Random Gaming Thoughts

[oxymoron]

I'm not much of a collector anymore as you know.

Why did you stop collecting?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I'm not much of a collector anymore as you know.

Why did you stop collecting?

Because I discovered I get much more enjoyment out of playing games now than I do from ogling them. Sure, I'll salivate over a minty Saturn collection as much as the next guy here, but, I don't have the desire to ever own a big collection again. It's just not my thing anymore. I've even switched nearly to completely digital thanks to PC gaming.

[oxymoron]

I'm not much of a collector anymore as you know.

Why did you stop collecting?

Because I discovered I get much more enjoyment out of playing games now than I do from ogling them. Sure, I'll salivate over a minty Saturn collection as much as the next guy here, but, I don't have the desire to ever own a big collection again. It's just not my thing anymore. I've even switched nearly to completely digital thanks to PC gaming.

Is that something that tends to happen to most gamers/collectors at one point in their lives or Is it a personal thing? Jw

[CFFJR]

I don't know man. Is it really worth it just to have it? I mean, I'm not much of a collector anymore as you know. Maybe I'm not the person to ask. I personally wouldn't. That's a lot of money. You could nearly pay for an entire upcoming system for $300. You could also buy a ton of other cheaper games you could actually play. Even if I had that disposable income, I don't think I could bring myself to pay that much for a game I would never play.

Now, if you see the value rising, then maybe I would...

Well I agree with you actually, and I feel the same way, even if money were no object. Its really not worth it in this specific situation, at least in our eyes, but I'm sure there's someone who would go for it, right?

The reason I got to thinking about it and brought it up is because of an msx game I saw on ebay just a moment ago. I've only seen this game available once before, in 2011. What's funny is that this is the same item, from the same seller, and he's asking the same price (I took a screen of the auction back then, so I was able to compare ). The funny thing about it is that I've seen the same copy twice, and that's it, so I have no idea what value for the thing would really be, except what he asks for it.

I just thought "I will never own this" under those circumstances. So I wanted to ask about it here.

Probably not in the particular situation you played out but I would spend $150 to get a sealed copy of Yakuza 2 and $150 on a sealed "hot coffee" version of GTA San Andreas.

Well yes, naturally. I've spent similar amounts on games I really wanted that I could actually play. Only twice, granted, but still.

[oxymoron]

The nice thing about those games is that I can buy a copy to play also.

[jinx]

I was thinking about all the "incentives" games have given us in the past that were lost over time. No necessarily mechanics, but ways to track progress or give us replay value. Some of these I truly miss, and it's nice to see some indie developers and kickstarters trying to bring it back.

Examples:

High Score - This was something adopted from the arcade and brought to early home console games. The idea of a game back then without a High Score was probably absurd. Now-a-days, I only ever see High Scores and Leaderboards in shmups and arcade style games (save remakes/reboots).

Collectathons - Banjo-Kazooie stands out among the crowd, but I would even consider games like Yoshi's Island to contain this style of game (Collect all the flowers, red coins, and end with x amount of stars). This seems to have been lost in the "128-bit" era of gaming. Banjo-Kazooie: nuts & bolts even blatantly says that gamers have grown up and moved beyond that style of gaming.

Stuff like this still appears in some modern games, but I feel that it was lost for a while. The newer Batman games are a pretty good example of it's return. Collecting hidden items to unlock sound-bites and cool art. However, using it as a core mechanic seems to have been lost.

Present and Future?
Today, it seems like Achievements and Trophies have been used as a replacement and are a pretty decent way of keeping track of how much of the game you've actually completed. Some people can't stand these, but it's nice not having it a part of core gameplay. You don't necessarily NEED Trophy "X" to proceed to the next "level".

Which brings the question: We've been using this system for quite some time now. Has it earned a permanent place in gaming today? Even indie games (like Minecraft) have adopted this "Achievement System".


Meh... I'm bored at work and wanted to type something like this up. Not really meant to take seriously, and I'm not even sure if my points are valid. Just for fun.

[Menegrothx]

I've even switched nearly to completely digital thanks to PC gaming.

What's wrong with collecting PC games. Old big box games are the bomb, and DVD case games don't look much different from PS2/PS3-era console games (well except PS3 and Dreamcast because they come in smaller cases)

[Violent By Design]

I always hate tactic on exploration things like the collectathon in the Arkham games. Finding those riddler puzzles is such a blatant way to try to add depth to the game, by not actually doing anything.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

Question to any and all:

Would you spend a significant amount of money, say over $300, for an item that you want strictly to add it to your collection?

And follow up for those who say no, would you do it if you had the money for it free and clear?

Never. Even if I became extremely rich, I wouldn't find any more joy in simply having something than I do now. Some people really enjoy collecting, but not me.

[GSZX1337]

I tried to play through Unreal Tournament 3's campaign but ultimately gave up. It's just too boring. There's no fun in playing the game with bots. I eventually said "Fuck it." and just watched the cutscenes on YouTube. I'm glad I didn't slog through an entire campaign to see the end of that story.

I know the feeling, on UT2004. Same.

Oh man, I got pretty bored with that one too.

Old big box games are the bomb...

Those were the best game boxes. They'd just tower over lesser boxes.