In Too Deep: A Collectors Reflection Upon Life

[o.pwuaioc]

wrap: as in crunch wrap supreme.

haven't you ever heard the phrase 'he has a bad rap?' maybe i made it up. i think it is a word, though. if it isn't a word, it should be.

It's bad rap, not wrap.

but there are some days when I wake up and wonder what’s the point?

This crosses my mind quite often.

Me too. But not just about collection. About everything. Just what is the point?

That, my friend, is for you to figure out. Ain't no one else on earth who could tell you the meaning of life, because quite frankly, I doubt there is one.

I literally was just having this conversation (about collecting material things) with my girlfriend the other day. I'm not about to sell everything I own and live life as a hermit, not yet at least, but when presented with the opportunity to amass a certain extremely large amount of a particular item, I decided that in my collecting I was going to collect for me. That means my focus is on what I want to play, not on completion, not for the sake of it, not even to make a small profit later on down the road. I ultimately want to get rid of any game I (or my girlfriend, vel sim.) don't play or don't want to play.

[dedalusdedalus]

it seems video game collecting is getting a bad wrap (or is it rap?). somebody can go out and drop a few Ks on a flat screen and nobody says anything. but a perfectly working tv can be bought at a goodwill for 20 dollars. somebody can drop 40 dollars a month for smart phone service and nothing is ever said.

This is true - collecting video games isn't that expensive of a hobby, unless you're collecting Neo Geo AES or importing PC-Engine. Compare it to wine-tasting, maintaining a vintage car, or collecting golden or silver age comics -- it's practically pennies to dollars.

[Runefaust]

Yeah, it's bad rap.

As for regrets collecting, I've gone through that before an' it cost me dearly. I gave away games to my brothers and cousins an' sold 2/3 of my gaming library... and it's one of the biggest regrets in my life!!! щ(ﾟДﾟщ)

In my case I was forcefully injecting doubt into something I was very passionate about. Somehow it got into my head that spending money on something you care about just isn't practical. That having all these games somehow made me immature. Back then I thought I was a mature teenager... turns out I was just being stupid, lol!

When it comes to hobbies I'm fortunate in that most of mine don't really require much of an investment financially. This is one of the reasons I'm able to spend money on gaming. Another reason is I stopped attempting to justify the means behind my game collecting. Games are a passion of mine, that's really all the reason I need.

Another plus is that my five year old is getting the authentic retro gaming experience, lol!

[Hobie-wan]

It's bad rap, not wrap.

Indeed. The phrase 'bad rap' is referring to a rap sheet.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Collecting is a hobby. It should be enjoyable (i.e., it should not inspire an existential crisis).

I enjoy collecting because it give me a good reason to get out of the house and comb through flea markets, pawn shops, antique stores, thrift stores, etc. in search of games I hope to add to my collection. The thrill is in the process not the result. I certainly enjoy getting out and hunting down games much more than I do simply having them in my collection.

In any event, the article's author - in my opinion - needs to put his collecting on hold for a while, stop spending so much time on his computer, get out of his comfort zone a little, and try to meet new people and try new things. I know that this is much easier said than done, but it sounds like he makes a decent amount of money and does not have any sort of financial or family obligations preventing him from doing anything he want to do.

[J T]

To me, if you have to ask what is the point of collecting, then you have lost the point. Collecting is the point. It is not a means to an end, it is an end in itself. The problem is that we start thinking that collecting is the means to a collection. Now, in a way it is: if you do a lot of collecting, you will amass a sizeable collection. But the point is the collecting, not the collection. It's about looking over screenshots, gameplay videos, and critic reviews. It's about chatting up with people online or in person about your favorite gaming moments. It's about tearing off the shrink wrap, smelling the plastic, and actually sitting down to get lost in a gaming fantasy world for a few hours. If you don't enjoy these things there is no sense in doing them.

A diehard collector is kind of a broken person. A collection can never feasibly be complete, and so people concerned about completing their collection will never feel complete from collecting. Even if you did manage to track down every game for all of the consoles you own, then what? You have amassed a bunch of stuff and now you are done... but where do you go from there? Likely you don't know what to do with yourself when you are completed, so you find something else to collect to try to fill the void. In a way, having a complete collection sounds worse than having an incomplete one, because what is left after that?

I speak from experience as someone who has a sizeable collection of videogames and music. If you are not enjoying the process of collecting, then you're doing it wrong. Eventually your collection reaches a size where you realize that you will never feasibly play through every game you have in your lifetime. Also, if you thought you were going to make a fortune selling them all off, then you're kind of nuts because we all know how much games are worth and there are far better ways of using your time to make money. My point is that it's about the people that you collect with and the fun you have with the hobby. If you've lost sight of that, it's time to step back and take stock of how much a big pile of stuff really means to you, and I'm guessing it's not much.

[AznKhmerBoi]

yea somewhat depressing article, its good thing i only collect what i will play.

I never really feel attached to any certain games unless i really enjoyed it, i have given away my entire collection of gamecube games with no remorse to my cousin.
Rougly 50 games with some pretty rare ones, but even knowing its rare i still gave it away with eased.

Im really glad that i dont have the tendency to hoard things.
My most recent give away was my sega genesis with about 200 games that i've been collecting since 2004, i figure i didnt play it anymore so i gave it all to my neighbor. Now i have a sega genesis with just 5 games and im still happy with just the games i enjoy to play.

[scarper]

I used to collect for just about every damn system that had a considerable amount of popularity. But then I realized, "Wait a sec. I don't even play more than half of these games." Sure, I may "get around to playing them eventually" but I just wasn't happy with the situation. I found that I spent way too much time and mental capacity on making lists of games I wanna get, and figuring out financial things. I put waay too much energy into it, so I went ahead and stopped. Sold the majority of my games to friends and a local book store, modded my Saturn and started playing games that I actually wanted to play, and realizing that video games should only be a recreational thing in my life. Not a mind consuming obsession.

Now, my situation with gaming resides comfortably with the Dreamcast being my only home console (burning games for it fer free) and collecting Gameboy/GB Color games. I also keep my N64 around so I can do multiplayer stuff with friends. Saturn Bomberman still remains a popular occupation for when I have large groups of friends over. I now have much more mental stability for making movies, building a portfolio, being creative, doing well in school, and, of paramount importance, keeping real friends close by.

I'm not an old person, but I'd still like to give advice to aspiring collectors: Pick one or two consoles, and make sure you love them.

[chuckbanzai]

This is a topic that I have pondered for quite a while. My want to collect games has stemmed not only from my overall enjoyment of the conventions and mechanics of a by gone era, but also from the desire to learn and experience all there is to know in the field.

Outside of simply playing the games, it is fun to catalog and organize my collection not only to make it visually appealing, but also so I can see what genres or consoles I have overlooked quality titles on. Having just recently purchased my 1400th physical game to add to my collection now has been a good time to look back and reassess everything. I can't say that they are all AAA titles as there are some that would better be defined as significant or would help me complete a series. I can however say that I have at least played and enjoyed all of them to some extent.

As far compromising my personal life to do so, that couldn't be farther from the truth. I have a beautiful fiancee who has supported my hobbies all the way. Heck she just recently purchased a Simpsons arcade cab for me for my birthday. I also have a nice house in a safe neighborhood and great friends to help me enjoy my vast collection.

There isn't a whole lot on the topic that hasn't already been discussed in this thread, but I just wanted to add another notch to the list of people who can successfully balance their hobby, no matter how extreme it may be, with their personal life. As long as we have places to go to find like minded people we can and should always find it easy to justify our passions and hobbies.

[BoringSupreez]

I found that I spent way too much time and I'm not an old person, but I'd still like to give advice to aspiring collectors: Pick one or two consoles, and make sure you love them.

That's what I ended up realizing. I only seriously collect for three systems: N64, Xbox and PC. Those are my ultimate favorites. That's three, rather than one or two, but PC almost doesn't count since I collect really slowly for it, and I've been collecting for it longer than any of my other systems. Plus, PC games outside of point-and-clicks are usually cheaper than console games, so it's less of an investment.