I have started my collection 3 times...

[Dreamstation]

I tell girls that i love video games and I play them 8-16 hours a day and i never hear from them again.

[chupon]

Lets face it - a wife that loves you and any kids you have are more important then any games or systems. But since video games are another love you just gotta find a balance.

Go for the SNES cart collection.

[deathclaw]

Lets face it - a wife that loves you and any kids you have are more important then any games or systems. But since video games are another love you just gotta find a balance.

totally agree

[Dylan]

Lets face it - a wife that loves you and any kids you have are more important then any games or systems. But since video games are another love you just gotta find a balance.

Go for the SNES cart collection.

Yeah, a good marriage is worth more than any possession you can have. However, it should be totally reasonable to hold on to your interests as well, but I'd try to hit close to home first. Maybe work something out if things go south, which people usually do anyway (though progressively less so nowadays).

[(-_-)]

Your stories are exactly why I'm never getting married.

My marriage story is good. She reads on the couch next to me playing games - she calls it "together time." Works for me.

That just made my day. Also, that's fucking awful. Three times is too many. I can only imagine how big it would have been by now if you'd just continued from when you started. It is good however that it appears you have found a genuine keeper this time.

[jfrost]

My girlfriend likes gaming and would never make me choose between her and my games. She loves Metal Slug and I love the games even more when playing with her. Yeah, I'm probably gonna marry her.

Granted, I don't have an exuberant collection like you guys do, but my few games get a lot of use, so it's still a case where a normal girl would be annoyed.

[jfrost]

Lets face it - a wife that loves you and any kids you have are more important then any games or systems. But since video games are another love you just gotta find a balance.

Go for the SNES cart collection.

Yeah, a good marriage is worth more than any possession you can have. However, it should be totally reasonable to hold on to your interests as well, but I'd try to hit close to home first. Maybe work something out if things go south, which people usually do anyway (though progressively less so nowadays).

I don't know about this. Seems like a false dichotomy to me.

This isn't a case where you should give away things you love for the sake of a marriage and your family (I would think that would only be justified if the family was in dire straits financially). Rather, your games or any hobbies you have are one component of a happy marriage. It's not like you have to pick one of them. On the contrary, the fact that you can keep your wife, kids, and hobbies assures that you'll have a happier life.

Like others have said, if your wife can't tolerate the things you love, she's not right for you.

[J T]

^ well said.

I'm very happily married. My wife doesn't like the games, but I've made it clear that its important to me. I don't play for really long stretches of time like I used to, but I sneak in an hour here or there when she's busy doing something on her own. It helps to have a decent laptop for gaming. She also likes to sleep in really late on weeekends, so I play in the mornings then.

I feel bad when I hear these stories about you guys that had to give up something you love (whether you gave up your games or gave up on women). I think you just have to be clear about what your priorities are and make sure that a girl you are with knows what she is getting into- you have a hobby you want to keep. Let her know how much you care about the games and how much you care about her and find room for both. Women usually don't like videogames because your full undivided attention is going to a tv screen more than to her. You just have to manage your time so that she gets enough full undivided attention too. If you love her, that shouldn't be too hard. And when the relationship hits lulls or starts to become difficult, just think of it as level grinding for building experience points in the game of life.

[wclem]

Great to hear so much from everyone. I should clear up that both times I was told it was fine and they even played them with me or told me they like to play them. Did not mind my collection and never complained about it. But then I married them and it all changed. The real person came out, I was duped. These people made themselves out to be something they were not. They just simply could not let me have something that made me happy. It extended into anything and everything. I truly thought the first time was a fluke but I found out that it was a consistant happening with myself and many others. I dont know how many people have had to sell record collections, sports related collections, old cars, or anything they cherished or made them happy. Ever hear of a man telling a woman to sell their shoes???? How many women have shoe collections!! Or collections of anything, ever in your life hear a woman say that her husband made her stop collecting and sell something? It dont happen.

To those out there who dont give a damn about a wife or girlfriend and mistreat them and then wonder why they hate when the play video games, I say "you deserve it, stop being selfish". But to those of us who sneak in a game while the little woman does her own thing and would drop them in a moment is she asked I say hold onto that collection man because you may be able to rebuild but it is never the same. Sooner or later that woman will be gone, but only after she gets every last thing from you.

[Erik_Twice]

as my girlfriend put it "i prefer you have a hobby like video games or train modeling (was playing railroad tycoon 3 when she said that), than you making a hobby of drinking, or cheating"
man it's good to have a girl with a brain.

and btw tough break man. i wish you good luck

HAHAHAHA TRAIN MODELLING?

That's like the worst hobby on Earth. It's expensive and looks unimpresive model-wise (You just spend how much for that 7cm machine?) and takes huge amounts of space. Your girlfriend sure loves you.

Unfortunatedly my parents do not want me to build huge railroad networks so my trains are gathering dust in the closet =/