How much is too much?

[Keatah]

On 8/8/2018 at 1:20 PM, Skippy B. Coyote said:

What I personally learned from the experience was not to sell systems and games that I owned growing up, because that stuff all ended up being special to me and were things that I later repurchased, but anything that I didn't own during my formative years was never missed once it was gone.

This is a key point. Your original childhood stuff carries a lot of sentimentality. Combine it with general nostalgia and you really really don't want to sell your 1st stuff. Material I purchased on ebay both back in the 90's and recently is just meh. There is no sentimentality and even less nostalgia. There's a few exceptions in the form of things I wanted as a kid, but couldn't afford. That's about 20 items over 25+ years.

 

The Apple Graphics Tablet - it was a holy grail. Despite having an Apple II early on, I would never get an AGT. The stars never aligned. Was one of the few ebay items that became sentimental - thanks to having "owned" one vicariously through the 1980-1982 Apple In-Depth catalogs..

 

Presently I'm doing 2 major systems and 2 minor systems. That's enough for me. Currently I'm just accumulating some manuals and maybe spare parts from time to time. It's all come down to managing sprawl and distractions caused by fluff material.

 

Manuals are an unusual beast here. Even newly acquired books and manuals feel like I owned them back in the day, which of course I did. But even new ones. They are of the same writing style and subject. Same general looks.

[Flojomojo]

Once you start editing down a "collection," letting stuff go becomes a lot easier. 

 

I wish there were a pill to get to "what was I thinking?" a little earlier. 

[Keir]

Yeah, I went way overboard with collecting video games 15-20 years ago and am still paying the price (the biggest price being having to move with it all 3 times during my divorce).

 

Ironically now that I’ve moved into a bigger house I’m actually getting rid of more stuff. It took getting into that mindset of “what am I gaining from this stuff” vs. “what am I losing by getting rid of it?” Because really what I’m losing by getting rid of stuff that’s been sitting around in boxes for years is not the stuff but the stress of carrying that around with me for so long. I no longer owned the stuff, it owned me!

[Keatah]

Too much is like a mental clamp. A vice. Locking you into one position. Unable to move or enjoy the essence of your favorite platform. For those having big collections in small apartments, all I can say is just don't. I was visiting a buddy not long ago. And we're climbing over stuff, carefully and tediously maneuvering among piles that if bumped in the slightest an avalanche starts. Some of the crap was that HAM radio stuff. Some a few classic computers, but mostly old PCs. A ridiculous amount of papers, CB radios, garbagey tape decks, and just general hoarder crap.

 

It's incomprehensible how many people live like that!

[HatefulGravey]

It's too much when you start thinking about how hard it will be to move to a new house because of your game collection. Mine started to shrink a lot when I filled half a moving truck with video games and got some odd looks from my in-laws. It was clear I had gone too far then. 

[+Gemintronic]

I started to realize my abode was more shelves than living space.  So, these rules sort of developed over time:

 

* Buy only unlicensed systems and games to narrow my purchases yet still have fun hunting.

* Sell systems that don't actually get used due to hardware fragility or interest.

* Use FPGA systems for moderate to rarely played consoles so the gaming area is less cluttered.

[HatefulGravey]

2 hours ago, Gemintronic said:

* Use FPGA systems for moderate to rarely played consoles so the gaming area is less cluttered.

 

What does "FPGA" mean? I did a quick search and found a lot of uses so I can make an assumption, but I can't find a definition of this term. I guess I'm not up to date on my gamer lingo. 

[john_q_atari]

Field Programmable Gate Array. MiSTer is an example of an FPGA implementation. FPGA basically means the configuration of the logic gates on the chip can be programmed by the end user to realize logical functions. The alternative is custom designed logic that is mass produced as Integrated Circuit (IC) chips like those found in game consoles, smart phones, or any modern electronic device.

[Keatah]

On 12/1/2022 at 1:25 PM, HatefulGravey said:

It's too much when you start thinking about how hard it will be to move to a new house because of your game collection. Mine started to shrink a lot when I filled half a moving truck with video games and got some odd looks from my in-laws. It was clear I had gone too far then. 

Pray tell it was a smaller box truck or like a u-Haul dualie?

[Keatah]

Space wasn't much a consideration when I first got into emulators. Just reliving the classics and playing stuff I had played 15 years earler; that was paramount. Stuff I thought I'd never see again was suddenly back and in a form unimagined by us as kids. A tiny 4" circuit board. As I got more into it all, space did become a factor. Or rather I was feeling ever more thankful that whatever PC I had on my desk could become whatever machine I wanted.

 

Can't fathom having my basement full of fav cabs - even if by heroic efforts I managed to narrow it all down to 10 or so. Just not practical. Three would be my upper limit.

 

[Keatah]

On 8/8/2018 at 1:20 PM, Skippy B. Coyote said:

That's totally true. Once you start getting rid of stuff you haven't played in a while and you see that money in your account it's easy to go overboard with it and sell stuff you might end up regretting. I've sold tons of stuff that I'm happy to have gone and don't care if I ever see again, but I've also sold some stuff I later regretted and bought back. What I personally learned from the experience was not to sell systems and games that I owned growing up, because that stuff all ended up being special to me and were things that I later repurchased, but anything that I didn't own during my formative years was never missed once it was gone.

This is huge. And it's often a mistake make when rightsizing for the first time. You just don't know to consider such priorities.

 

And sometimes it's not the same. Not having been flavored and spiced by your personal history. Not having the same usage marks or wear and tear. Not the same provenance.

[jhd]

On 12/2/2022 at 6:43 PM, Keatah said:

Pray tell it was a smaller box truck or like a U-Haul dualie?

 

Personally, I was thinking of a full 40-foot commercial moving van. 

[Keatah]

Dear god...!

[HatefulGravey]

On 12/2/2022 at 5:43 PM, Keatah said:

Pray tell it was a smaller box truck or like a u-Haul dualie?

It was the biggest u-Haul we could rent. In my defense there were 2 arcade machines in there, so it wasn't just carts. Not sure if that makes it better or not.

[HatefulGravey]

On 12/5/2022 at 8:56 AM, jhd said:

 

Personally, I was thinking of a full 40-foot commercial moving van. 

That. Even had the area above the cab of the truck for more stuff. I filled that too. When I got to the new house we had a room that just became the game room. Like I said, I had a problem. It hasn't gotten a lot better, but it has gotten better. 

[Keatah]

Now when I was-a grown' up we had Atari and we were happy. We even welcomed Intellivision and Colecovision. And Astrocade and Vectrex and O² found a spot too. Anything more and fatigue started setting in. At least that was my personal tolerance. How much is too much? I got fatigued with NES, SNES, Genesis, and 16-bit computing. The gotta-have-it-all mentality was damning 2bshur.

 

On 12/1/2022 at 4:55 PM, HatefulGravey said:

What does "FPGA" mean? I did a quick search and found a lot of uses so I can make an assumption, but I can't find a definition of this term. I guess I'm not up to date on my gamer lingo. 

In simple plain-English terms it means you have a chip that can be programmed to simulate any game console. One minute it's a NES, the next minute it's a PS1. Look up the MiSTer project to learn more about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiSTer

 

Technically it means field-programmable-gate-array. That's the definition. You load a "bitstream" into it, and its inputs and outputs and processing behavior mimics the old-school console of your choice. The bitstream is known as a "core" in gamer lingo. The FPGA is like a parts box from which you create things via software. Kinda like those RadioShack project kits with the springs. A box of parts you wire up according to instructions. One moment you have an AM radio, the next a Morse code transmitter.

 

[r_chase]

At one point, I had an old Steam account with some indie titles such as Limbo. I think lost it anyway, but at the time, I think I tried to get too much. So, after a while, I avoided Steam for years until recently when I rebought Postal Redux. I also got the original Postal for free on Steam too. I might get Postal: Brain Damaged next eventually.

As for Atari games, I might avoid getting too many because I do not want the burden of having to edit down a collection.

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, r_chase said:

As for Atari games, I might avoid getting too many because I do not want the burden of having to edit down a collection.

Multicarts and only buying physical copies of stuff that you have a connection to really helps with that.  Believe me, I get it.

[r_chase]

5 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Multicarts and only buying physical copies of stuff that you have a connection to really helps with that.  Believe me, I get it.

Yeah, I might keep most of digital copies on my emulation devices. I hope AtariAge offers digital copies of games only available on the store at the very least. If not, idk. I kinda don't want to keep too many physical carts, y'know?

[Keatah]

18 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Multicarts and only buying physical copies of stuff that you have a connection to really helps with that.  Believe me, I get it.

It really does. All the original 70's childhood paraphernalia has great sentimentality to me. And the ebay stuff I purchased way later in the 90's and beyond has little sentiment attached. The exception being if I super-wanted something as a kid but didn't get it. Or, later, missed out on it. I suppose it's like a 1 in 20 chance something purchased later could become meaningful - otherwise it's just kinda there.

 

18 hours ago, r_chase said:

Yeah, I might keep most of digital copies on my emulation devices. I hope AtariAge offers digital copies of games only available on the store at the very least. If not, idk. I kinda don't want to keep too many physical carts, y'know?

Totally get it. Doing emulation for the space savings, the reliability, the convenience, the practicality. Do it right and its an elegant solution.

 

Maintenance and cleanliness is always an issue with me. I like everything to be in top shape and that takes time especially with cartridges. There's contact cleaning from time to time. Plastic wear and tear. Label fading and other related issues. Takes a lot of time to make it right.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Keatah

[r_chase]

8 hours ago, Keatah said:

It really does. All the original 70's childhood paraphernalia has great sentimentality to me. And the ebay stuff I purchased way later in the 90's and beyond has little sentiment attached. The exception being if I super-wanted something as a kid but didn't get it. Or, later, missed out on it. I suppose it's like a 1 in 20 chance something purchased later could become meaningful - otherwise it's just kinda there.

 

Totally get it. Doing emulation for the space savings, the reliability, the convenience, the practicality. Do it right and its an elegant solution.

 

Maintenance and cleanliness is always an issue with me. I like everything to be in top shape and that takes time especially with cartridges. There's contact cleaning from time to time. Plastic wear and tear. Label fading and other related issues. Takes a lot of time to make it right.

Yeah, it's weird. I'm fascinated by the Atari 2600 and yet I wasn't even born back then. I was born in 1996, back in the late Sega Genesis era basically. My main childhood consoles were an N64 and a PS2, way before I rediscovered the Sega Genesis, which was my very first console ever.