16 replies to this topic

[Room 34]

I was just idly perusing my collection (on my website — http://atari.room34.com/carts.php — since the actual collection's packed up for the big move).

It occurred to me that probably well over half of the 208 titles I own for Atari 2600 are games that I have either never played (beyond testing when I first got them, just to make sure they worked) or do not actually like. And even though my collections for all of the other systems are much smaller, there too, the number of games I actually enjoy playing is well below 50%.

*SIGH* I really am a collector first, player second. And lately, even as a player, I've become more of a Nintendo fanboy than old-school Atari nut, what with all of the attention I've been lavishing on my NES titles plus my well-publicized GameCube obsession.

Reading some criticisms of Intellivision in another thread made me realize I really don't care much for that system, and could do without 90% of the carts I own. (Really, I guess it's all down to Burgertime and Snafu, and the latter solely for its music.)

I'm having momentary impulses to sell off half of my collection, wondering why I got all of that "crap" in the first place.

What's happening to me???




(BTW, I'm not really selling off half of my collection... at least not yet. But I do think once we're settled into the new digs I may do what was once unthinkable and pare down my collection to the "essentials.")

[Room 34]

OK... I've taken a step to handle this situation.

I realize that there's a lot of stuff in the 2600's extensive library that I've never really been that interested in, but some of it has come my way in big lots I've bought on eBay.

As a kid, I was really only aware of or interested in games by these companies: Atari, Activision, Imagic, M Network, Parker Brothers, and Coleco. I had a few games from other companies... Apollo, Data Age, US Games... but generally didn't care much for those games or about any of the others those companies made.

So as I've gotten into collecting, I'm really only interested in games by those same companies I cared about as a kid (with a few exceptions).

I've added a new classification to my database... "will consider trade." I went through and all of the games that have entered my collection by chance, and in which I have little interest, are now marked accordingly. I've stuck prices on them too, but they are deliberately high (based on rarity), since I mainly want to use these games (most of which are 3's or 4's) as trade bait.

OK... if you're still with me, then you may actually care a smidge about all of this, so in that case, perhaps we can arrange a trade. Here's the page with the pertinent info:

http://atari.room34.com/trade.php

Please note: I am in the middle of a big move right now so I probably won't be able to deal with this stuff until January. But I'd be happy to commit to trades now as long as you don't mind waiting a couple weeks to get the goods.

[goatdan]

Room 34 said:

It occurred to me that probably well over half of the 208 titles I own for Atari 2600 are games that I have either never played (beyond testing when I first got them, just to make sure they worked) or do not actually like.  And even though my collections for all of the other systems are much smaller, there too, the number of games I actually enjoy playing is well below 50%.

Heh, I know exactly where you are coming from. After putting together my Dreamcast collection, I realized that I actually hadn't played more than a few handfuls of that collection. I made a list for myself of the games I played and I wrote comments after them about how much I liked them or why I didn't. I'm systematically going through my entire collection and playing them now, and it's really fun.

Once you get settled in, it might be something for you to try

[Jasoco]

I noticed this myself a while ago. Most systems I just collect to have. Not to play. But I don't care. Really, I'm just going for bulk first. If I get a good game or two in the mix, so be it.

BTW. I like the look of your site. A well designed site is a happy site. I seem to be spending most of my off-time on my own. But it's fun.

[moycon]

I sometimes feel the same way Room 34, I literaly have stacks of games that have never even been out of the case or plugged into a console...Not even to test if they work!! Several times I've found old pre-viewed games from BlockBusters that I'd bought u, sometimes years ago in lots when BB was selling off old stock for ridiculous prices, that I hadn't even opened. Its times like that I wonder why I even bother getting new games when I have so many I've never even played. But still I buy more...Last week it was Activisions Anthology and StarFire, The week before Skeleton and a lot off ebay.

Quote

I made a list for myself of the games I played and I wrote comments after them about how much I liked them or why I didn't. I'm systematically going through my entire collection and playing them now, and it's really fun

Hmmmm This sounds like a great idea. I might have to head down to Barnes & Nobles this week-end and pick up a journal. Just pick a system and play and comment on every game I have for it.... Of course I'll be 40 by the time I through em all at this rate.

[JerseyDevil]

If you call it "my collection" doesn't that automatically make you a collector?

[Room 34]

jerseydevil said:

If you call it "my collection" doesn't that automatically make you a collector?

[Happy_Dude]

Heh

I have a whole bookcase full of SMS and Megadrive games I seldomly play
but if I ever want to play them I can. I have a few terrible DC games but
for the most part I like playing 99% of them and am half way through
finishing them all. I have way too many N64 racing games ....
And a LOT of games for systems I'v yet to buy.

Some games are not great but fun all the same. and I like having them
even if I don't realise how much fun they are for a few years.

anyway the point is as long as you collect to play you're still a player 1st :wink:

[Brad2600]

I have close to 250 titles for the 2600 and out of that, I've only enjoyed about 10-15 of those games. I won't be selling them because I feel that if I've come this far, that I should keep on collecting as long as space allows.

I'm not so sure about several other systems I have though.

[spongebue]

Or, you could help yourself by creating a "give to spongebue" category

[Avid Fan]

I have around 40 NES games. The only one I dont play is T2. I wont get rid of it (since no place would take it, although I havent tried, most of its label is missing) since I'm a huge NES fan. But if I get a NES game I just didn't care for (Xenophobe) I'll trade it

[goatdan]

moycon said:

Quote

I made a list for myself of the games I played and I wrote comments after them about how much I liked them or why I didn't. I'm systematically going through my entire collection and playing them now, and it's really fun

Hmmmm This sounds like a great idea. I might have to head down to Barnes & Nobles this week-end and pick up a journal. Just pick a system and play and comment on every game I have for it.... Of course I'll be 40 by the time I through em all at this rate.

I actually use Excel for it, but really anything would work. I found out that I absolutely adore Headhunter for the DC, and I wasn't even planning on playing that game!

Rayman 2 is pretty good too.

I'm through maybe 25 games and I've been doing this for about six months now... 10 of those I played before I started this too... It'll be more than 40 years before i just finish the 250+ discs in my Dreamcast collection!


Dan

[Mindfield]

Heh, I've always known myself to be a collector. I'm a player, too, of course, probably more than a collector, but I'm a bit of a completist too and I'm always looking to complete a particular segment of my collection.

I've also had those "What the hell am I buying this for?" moments, but I stoically ignore them. :-)

[Room 34]

Mindfield said:

I've also had those "What the hell am I buying this for?" moments, but I stoically ignore them.  :-)

Well right now I am just trying to get realistic. I have a handful of games that are semi-rare but either just suck or are otherwise things I'm not really interested in... stuff from Apollo, Data Age, ZiMAG, etc.

I want to get down to the basics (uh... sort of). I want to have all of the games I owned as a kid, but gave up somewhere along the way. (That's been achieved.) Beyond that, I want to get everything I can from Atari, Activision, Imagic, Parker Bros., and M Network. (And to a lesser extent, Coleco.) I've just gotten kind of sick of how much the other third party 2600 games suck, and I'd rather get the GOOD games for 5200, NES, etc. that I'm missing than to continue to hold on to crap games for the 2600!

[Mindfield]

Heh... true, there are plenty of games that suck -- but then I'm easily amused and have a hard time finding fault with a lot of games.

Okay, sure ... Gremlins sucks. It's rare, I own it, and it sucks, but I have it 'cos it's an Atari title and someday I'd like to own them all. Ditto for the rest. Not that I haven't traded away stuff I wanted to keep, but sometimes you get offers you can't refuse. Plus, sometimes I just think, "Come to think of it, the game sucks, and what's being offered is far more interesting."

I do tend to collect a lot of duplicate crap, though. I have enough Froggers and Donkey Kongs to tile the Great Wall of China... or at least my bathroom.

Maybe at some point I'll get to the same place you are, wondering why I've given 9/10ths of my living space to retro stuff and end up trading and/or selling most of it, but right now ... well, hell. It's fun. At least, the hunting and the scoring is ... the thing I was hunting for and scored, however, may not be quite so entertaining.

[Room 34]

I actually KIND OF like Gremlins. And Frogger is great... who cares if it's as common as dirt... or even E.T. or Donkey Kong carts?

[Nuclear Pacman]

Don't even worry about it man. Sounds to me like you think being a collector is a bad thing. It's better that you have those games and are taking care of them, keeping them clean and such, whereas they could be rotting away in a garbage dump or collecting dust and rusting out in a goodwill bin.