Vintage PC game collectors?

[Technosis]

Lately I seem to see tons of PC games at garage sales, etc. Many of them are titles that I have never heard of (typically with some rather ornate packaging) from the mid-nineties and onward. Now I have never really got into the PC game scene from a collecting point of view, but is there much of a call for these (and earlier PC games) from game collectors?

 

Will PC games be collectible in the future, or will problems with old game compatability (on new PC's) keep them unpopular?

 

Chris.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

a bunch of the games i used to love barely work now, orig. running on a win 95 and now a win xp i dont think that collecting will become popular very much, but the people who REALLY want to im sure have an old computer dedicated to 90's computer gaming, i have a win 98 machine in my room, and it runs more 90's games then my XP so i use that, so i really have no idea

[Albert]

There are some games that seems to be more collectible than others, but there are *SO MANY* PC games created every year, that it would be difficult to collect them and take up a huge amount of space. Even if you discarded the boxes (The horror!), just the disks and CD-ROMs would take up a great amount of space over time.

 

There definitely are some games worth picking up if you see them, though. These include any INFOCOM titles, any ULTIMA games, any of the older Electronic Arts titles, and so forth.

 

..Al

[chrisbid]

collecting PC games would be like collecting books, there is no way in hell you could collect everything ever published, so your best bet is to pick a few companies or genres that interest you

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I can tell you as an avid PC gamer that I at least do collect many PC games. For instance, I am still trying to complete my Wing Commander collection of games. I have a CIB Wing Commander 1 and Wing 5. But tossed out the boxes and most of the docs with my Wing 2, Wing 3, Wing4, and Privateet stuff as I didn't have the space back when I first got these games.

 

It is funny you mention an older computer setup. I actually have the original first Ivory Tower that I pieced together. It is nothing more than an AMD k6-200 with about 64mb Ram and my old STB Velocity 4400 (Original nVidia TNT) in it. Lastest OS installed on this machine...is DOS 6.22. Bliss I tell ya...Bliss!

 

And yes, ask me sometime how to slow down a Pentium class PC enough to play Wing Commander 1. It might surprise you...but software isn't needed...hehe.

[Ze_ro]

I don't usually collect IBM PC games, but I often buy older C64 games and such that show up in boxes (Hey, the C64 is still a Personal Computer). If I saw some IBM PC games show up that were actually worth buying, I'd consider it, but the only stuff that seems to show up around here is old junk like Microsoft Works or ancient Norton tools.

 

I already have all the Ultima games on a collection CD... but I'd gladly buy the original versions. I also wouldn't mind finding Dungeon Master.

 

Compatability is always a problem though... that's one of the reasons I prefer console gaming instead. Getting old Dos games to work in Windows is a huge pain. What you might be best off doing if you want to get into old PC games is to pick up a high-end 486 and install Dos on it specifically for these games. Pre-pentium computers are basically free for the taking these days. The only major problems you'll have is finding ISA sound cards and such... and not to mention the age-old hassle of freeing up more conventional ram in Dos

 

--Zero

[Happy_Dude]

and not to mention the age-old hassle of freeing up more conventional ram in Dos

Ahhh... "Memmaker"

That program basically saved my life on numerouse occasions.

Playing DOOM with a grand total of 4Mb of RAM is no mean feat

[JB]

and not to mention the age-old hassle of freeing up more conventional ram in Dos

Ahhh... "Memmaker"

That program basically saved my life on numerouse occasions.

Playing DOOM with a grand total of 4Mb of RAM is no mean feat

MemMaker crashed my computer and rendered it unbootable(god bless boot floppies and those lovely F-key startup modifiers).

Every time.

[christianscott]

you cant give away most old PC games, nothing seems to age well on that platform. i know theres a tiny amount of money to be had for older RPG type games but its barely there. at all of our trademeets i've never seen anyone get excited about PC games, and we get a lot of weirdos too. i think thats one are where you're better off with emus and such. also has anybody else noticed how crappy microsoft flight sticks are piling up at the thrifts?

[MegaManFan]

I suppose people are using "PC" to mean "IBM compatible" for the most part, but if you extend that definition to "personal computer" you could say it's a small but budding interest of mine to collect boxed Commodore 64 disks and carts. It recaptures for me a happy part of my childhood.

[Jasoco]

Not really, but if I had to, I'd probably concentrate on games on CD's. I hate floppies because they're too easily erased.

[MegaManFan]

That's why it's important to get boxed Commodore floppies. Even if the disk goes bad, you can still play the game in emulation on a modern PC, and have the box and instructions to appreciate.

[tyranthraxus]

I love collecting computer games. While playing them can be pain they

are generally cheaper than cartridge stuff and have a lot of nice

packaging. I'm in love with the early EA packages. They used to market

them in boxes that resemble small LPs with often nice gatefolds and

pictures of the design team. Ultima and Infocom games are collectable

and some can fetch up to $100 on ebay because of their creative

packaging. Ultimas had cool cloth maps and nice booklets. I also like

to pick up key genre defining games that I think have some 'historic'

value. Sim City, Dune 2, Civilization etc. In general its RPGs that

have some value but it general most games are only worth $1-5 on

ebay. Most are worthless if they are missing the box.

 

Problem with PC game collecting (and I pick up IBM, C=64 and Apple II)

is the boxes are bulky so I am picky about what I grab. Most CDROM titles aren't worth the trouble, 1980-95 are the "golden era" so in

otherwords floppy disk based games. Now that they have finally got

a standard box size collecting PC game boxes is a lot less interesting.

Those small boxes can't hold all the nice manuals, maps and bonus

stuff that the old games could!

[Ze_ro]

A while back I actually made a great find for the Apple II... a complete boxed copy of Ultima V. All the manuals were there (including errata card and an mail-in card to get a hint book), everything looked completely untouched aside from some scuffs on the box... and it actually included the metal amulet of the codex in the box. Man, was I happy to find that. I'm not a big Apple II fan, but at least this could help me when I find an incomplete C64 version

 

Now that they have finally got

a standard box size collecting PC game boxes is a lot less interesting. Those small boxes can't hold all the nice manuals, maps and bonus stuff that the old games could!

 

As much as I like the idea of standard box sizes, I'm sick of finding bargain basement games without any manuals at all. Using Acrobat to look at PDF's completely sucks.

 

--Zero

[King Atari]

There definitely are some games worth picking up if you see them, though. These include any INFOCOM titles, any ULTIMA games, any of the older Electronic Arts titles, and so forth.  

 

Don't forget the Space Quest and King's Quest series. I can't tell you how many hours I've killed on those games.

 

Oh, and Duke Nukem 3D. Pick that one up at all costs.

[2600Lives]

I snag old computer games at the thrift stores all the time. My all time best grab was a boxed copy of The Super Hero League of Hoboken (and it's a kick ASS game to boot!) with everything included, even the registration and warranty cards, and all this for....45 cents! Woot! I love grabbing old comp stuff, as my own computer is JUST slow enough to play many of them with no problems (a 533 Celeron with 256 megs of RAM), and very few of the modern games can hold my interest for very long (except the online ones, which are usually pretty sweet). I even buy old computers from time to time so I can strip them and re-use the parts (occasionally I'll come across a gem, too. I once bought what looked an old piece-a-crap computer that someone had stuffed a 14 meg harddrive in for 5 whole dollars! I still have the hd in my computer!). And of course, I get any and all joysticks and controllers I come across.

[DeV0]

Strangely enough the only games ive never gotten rid of are my pc games. I dont really collect them on purpose but since i usually ditch the box they are easy to keep. I recently picked up wing commander 2 sealed on 5.25 discs, wing commander 4 sealed and magic carpet 2 sealed. Im probably never going to play them.

[Mayhem]

That's why it's important to get boxed Commodore floppies.  Even if the disk goes bad, you can still play the game in emulation on a modern PC, and have the box and instructions to appreciate.

 

Which is why I believe there's still a thriving C64 collection community despite the fact almost everything is available readily in emulation (plus the ability to transfer it to real disc and play on a real C64). The packaging. The funny little extras you got. And the manuals of course

 

Needless to say you can't do this with cartridges heh... still my site caters for that niche quite nicely...

 

http://www.mayhem64.co.uk

 

Click Cartridges and go explore...

[Ze_ro]

I once bought what looked an old piece-a-crap computer that someone had stuffed a 14 meg harddrive in for 5 whole dollars! I still have the hd in my computer!

 

You're still using a 14 meg hard drive? I remember having a 10 meg hard drive in an old XT that I used to have... it was ridiculously small even at the time, but since all I had was an XT, it was more than enough for the programs I would run on it. Rogue doesn't need a lot of hard drive space

 

It was an old MFM hard drive that can't even be used on modern IDE-based computers... I think my uncle has that computer now, although I have no idea if he even uses it.

 

--Zero

[DuckandCover]

Getting old Dos games to work in Windows is a huge pain. What you might be best off doing if you want to get into old PC games is to pick up a high-end 486 and install Dos on it specifically for these games.

 

One solution to the Windows compatibility problem I've found is the DOSBox DOS Emulator. Being stuck with Windows ME, running DOS games was a problem, but the emulator seems to run most of my old titles fairly well. There's a list of compatible games on the website that being constantly updated by users.

 

Of course, buying a pre-Pentium IBM compatible is a pretty inexpensive proposition these days. I've seen several at garage sales and thrifts that were extremely cheap. Definitely a worthwhile investment if you still play a lot of early 90's/late 80's DOS games.

 

I don't know that I'm a collector of such games per se, but I have shelled out some cash for a few titles that I really enjoyed back in the day (and unwisely parted with). I agree that the Infocom titles are quite collectible. The packaging and extras were a big part of the experience of those games. I'm still trying to play through some of the Infocom titles that I never got around to back then...