Fess up, who collects but then dosen't play?

[Mike 01Hawk]

 

I have about 6 14-gallon rubber maid 'rough neck' storage bins full of PC Games that I've collected since 2006. Other than playing 3 games I already owned (Doom, Syndicate, and Full Throttle), the rest have collected dust ever since

[STICH666]

Me. I have 15 SNES games yet to be touched thanks to the ease of emulation.

[Poopopyo]

I don't play my 45 NES games a lot except for Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros 3 and 1, and Gyruss. I just love my Atari too much .

[carmel_andrews]

collecting without playing.....ouch, that is a bit expensive

[Mike 01Hawk]

collecting without playing.....ouch, that is a bit expensive

 

Somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000+ at last count. All being done ~$40-60 at a time with ebay lots <cry>

 

What sucks is even if I tried to thin my collection and make some $, I know I'd never recoup my costs completely. Oh well.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Mike 01Hawk

[carmel_andrews]

well so long as you have the lolly (money) and in bite size chuncks

 

2k though, that is a fairly sizeable investment

Edited May 26, 2009 by carmel_andrews

[Video]

Wow, I thought I was just weird or something and never bbought it up, but I regularly get games, and then don't play them. I don't men just Atari stuff, which might come in a box with 50 titles, and the sheer bulk prevents me from playing it, but even new stuff, I looked the other day, and I have over a dozen X-box 360 games that aren't even opened yet, a lot of which, I paid full retail for (and to think there are 3 more games coming out this month I want to pick up GAH!! Yeah, I gotta problem )

[monzamess]

I used to buy games just to collect. I'd play them all at least once even if only to test. That wasn't very fulfilling and I sold most of them. Most of those were classic games when classic games were cheap.

 

Now I buy games with the intention of playing them, but then don't make time to do it. I've been stuck halfway through Super Paper Mario for about a year, and about 1% into Mario Galaxy and Mario Sunshine. Getting back into them now is like starting over. I have several PS2 titles that I've booted only a couple of times. I have a nice driving wheel for GT4 that's been used twice. I think I spent more time picking it out than using it.

 

Most of my PS2 games my wife bought for me for various holidays; I've since preempted some of her purchases knowing I have a giant backlog already. Most of my N64 and GCN games came from buying cheap lots, so no major loss if they don't get played. I want a PS3 for the new GT and coming Katamari but can't justify it with all the other unused games sitting around.

[godslabrat]

I have a LOT of PS2/Xbox games I've never played. Nothing against either system, but I bought them when I worked at Circuit City and I paid almost nothing for them. I'm interested in all of them, but I'm waiting for a change to really enjoy them... those modern games take a lot more time to truly appreciate. I mostly just bought them because I could get them for crazy-stupid prices with my discount, so it's not a huge monetary loss.

 

At any given time, I probably have about 12-15 NES games that I have never played, mostly because that's the system I actively collect for. However, I get to those games much more quickly, and then I go hunting again to bring in new unplayed games.

[guitarmas]

I'll confess. I have a MIB Dreamcast with about 50 games and a MIB Sega Saturn with 18 games. I've had the Saturn for about 6 months and have really only played 1 game on it. I've had the Dreamcast for several years and it hasn't been hooked-up in about a year. I collect for these 2 systems, but I never enjoy playing them for more than a few times. I wonder why.

[kelrodjr]

I have an Atari 2600 with 26 carts, exactly one of which I've played. The 2600 isn't my favorite as it was a few years before my time but I couldn't pass up the system when my brother-in-law's friend was going to throw it out! You can't just let a classic game console die a horrible death, you know?

[nonner242]

I have never played a single game I own!

I just collect them for the box art!

Edited May 27, 2009 by nonner242

[tjb]

I'm afraid I fall into that category. I have a huge collection of game consoles and classic computers that I play only a fraction of. I guess my excuse is lack of time as well.

 

tjb

[SRGilbert]

I don't play as much as I should, but I consider collecting a pleasure unto itself as well. I have I think 21 different consoles and handhelds now and I pick up whatever I find cheap. Funny things is that my wife plays WAY more than I do, seems she always has a GBA, DS or SNES controller in her hands!

[+Sargon]

Umm... I'm rather ashamed to admit that I currently own 24 CIB Jaguar games and have only played 2 of them! It's not that I'm opposed to playing them, but my addiction to collecting is winning over my available time to actually play.

[SRGilbert]

I figure I'll stop collecting and start playing when I either:

 

A: Am too old to go to yard sales and flea markets.

 

B: I have every game ever made.

 

 

I think "B" is more likely because from what I've seen, you are NEVER too old to to flea markets!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Well I fall into that catagory somewhat, not intentionally, just NO TIME TO PLAY! I sure want to, when I DO play it's mostly to make my youtube videos, it's not really just playing for myself, then by the time I am done it seems it's time to go back to work! Back in the day it was too much time with little games and now it's too many games with little time!!!!!!!!

[animagnum]

I am also ashamed to admit that I do this. I collect games, clean them up, and then store them. I feel like I'm building some kind of escapist time capsule.

[mianrtcv]

My collection certainly is growing beyond a real playability. However, I do play. The trick is when I hit rpg's and football games and get hooked... then everything else gets the pay me no mind list for a while. I just finished Jeanne D'Arc and Brave Story on psp after being hooked on recent Madden games on ps2 and ps3.

[SRGilbert]

Back in the day it was too much time with little games and now it's too many games with little time!!!!!!!!

 

Isn't that the truth! I remember about 12 years ago when we first moved in together. All we had was a Sega Genesis with a 32x and about 6-7 games. We both worked/ went to school part time and we played those 6-7 games around the clock! Good times......

[+Lynxer2007]

Most games I collect I play only once or twice. Too bad, there's quite a bit of good ones I have

[phaxda]

I play too much Mario Kart so have time for nothing else, but that didn't stop me from buying a copy of Springer for the 2600 because I got a decent price. I plugged it in to make sure it worked and onto the shelf it went. I guess this is a natural progression.

 

And honestly? When I play I so rarely use carts--I have the Cuttle Cart. I just sold off my remaining Vectrex games because I bought a multicart.

[brojamfootball]

I used to be very guilty of collecting and not playing with my previous collection, which I got rid of. I now only have 2600 stuff and some plug and plays. I also have a 360, but no 'collection' for it, just a few games.

 

I try to only buy 2600 games that I will play, but have definitely ended up with some junk. I've got about 85 unique carts, and probably a little over half get play or will again at some point. There are just so many crappy titles out there, it's hard not to end up with some. I have to admit to buying a few collector-type titles just to have them. Some are good games, some are not. For instance, I knew that when I bought Donkey Kong it would not get much play, but I like having it for the collection to illustrate how awful some translations were. Plus, I think it cost fifty cents. Pac-man was the same way. Some games that I don't play I would like to get rid of, others I wouldn't let go.

 

Star Trek? Play on!

ET? Not so much, though I really tried. I like having a copy of the game "responsible for the crash."

Porky's? The game is not so great, but it's cool for the collection.

Pac-Man? For sure I'll play Ms or Jr before this, but I like having a copy of this notoriously crappy translation. Also cheap.

 

So I don't necessarily think it's always wrong to have games you don't play.

[grandcross]

Not for me. I've developed a system for myself to ensure I play every single game I've bought.

 

For the older games that take high scores, I play two games for four days, 20 minutes each, while trying to get a good high score. Switch with new games, repeat. Eventually I'll hit a point where I will play a game I've already played and try to beat my established high score - there's the replay factor.

 

For games that have an ending, I put them into my schedule to play some day. When I start playing them, I have to finish them or else I can't move on to other games.

 

All games I own must be played on the original console, not emulation.

 

So...yeah. I make sure I get some use out of the things I collect

[Reaperman]

I don't. I think I buy 1-2 games on average each day, and play video games as little as 1-2 times per week. I'm horrible for it, and I'm starting to think that maybe I'm losing interest in gaming in general. (maybe I've just run out of games I want to play)

 

Hell, there are *systems* I've never powered on. And just for lack of games/accessories/cables or because it's a duplicate system, but just out of pure laziness. I've never turned on my atari 5200, bally astrocade or v-flash.