Going from being a game fan to a gamer

[kelsoanim]

I've always loved games with a passion. My favorite thing when I was young was to get the new Nintendo Power, EGM, and Diehard GameFan and pour through them marking all the games that I wanted. I loved the big E3 blowout issues, I would get so excited seeing all the amazing new games coming out that year.

Several years ago when I started to get serious about collecting I felt like I was re-experiencing that thrill of discovery, finding hidden jems and all of the great games that passed me by when I was growing up. It's like going back in a time machine and giving the you as a kid all the games he could want. It's obvious why retro gaming has exploded so much in the past 5 years. It's like being a kid again.

But I realized something lately, that I spend way more time, energy and excitement on collecting and researching games than I do actually playing them. And by now I have so many great games, but I've beaten about 20% of my them, maybe less. But games are meant to be played. I've been spending so much time thinking about games that I haven't had enough time to enjoy them. So I think I'm going to try and refocus, to become a gamer again. After playing through a few games recently I've come to see that beating games is far more satisfying in the long run than the brief thrill of a new pickup. When you collect games you are happy when you get them and a bit afterwards, but they soon join the others on the shelf and you forget about them. The excitement of a new game is a brief flash, but they are meant to be played and enjoyed.

So I'm making a commitment this year to become more of a gamer instead of a game fan for a while. Can anyone else here relate? Does collecting or researching get in the way of gaming for you?

[dsheinem]

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 45&t=36814

[Zing]

Retro gaming tends to reward large acquisitions, so even those with the best intentions tend to own more than they will play.

Games are going up in price, and down in supply. This encourages immediately acquiring every game that you might play someday. The use of ebay, with combined shipping from a single seller, also has this effect. Even when buying locally, discounts given on large lots will often result is buying games you may not get to for years.

Also, some people confuse wanting to play a particular game, with wanting to have played a particular game. That is, they would like the experience of looking fondly back at having played a game, but without the time and emotional investment of actually playing it. I own several games I feel would fall into this category (i.e. the PlayStation Final Fantasy games), but I am certainly more careful of what games I choose to keep after making this realization.

Having far more games than is playable can have negative effects on your enjoyment. I used to refer to this as the "MAME syndrome", since it often manifested in people who had the full MAME ROM set. Now I see it frequently in cart collectors. You play one game for a few minutes, then move on to another. Sometimes, you are paralyzed with decision as to which game deserves your immediate attention. You get the feeling of guilt that you are somehow ignoring any games that you are not currently playing. All of this can result in the easy decision of simply not playing anything at all! The next thing you know, your several hours you had to play games has been spent either participating on Internet forums, or browsing for the next game to add to the shelf.

[ninjainspandex]

Retro gaming tends to reward large acquisitions, so even those with the best intentions tend to own more than they will play.

Games are going up in price, and down in supply. This encourages immediately acquiring every game that you might play someday. The use of ebay, with combined shipping from a single seller, also has this effect. Even when buying locally, discounts given on large lots will often result is buying games you may not get to for years.

Also, some people confuse wanting to play a particular game, with wanting to have played a particle game. That is, they would like the experience of looking fondly back at having played a game, but without the time and emotional investment of actually playing it. I own several games I feel would fall into this category (i.e. the PlayStation Final Fantasy games), but I am certainly more careful of what games I choose to keep after making this realization.
Having far more games than is playable can have negative effects on your enjoyment. I used to refer to this as the "MAME syndrome", since it often manifested in people who had the full MAME ROM set. Now I see it frequently in cart collectors. You play one game for a few minutes, then move on to another. Sometimes, you are paralyzed with decision as to which game deserves your immediate attention. You get the feeling of guilt that you are somehow ignoring any games that you are not currently playing. All of this can result in the easy decision of simply not playing anything at all! The next thing you know, your several hours you had to play games has been spent either participating on Internet forums, or browsing for the next game to add to the shelf.

It's like your speaking to my soul

[Nintendork666]

Also, some people confuse wanting to play a particular game, with wanting to have played a particle game. That is, they would like the experience of looking fondly back at having played a game, but without the time and emotional investment of actually playing it. I own several games I feel would fall into this category (i.e. the PlayStation Final Fantasy games), but I am certainly more careful of what games I choose to keep after making this realization.

That's an intriguing point that I never really considered. I know I've definitely been guilty of this more than a few times.

Kudos for the thought.