Yeah… I’ve got over 2000 games on steam, but I haven’t activated the keys for at least 600 of them.
I only regularly play one game right now, though… Rofl
I made it a point to stop buying games I may not play even if they’re on sale. I haven’t bought a new game since Super Mario Odyssey.
I’ve come to the realization that I’d actually save money buying every game at full price at the time I’m actually going to play it rather then grabbing games just because they are on sale.
Oh yeah for sure… The player’s mentality versus the collector’s.
But for real I think I’ve contemplated exactly what you have and I feel I’m slowly shifting more towards spending my money on hardware. I’ve mostly limited my game buying to games that are important to me or games that I have to buy to play them ( new games)
A few years ago I focused most of my game purchasing down to zelda/megaman/metroid/castlevania/fire emblem and I think having a more focused collection looks way better then “hey check out those 200 random ps2 games”
Yeah I can completely understand that. I have about 30-40 SNES games, and the one I enjoyed the most is the one I paid too much for, and immediately played all the way through it, because it meant something to me (LTTP).
That’s a tell-tale sign that I should focus on getting less titles that are quality, versus collecting anything that’s “mildly interesting” to me.
I’m big into the whole experience with the physical hardware, with complete and boxed physical games and physical items from the time, such as swag, artwork, posters, magazines, etc . Luckily, I got the majority of my collection in the late 90’s and on up to about 2011, right before the price explosion. At the prices that retro games go for today, I don’t feel the games are worth the enjoyment they would provide. Snatcher is a great game and all, but it isn’t $500+ great.
I have a complete Atari Jaguar collection and have been into the Jaguar scene heavily since mid 1993, when Atari first announced the system. I love the system, have had a bunch of good times with it and have met a bunch of cool people in the Jaguar scene over the years. Over the last couple years though, when people come into Jaguar forums and ask us Jaguar fans if it is cool and if they should collect for it, we all tell them no, unless they have money to burn. With today’s prices, it just isn’t worth the money. Just to get a Jaguar/Jag CD combo, one Pro Controller and a couple of the good high print games, it is going to cost $700 easily. Then to get the good rare games, it is going to cost between $80 - $1200 for each title.
As for emulation, if I’m going to do that, I’ll just do it on my PC and skip the mini consoles, mini emulation boxes and Everdrives.
Problem with the Everdrive is you end up with 1000 games and end up playing nothing, there is something to be said for buying something, you then have that finantial commitment to actualy enjoy it… I have Everdrives but rather than use them I just use my GPD XD as its easier… I know what you mean about controllers though, thats a massive part of it… its a interesting topic for sure…
Ever drives and the like certainly produce an overwhelming type of feeling when you feel like you need to play every game, or the next game on the list will be better/easier/more interesting.
There’s some things I’ve found that helped me, but they all require some sort of discipline. And that’s kind of weird considering this is a hobby about having fun, and restraining yourself sucks.
I will select a game and tell myself I will play enough of it so that I can discuss it with others. Getting to understand the in-depth game and scoring mechanics is a must. And I will alway, always, always play around with every single option given to me at the start of the game.
For example, say I lived in a closet my entire childhood and never played Street Fighter 2 Turbo. I would select that game on the everdrive, and see that I have 12 character choices given to me to begin with. I’m choosing all 12 before I put the game away, that’s a given. I also see that each character has a unique stage. I’m going to see every single stage. I would also theoretically want to see every single special move in the game, but I think that would occur just by playing the computer.
So what I’m saying is, you just have to make rules for yourself. Set a score minimum or any type of threshold, write it down, learn the game. Participating in any forum chat about the game will also force you to play it coherently.
The more I have, the less I find myself playing. The thought of having everything at arms reach, sounded great years back when I only hand a handful of games on shelf. Now that I have 4 bookshelves full of games, I find myself conflicted on what to play all the time. I’ve flirted with the idea of selling everything, but I know ultimately I’d regret it down the road. I really do envy people that can have 20-30 games on a shelf and call it a day.
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I hear ya. I think they call it the Netflix conundrum. Makes me think back to when I was a kid with a few games and I’d just replay the same games over and over making new rules or limitations for myself.
I really enioy the play threads because it helps me focus on what to play!
Yeah I think I owned like…5 SNES games growing up and I played that shit out of them and was happy lol.
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I feel the same way, I wish Raphnet would get Saturn adapters back in stock (and I’d love a Saturn>GC adapter). Those Sega D-pads are my jam.
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I bought most of my current physical games collection after buying Everdrives. However I do prefer just playing on an Everdrive and leaving the game on a shelf or drawer if I can. The flash carts start up fast and usually have a quick boot button by pressing Start/Pause, or a recently played list in the case of SD2SNES.
In terms of choice paralysis in the face of a huge list of games and temptation to bounce around from one to the next, I find it’s a matter of willpower. I tell myself I will play one game seriously (and maybe a lighter second game for variety and to not burn myself out playing one game) and it usually works. Also helps to recognize when you’re not really enjoying a game, dropping it for good and removing it from your backlog permanently.
I think I now own most of the games I want that are within my budget. I have more than I’ll be ever to play and keeping that in mind has helped curtail my spending. I was eyeing XC2 on Switch just this past week and stopped myself because I own and have not yet played XC1 and did not finish XCX on Wii U (which I did like). Started realizing how silly it was to drop $60 on a new game when I have its two predecessors in the series waiting for me to play at home any time I’m able.
Regarding choice paralysis, I could understand that if you’re one of those people who just gets those Everdrive packs or nointro/good sets. I’ve never been one of those people. I get individual ROMs and put them on there. The flash carts I have only have the games I’m interested in on them. I’ve never really experienced the choice paralysis because of that.
I have a confession. Amassing a collection, weather it be hardware, crts, or games is often overwhelming. I like things neat and orderly and its very hard to be that way when you have 10+ consoles hooked up at all times. Seeing YouTube personalities like Metal Jesus with their wall of games actually grosses me out. It looks like someone who is a Horder in need of an intervention. Even if its organized well, it just looks like clutter. I have seen people do it in closets and garages and that doesn’t seem to bother me. Maybe its all the cheap Ikea furniture in concert with the 500+ video games just laying around collecting dust.
I am very particular about my collecting too. I want to only have favorite games and I am not opposed to burning a disc of an expensive game or a bunch of no-intro rom dumps on my everdrives. In fact, its very rare I actually play on my carts at all. Usually its just too much of a pain to swap to my cart. The ability to go back to the rom menu and save states is key for me.
When I buy a game, its like buying a great hardback edition book. Sure, I probably read the book on my kindle but I want the hardback as kind of a trophy or a physical representation of something I really enjoyed. But like I said before, I don’t display them so they are just in a nice box, away from light and dust.
My plan is to have either a drive replacement, everdrive or hard drive storage for every console I own. Disc Media is going to fail sooner than our carts so collecting them isn’t a top priority for me. I should get my PSIO soon so that handles playstation. I honestly want to sell all my expensive disc based games before I can’t.
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I dunno if I can go as far as to say I grosses me out, but I understand where you’re coming from. I don’t want my set-up to look like a retro video game store, if that makes sense.
Maybe the wrong word but to me it’s like step 1 before you have 50 cats and 40 years of the New York Times in your living room. Maybe it’s my fear of ever giving into to going crazy like that. Side note, I wish the Switch shells were the same size as 3D cases so I can box them with my DS/3DS stuff.
Never had a problem with “choice paralysis” with everdrives or flashcarts in general. Just know what you want to play before going in. Otherwise youre saying you decide what to play by leafing through carts which is a different thing altogether.
I have ikea bookshelves and 500+ games all organized and the ones that have there game collection in a closet or a garage is more appealing??? There’s a tasteful way of displaying your collection and there’s say… happy console gamer that says it’s organized, but looks like clutter. I won’t post my setup because they’re already in the setup thread, but mine is far from clutter.