Collector or Gamer? What are you?

[Living-In-Clip]

When you was younger or had a job, it was simple. You was a gamer. You was selective and bought the game that caught your interest and it lasted for quite sometime and let\'s face it, it didn\'t matter if it was missing X amount of frames of animation, even tho\' the JP version had them..You had that game. You was content. Or at least thats how it seemed to be for me...

The last couple years started out slow. I gradually got money and bought a bunch of new games , a lot of which I didn\'t complete..Then I started collecting older systems and games, a lot of which I have never tried out (*points to massive 3DO collection* ) . After that I was on a search for games on one system that was better than the other system or maybe import versions which have an extra feature or better graphics..  Now I\'ve found myself goin\' on Ebay or gaming sites weekly looking for RARE or collectiable games. A lot of which, I\'ll never complete or I already own a domestic copy of.

Now I\'m not saying I won\'t play any of these games, as I will. Some of which I truly want because of the gameplay (Shenmue 2, Ikargua,etc).

What\'s my point? After talking to Ryu on AIM this evening, I realized something, I\'m not alone. He is a collector to or is in the process of it. We\'re both surfin\' Ebay for "RARE" or games with a more frames of animation (Hello? CAPCOM , JP SATURN!). There is no way in hell we\'re both going to be able to go through all the games we buy or want to buy. Is this a bad thing? Are we even "gamers" anymore or do we just collect games like they are baseball cards?

Here\'s my questions...

Are YOU a collector or a gamer?

DO you complete most games you buy?

How many games & systems do you own?

How much would you pay for the game you\'ve always wanted, but don\'t have?

If you\'re a collector, is it really such a bad thing?

I\'m definatly not a collector. Hell, I\'m hardly a gamer anymore... The only thing I collect is DVD\'s.

As for completing games - the only games that I remember ever completing are Monkey Island I + II and, on a console, Metal Gear Solid.

I dunno, it\'s just like the good old \'gaming feel\' is gone. Most games I play for a day (if that) and then that\'s it. Hence the reason I only own an old PSX at the moment. Counter Strike on the other hand is the game I\'ve played the most (and still plays ).

Perhaps if I were a millionaire I\'d have a lot of consoles and games, but until that happens I\'m afraid I\'ll only buy the games I truely want to play.

Having said that I\'m actually looking into buying a GBA. The graphics aren\'t overwhelming so the gameplay has to be prioritized higher. I might get one of those.

[Living-In-Clip]

The GBA is a solid purchase with a lot of good games that remind you of the older days or are ported from the older days.

well i complete every game i buy, unless its complete crap and cant play it, then it gets took back...... i dunno id say im in between, i wanna get old systems etc, but havent... if there is a game il like, say like a new on, which is a seqeul, ill try to find the older games.. also on my ps1, i did import a few games to see the bits that where left out on the pal versions, if i heard that thre was bits cut out, lus i try to find clips on kazaa etc if i cant get them imported, or find them.

I\'m not sure exactly where I stand on the issue. I don\'t often go out of my way to search for and buy a rare game or console.. but if one is presented to me I\'ll often buy it as they make great conversation pieces as well (sometimes) bein a helluva lot of fun. There is only ONE company who\'s software I will go the extra mile for.. and that\'s Sierra. I am an AVID collector of all things Oakhurst related. Weither it be handpainted artwork for game backgrounds or coffee mugs given away at company meetings. As of right now, I don\'t have any of those except some scans and pictures to prove they existed archived on a CD. The games, on the other hand, I have plenty of. I\'ve got a collection of about 50 games in their original boxes.. and when I happen upon a new one I\'ll often download the game from the internet so I don\'t have to break the plastic on the box. Some of my proudest games are titles dating back to the late 70\'s & early 80\'s when Ken, Roberta, Al, Mark Crowe, and a handful of others were running the company out of Ken William\'s living room and the disks they came on were typical RadioShack fare packaged in Ziplock baggies.

although i have quite an extensive collection (20+ consoles)

ive slowed dramatically.  nothing to collect anymore

[Bobs_Hardware]

I\'m in the process of converting over myself.  I\'ve been looking up saturns, megadrives, master systems, Snes, Nes etc. prices on EBay and over the next year I want to purchase all of them with some of my old favorite games..  All the games/consoles that over the years I wanted to keep but were sold/thrown out by my parents.  Ohh.. how sweet it would be to actually play a game of Spy vs. Spy on the SMS again... *orgasm*.  Best ever 2 player game.

I started this with my purchase of a Dreamcast (although this was mainly for gaming purposes (I just got Shenmue 2!!)) It was also nice to know that I owned all the consoles this generation.  I don\'t know why, I just don\'t like missing out on anything.

Are YOU a collector or a gamer?

Still a gamer, will be a collector.

DO you complete most games you buy?

Yes.

How many games & systems do you own?

I only own 4 systems (PS2, GCN, XB, DC).  But as I pointed out earlier I want to get all my old systems.  Again.

I own approximately 30+ games this generation (mostly PS2), and that is vastly growing.  I get annoyed when my friend insists on buying games, because I want to own them for the mere fact that I want it to be MINE.  I haven\'t bought Resident Evil (my friend got it himself ), but I plan to when it goes cheap, despite the fact that I may never play it.  \'Sides, I lost all my old RE\'s

I want all my old games back too

How much would you pay for the game you\'ve always wanted, but don\'t have?

I just paid the idiotic price of $207 Australian for Shenmue 2 (approximately $100 US), but for some reason I don\'t care.

If you\'re a collector, is it really such a bad thing?

Only if you should be spending it on something else.

I\'m a gamer. I collect rare ROM\'s.. which barely counts.. but that\'s it. Oh, and I own Castlevania:SOTN. Yeah.

As you can see, I\'m not much of a collector. I\'m a fairly hardcore gamer, is all.

[Living-In-Clip]

I just paid the idiotic price of $207 Australian for Shenmue 2 (approximately $100 US), but for some reason I don\'t care.

I know the feeling Bobby. I have made some questionable purchases (*points to Virtual Boy collection*) and I don\'t seem to care. Hell, I traded Capcom (the member) my XM cd player , out of my old car for his JP copy of Shenmue (the first one!) all because it had a bonus Shenmue "jukebox" music cd. Sure, I had the original Shenmue , but I wanted that extra cd that his JP copy came with. Questionable to some, but for some reason it seems like a perfect trade to me.

I\'m currently looking at Panzer Dragoon Saga and Radiant Silvergun, Panzer goin\' at $100 dollars with a day to go and Radiant with a "Buy it Now" option for $200 dollars, both on Ebay.  I doubt I break down and buy either one of them this week due to my earlier purchases this mornin\', but next week is another story.
 
Does anyone remember the magazine GameFan ? It was a hardcore magazine for us so called \'hardcore gamers\' and it had a section called \'hardcore of the month\', which was dedicated to questionable, costly and "hardcore" purchases gamers have made.

Shenmue 2 is worth more than $100...

Consider yourself lucky you even got it...

Should\'ve clicked on that link I posted about 10 months ago...

PDS is worth $100...

I\'m just a gamer...

Got 2 DC\'s, black GC, and one Saturn...

Had a Genesis, NES, and SMS but they all crapped out...

I complete most of my games...

There isn\'t any game out there that I MUST have so I can\'t put a price on it...

[Kurt Angle]

I\'m not a collector, I just buy games that appeal to me and which get good reviews. I play them mostly until I complete them. If I don\'t complete them I leave them for a while then try again a few weeks later.

Honestly, I\'m becoming a collector and it\'s getting pretty absurd the more I think about it.  I don\'t care about the money really and I feel better holding the game in my hands rather than booting it up on the system.  Sure, I\'ll play all the games I buy eventually, but lately, I don\'t have the same sense of excitement that I have had in the past.  For example, I bought Contra Shattered Soldier on Wednesday and I have still yet to play it.  Am I lazy?  Perhaps.  Am I excited?  Not really.  Am I satisfied with my purchase anyways?  Definitely yes.  It\'s strange, I know, but I have no explanation of it.  Acquiring the product these days is more fun than actually enjoying the product and it\'s getting a little sad.  Why buy games if you are just going to let them collect dust?  I guess it\'s the anticipation that has become more fun than the actual game itself with a lot of games released today.

Of course, like with all systems, there are exceptions and games that I just can\'t help but want to play and skip classes just to try it out.  The first Street Fighter II on the SNES, MGS, MGS2, Halo, FF7, FF8, Capcom Vs SNK 2, Street Fighter III, Guardian Heroes, Burning Rangers, and of course NiGHTs.  I felt great excitement and anticipation with each of those games, but everything else has been nothing but tame in comparison.  The unfortunate thing is that I don\'t really mind as much.  I know when I complete the Saturn collection I am gunning for, I\'ll play all the games on it eventually, but the only three I am looking forward to right now I have yet to purcahse two of them and I don\'t even have a Saturn yet.

There is no way in hell we\'re both going to be able to go through all the games we buy or want to buy. Is this a bad thing? Are we even "gamers" anymore or do we just collect games like they are baseball cards?

I\'ll say now that I\'ll never be someone who has this massive system collection and game collection like no other.  I can\'t spend $300/game for Neo Geo.  I refuse to spend $200 on Radiant Silvergun.  Panzer Dragoon Saga for $100 isn\'t bad and the $50 that people are asking for for shenmue II on ebay for the European Dreamcast version does sound reasonable, but as I\'m trying to point out, I do have limits.  I\'m not totaly crazy, but I have considered putting the cash down for Steel Battalion from time to time, but I still have yet to do it.  Point is, I\'m a collector, but I am reasonable and just like most gamers, there are titles I anticipate greatly and will complete, but there are games that I just don\'t care enough about to even want to touch again as well and sell them off just the same.

As far as I can tell, it\'s not a bad thing at all, but rather the comfort of knowing that we have it and we can play it at any time is much greater than physically playing it.  Sometimes life gets tough and busy, but knowing when you\'re bored out of your mind, you\'ll always have plenty of games to play.  In my opinion, since the RPG genre has gone to hell, it\'s a lot better to have all these games readily available rather than a back log of games that I *need* to complete.

[Bobs_Hardware]

Shenmue 2 is worth more than $100...

Consider yourself lucky you even got it...

Well I called it idiotic because after my auction ended, Ryu pointed out that they are going for $50 in the US

$100 for a game? :nut:

I\'d cry myself to sleep if I ever did something like that.

I saw another copy of Shenmue II over at McVans just today.. going for about 50 bucks. It was sitting right next to Ikuraga. I was tempted.. but with buying a whole new system + peripherals + preordering + all my other expences I just couldn\'t afford it. Chances are it\'ll still be there next time, or I\'ll run across it again.

To answer LIC\'s questions:

1. I\'d say I\'m just a little of both. While I don\'t own a great deal of rare or "Uber Hardcore" import games or systems.. I do tend to packrat alot of hardware and software most people tend to throw out. Old technology facinates me. I would feel the same about dropping 100 bucks for an MSX as I would for an Apple ][.

2. It depends.. some games I buy aren\'t worth completing, but are enjoyable for a side distraction from my "main" games collection.

3. Rough question.. I\'ll count PC software I have disks and boxes for but not anything I\'ve downloaded.

I own about roughly 13 systems and about 400 games for those systems combined. Plus I have two active PC\'s with about 200 titles for it.

4. As much as I could possibly afford. Really, if I found out there was a prebuild of Quest for Glory 3: Shadows of Darkness (SoD was supposed to be the next game in the series but got bumped to 4 when they added Wages of War) which the Coles had sold in a garage sale and found it\'s way to me.. I\'d pay upwards of 200 to 300 dollars for it. Probably even more.