Minimalism and Retro Gaming

[Blu]

Hey Racketboy Folks,

I've been exploring more about minimalism in my life. There's Marie Kondo and the Spark Joy KonMari method. There's the former corporate dudes from the Minimalists. I think I'm more in the Marie Kondo camp about keeping what sparks joy, and trimming down the excess.

I've been doing this with a lot of things: what I'm subscribed to in terms of advertisements (it's next to none now). I've pared down my wardrobe into something more manageable. We've been on a kick to tone down a lot of what we haven't used in our house since the new year. I'm practicing some good mindfulness techniques and I've started limiting my screentime and am working towards not letting my mind get cluttered.

What haven't I done yet? Ventured into the spare room and pondered my gaming collection. Man, it's tough. I've gone through various console libraries and can find a game or two that I doubt I'll ever play again. Some I think I'd like to keep and play through specifically with friends. It becomes almost quagmire-like in deciding what stays and what goes.

Do any of you find yourself in this predicament, or buying into a similar mindset? Some of us have purged our physical collections. Some of you all might have Steam backlogs in the thousands. Some of us really enjoy collecting and it's an enjoyable hobby. I'm sitting on around 300+ physical games, most of them having been played. Do you find the aesthetic of a library-like room appealing; are you a the middle-of-the-road person, or the barebones/minimalist point of view where it's a PC and emulation?

I really am looking forward to your thoughts.

[noiseredux]

KonMari is what prompted me to get rid of all my old consoles a while back. It has helped me get rid of a lot of excess stuff that - surprise - I do not miss. It's hard to stick with though. I don't find I'm consistent, but rather every few months we go through different sub-sections and continue weeding things out.

[Sarge]

I'm still a "I like to have a large library" guy. It's increasingly hard for me to add to it, though, and I'm pretty much a cheapskate collector. Sure, I could spend more on the retro games I want, but the desire to do so just isn't really there.

I do, however, need to weed through some of my stuff that I'm not using in a non-gaming capacity, and donate it or something. My closet in particular needs cleaning out.

[noiseredux]

on that note, I have hundreds of CD's boxed up. Has anyone ever tried Decluttr? I imagine the payout is meh, but the allure of just sending them a single box where they pay for shipping and then a check shows up... that's nice.

[marlowe221]

My answer has been to thin out the hardware (and associated games) to those that have particular meaning to me.

Granted, that still leaves 5 retro consoles in my house but my game collections for those consoles is pretty small.

My largest collection is for the 2600 and that is hovering around... 70-80 games at most. I have less than 10 games for 2 other consoles. It's not a huge collection by any measurement.

[Xeogred]

I'm still a "I like to have a large library" guy. It's increasingly hard for me to add to it, though, and I'm pretty much a cheapskate collector. Sure, I could spend more on the retro games I want, but the desire to do so just isn't really there.

I do, however, need to weed through some of my stuff that I'm not using in a non-gaming capacity, and donate it or something. My closet in particular needs cleaning out.

Stay strong Sarge, I feel you're becoming the minority... even here at RB.

I've enjoyed trimming down the fat a lot myself ever since I moved out from the parents. It's a bit absurd but I've filled up like 3 trash bags worth of clothes off and on throughout the last few years... and I still might trim it down more. So much stuff, and it feels great to get rid of them.

I have 100 some CD's I set aside a few months ago as well, backed up whatever I might have cared a little extra about on my PC, and just kept the CD's that I really like. I could honestly careless if I get money out of the CD's or not, but what I don't want to do is simply throw them in the trash. So I'm going to try and donate them or just give them to some pawn shop that could put them to use.

I have a few pounds worth of magazines that I'm not sure what I want to do with. But there's a lot of fun history there.

Videogames though? They are, and forever will be my #1 hobby and the exception. Some of my biggest regrets have been from all the trade ins I did growing up. I'd probably lose track of how many games I rebought as an adult because of these earlier mistakes.

I think some people just need better self control. Right now I have my SNES, Genesis, NES, Gamecube, and handheld stuff all boxed up, but other than that? I have one big 6 layered shelf that has all my PS1-PS4, Xbox, Wii, and Wii U stuff. It's a lot on that one shelf, but I feel completely fine with all that being confined there. I could do for another big shelf to work on. My backlog is never out of control, and that second shelf would probably be free with space for years and years for me to work on.

I lost my self control a bit in the mid 2000's when I did Gamefly. Basically "kept" everything and was knee deep in the AAA gaming hype, so I regret 70% of my 360 collection and admittedly don't have those on the shelves. So there is a portion I could maybe do without, but it's a very slow process when I decide something isn't cut out for the shelf. I feel more confident I'd have no regrets getting rid of this junk.

I like having only completely necessary furniture around and nothing extra. Love seeing tons of floor in the place and lots of open areas.

As for digital, now that Steam lets you create custom lists, it's been extremely easy to keep track of what I need to play and knock them out of the list when I do.

My DVD collection is basically nothing. Videogames have just about always been the only hobby I've ever had that I've sunk tons of money into. So that probably helps a lot for me, nothing else I need to worry about.

[fastbilly1]

I am of the belief that emulation, hardware or software, is at a point where most consoles are irrelevant with a decent pc. While this does eliminate physical clutter it creates digital clutter so it is also not the solution for everyone. I do keep some of my cartridge systems around since I still love slotting in carts and I do have memories attached to those consoles in particular (nostalgia is a powerful drug). I am very slowly pairing down my collections to games that I care about the most and/or are fun in multiplayer but I am keeping controllers for all consoles (blissbox 4 play).

I am very pro hardware emulation like the RetroUSB AVS. Since it lets me play the carts I am keeping easily, while keeping wear and tear off the original consoles.

[Sarge]

Videogames though? They are, and forever will be my #1 hobby and the exception. Some of my biggest regrets have been from all the trade ins I did growing up. I'd probably lose track of how many games I rebought as an adult because of these earlier mistakes.

I totally get this. I had very little money growing up, so I would often trade away games I didn't play any more at the pawn shop here in town. (This was when I didn't live here, though, we drove an hour, usually to stock up on groceries.) I actually went on an eBay spending spree just before all the insanity with NES prices hit, so I actually recaptured all of my NES collection.

I also remember trying to sell some of my games, but only ended up parting with one of them, Super Mario Bros. 2, whilst set up at a flea market around Christmas time. My Mom was selling a lot of her artwork. (The coolest thing she sold was a ceramic Civil War chess set. We've still got another set that she did, too.) I had actually tried to sell TMNT: Tournament Fighters, along with some other games, at a yard sale. Boy, am I glad that one didn't go anywhere!

[TSTR]

Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.

[Blu]

Did you type that post from your log cabin, TEESTER? I appreciate it.