So at a time, I had focused my collecting pretty narrowly on my GBPlayer. It was simple. If I wanted ANY game, it had to be on GCN, GB, GBC or GBA for me to get it. That left out a lot of decision-making really. But it also meant there were a lot of games I couldn't play.
Since then I've branched out and our household has a Wii, DS, PSP, PS3, PS2, Genesis, Sega CD, Colecovision, Dreamcast and NGPC. So on the flip this means now I have way more options of games to get/play. But it also means way more decisions.
I have a small apartment. For the most part my actual collection of games is kept on a single big Ikea bookshelf (though all the Wii, GCN, DS and Gen/SCD is kept in drawers under our main TV -- as those are more like my wife's collections). Anyway, I go through these cycles of binging and purging games as that single bookshelf gets full. And of course over the past year or two I've gotten more concerned with my collection being CIB -- which takes up more space.
So what gets hard for me now is deciding HOW to collect. I guess.
For a while I was really into getting as much of my retro games on PS1 and PS2 as they'd play in my PS3 so it was nice having this huge collection of stuff that was all playable on a single console. The Dreamcast is great for shmups, and has lots of exclusives, so that's a no brainer. But now I feel myself replacing PS1 and PS2 fighting games on DC. But this is more difficult. They look better on DC. And maybe even play better. But I have good fightpads for my PS3... something I can't easily find or afford on my DC. So maybe it's silly to keep getting those on DC? See? Decisions. Do I even NEED a physical copy of MvC2 anyway? I have it on PSN already and can play against people online. So is it silly to then buy ANOTHER copy of it?
Likewise, things like Final Fantasy drive me nuts. Take IV for example. On PS1 it's bundled with Chrono Trigger. On PSP it's got After Years. On PS1 I can play it upscaled on my nice big monitor. On PSP it looks even better than the PS1 version, and RPG's are quite excellent on PSP. If I were to just buy it on PSN instead I wouldn't have a nice physical thing to put on my shelf -- but I would be saving room. And I could play that single game on both my PS3 and PSP. But no CT and no After Years. Decisions.
And of course convenience and logistics play a certain role. I've got great arcade sticks for PS3 (so PS1, PS3, PSN shmups are covered, but not PS2) and Dreamcast (so DC and *some* PS1 import shmups are covered). Likewise, all light gun games I just get for Wii as they're the only thing I find a Wiimote good for. Plus my wife likes them, so we play them on the bigger TV in the living room which is where the Wii is. On the same note, because the Wii is in the living room TV, I don't bother buying fighting games or things she won't play for Wii because I just won't bother tying up that TV for myself. Convenience also means that many puzzle games and SRPG's I'll buy for PSP. OH BUT my wife likes puzzle games too. So I might have to buy a second copy to play on a console with her...
Do I want to collect more for a single console? Do I want to collect more for genres spread out over consoles? Are PSN games really the devil? Sure there's nothing to collect, but the convenience of sharing them between PS3 and PSP is so nice. And there's hard to find PS1 imports for like $6. Do I really need Puzzle Fighter on every console I can find it for? How many times will I end up re-buying Street Fighter II?
I'm quite sure we all go through this weird phase, but yeah just looking for comments and thoughts on how exactly you decide what to collect and in what formats, and why.
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