I started collecting video games over 7 years ago. At the time no one was really collecting so I was able to find consoles very cheap. At the time I had it all. From Atari to Nintendo to Turbo Grafx to Neo Geo. I prided myself on all the consoles I had. At the time I didn't have a lot of income so I only had a few games here and there for each system. After about a year I became discouraged. I had no one who shared my same interests. I wasn't into going to swap meets. Hell, I could barely wake up before 10am. Then I decided to sell EVERYTHING. It wasn't a tough decision to make because I just wasn't into it anymore. I was still in high school and didn't feel like it was "my thing." I managed to unload almost everything I had to one guy. The only thing I wasn't able to sell was my Neo Geo AES and Neo Geo CD, and am I damn happy I still have those. A few years passed by. I still had the "Big 3." I enjoyed playing my modern games. I never really bothered to think about the old games.
Then about 2 years ago I was at a friends house and he brought out his SNES. We started playing and like a sonic boom the nostalgia hit me. Godamn do I love playing these games!! The first thing I did was look on craigslist for a SNES. Then I hit eBay to find the games I loved playing. Slowly I was building up my collection. At that time people still weren't going crazy for the "retro craze." My local used video game store was still selling NES games for $1. I wasn't looking to collect every game ever att he time. Just what I really wanted. I wish I had to frame of mind to just buy everything. My main thing was SNES at the time. Then I remembered my dad had an NES he gave a cousin of mine. I called him up and took that shit back. Luckily for me they had Super Mario Bros 1 & 3. Surprisingly my dad also had a complete in box Dr Mario (still one of my most prized possessions). After a few months the bug really took over. My wife started telling me about the swap meets she used to go to as a kid. Then we started going to them. I quickly realized I needed to get there earlier and earlier to get the good stuff. At first I was hesitant to buy just any game. I felt that I needed to know about it before I bought it. But I couldn't possibly know everythign about everything. so I just started picking up whatever was cheap. I watched tons of youtube videos about the "rare" games. The games no one talks about. I tried to educate myself so I knew what to look out for. By this point I owned most of the "key" titles I really wanted. I started branching out to anything Nintendo, Sega, Playstation, etc. I wanted it ALL. If it was cheap I would pick it up. By this point my spending on eBay was getting ridiculous. I couldn't keep doing what I was doing. I decided to keep the eBay shopping to a minimum and try and buy stuff only at the swap meet and craigslist.
To say I was getting lucky at the swap meet or craigslist was an understatement. I found so much stuff that I couldn't believe. I found Castlevania Dracula X for $5! I found a Turbo Grafx (console only) for $2. On craigslist I got 4 boxed systems with tons of games and accessories for $100. Slowly I was building my collection from rinky dink to a somewhat respectable collection. I was obsessed with going to the swap meet. I would say 60-70% of my collection was found at a swap meet. Every week I was looking forward to what I was going to find next. All this time though I still had no one who shared the same interests as me. I started to hit that wall again. I was starting to feel bored and considered selling everything again. I was really enjoying the thrill of the search and finding gems. I was just feeling discouraged. I started to slow down again. Around that time my "real life" started to change for the better. My then girlfriend ( now wife) had just bought our first place and started to plan a wedding. It took my mind ( and wallet) away from games. We would still go to the swap meet and I would pick stuff up here and there but I tried to prioritize. A few months later a fire lit right under my ass again names instagram.
When I got on instagram it was like the flood gates had opened. I found people who had so much cool shit! They had tons of games and I could finally relate to people who gave a shit about the same things as me. (Now would be a good time to point out that I feel you should never collect anything just to have more than someone else or to compete with them). I still had all my gaming related stuff boxed. I couldn't wait to share it with other people. It was like my passion was reignited. I wanted to share stuff with other collectors. At this time the wedding had passed and we were trying to get back to normal. Again I started hitting up the swap meets. Now I was collecting to just grow the collection. It was exciting to try and get as many games as I could. People were encouraging and were willing to help you out. It was a great feeling.
Just recently I made a hard decision. I love collecting video games but it does get out of hand when you try and buy for every single system you own. I decided to focus on certain games for certain systems and really focus on Nintendo products. Now I am not a "Nintendo fanboy" but I genuinely enjoy (most) of their products. At the moment I write this i'm easily over 1000 games total. I'm still in the process of weeding out games I don't want or need. At the resent moment I am as excited as I've ever been to collect. It's been made a lot more entertaining with the added bonus of looking out for the friends I've made on instagram and helping them grow their collections.
So why do I collect now? It's a tough question to answer really. There are so many words I can use to describe it. Ultimately its a thrill to know you can find anything in the wild. It's also great to have a collection you can be proud of. Also you know that on any given day or night you have tons of options. I told myself that when collecting get boring or feels like a job then that's when I'll quit. I still get excited to come home and be able to share what I've found with my friends on IG. It's not to show off, it's to be able to share stuff with fellow gamer's and know that they appreciate it as well.
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