I've been done for just about 4 years. Even been selling off my NES collection very slowly (due to lack of effort and general laziness). Only thing I buy video game related these days is current gen titles.
I have slowed down a lot but early on in my collecting I decided to just focus on TG16 and Nes. This helps keep me from having to buy everything. I do however have almost all the systems from 8 bit to present and just use everdrives or ode on them. I then will pickup games that really stand out on each system. Lately I have picked up a few gba games I didn't own. I have been playing gba a lot lately using the game boy player.
I tend to pickup most of my new retro games around the holidays. Always seems to be great deals on them and people willing to sell.
I used to get pretty hot about the stuff, but a few years back I decided to just stop caring exactly and widen my interests into multiple directions (not gaming) looking for goodies to appreciate or buy low/sell higher so I can get something I need/want I could no longer afford and made most my peace with that. Things have gone so sour with the predatory nature of it after more and more got into it just to make a buck and really didn't care otherwise and it soured me enough it even is hard just to start a game anymore but if I do it's enjoyable so there is that. Something I did to help things was get kits, got them for basically anything I could use one one, also HDMI updated my systems too and wow it made a huge difference in quality. Now I can just casually flit around looking for cheapo stuff and the rarer wow find still and it works and that at least is rewarding which is in a way satisfying.
I have all the carts i want for snes and n64 and closing in on NES. Got 5 ps1 cic games or so left to acquire to call it quits and im starting a genny cib collection. Probably about 30-40 titles to go. I only buy what i will' eventually play.
But in the last few months i embarked on a new journey that will be both long and expensive: for every cart (or most carts) i own, i target to buy a sealed copy of the game. My vision is to build the ultimate gamer/collector collection. I will play the carts and get to enjoy the pristine condition of brand new games and their artworks. The vision goes further but its too far out for now to share. I have about 150-200 sealed games on my want list. This is coming from someone who sold his snes boxes/manuals because cin collecting was too expensive... oh well!
I'm not satisfied yet, but the most exciting stuff might be behind me. I'm working on completing lots of different sets, some of which aren't giving me a big enough buzz, and it's pretty UNsatisfying to see how much money I have to drop on fringe titles in collections I don't care enough about. I guess that's a good sign that I shouldn't go in those directions.
Yep, I'm done. I'm actually out of it to the point that I would sell but not in a hurry to. I only collected Metroid games and have probably 70 or so different games. I wanted the sealed Super Metroid but the interest died when my son started getting into baseball. Now we collect autographs from different prospects that come through town. That, and I bought auto from all the dudes I followed growing up in the 90s.
I'm not surprised to read a lot of those who have been at it for a long time be done or slowing down.
I was in one of the local game shops this week and the guy working was talking to me about how they don't sell much NES or SNES anymore, but they can't keep N64 or GameCube stuff on the shelves. Wonder if the swing is starting to happen.
I've been still going strong but I'm almost done with NES and SNES. I am down to about 175 NES/SNES games that I want and a lot of them are cheaper games. On the other hand though I just got a Dreamcast and started picking up games for though and I know I want a turbografix at some point for the schmups.
I personally quit about 6 or 7 years ago. Sold a good chunk in preparation of a house move. Kept a small portion as a collection. Prices continued up and it turned me off of buying games. I NEVER see anything in the wild anymore. So I quit. I do buy the occasional game I don't have that I would play with my kids though. But it's pretty rare. If prices ever go back to where I'm willing to pay I'd be back in.
Also why I rarely log in here anymore, barely any of you would know me I'm sure. Lot of new faces on this forum every time I pop in to snoop around!
I'm still going strong, my main focus is my licensed NES. I've been working at it for 7-8 years now off and on. I'm over 550 licensed NES and 20 unlicensed with more on the way. Most local stores don't have anything I need so I buy mostly from FB groups. I still go to 1 or 2 conventions a year searching... I'm probably adding 10 or more games a month on average. But as the list gets smaller, I find fewer and fewer I need.
I'm getting close. Just need my final 13 n64 games, maybe a handful of replacements to clean it up, and about 25 more nes games to hit 600.
I have all the nintendo powers, a ton of toys, trading cards,etc that I wanted complete.
Once I get those final 30 or 40 games above to compete the n64 and hit 600 nes, I'll just pick up a random here and there of games I like.
I loved this back in the late 90s/ early 2000s and never thought it take off like this. Just the prices and especially the worry of repos has taken a lot of fun out of the hobby.
I wonder if it will ever go back to a time like the late 90s and early 2000s where people don't really care about collecting old video games. Or is the market here to stay in some capacity?
I'm definitely not done. I have a narrow focus on the items I want and they happen to be things that don't come up for sale often. I also have a much easier time letting games go that I don't feel a connection to. But for the games I do have a real allure for, I hold on to them
With that said, flash cards have completely changed my collecting habits. When I first got into collecting, buying 100 playable NES games was as costly as buying a flash cart. But since I've got all the flash carts and have the ability to play basically w.e I want, collecting took on a whole new meaning. I no long bought games just to try them out. Instead I have games that I can enjoy in the physical form, show off, and add to the wall that way.
My big years were like, 2003-2014. I didn't have much money most of those years, so loading up on a few $2 games a month was fun. I couldn't participate very well in my hobbies that cost real money such as motorcycles and cars. I had them, but couldn't do anything with them beyond basic maintenance. If they broke I had to park them... often for years at a time, 100+ miles away from where I lived. You get later on and the games weren't $2 anymore. Unfortunately, due to the Retro Gaming Slowdown of April 2017, Fortnite, plug-n-plays, other online-only games etc. my stores aren't doing well and I'm back into penny-pinching mode until I ride out the leases and find something else to do with my life.
I feel YouTube has actually been a powerful negative force in retro gaming because it killed people's curiosity. Most retro games are linear and you can watch someone play the entire game online. Modern games aren't linear so they aren't as subject to having their interest killed by online video. People do spend time that they would otherwise be gaming hanging out on the internet instead and that hurts all gaming, though.
I think a big part of slowing down/selling off/quitting is realizing now that you have this game you don't need that game. Early on, I'd just buy anything NES unless I specifically knew I didn't want it -- because I saw it and it was cheap. Power Gloves for $10. RC Pro-Am IIs for $4. Stuff I didn't need. Over the years you get better stuff then you decide "Huh, I actually don't need that now." Now I'm down to about the same amount of stuff I had in 2010.
Pretty much done here. I have a few obscure items I still am on the look out for, but overall I haven't bought a game in maybe 2 years. I got what interest me game wise. Modded whatever consoles I have and just play what I play. Everdrives for the most part eliminated the need to seek out cartridges. I only have about 30 games physically for sentimental reasons. Otherwise, I am done seeking the rare and obscure and I sold off my heavy NES hitters a few years ago.
No more big bulky signs or inserts or anything. Its been a good 15 years, but nobody I know gives a damn about this stuff anymore as the hype around the nostalgia has all but died off among the casuals. I love what I have, its dear to me and I wouldnt get rid 75% of it no matter what. People don't even ask about my collection anymore. I am approaching 40 years old, a lot of my friends moved, got married, had kids and thus sold off their collections or just flat out lost interest.
I think the era of NES/SNES late 80's-early 90's Nintendo max hype is on the down slope for sure. I mean look, among all of my peers both in real life and on NA/Reddit/Facebook you can clearly see the decline in interest.
Many know I was a ninja turtle collector before I was a game collector. There was a point in time that I had every Ninja Turtle toy and comic book made from 1988-1998. Shortly after I hit those milestones, I started to feel the D word creeping into my head. I completed what I set out to complete. I was done. That is exactly when I started thinking things like "does this collection define me?" or "what would happen if it wasnt here?". I'd gone from feeling like I was cultivating and nurturing this living organism, helping it to grow... to having a bloated corpse taking up a ton of room in my house. Within 3 years I sold about half of that collection, I poured that money into kickstarting my game collection.
I love collecting games and game stuff, so I am always looking for new avenues of the hobby to collect, because I dont want to feel that way again.
So yes, I have felt done before with a collection, but it wasn't fulfilling as much as it was suffocating.
I've been considering selling lately. Trying to save up for a vacation home and if I were able to sell everything t would make a big dent into what is needed for a down payment.
I've been done since Jan 2017. I will never collect again. I pretty much sold everything I collected including backup consoles I collected from 2007ish to Jan 2017.
I still game but a majority of it is either on my AVS or Mega SG with Everdrives.
What I kept were all the childhood games I owned and any games I remember playing at friend's houses or renting. Anything I learned about as an "adult"(and there were some good games in there) are now gone.
I've more or less been done for several years. I try and limit everything to one small bookcase. I sell off games I no longer have any desire to ever play(purged some CIB Nes and Snes games recently). I admit emulation through my Snes classic mini has made it easier to part with a few titles. I'm a big fan of box art and maps/manuals so I can't see myself parting with my Genesis or Nes Koei titles. I'm very happy with what I own. But on occasion I will find out about an obscure import or give a second look to a missed classic game and that starts my game hunting juices flowing
I sold my entire collection four or five years ago. I was up to over 500 nes carts in addition to a ton of other stuff. It took me 15 years to amass. I had a worry in the back of my mind that I would regret it but I never have. I still have an nes, snes, and gennisis with a flash cart for each. I still play often but have no desire to collect.
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I tend to pickup most of my new retro games around the holidays. Always seems to be great deals on them and people willing to sell.
I used to get pretty hot about the stuff, but a few years back I decided to just stop caring exactly and widen my interests into multiple directions (not gaming) looking for goodies to appreciate or buy low/sell higher so I can get something I need/want I could no longer afford and made most my peace with that. Things have gone so sour with the predatory nature of it after more and more got into it just to make a buck and really didn't care otherwise and it soured me enough it even is hard just to start a game anymore but if I do it's enjoyable so there is that. Something I did to help things was get kits, got them for basically anything I could use one one, also HDMI updated my systems too and wow it made a huge difference in quality. Now I can just casually flit around looking for cheapo stuff and the rarer wow find still and it works and that at least is rewarding which is in a way satisfying.
I have all the carts i want for snes and n64 and closing in on NES. Got 5 ps1 cic games or so left to acquire to call it quits and im starting a genny cib collection. Probably about 30-40 titles to go. I only buy what i will' eventually play.
But in the last few months i embarked on a new journey that will be both long and expensive: for every cart (or most carts) i own, i target to buy a sealed copy of the game. My vision is to build the ultimate gamer/collector collection. I will play the carts and get to enjoy the pristine condition of brand new games and their artworks. The vision goes further but its too far out for now to share. I have about 150-200 sealed games on my want list. This is coming from someone who sold his snes boxes/manuals because cin collecting was too expensive... oh well!
I was in one of the local game shops this week and the guy working was talking to me about how they don't sell much NES or SNES anymore, but they can't keep N64 or GameCube stuff on the shelves. Wonder if the swing is starting to happen.
In the meantime I pick up the occasional PSX game and I'm looking to go from a mixture of cart only and CIB NES games to all CIB.
I'm debating selling my MD/MCD and just buying an Analogue system and MegaSD but haven't commited to it yet.
Also why I rarely log in here anymore, barely any of you would know me I'm sure. Lot of new faces on this forum every time I pop in to snoop around!
I have all the nintendo powers, a ton of toys, trading cards,etc that I wanted complete.
Once I get those final 30 or 40 games above to compete the n64 and hit 600 nes, I'll just pick up a random here and there of games I like.
I loved this back in the late 90s/ early 2000s and never thought it take off like this. Just the prices and especially the worry of repos has taken a lot of fun out of the hobby.
With that said, flash cards have completely changed my collecting habits. When I first got into collecting, buying 100 playable NES games was as costly as buying a flash cart. But since I've got all the flash carts and have the ability to play basically w.e I want, collecting took on a whole new meaning. I no long bought games just to try them out. Instead I have games that I can enjoy in the physical form, show off, and add to the wall that way.
I feel YouTube has actually been a powerful negative force in retro gaming because it killed people's curiosity. Most retro games are linear and you can watch someone play the entire game online. Modern games aren't linear so they aren't as subject to having their interest killed by online video. People do spend time that they would otherwise be gaming hanging out on the internet instead and that hurts all gaming, though.
I think a big part of slowing down/selling off/quitting is realizing now that you have this game you don't need that game. Early on, I'd just buy anything NES unless I specifically knew I didn't want it -- because I saw it and it was cheap. Power Gloves for $10. RC Pro-Am IIs for $4. Stuff I didn't need. Over the years you get better stuff then you decide "Huh, I actually don't need that now." Now I'm down to about the same amount of stuff I had in 2010.
No more big bulky signs or inserts or anything. Its been a good 15 years, but nobody I know gives a damn about this stuff anymore as the hype around the nostalgia has all but died off among the casuals. I love what I have, its dear to me and I wouldnt get rid 75% of it no matter what. People don't even ask about my collection anymore. I am approaching 40 years old, a lot of my friends moved, got married, had kids and thus sold off their collections or just flat out lost interest.
I think the era of NES/SNES late 80's-early 90's Nintendo max hype is on the down slope for sure. I mean look, among all of my peers both in real life and on NA/Reddit/Facebook you can clearly see the decline in interest.
I love collecting games and game stuff, so I am always looking for new avenues of the hobby to collect, because I dont want to feel that way again.
So yes, I have felt done before with a collection, but it wasn't fulfilling as much as it was suffocating.
I still game but a majority of it is either on my AVS or Mega SG with Everdrives.
What I kept were all the childhood games I owned and any games I remember playing at friend's houses or renting. Anything I learned about as an "adult"(and there were some good games in there) are now gone.