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[jigglet]

I am in my early 50's and my retro collection to me seems more important than what it was 10 years ago. I think the main reason is that many of the stuff I have is harder and harder to find and more costly. For me my collection or Retro starts with the Atari 2600, Intellivision & Colecovision. Finding games complete in box and in great condition is becoming harder and harder to find at reasonable prices.

I also buy most current stuff digital....but that stuff I collect is stuff i had when I was younger and holds special meaning to me. So for me, it is something more I care about now than I did in the past.

Interesting. I wonder if you live in the suburbs? People who live in major cities like Sydney, HK, NYC, San Fran, we're all so cramped for space that stuff like this is really hard to justify keeping around anymore.

 

[Hawk269]

Interesting. I wonder if you live in the suburbs? People who live in major cities like Sydney, HK, NYC, San Fran, we're all so cramped for space that stuff like this is really hard to justify keeping around anymore.

My collection is not massive. I have upstairs Bonus Room which is where I do most of my gaming. I have about 200 CIB games throughout all the old systems which is not massive. So room is not a major factor. But I can see for those that once had or have a massive collection that storing or displaying all that stuff would take a ton of space.

 

[stitch1]

You have a million dollar house with no room to store your own stuff? I mean, who am I to judge? But I don't collect things I don't use.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Yep. I’ve started slowly selling my collection away. Useless clutter that doesnt get touched.

Yup, did this years ago! Two (small) bookcases filled with games and blu-rays, I enjoyed the collecting aspect for a while but I think it was when I finally filled them I had a realisation.

If I’m going to buy more games/movies I’ll have to ditch some of my current selection. So I scanned through picking out games I actually wanted to play again and it was a handful at best. So I cherry picked a very small selection (probably 15-20% of the selection, about 10 games and 10 films) and sold the rest. It was liberating!

And as I stream movies these days, I only buy films I REALLY like, that are rarely available to stream. And I only buy boxed games if they’re a bargain, or to buy them day 1, finish and flip them quick.

 

[DonF]

I wasnt a big collectionist but I liked having lots of physical games. One day I just said fuck it sold them all. Now im mostly digital and I dont care. Yeah boxes look great but just use space. I prefer having like 10 boxes now (I only buy games that I really care) and now my hobby takes way less space.

When you can, sell everything!

 

[Bullet Club]

Tell your nephew to send that stuff to me!

 

[Bill O'Rights]

EDIT: can a mod please fix my spelling of "nephew" (HAH!)

 

[Vawn]

EDIT: can a mod please fix my spelling of "nephew" (HAH!)

So my parents call me today and tell me my nephew has stumbled across my classic game collection which I keep stored away at their house (1,000km's from where I live). I told him not to touch them but I know him well enough to know my games are fucked. This kid is like Dennis the Menace.

It contains, among other things, mint copies of Super Metriod and the Australian version of Super Paper Mario (which is extremely rare as the release of this game was cancelled at the last minute in Australia, I once found a tattered copy of this for sale for $1,400). When I say mint, I mean mint. Back when I was a kid I would go to extreme lengths to make sure I never bent the tabs as I was opening those cardboard boxes. It would take me minutes to open a box because of how careful I was. The manuals? Pristine. Museum grade. I was anal as hell, with OCD levels of obsession about keeping my stuff in good condition.

I have an extensive NES, SNES, N64 and GC collection that I've saved up over the years that must be worth in the many, many thousands (at the very least).

As I've gotten older I now have a mortgage in the 7 figures. Hah. A few thousand bucks worth of retro games? In comparison this seems like such a drop in the ocean. This isn't a brag post by any means, I guess what I'm really trying to say is how the things that used to be the most important items in the world to me have just lost all value. If I visit my parents and they are torn to shreds I will feel a little sad, sure, but there's another part of me that just doesn't care anymore.

I'm curious whether anyone in their 30's or 40's have simply stopped caring about collectables? I guess at the heart of this post it's really about the digitalisation of the industry. I buy everything digital now. Fuck all this clutter. A rare copy of a game might go up 100x in value which seems great when you're 16, but when you're older you realise it's not even enough to pay for more than a few months of interest repayments LOL. I just can't stand shit in my house anymore, digital, baby!

You're no longer a real gamer. You're a phony.

 

[Thaedolus]

I got all the old systems and games my family had growing up (and have added to them), none of which are mint or complete except Shining Force III...but that’s ok, I don’t keep them around as an investment or to look at the boxes, I’ve got a room with them and a CRT because I prefer to do my retro gaming on the original equipment and screen over emulation.

 

[spookyfish]

Dying at the new title! This and the Halo meme thread: it’s like the GAF that I loved is back.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Why was paper Mario cancelled in australlia

 

[MP!]

my 6 year old daughter and 8 year old son both play my retro collection

But I taught them to respect the disc, respect the controller and respect the cartridge

 

[ThaMonkeyClaw]

EDIT: can a mod please fix my spelling of "nephew" (HAH!)

So my parents call me today and tell me my nephew has stumbled across my classic game collection which I keep stored away at their house (1,000km's from where I live). I told him not to touch them but I know him well enough to know my games are fucked. This kid is like Dennis the Menace.

It contains, among other things, mint copies of Super Metriod and the Australian version of Super Paper Mario (which is extremely rare as the release of this game was cancelled at the last minute in Australia, I once found a tattered copy of this for sale for $1,400). When I say mint, I mean mint. Back when I was a kid I would go to extreme lengths to make sure I never bent the tabs as I was opening those cardboard boxes. It would take me minutes to open a box because of how careful I was. The manuals? Pristine. Museum grade. I was anal as hell, with OCD levels of obsession about keeping my stuff in good condition.

I have an extensive NES, SNES, N64 and GC collection that I've saved up over the years that must be worth in the many, many thousands (at the very least).

As I've gotten older I now have a mortgage in the 7 figures. Hah. A few thousand bucks worth of retro games? In comparison this seems like such a drop in the ocean. This isn't a brag post by any means, I guess what I'm really trying to say is how the things that used to be the most important items in the world to me have just lost all value. If I visit my parents and they are torn to shreds I will feel a little sad, sure, but there's another part of me that just doesn't care anymore.

I'm curious whether anyone in their 30's or 40's have simply stopped caring about collectables? I guess at the heart of this post it's really about the digitalisation of the industry. I buy everything digital now. Fuck all this clutter. A rare copy of a game might go up 100x in value which seems great when you're 16, but when you're older you realise it's not even enough to pay for more than a few months of interest repayments LOL. I just can't stand shit in my house anymore, digital, baby!

For your game collection...

 

[Bankai]

I see the title is fixed now. Good!

 

[Schmick]

Yea sell your collection and marvel at Last Gamers collection instead when you feel the need to.

 

[SebastianM]

I've always thought game collections look tacky as hell and make you look like a fucking manchild. I honestly wouldn't care either.

 

[DogofWar]

The fixed title made me laugh a lot more than I thought it would. And I have a very hard time explaining to my wife why I am laughing this much.

 

[Tuff McNutt]

I sold of most of my collection before I moved in with my now wife, and the remaining stuff is in a storage locker along with other stuff waiting to be sold off. At some point it becomes more hoarding/having something that "looks cool" sitting in your house rather than something you enjoy playing. I'm actually playing retro games a lot more since I modded mini consoles and got arcade cabinets with various games/emulators built in. It's a lot easier than trying to juggle the space around and hook different stuff up to the TV. My go to right now is a Playstation Classic that's modded with 1000's of games on it.

 

[A.Romero]

Even if you don't care, there are better ways to get that off your hands.

Donating the games would be one of them, for example.

Anything is better than to have them destroyed by a kid.

 

[Northeastmonk]

One man's trash is another man's treasure. I wish I had more stuff. I wish I had an insane game room. I'm happy with what I have, but I wish I had more. I'd recreate my childhood arcade (Aladdin's Castle) if I was wealthy enough. I don't understand it because you had a nice box to open up with some insanely collectible games. You can fill a rubber tub up with kids toys, boxes of crayons, or books that no one reads. You decide the one box with rare collectible video games should be thought of as less. SMH

I don't get it. At times, my games remind me of who I am. Most people take that at first glance. What I mean is, you can get lost in this crazy world. A video game can be something that you come back to or its something new to learn. We come together with Video Games. There's a lot of interesting stories to be told about what you own if you're willing to find them. Retail stores don't carry those games at all. You walk inside a thrift store and there's 10 copies of Madden 2004 and maybe an EyeToy game back in the back. You go inside a retro game store and they have a handful of games you're very much aware of/already own for a ridiculous price. Then you realize that store doesn't even come close to having some of the rarer games on the market. They aren't even sealed.

You could have shared your collection with us. I've seen a lot of gaffers raise the bar in terms of understanding and appreciation. I think you used it as a way to push yourself from the platform. I get it, out with the old and in with the new. I think it also is a bit discouraging to hear. I remember working in retail at GameStop and people would sell their consoles and go on about how they "just aren't into gaming anymore". It was one of those things where I wish I would have had earbuds in my ears the entire time. The same guy came back in a month later to buy a game with his friends.

 

[jigglet]

You have a million dollar house with no room to store your own stuff? I mean, who am I to judge? But I don't collect things I don't use.

I'm curious, what exactly do you think $1m buys you in the major cities around the world - NYC, HK, Singapore, Sydney, London etc?

 

[jigglet]

Why was paper Mario cancelled in australlia

Good question. So I preordered my game at EB Games (equivalent to your Gamestop). On release day I was told it wasn't going to be sold anymore and gave me a refund. In a panic I searched all over the web - I mean I spent hours. I found literally one store still able to sell it and I snagged a copy. So it seems like copies were released into the wild, but the actual release was cancelled. I have no idea why.

The only other copy I ever saw in the wild was at my local Blockbuster video. I've seen them for sale second hand here and there but otherwise yeah it's an oddly rare title.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

So strange. I wonder what the reason is.

 

[SamFo]

When I say mint, I mean mint. Back when I was a kid I would go to extreme lengths to make sure I never bent the tabs as I was opening those cardboard boxes.

That ain’t mint....

I used to work at a secondhand games store, very rarely did anyone bring in anything mint, and if they did it was probably stolen.

 

[jigglet]

So strange. I wonder what the reason is.

My guess is it was expected to be a dud. Gamecube was due out the following year I think. N64 was a huge failure compared to PS1. And it was an RPG so not exactly mass market stuff.

 

[MadeManG74]

I've stopped buying original old games and now I just use original hardware and flash-carts/disc replacement drives like GDemu/MODE.
Having said that, I still want to keep my collection in decent condition and keep them around, even if I don't play them.

I have a nostalgia/appreciation around anything that's not in production anymore, I think it's worth keeping around and I'd hate to see it destroyed but at the same time I have zero desire to go out and buy any more old games. Most of my collection was purchased with the sole intent to play the games, way before I was aware of things like being able to play copies of games on Saturn/MD etc. Maybe one day I'll sell them, but for a few thousand dollars I'd probably rather keep them.

 

[The_Mike]

Yep. I’ve started slowly selling my collection away. Useless clutter that doesnt get touched.

I'd rather say sell the nephew. Even more useless clutter that apparently destroy things.

 

[JonnyMP3]

Honestly this title just makes me think 'Covfefe'
But as a mid 30 year old, I stopped holding onto old stuff years ago. I'm just not that sentimental or nostalgic to horde old plastic games machines and games that'll never get played ever again. If you can give it away or sell it so it can be used elsewhere, it's better than just sitting in box somewhere. It's the Toy Story 3 conundrum. At least that's my choice on things. I don't ever even play old games anymore but there's been emulators for decades so if there's ever a big enough desire to play something, it not like it's impossible without the systems or physical copies of games.

 

[Shadowstar39]

EDIT: can a mod please fix my spelling of "nephew" (HAH!)

So my parents call me today and tell me my nephew has stumbled across my classic game collection which I keep stored away at their house (1,000km's from where I live). I told him not to touch them but I know him well enough to know my games are fucked. This kid is like Dennis the Menace.

It contains, among other things, mint copies of Super Metriod and the Australian version of Super Paper Mario (which is extremely rare as the release of this game was cancelled at the last minute in Australia, I once found a tattered copy of this for sale for $1,400). When I say mint, I mean mint. Back when I was a kid I would go to extreme lengths to make sure I never bent the tabs as I was opening those cardboard boxes. It would take me minutes to open a box because of how careful I was. The manuals? Pristine. Museum grade. I was anal as hell, with OCD levels of obsession about keeping my stuff in good condition.

I have an extensive NES, SNES, N64 and GC collection that I've saved up over the years that must be worth in the many, many thousands (at the very least).

As I've gotten older I now have a mortgage in the 7 figures. Hah. A few thousand bucks worth of retro games? In comparison this seems like such a drop in the ocean. This isn't a brag post by any means, I guess what I'm really trying to say is how the things that used to be the most important items in the world to me have just lost all value. If I visit my parents and they are torn to shreds I will feel a little sad, sure, but there's another part of me that just doesn't care anymore.

I'm curious whether anyone in their 30's or 40's have simply stopped caring about collectables? I guess at the heart of this post it's really about the digitalisation of the industry. I buy everything digital now. Fuck all this clutter. A rare copy of a game might go up 100x in value which seems great when you're 16, but when you're older you realise it's not even enough to pay for more than a few months of interest repayments LOL. I just can't stand shit in my house anymore, digital, baby!

Nah I only make 40k at 41. Living paycheck to paycheck you cherish the simpler things you have. I relish my collection. Too bad my retro stuff was all stolen or I sold to pay bills in the early 2000s.

 

[Shadowstar39]

If you’re flush with money then why not just have them ship the collection to you and put it in storage where you are?

I didn’t start collecting video games until I was in my 30s. Mostly did it because I regretted selling all the games I had over the years plus theres so much stuff not available digitally through legitimate sources.

Also each game is a treasured memory of a bygone era that I can tie to a specific era of my life. So it’s kinda like a giant photo album that I can see and touch.

I can imagine getting numb to owning the collection but if it were me then I’d be sad if it were gone.

Seriously. Op can probably replace it all with a few clicks on ebay and not even sweat it.

 

[Guardian's Light]

I'm not really "letting" him. There's only so much I can do stranded 1,000km's away. My parents (their grandparents) are soft as hell, one suffering from pretty bad arthritis, and are unlikely really be firm with him, and he's a little monkey and will get into anything. It's not so much "letting" him as it is facing the inevitable.

Ask them to lock away that stuff, or eventually menace him to buy a bulldozer and smash all of his Toys in return if he ever do anything to something, bingo!!









Really sorry, but try and find a solution op, really, charity is the way

 

[kiphalfton]

That is his sister Alabama man.

Or could be his sister in law. Time for real life "Family Therapy" in any case.

 

[Rean no Kiseki]

I started getting rid of stuff a few years back and have not regretted it once. I had a box of NES stuff almost 60 games and SNES almost the same amount that I got,tired of moving around Each move I did and finally just threw away in a dumpster. I get shit for this each time I tell it, but honestly I replaced them with emulation on modded xbox, raspberry pi, and my new Mame arcade cabinet and I couldn’t be happier. I probably could have made maybe a few hundred selling all those but trying to part out stuff on eBay sounded exhausting and wasn’t worth it.

Long story short I just go digital or emulate retro games now. Have zero attachment to old plastic carts that just travelled with me every time I moved. Threw that shit away never looked back.

Boy if i had a fast internet i would go digital in a heartbeat! I fell into this collecting rabbit hole back in 2014 when i was single and had a lot of spare cash, now i'm 32, married and with very little cash to spare for 1-2 full price games a month, this pandemic has made me a full believer and i would go for the PS5 digital edition if it's cheaper IF.....IF i get some speedy internet where i am, holy shit i re-installed MHW and that 40+Gigs of update hasn't finished even though it's been 14 hours!

 

[Goro Majima]

Or could be his sister in law. Time for real life "Family Therapy" in any case.

Well at that point we need to know how big her boobs are and whether or not she put his hands near them

 

[Dr. Claus]

Also if it makes you feel better, nothing lasts forever, no matter how mint you left your games, eventually they will rot overtime and become unplayable. That's why everyone is switching to digital.

I have lost more digital games than I have physical. My decades old Odyssey, Atari, and NES still are running *perfectly*. Meanwhile I have lost hundreds of digital games due to online services closing, stores dying, and consoles like the Wii no longer allowing online downloads.

 

[Rattlehead121]

You should care about things you enjoy.

 

[quickwhips]

If you can’t care enough to get them out of your parents house to have them at your house why make this post? OP is your hair blue? Do you hate white people? Do you support the BLM foundation? Just asking because i see shit complaints like this on twitter alot.

 

[Faenrir]

Charge your brother/sister the price of anything he ruins. No reason his parents shouldn't pay for what he breaks.
I made that mistake with my brother even though he has much more income than i do. He doesn't even seem to understand the issue now

 

[jigglet]

If you can’t care enough to get them out of your parents house to have them at your house why make this post? OP is your hair blue? Do you hate white people? Do you support the BLM foundation? Just asking because i see shit complaints like this on twitter alot.

Well if you actually read my post, the final bit is where I make my point (long winded, I agree) - it has nothing to do with the kids per se, it's about us old timers who used to love physical making the move to digital. I can't have a chat about digital now?

 

[quickwhips]

Well if you actually read my post, the final bit is where I make my point (long winded, I agree) - it has nothing to do with the kids per se, it's about us old timers who used to love physical making the move to digital. I can't have a chat about digital now?

Mine is mostly a joke but get your shit out of your parents house.

 

[stitch1]

I'm curious, what exactly do you think $1m buys you in the major cities around the world - NYC, HK, Singapore, Sydney, London etc?

I have no idea. I don't live in those cities. But I wouldn't want that kind of debt either. I live in a modest house in a modest city and don't store my junk at my parents house.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Last few generations introduced digital and collectors said “Bye” to their collections

 

[FloatingIslands]

Hi, can you send me all those games?

Thanks

 

[Pejo]

I feel for you OP, I had to deal with the same shit when I was 11 or 12 and my brother's kids would just ruin/destroy/steal my shit. So many PS1 games and GBA games just gone, lost to the ether.

I actually just got out of collecting physical games this year when I thought about how much of a pain in the ass it is to keep carrying that stuff with me when I move, and finding somewhere to store it. Now my policy is to keep the physical games until quality emulation is available for that platform, then do my backups and unload. Right now I only have PS360 stuff, my 3DS because I actually like the 3D effect, and surprisingly my old OG Xbox. I can't believe they still don't have an emulator for it yet. If I had a chance to re-acquire one system and its games that I got rid of, it'd be my old Virtual Boy. It's shit and I have PSVR now, but that thing was truly one of a kind.

Now I'm curious if there's a Virtual Boy emulator for PC...

 

[sid2vicious]

I have lost more digital games than I have physical. My decades old Odyssey, Atari, and NES still are running *perfectly*. Meanwhile I have lost hundreds of digital games due to online services closing, stores dying, and consoles like the Wii no longer allowing online downloads.

That's because you choose to tie yourself down with closed platforms. I learned my lesson the first time during the dawn of the digital era with the Wii. To be fair I still own those digital Wii games, and the only way I would lose them is if the console dies, I assume that's what happened to you? Anyways you wont have that problem with an open platform, I realized as long as you own drm free games there will always be a community ready to patch or mod the games to be playable on the latest operating systems. As long as that pattern continues, technically it could last forever, just like emulators and roms.

 

[synchronicity]

I've just lost an interest in "things" in general. I like having few tangible possessions - it's so liberating.

(I've been selling my physical collection over the years, but it does take a long time if you want a decent return.)

 

[ComputerBlue]

The problem with a collection is you dont know when you’ll care for it again. A lot of us had collections we no longer cared for, then for some reason, years later, you start to rebuy that very same collection, wasting your money.

This is such a good point and OP should consider it because we've all regretted it, so whenever I trim down or get rid of collections, I always keep the ones that I really love. I used to have 500+ CD's that I bought over the years, managed to get it down to about 75 or so about 10 years ago, just classic albums that I love. I can't imagine even using them anymore to listen to music, but still I rip my music so I can have digital versions without having to repay for them all. Plus, here are some that I just can't part with like Doggystyle original print with Gz Up, Hoes Down on it.

I do the same with games when a console is old enough that I hardly use and am ready to pack away into storage, I'll get rid of the games I don't absolutely love. Because of it I have maybe 15 SNES games, 10 N64 games, 10 genesis games, 15 PS1 games, 15, PS2 games etc. Otherwise I'd have hundreds.

Do the same with everything, movies, books, even, I have like 50 books, if it's not worth re-reading, it ain't worth keeping. Having a large ass library of books looks cool, but why? It's useless if you're not reading them, someone else will make use of those books.

 

[Jigsaah]

EDIT: can a mod please fix my spelling of "nephew" (HAH!)

So my parents call me today and tell me my nephew has stumbled across my classic game collection which I keep stored away at their house (1,000km's from where I live). I told him not to touch them but I know him well enough to know my games are fucked. This kid is like Dennis the Menace.

It contains, among other things, mint copies of Super Metriod and the Australian version of Super Paper Mario (which is extremely rare as the release of this game was cancelled at the last minute in Australia, I once found a tattered copy of this for sale for $1,400). When I say mint, I mean mint. Back when I was a kid I would go to extreme lengths to make sure I never bent the tabs as I was opening those cardboard boxes. It would take me minutes to open a box because of how careful I was. The manuals? Pristine. Museum grade. I was anal as hell, with OCD levels of obsession about keeping my stuff in good condition.

I have an extensive NES, SNES, N64 and GC collection that I've saved up over the years that must be worth in the many, many thousands (at the very least).

As I've gotten older I now have a mortgage in the 7 figures. Hah. A few thousand bucks worth of retro games? In comparison this seems like such a drop in the ocean. This isn't a brag post by any means, I guess what I'm really trying to say is how the things that used to be the most important items in the world to me have just lost all value. If I visit my parents and they are torn to shreds I will feel a little sad, sure, but there's another part of me that just doesn't care anymore.

I'm curious whether anyone in their 30's or 40's have simply stopped caring about collectables? I guess at the heart of this post it's really about the digitalisation of the industry. I buy everything digital now. Fuck all this clutter. A rare copy of a game might go up 100x in value which seems great when you're 16, but when you're older you realise it's not even enough to pay for more than a few months of interest repayments LOL. I just can't stand shit in my house anymore, digital, baby!

Son, is that you?

 

[Rickyiez]

Same boat here OP. I've sold most of my physical collection stuff bar some art books. Oh, and nobody should ever touch my SoulsBourne collection

 

[jigglet]

Son, is that you?

4 words. That's more than we've spoken in years.