fight for a physical copy. You can buy a raspberry pi or hack a console and load it up with just about game ever made for next to nothing. If you just want to be able to play Batman on the NES or the Simpsons Arcade Game, or Mana Khemia 2 on the PS2 without having to troubleshoot why a game isn't playing or spending money to play a game for 20 minutes before moving on, then just emulate it.
If you know all of this and still want to get into collecting, then great! Buy the games you want, enjoy the games you have, and have fun! These are just things that I wish I had known before I got into the hobby and seeing what the current state of it is.
Posted Jan 3, 2022, 7:13 AM UTC
I love collecting games, but this has a lot of valid points, and has me reflecting on what has changed about me as a person who enjoys video games, and how I enjoy them. I find myself looking at new games, reorganizing my games, or scrolling on ebay more than I actually play my games. It can become very addicting too, to get new games all the time, but I don't ever feel satisfied with my collection. I buy something, tinker with it for a bit, then it goes on display and I'm already back on eBay again.
That's how I was for a long time. I'd have spreadsheets of every game for the major consoles and marked off which ones I had and which ones I didn't. When I'd get a new game, I'd look at the cartridge and maybe the box if it came with one, then file it away with the rest.
I just had a moment two months ago where I realized that even if I quit my job and played every waking moment, I'd never have enough time to play every game I had before I died. That kind of snapped me out of it and realized it stopped being about having fun playing games. Went through my collection and sold almost everything, only keeping my all-time favorite games for display purposes.
It almost becomes a habit; you check the lists, you buy a game but when later on, you might see a CIB version or a Japanese copy that'll branch out into another collection. I wish I could be one of those collectors that make a living from being a youtuber or twitch streamer and their job is to just talk about games to justify it all but...without that, the sense of incompletition can be loud.
Yea, I'm really at this stage myself; what's important is those experiences and memories playing the games. The physical items are really just stuff that has a limited life span no matter how well you take care of your collection. Years ago I cut my ps1 collection down to the bone haven't felt bad about it a day since. Kept what mattered dropped the rest. Need to do the same for my ps2/3/4 games. Digital collections have come along way as space saving alternative.
Tell me about it. Collections are great but there comes a point where you have to start thinking about how much space its taking up. I remember moving apartments and my first thought was "will this bedroom be enough for everything and how will I have all the consoles setup?". It's rather freeing to have everything on a single shelf because everything else is digital. Visited my partner is Sweden last month and was playing Onimusha 2 on my laptop the whole flight there!
Yea as long as the core experience (the games) are available digital collections fix alot of the issues relating to the hobby. I really like how good old games handles access to the games; download them anytime you want and most are small enough to have a decent mix of games on any thumb drive.
Thank you for sharing that. I want to try and focus on games I will actually enjoy and spend some time with before displaying em.