Why do you keep your gaming collection?

[geise]

Aaron I am in the exact same situation as you and I have debated selling stuff on numerous occasions.  Actually I have sold some games and I am already regretting it.  I have been married for 6 years, own a house and all that.  Personally for me there have been times money was tight, and I thought selling stuff was the way to go.  I sold two copies of Keio Flying Squadron (US release in mint that I paid 10 bucks for each), US Snatcher for Sega CD, Shining Force CD, US Terraforming, and Alien Soldier mint.  All these games were bought new back in the day.  These games were really special to me but I just sold them on a whim.  Now I see them on ebay for shitty BIN's and it didn't really help me all that much.   Now with work slowing down I have the time to play games more.  My wife told me not to sell them, but I figured "shit I just don't have the time to play like I used to.".  Now I want to play them but I would have to rebuy them at rediculous prices.  These games and systems you're probably thinking about selling more than likely are really expensive, out of print, and hard to find goods.  Like others have said you can make some money, but what if later down the road you want to come back and play something, then realize that you can't cause you forgot that you sold it.  If you really are moving on to other things and don't really see yourself coming back and playing stuff I would go and sell some things.  However really hard to find games that you loved when you were younger I would never sell.  I hope my ramblings were somewhat helpful.

[MotherGunner]

In other words Aaron, hold on to that sealed magical chase....

[Pcenginefx]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts...this has helped to give me more to think about on what exactly I should do.  I've not come to any decision yet, but will be continuing to give serious thought as to my next step.

[Joe Redifer]

I dunno about holding on to sealed games.  The entire point of sealed games is to resell them in the future, since obviously they cannot be played nor enjoyed.

[termis]

Lot of nostalgia, but even for gaming pleasure itself, I find that I have a more fun with retro consoles.  I just don't have the time to spend on the steep learning curve of lot of the games these days.

[Lord Thag]

I've asked myself the same question a bunch of times over the years, but everyone (and I do mean everyone I've met) who dumped their whole collection regrets it. Part of it is that you end up getting so much, that you start feeling guilty. It's like you start thinking 'hey, I have all this stuff I never use, and it's taking up all this space...' That kind of thing.

But you know what? Who cares? So what if you've spent money on it, and so what if you don't use it all the time. I go six months without even going in my game room at times. But I always come back. When I walk in there, sit in my comfy chair with an ice cold beer, and a plate of something tasty, surrounded by hundreds of games that I love, it's something special. That room is like a sanctuary. No annoying job, no stress, no worries, no crap. Just my own little private library of alternate worlds that I can plug into. Sure, there's no way I can realistically play it all at this point, but so what? Maybe I want to play some Ys or Salamander, or perhaps a few rounds of Samurai Showdown on the neo. Maybe it's time for some 2600 fun, or a strategy title on the Intellivision. Or maybe a few white knuckle rounds on my Defender arcade cab. Or... anything.

The point is, it's there, when I want it, and it's all ready to go. I built that collection over half my life. No way I'm getting rid of it.

That said, I do downsize from time to time. Here's the thing. If you want to downsize, get rid of stuff that you never play, don't care about, and only sell stuff that is easily replaced. *Always* keep rare stuff you will not be able to get again with out a lot of money/effort. For example, I have a respectable pile of Vic-20 & C64 stuff. I don't really care about it. Never play it either. I may end up selling all of that at some point, but I will use the money to get a few Neo or PCE games.

Never, ever, EVER sell off the whole thing. Being tired of it is ok, I get tired of it yearly. I have lots of other interests. But that 'being tired' is a mood that will ALWAYS pass, and when it does, you'll have the game room waiting.  Just my two cents.

[Nintega]

Because.

1. I personally love the older games much more than the stuff that is being released now.
2. As years pass, vintage stuff become more valuable and harder to obtain.
3. One day when I have a kid, I would like to show him/her the types of video games I grew up with.

[Arkhan]

I keep it because I still play all my games, it makes my penis feel very large when my friends all go OMG I JEALOUS., and I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I play all the stuff I played as a kid..

Like:

Bonk, Super Hydlide, SNES RPGs, Lunar, Ecco, Altered Beast, and Contra.

Good stuff.

I just pretend its like it was back then and all my friends didnt turn into douchebags that only like Rock Band.

[Sinistron]

I think my advice to sell all except NEC goodness stems from my actually not having a gaming room like most of you.  I keep my systems in the living room- and the spare room is my computer/music studio room- which I try to keep as uncramped as possible.  I'm less on about the guilt of having unused stuff than I am about conserving space.  Me and my girl moved from a one bedroom claustrophobic closet to a two bedroom with a beautiful backyard area against the water and now I want less stuff than I had before just to enjoy that extra brreathing room.  If I had my own house- with my own gaming room- and the money to burn- shit I'd probably have it piled to the rafters with every system (well oldschool systems anyway) and I'd be holding tournament nights for specific systems every few weeks for cash prizes.

[WoodyXP]

I've sold off my entire collection and then bought it all back.. and then some.  That by itself is reason enough for me to keep my collection.  I don't want
to go through that hell again. 

[Necromancer]

I dunno about holding on to sealed games.  The entire point of sealed games is to resell them in the future, since obviously they cannot be played nor enjoyed.

I thought the point was to open those f*ckers up and play the shit out of 'em.  That's what happens in my house anyway. 

[TR0N]

I've asked myself the same question a bunch of times over the years, but everyone (and I do mean everyone I've met) who dumped their whole collection regrets it. Part of it is that you end up getting so much, that you start feeling guilty. It's like you start thinking 'hey, I have all this stuff I never use, and it's taking up all this space...' That kind of thing.

But you know what? Who cares? So what if you've spent money on it, and so what if you don't use it all the time. I go six months without even going in my game room at times. But I always come back. When I walk in there, sit in my comfy chair with an ice cold beer, and a plate of something tasty, surrounded by hundreds of games that I love, it's something special. That room is like a sanctuary. No annoying job, no stress, no worries, no crap. Just my own little private library of alternate worlds that I can plug into. Sure, there's no way I can realistically play it all at this point, but so what? Maybe I want to play some Ys or Salamander, or perhaps a few rounds of Samurai Showdown on the neo. Maybe it's time for some 2600 fun, or a strategy title on the Intellivision. Or maybe a few white knuckle rounds on my Defender arcade cab. Or... anything.

The point is, it's there, when I want it, and it's all ready to go. I built that collection over half my life. No way I'm getting rid of it.

That said, I do downsize from time to time. Here's the thing. If you want to downsize, get rid of stuff that you never play, don't care about, and only sell stuff that is easily replaced. *Always* keep rare stuff you will not be able to get again with out a lot of money/effort. For example, I have a respectable pile of Vic-20 & C64 stuff. I don't really care about it. Never play it either. I may end up selling all of that at some point, but I will use the money to get a few Neo or PCE games.

Never, ever, EVER sell off the whole thing. Being tired of it is ok, I get tired of it yearly. I have lots of other interests. But that 'being tired' is a mood that will ALWAYS pass, and when it does, you'll have the game room waiting.  Just my two cents.

Agreed i'd say more but i all ways see threads like this at any forums i post at aaron.Still just keep what ya play still and sell the rest.Just double check to make sure,you don't think you will play that system and it's games any more.Nothing worse then selling it and then missing it and having to buy it all again.It can be a pain to track it all down again.

[drdre]

I feel like I have this same problem as well, where I periodically go through my games and count off how many I could sell and never miss (yet I never sell any).

Many I still have out of feelings of nostalgia.  I don't think I'll ever sell my SNES and copies of Zelda, Metroid,
Super Mario etc., because these are the games I remember from my childhood.  Chrono cross was the first 'true' RPG that I ever finished.  Windwaker was the first 'modern' title I ever played, and have great memories of playing it night after night, sailing that amazing looking ocean.  The list is quite long, so suffice it to say that many games on many different systems hold great memories for me.

Other games I keep because I spent so much money on them, and just can't rationalize selling them.  Examples would be Earthbound, Zenki FX, Castlevania Drac X, and others.  Conversely, I don't sell some of my games because of how inexpensive they were.  I mean, is it really worth the time and effort to sell my Genesis copy of Primal Rage?  How much is it worth, like 75 cents?  Might as well just keep it...

And finally, some games I keep because they have places of pride in my collection.  I finished, and never play Final Fantasy VII (and only spent $14.99), but it seems like one of those games you should have in your collection, regardless.

[nat]

It's taken me many years to meticulously craft my collection, constantly trading up for better condition copies of games, holding out months (even years) for that "once in a lifetime good deal" on the expensive titles. I will never sell my collection simply because of the time investment I have in it. With that comes sentimental attachment as well. I sold a good portion of my TG collection once in 2001 when I was a broke jobless schmuck trying to pay the rent. I still regret selling the titles that I did at that time, as it took me a long time to get them back and I'm fairly certain I probably came out at a loss when all was said and done. Games are small, they don't take up a whole lot of space. I go through phases where I do not play them much (like right now), but it comes in cycles. They will be there when I feel like getting back on the binge gaming horse. I plan on never selling my games, I will pass them along to my next of kin when I pass on and they can do with them as they see fit (cashing in on them, even, if they desire). Even if I get to the point in my life where I no longer play games, at all, ever, I will simply put them in storage where they'll stay safe for the rest of my days.

[esteban]

I still regret selling the titles that I did at that time, as it took me a long time to get them back and I'm fairly certain I probably came out at a loss when all was said and done. Games are small, they don't take up a whole lot of space. I go through phases where I do not play them much (like right now), but it comes in cycles. They will be there when I feel like getting back on the binge gaming horse.

Exactly. I go years without playing certain games (or enjoying particular albums, films, books, etc.), but I revisit stuff, even stuff that I thought I "played to death".

I have very little post- 16-bit stuff, anyway, so there is a very real "limit" to the maximum size of my library. Plus, I haven't been buying much for the past few years (lack of $$$$) -- as a result,  my library is growing slowly. I have a bunch of crates (not an entire basement) of stuff. 

The same thing has happened with my music library. Sure, I'd love to have tons of stuff, but, these days, I only have time to grab a few new albums every now and then... things are quite manageable.