“Stockpiling” Stuff & the concept of storing for the future

[casterofdreams]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share my quick story about what I like to call “stockpiling” gaming related stuff - what I mean is this:

Say you have an impending generation of consoles coming up and you start to see prices of the current stuff come down. You have some sort of foresight that in the near future when the next generation is in full swing and the older stuff gets cleared out, anything you didn’t pick up, you would have it buy either used, or at a premium if new.

I personally went through this type of scenario with 7th generation considering I had more disposable income compared to prior transitions and built up some foresight from missing out during said past transitions. One example is Xbox 360 controllers. Since I have a vested interest in the 360 and PC gaming (Windows 7 user - XBO controllers are out), I purchased many controllers from various retailers as they were being discounted to about $25-$30 each. As someone who prefers new controllers, this was a great opportunity for me since they retailed for twice that a year prior. Best Buy had, at one point, the wireless controller with the PC dongle for $28. Toys’R’Us was clearing old stock out during its liquidation phase for $25.

It’s a bit of an oddball mentality but have some of you peeps gone through something similar? Give me some examples or stories/experiences.

[ElkinFencer10]

Before I finally got fed up for good with the company, I would routinely - like, once a week probably - go by Gamestop and just grab a pile of entertaining looking (read: so bad it's good...at least when you're drunk) Wii shovelware.

[noiseredux]

personally, no. "Stockpiling" sounds like another word for "hoarding," and if I have too many possessions that I'm not actually getting any enjoyment out of then I don't feel good.

[Fragems]

I was really bad about buying anything I found sub $5 if it was interesting. That is how I ended up with 4k+ games that I'm now trying to get rid of. Goal is to get to where I just own maybe 1 game per system I own for testing purposes since I do enjoy hunting/selling and then only buy 1 game at a time selling stuff when I'm done with it.

Would like to get to the point where I can fit just about everything I own not counting furniture into my car in a single load.

[casterofdreams]

Yeah I can kind of see stockpiling can be another word for hoarding. And it’s a valid point about buying shuff you’d never get enjoyment out of.

While it can be a problem, buying said things and becoming over encumbered, my thoughts were more along with buying things you knew would be difficult to find in the near future like buying discounted items as they are clearing out for the new generation.

[Jagosaurus]

I think it was Noise who pointed out on another thread (awhile back) that a very small percentage of retro or older games cost what a new gen game cost. That's an interesting way to look at it.

I've gotten more into buy, play, sell if I never plan on revisiting. I had way too many I had beaten 5+ years before and never picked back up since.

Also, most disc based systems have been hacked, can run CDRs, or have an ODE (optical drive emulator) created... through 360/PS3/WiiU (but also the Switch). All of these or similar methods allowing for booting of game images on real hardware. Of course, flash carts available for every retro cart system I know of. You can always invest in those options versus stockpiling games.

Over the past 2 years I went from roughly 500 games to roughly 35 with the methods mentioned above (combined with emu). I'm still buying games, just with a much different mentality. I also play a lot more without searching so often... okay, tinker with projects... and play.

[noiseredux]

Yeah my view is I'd rather buy a current gen $60 game that I will play than twelve $5 games that I don't. It's just an anecdote to illustrate that it makes more sense to buy games that you will play and get your money out of either way.

[Forlorn Drifter]

This is definitely something I try to avoid, but I still fall into it from time to time. I had a period where I had tons of game boxes for no reason, and there's been times when I've scooped up games for systems I don't even own (hello PS2 games.) Gamewise, emulation has been a big help from keeping me doing it- I'm a lot less likely to buy a retro game without trying it now.

That said, I think controllers is one place that it can be worth it. You can't find PS3 controllers for squat nowadays, and DS4 controllers don't work with a bunch of PS3 games. I know I'll be hoarding DS4s by the end of the gen.

[Erik_Twice]

I regret not buying Gradius III &IV and Gradius when I had the chance to save a couple euros, but other than that, I don't think there's a real need to store for the future. It might have been a good idea to get certain games before prices started to skyrocket but that's already behind us so no help there, either.

Personally, I try to only buy games I've played or will really want to play. I got burned by buying too many games I would like to play, which is a meaningless lie we often tell to ourselves XD

[Nemoide]

I only aim to "stockpile" things I think I'll actually get around to using/playing. Though I admit sometimes my gaming-eyes are bigger than my gaming-stomach.

I bought a new official Xbox 360 wired controller a couple years ago on the suspicion that my wireless one might not last forever and that a "fresh' controller is a pretty wonderful thing. Earlier this year, my wireless controller has been super-unreliable and I broke open the packaging of my wired controller. It's GREAT and I'm glad I did it! But I wouldn't want a closet filled with new controllers in the packaging because it's not like I'm going to actually USE that many different controllers.