Gaming as a life-long hobby - Thoughts from the 25+ crowd

[cloudrat7]

Do i qualify? yes.. i'm 40 years old and videogames have been an integral part of my life. I've collected games for whichever system came out at that time and quickly sold them. This went on for years until about 1996 when i started buying/selling/trading used and new video games in a comic book shop (i rented half of the space). I did it for 3 years and it was the best time of my life, i loved working there and i met tons of gamers from all walks of life. When it was all over i got a regular 9 to 5 and i sold off the majority of my inventory, I kept a few systems (which i still own) and i never got around to dusting them off and playing them.(kept busy mainly playing pc games) Fast forward to about 2 years ago, I settled in with my girlfriend (fiance') and i started to dig thru my collection. I recalled a few places that were selling old games in my area so i started to frequent flea markets and garage sales and all of a sudden i'm buying games once again. My collection is growing somewhat and I know this will be my hobby for possibly the rest of my life, In a way videogames have always been a part of me, From hanging out at the arcades at 8 years old until my 20s to buying and playing just about every console that has ever appeared. And just to add a somewhat cliche' statement, My fiance doesn't like videogames at all. We are two seperate people when it comes to that (but that's fine, she likes reality shows and i don't care for them), I'm not the type to deny that i still play videogames, even at work i can be seen playing my mame emulator on my android tablet..lol. I don't talk about it 24/7 but i know my history and i know how to get my gaming on, Some things are for life, some people buy shitloads of cars and clothes, but me i'm happy with buying a 2 dollar ps2 game at some janky garage sale..

[mjmjr25]

^Nice post.

Thank you.

[Menegrothx]

Menogrothx - please do not turn this thread into a typical I like X you like B, yr an idiot.

It's not a matter of differing opinnions, it's a matter of trivializing a huge game (playerbase, lore, sheer size of it [size of the game area, content, and quests etc]) like World of Warcraft with statements like that on a gaming forum. I don't mind if people dislike MMORPGs or WoW, you just should give credit where credit is due - a game of this magnitude has the content of 1000 single player console games. I'm sure there are people with over 600 days /played on a single character out there in WoW. Heck, by the Decemeber 2006, there was already one guy with over 300 days /played ( Nov. 23 2004- Dec 2006!), and plenty of people with over 200 days! If it was a boring game, people sure wouldn't play it that long. How long is your average retro game (not counting in CRPGs etc)? 5-30 mins TAS, 1½-3 hours in real life. How long is your average modern FPS/Action adventure? 7-13 hours? That's alot less than 14 400. Naturally that argument is kinda flawed as even games with not that much content (Counter Strike, Quake, Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Starcraft 2...) can keep (competitive) people intrested for a very long time, but you get the point.

[mjmjr25]

^Read the thread. We are not discussing what you are discussing. We certainly are not calling others opinions "asinine". Do not take a single comment from a very nice post (which btw, was on topic) and attempt to derail this thread with your support for mmorpg's. If you want to dedicate your own thread to discuss them, by all means, do.

Now, with respect, either be on topic or be out of this thread.

[foxhound1022]

Wow, now I know why dude's keyboard was so ungodly disgusting.

These are all great stories, and I also share the sentiment of not caring what others think about my hobbies and such. I know I`ve gotten snide remarks or strange looks when I tell a friend or co-worker that I just spent $50+ on some 10 year old game in Japanese, but meh, whatever. If it's something you truly love to do, then the time and money invested is not percieved as resources squandered.

[Hazerd]

Do i qualify? yes.. i'm 40 years old and videogames have been an integral part of my life. I've collected games for whichever system came out at that time and quickly sold them. This went on for years until about 1996 when i started buying/selling/trading used and new video games in a comic book shop (i rented half of the space). I did it for 3 years and it was the best time of my life, i loved working there and i met tons of gamers from all walks of life. When it was all over i got a regular 9 to 5 and i sold off the majority of my inventory, I kept a few systems (which i still own) and i never got around to dusting them off and playing them.(kept busy mainly playing pc games) Fast forward to about 2 years ago, I settled in with my girlfriend (fiance') and i started to dig thru my collection. I recalled a few places that were selling old games in my area so i started to frequent flea markets and garage sales and all of a sudden i'm buying games once again. My collection is growing somewhat and I know this will be my hobby for possibly the rest of my life, In a way videogames have always been a part of me, From hanging out at the arcades at 8 years old until my 20s to buying and playing just about every console that has ever appeared. And just to add a somewhat cliche' statement, My fiance doesn't like videogames at all. We are two seperate people when it comes to that (but that's fine, she likes reality shows and i don't care for them), I'm not the type to deny that i still play videogames, even at work i can be seen playing my mame emulator on my android tablet..lol. I don't talk about it 24/7 but i know my history and i know how to get my gaming on, Some things are for life, some people buy shitloads of cars and clothes, but me i'm happy with buying a 2 dollar ps2 game at some janky garage sale..

I would love too see your current collection, and what are your favorite games to play on MAME?

[cloudrat7]

oh man! thats easy, Three wonders, punch out, star wars and gyruss. Those are my favorite mame games.

I'm in the middle of collecting and i havent opened up all of my boxes to display my consoles (im in the process of building my man cave). as soon as i put everything up i will take a few pics, so far ive been collecting ps2 games and nes games as well (i just scored about 12 more ps2 games that i will display on the look what i found thread).

[J T]

oh man! thats easy, Three wonders, punch out, star wars and gyruss. Those are my favorite mame games.

Good taste! I love Three Wonders. It's not very well known, but it's a great arcade game. I used to play it at this waterpark whenever I would go there. It made its way on to one of the Capcom Collections, so you can play it on your PS2 as well.

[cloudrat7]

i was fortunate enough to play it in the arcades in the early 90's and i never forgot how cool that game was, why it was never released for snes or sega genesis is beyond me. it would've done well.

[Gunstar Green]

I get different reactions to my collection and it's usually, but not always based on a person's age. A lot of people in their 20's and 30's really get a kick out of it usually. They find games that they played when they were younger and we instantly have something to talk about.

To people who grew up with video games it's sometimes a trip down memory lane and a reminder of simpler times. It's not unlike people who grew up in the 50's and 60's with collections of vinyl records or other memorabilia from the era. Sometimes I watch American Pickers on the History Channel and they gush over stuff like signage and tin cans that is just absolute junk to me but to someone with the right connection to, or nostalgia for, the item it's priceless. I wonder sometimes if games will one day be the same. I wonder if decades from now somebody will still want a dead NES cartridge to display on their mantle because it's an important relic of their youth and the kids of the day will think grandpa is crazy for treasuring a useless hunk of plastic.