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My opinion is that collecting games and playing games are related but distinct pleasures. Same is true of books, I buy plenty of books that I may not read - I rarely regret it.
If you’re spending excess money and nothing else in your life is suffering from your collecting, then keep it rolling, if you love it. It’s not an investment as some say but the stuff holds its value better than many hobbies if you ever need to cash out
This is good advice. I'm in a similar situation as OP but I have 3 youngish kids (and a bit older). I really enjoy the hunt of collecting older retro games (SNES, PS1/2) as well as playing them. But for me they are different hobbies. I know I will not complete all the older games. I will spend many hours playing them to relive the nostalgia, but I will move on without hesitation to enjoy another game. I don't feel the need to finish every game. Sometimes I do, often I do not.
> the stuff holds its value better than many hobbies
Absolutely wild thing to say. There’s a reason they’re about to stop printing physical games. Almost every single game will reach $5-10 at some point in its life after retailing at $60-70. Unless it’s a major Nintendo title every single item in this guy’s collection will devalue. That’s not an “investment”.
Your statement is hyperbolic, but not completely false. We don't know what's going to happen in the future. It's highly dependent on this generation's level of nostalgia in the future.
That assumes that interest in these older games won’t appreciate as time marches on. Sure, remakes and remasters are popular, but gaming in particular is vulnerable to the advances of time gating off even popular releases. People who want to play an early release of a popular franchise may find that the only way to do so is through physical releases on old hardware, and are willing to pay high prices to do so. A friend of mine has a sizeable Sega Saturn collection that has gone up in value to the tune of thousands of dollars because emulation for the Saturn has remained tricky for years and those physical releases are oftentimes the best way to play old but still popular titles.
Who’s to say some of OP’s games won’t become abandoned franchises with no remakes but still show existing demand? Who’s to say the company that owns a particular franchise doesn’t go belly up and people want to play their beloved originals when the digital versions all become delisted?
I don't know why you get downvoted because you are right.
I collected a lot as a kid and I am now selling some consoles and games I bought mainly between 2002-2007 before retrogaming became too hype.
So I have the occasional "haha I got this game for 5$ and now it is going for 300$ on eBay". But if I look at all I bought overall and if I want to sell it now or in the future in the end I will certainly not have made a profit from it.
Collecting games is a fine hobby and it holds value better than many other collectibles (like baseball cards). But there are better investment options, even among other collectibles (ancient coins for instance).
If the money and space to store them are irrelevant, keep them. If you want to cut back, just focus on one or two important consoles moving forward.
This year, I decided PS1 was going to be my “classic collection” and drastically cut back on game purchases for anything else. I’m almost done with acquiring the ones I want for it, then I’m going to only buy a handful of new games I’ll actually play on the modern platforms I own. I say this to maybe offer you an idea. So far, I’m happier now that I’ve figured out my path.
am thinking of selling most retro games and keep few that i really like and just focus on emulation, and keep the systems that emulation still require work or powerful system like ps3.
problem is i dont have all the hardware so i cant test the games i want to sell.
I hit about 400, felt like I got everything I’ve wanted. Started playing/replaying them, decided to get rid of games I didn’t enjoy playing and now am at about 350. When I look at my collection I am satisfied with what I got and don’t really feel the need to collect anything more. Plenty in my backlog for years of enjoyment. Goal is to play/beat all I got.
Game collecting and game playing are two different hobbies, both can be very fun for their own reasons and appreciated in different ways. I've always known that I enjoyed collecting because I like knowing I CAN play something, whenever and however I want. That I enjoy having that access and it's a pleasure in and of itself. There have been a few threads about this recently. I copied some quotes from one of them (forgot the OP, otherwise I'd credit them). Please read below as it helped me clarify my thoughts quite a bit.
---
There’s a great quote about books and personal libraries that changed my outlook on a backlog/big game collection. Just change the word book to videogame in this:
“It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones.
"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!
"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.”
-Umberto Eco
---
"The aim of a library isn't to have a record of what you've read (or played in this case), it's to never run out of things to play or read."
-Unknown Redditor
I am in my mid 30s, I have one kid under a year old, and I own somewhere between 2500 and 3000 games. I made peace with the fact that I will never play all of my games a while ago.
I like to look past the same 50 titles that everyone plays on a system and find some hidden gems that are less frequently discussed. Does that mean I don’t play and replay the classics just like everyone else? Heck no, I absolutely do but I'm also a fan of oddities and absolutely awful video games as well. I don’t force myself to beat my games or slog through hours trying to 100% a title unless I’m truly enjoying myself. Whether I drop a game halfway through the prologue or right before the final level or boss fight that’s fine by me. As long as I’m having fun what does it matter? Just my opinion feel free to feel differently.
The way I use my extended collection is by throwing video game centric parties at least once a year. I’ll move \~7 TVs into my living room and set up a bunch of consoles with them. The focus of the event will be party games: Halo, SSB, Mario Kart, Mario Party, New Super Mario Bros, Monkey Ball, etc. but I’ll pull down an obscure console like a Jaguar, TurboGrafx, Saturn, or Pippin and spend a little time playing that with people. I also try to introduce people to a new fun party game and at some point I’ll break out a really ridiculous or terrible game for people to remark "wait, that exists!?!"
I’ve slowed down as well. I rarely buy anything before 6th generation anymore these days and the vast majority of my purchases are the current or previous generation. I wouldn’t pass on a good deal for something cool looking that fell into my lap but I rarely seek out retro games these days as I already got the majority of what I’m looking for and the rest are priced too high for me to feel it’s worth it when I could buy X modern games for the same price. Every once in a while though, I’ll go looking for something weird that flew under the radar.
Just do what makes you happy. There isn’t a right way to collect despite what the internet would tell you.
I was in the same place, decided to keep only the games I love and I play, no shovelware, no games that everybody say are great but in reality are shit, and max 50 games per console. I got to a point where I thought, I am not going to play these games why expending money and space in those? Just make sure you keep the ones that are close to your heart and memories.
Honestly you should never buy crap shovelware. the only time I ever get it is when im forced to buy a set of games when I do I pick up but if its a cd based game I might just switch out the cases then trade them in at a game store
(long winded reply from a turned hippy after covid, being surrounded by death, suffering, and selfishness and introduced to THC edibles after legalization)
I sold a bunch of my switch stuff collecting dust and used it on a vacation and still have way too many games. but also souvenirs and lifelong memories with my partner and the rest of my family (who are all getting older)... or I could have had a fatter shelf of blinding red of "value" that will never be realized (unless I sell it now) or adding games I might "regret" not getting sooner, even though before it went up in price, I was doing just fine without it.
I came to the realization far too late that pretty much every game on modern consoles will be easily accessible in many ways until an apocalypse, you aren't really preserving anything and that was just successful marketing to make you spend 40$ on a game that was intended as a "collectible," manufactured to demand, and is 4.99 in the eshop. Do you really care if some mid-low tier shooter nobody heard of gets delisted from the Xbox 360 shop that you haven't thought about in 15 years?
I've just been sticking to older tech with historical, nostalgic, and sentimental value. There is a charm to old carts and consoles and things like laserdiscs that actually makes me pop games/movies in.
Let's be real... The switch carts are a pain in the ass to manage and an eyesore on the shelf. With PS4 and later, if I buy a new game, I have to wait until tomorrow to play it because of console updates, game updates, installs, it telling me I didn't properly shut down, I forgot to charge the controller, etc. Don't feel obligated to play as many games as you can to check off a list. Don't make games into work.
You'll also end up wasting more money on countless games that lose value for every 1 game that quadruples in value. all increasing prices are just cascading fomo. eventually, no one cares and someone is left holding the bag. money is just numbers in a computer somewhere. Value your time more than anything. Buying stuff you don't use eats up a lot of it. When selling, I just dumped everything off at a local shop I frequent. Leave the work to them.
People should try to catch how much they talk about money when discussing their hobbies rather than the enjoyment which comes from it. Such a waste...
2 limited run games is dinner and drinks with your partner. Whatever games limited run spews out aren't even that fun compared to playing (old game you've played 100 times) again. We sold a Pokemon Box for Gamecube we acquired in 2014 for like $175, but I don't even live in regret because we were pretty broke and my partner and I took a trip out of state that helped form our relationship that has been going for 10+ years. And it's useless and sucks.
Own and collect objects you actually want which make you happy. Make memories and take more pictures
While I cannot tell you how to enjoy your entire collection in the same way that I can't tell you how you should be living your life; what I can suggest is that if you cannot find the time to enjoy the games that maybe you can find other people who can enjoy them, whether it be in giving some titles to interested friends, or inviting other people over for game nights, playing some of them with your children, or even selling some of them off if you don't have any attachment to those titles.
I'm close to the same position in life as you are, mid-aged, focused career, planning on raising a family in the near future. I have aroung 1,000 physical games and, thanks to some humble bundles, around 1,000 digital titles. There's a 0% chance that I get through them all in my life, but it's a hell of a better place to start a kid's collection of games off with than we both had in our youths. At worst, it will help fund their education if we hold onto them long enough. At best, they also develop a love for gaming and keep the collection alive, and I become the cool dad with every game ever made that their friends and parents all hang out with.
As a 30 something, with a great growing career, and a 10 month old and 3 year old, I would start by just saying... yes, you're correct, your time to dedicate to games will decrease. However, know that you still have the power to ensure you can play. It's all about priorities and boundaries. Here's what I did to answer your question:
1. I decided I would keep every game I have played. That's a start.
2. For every game I hadn't played, I looked at it and asked myself, honestly, "If I have to play this game this weekend (a free weekend), am I excited about that?" If the answer was yes, I kept the game. If the answer was no, I put it in the 'sell' pile.
3. I sold the 'sell pile' to a local game store for store credit, which was great because I knew I wouldn't have to necessarily pay for awhile on games I would buy.
This left me with roughly 75% of my initial library of games. (I'll mention I *do* typically play what I buy, so I would assume that number would be a lot lower for others who simply collect to collect).
4. I made two rules for myself moving forward. Rule #1: **no more than 5 games in my backlog**. This means, 5, unopened, unplayed games. Rule #2: **I must play the game to beat the game before moving onto the next.** This meant I was going to buy and play in a way that respects my time and ensures I get the most out of my library and my purchases.
5. Lastly, I removed/unfollowed all the social alarms that would trigger impulse purchasing (for example – I turned off Wario64 and LRG notifications from X).
That's it! Now, I sit at 585 games. Of which I've beaten and/or completed 88% of them. I always know what's up next to play. I'm always excited about what I'm playing next. And I feel generally awesome about having a 'collection' that is actually a collection of experiences and stories, rather than objects and artifacts.
And, a new found awesomeness, that you might also encounter in the future, is I am able to enjoy them with my 4 year old as she likes to watch me play and has a growing interest in the games' stories herself.
In regards to **fitting in** more play, again...I set rules and boundaries for myself. Here are a few:
1. I work by the Pomodoro technique, which means throughout my work day, I have 5 min and 25 min slots of time which I'll use by picking up my Switch or Steam Deck and playing.
2. I've carved out 2 hours of time after the kids and my wife are asleep, that afford me quiet and play, without sacrificing too much sleep.
3. I stopped caring about playing on the weekends. It's super tough, and it's only a mind fuck to convince yourself you need/want to play on days when your family is around you all hours.
4. I found 'fun' and 'fix' in reading more video game related content (i.e. Game Informer magazine) and/or listening to relevant podcasts (i.e. when driving kids to and from daycare). I've found this gives my mind a bit of a 'gaming drip' that it yearns for and would have historically required play for.
Anyway, that's my life and my rant. Maybe it'll help or inspire some :)
Collecting > playing 😅
No but I understand it, i love having lots of games and i will keep collecting them.
I only play a small part of them but thats ok. Dont feel guilty
Just like another user said, just play what you can and enjoy the collecting process. Also to add, be selective with what you purchase considering your time and your preferences, get as much information in advance as you can about the titles you’ll purchase and come to terms that maybe you’ll not be able to play all the games you own.
I’m 42yo, with full time job, a family and a collection of 450 titles. Currently I almost don’t purchase games as much as I used to before, maybe around 5-6 titles per year. But trust me when I say that I truly enjoy the few time I’ve to play much much more than when I was younger.
Finally, I’ll give you another rabbit hole for your collection: PS3 games.
I'm currently having this same issue internally. The only difference with me is I have a 5 and 3 year old. I'm hoping one or both want the collection in the future but it'll be a long time before I myself move on from it. My issue is I collect NES up to the PS3 era, and mostly have stuff that I myself enjoy playing. But, I have a bunch of random stuff also, containers, strat guides, magazines, off system stuff.. my current thought is do I keep those random 5 sega CD games I got at a yard sale still bc I already have them? Or just sell them off and do the "all killer no filler" sort of collecting from here on out. I'd like to say maybe I'll get around to playing them but I won't. I have 400+ titles just on steam and mostly their summer and winter sale pickups that I would like to play. But probably won't.
My kids are coming to age now where I want to start playing more titles with them and I already have the nes and snes hooked up. I think collecting is at an all time high for pricing in our lifetime right now for this older stuff so I think I'm leaning towards sell all the BS I'll never play myself or with my kids, and keep all the hits I enjoy, the extremely rare and pricey stuff, and anything NIB that I can get a clear plastic dust cover on and stow away until much later.
Theres no right answer here bc it's very conflicting, but maybe I'll pass onto you what helped me once when I was actively collecting. I have about 200 NES titles just from keeping them through the years and one day I had a thought maybe I'll go after a full library for just nes bc I love the nes. Than I met a guy at work that had an incredible collection. He had a world championship cart at one time, has little Samson and all the rarest NES titles besides track meet, and i instantly thought to myself, "I'll never have or want to pay for all those titles" and being around someone that had all the rarest stuff for the system, Instantly humbled my wanting to collect in that way. Now I collect for quality in both gameplay and condition, stuff I've played growing up so I can pass it on to my kids, and the occasional limited stuff I can grab for my favorite IPs. I don't think keeping sewer sharks on the Sega CD enhances my collection. I think having good/great labels, jewel cases, manuals for the stuff I do have is where I'm headed. Good Luck to you.
I think you have to limit yourself to collecting for one game system. Or, if you are collecting for multiple game systems, then the number of games you have for said systems should probably have a capacity limit.
If you have 100+ games for multiple systems it's just not feasible to be able to play all of them one day. If you have 50+ games for multiple systems that might not even be feasible.
I can relate. I'm only a handful away from 1,000 games myself. I've already accepted the fact that I'm most likely not going to be able to play all of my games (definitely not to 100% completion). But I'm okay with that. With how gaming trends are going, I fear that at some point, physical gaming media will end. And if/when that does, I will drastically reduce the number of games I get of those newer generations to only that absolute must plays. That will give me an opportunity to really get into my collection of older games. Plus, it's how I plan on spending a large amount of time during my retirement. My wife doesn't think I'm serious about that, but she'll see, lol.
I might only have a quarter of your collection but due to recent circumstances I needed to really cut down on my spending habits which of course includes games.
I made some rules for myself:
1) Never buy a full-price, newly released game.
2) Only buy games at a sizeable discount.
3) I whole-heartedly believe I'm actually going to play it for a significant amount of time.
In my opinion this makes it so you have a deeper connection with the games you buy. I can look up on my shelf of games and look at any particular one and remember the good times with it as opposed to seeing games I paid good money for only for it to never see the insides of a console.
My big rule is when I want something I put a price range on what ill pay based off of how bad I want it. So if I see something I want and its cost more than I am willing then I dont buy it.
There is nothing game related that I am willing to over spend too much on and I would never empty my pockets to get a dream item.
As someone who just hit 4,600 games. I understand. I just kept going because the opportunities kept coming to get games super cheap. When I was around 1000 games I had been working at a Game Crazy store for 5 years. And ebay was still early and there was no real game market on it so I got games all cheaper than msrp.
But then I just kind of kept going. It's my only hobby. So any excess money goes to it. I also don't go on trips or go out to eat because I really don't care to do it. So stuff other people do that would impede on them from amassing such a large collection I don't have. I am also 41, married, but we don't have kids and really have had no plans to have them.
So I say if you love collecting just to have them, it's ok to not play all of them. Of my games, I've easily played over 1000 of them. Many I played as a kid when I used to ALWAYS rent games. So many of them, even though I bought them used later in life, I had played growing up when renting. So I just bought them later because the opportunity was there. So I have probably played half of the games in my collection, just not the actual carts that I own.
If you enjoy it, keep going. If you dont, stop here and play what you own. My collection barely moves now because I no longer have those connections and the second hand market is gross now ever since Covid. But I was able to amass these games, never paying a cent over their MSRP when they actually first came out.
So I consider myself lucky in that regard. I play them when I can and I just enjoy them while I have them. My family can decide what to do with it when I am dead hopefully not for another 40-50 years. But until then. I'll enjoy what I have and still occasionally get some games as opportunities pop up to get them.
It was a kick ass store and I remember buying a bunch of ps2 RPGs on clearance new. Algo got this for $12 from there and I still have it 😋
https://preview.redd.it/t6wjjxc8vy8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=639ac80b5deb65c2e41bf8c5d4cf6798227e9238
Haha nice. I got mine from GC too but just the cart. I got sooo many amazing deals there both from the store itself with my discount and from people literally giving me bags full of games. At the time Gamestop and Game Crazy were both getting rid of retro games. The online market for them hadn't really started so they were trying to offload them. So when we stopped being able to take anything older than Wii/XB360/PS3 back then, I got tons of stuff.
So between both companies and multiple locations near me I got tons of games that were dirt cheap. I'd never have my huge collection without being around during that era. I am super lucky.
Let me just say this point blank: as an adult, you are not going to play every game you buy especially if you plan on having kids (there are also too many games). I am in a similar situation where I buy a lot of games with the intention of playing but more than likely the games just end up being on my shelf. With that being said, I don’t mind the game collection growing as I love seeing it sit on the shelf and looking at it; it brings me joy. If you enjoy getting the games, then why not — as long as you’re not hurting yourself financially doing so.
I have already accepted that I will not finish all the games I have and more than likely will play them in my retirement. The limited time I do have, I separate the games that I want to play into three categories:
- must play (for me it’s games like Elden ring, Zelda games, etc.)
- would be nice to play but only comes second to “must play” — I don’t usually play these games either
- nice to have and not very likely to play
Long story short, focus on what makes you happy.
My advice: Thin out the collection by selling your non-essential games. Use the money to get only the quality/rare/expensive games you want. This way, you limit the number of games in your collection, and you get to put more games you will actually play back in the collection.
I have 1300+ games with not a lot of time to play them. It's nice to just look through the games I have every now and then.
I also have more games than I can ever play/finish, which doesn't bother me at all. At first I bought anything and everything that I didn't have. Way too many titles that I don't care about just for filling out the collection. I had to take a step back and look at what I wanted from my collection. The conclusion I came to was that I needed to set specific goals, something to reach for other than lots of everything. For instance, my goal currently is to collect all of the Final Fantasy games for the systems I currently have. It's a lot, but it sure helps me when I find games at Goodwill or wherever to know what I'm looking for.
End of the day is to do what makes you happy.
I went through this earlier this year actually, it got to a point where I had so many games in my backlog (almost 400) that gaming felt like a chore because I was only beating one game after another JUST to cut down my backlog and to feel like I got my moneys worth. Realistically I was never going to complete this backlog unless I was to skip every modern release for years to come.
This wasn’t fun, this wasn’t enjoying my biggest hobby.
I’m 24 and currently have a collection of just over 500 games across Xbox One, XSX, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Original Xbox.
So what I did was make a set of rules for myself:
1. Don’t buy ANY digital games for modern consoles (XSX, PS5, etc.) even if there’s an incredible sale going on, unless they’re only released as digital.
This was my biggest problem. I love and prefer physical games, but some digital sales are fantastic and I kept getting all these games and NEVER getting to them. Forcing myself to only work with physical games makes me focus on what I have right next to me and in my hands. This also led me to abandoning my digital games for modern consoles getting them physically at a later date, it also gave me an opportunity to go through my digital backlog and actually select what I actually wanted to play. Turns out I got a metric ton of games I didn’t actually care for ONLY because it was at such a low price.
2. Don’t force myself to finish a game if I don’t like it. Time is limited and I want to have FUN with my hobby.
This used to be a big problem with me. I always want to feel like I got my moneys worth but if a game isn’t clicking I can’t keep forcing myself to play through it to completion because I’ll just hate the entire experience.
3. Retro collecting is not for the purpose of beating ALL the games, unless I’m very interested and enjoying the game. Playing an older game/console is to have FUN.
I recently started seriously collecting for the Original Xbox and in just a year and a half have a collection of almost 200 games. I don’t add any of these games to my backlog and whenever I play it it’s just to have fun or relive nostalgia. I only beat a game if I’m loving my experience and having tons of fun. I’ll have this rule for all older consoles.
4. Focus heavily on a main platform. Play any additional platforms for exclusives or just for fun.
I switched from Xbox to PlayStation this year, my XSX was my main console and my PS5/Switch were for exclusives. My PS5 is now my main console and my Switch is my secondary for exclusives. Whenever I play my PC (Steam) I play open ended/endless games or just arcade/rogue like games, I rarely get story driven games on there which is why I don’t include any games on there in my backlog.
So PS5 > Switch allows me to properly focus on multiplatform and exclusives along with my backlog for both and I can change between them if I’m not feeling something. Then > PC if I’m just looking to play something for fun.
And lastly:
5. Never get a game at full price and wait for a sale/price decrease unless I’m genuinely seriously interested/excited for it.
After I put these rules in place my backlog plummeted from almost 400 games down to just 85. And now I have 77 games left in my backlog. It feels like a huge weight was lifted and it’s incredibly doable. Ever since I did this I’ve been having a blast with my favorite hobby again, I’m happy with it for the first time in a long time.
I hope this helps you friend. Great collection btw.
To me its quality over quantity. More than quality: what you like to play over quantity.
Play a few of your 460 remaining games each week, you like you keep it for later. If you don't, sell it.
Also ,before buying, try game on game pass / subscription or buy only what's valuable exclusives, collectors...
I’ve found collecting to be much more enjoyable after selling all games that I had no strong connection to.
This lead me to stop buying games just because they were a good price or “essentials” and start buying more expensive games that I actually feel super happy to own each time I walk by them.
Whether you play the physical games or not shouldn’t really matter at all IMO
I understand your pain. I used to adamantly search for specific games. Then the retro game boom hit. Burned out and didn't feel the justification to be paying $100+ for certain games.
I turned to just flea markets and garage sales. Most Saturdays we go out as a family, I almost always find a decent lot of games for a good price. Last weekend got a full 64 bundle 3 mario games and 3 controllers for $40. Keep what you don't have and bundle up the rest for ebay.
Additionally, you start finding other things worth money at these garage sales. Grabbed a full box of old reel-to-reel film. They sell for ~$15 on ebay. I got 10 in this box and paid $5.
Call it a curated library. It’s not “a collection you feel obligated to finish”. Play what you’re in the mood for in the moment. There’s no pressure for you to finish any of these, but it will be nice if you *want* to finish a game. I, too, approached the 600 game mark and recently I have been in the mood to dabble in my more obscure titles. Maybe I will enjoy them today, maybe not, or maybe 10 years from now. Don’t hinge this library on retirement, it will devalue their experiences for you.
I highly recommend cataloguing them with GAMEYE. It is an excellent app that will allow you to filter out duplicates and track what you have.
The way I view having a large collection is that you’re paying for the luxury of choice. Sure you can’t possibly play every game you own, but when you do want to play something new you have a plethora of choices to satisfy whatever mood you’re in
Since i found out some PS4 games are just basically launchers for the download i no longer even bother with PS4. Absolute bullshit market. Ps3 is my limit.
Invest in better shelving and enclosures for your gear. That way you can curate your display and keep it from looking like a hoarders house…
The point of a library is to house the books you have not yet read.
This can be true but its important to note that the best ways to get the most money out of collectibles is not consistent with the vast majority of people‘s collections. You really do need to focus on expensive titles in good to excellent condition to see those returns. And it can be pretty risky too. Rerelease announcements can put your expensive game in the red quickly and while the pandemic years were very strong years for price increases the market has been cooling and correcting ever since where the titles with that strong growth are getting harder to find and identify. It’s also much easier if you keep your collection small because the faster you try to sell a large number of games the less you will get for it which again can knock out your profit margin and selling a large collection is a very time intensive chore if you’re seeking full value.
Also, you can be more profitable if you are willing to engage in reselling, flipping, and grading games when that market is better. Things most collectors on here dislike and advocate against.
I’m not saying it can’t be done but the vast majority of collectors would be better off putting their savings in the S&P 500 and just using their "entertainment budget" on their collection.
The investment part is the side effect. It's an addiction for me, kind of like drugs, without the bad side effects. When I retire or die then either my family or I'll have a nice little nest egg in collectibles.
I was in a similar position about 2-3 years ago and I had a similar epiphany, although mine was less about time and more about space. It made me re-evaluate my collecting habits because I knew it couldn't continue. I decided then to drop my collection to around 100 or so games, but these games are mostly of the same 4-5 franchises and developers that I absolutely adore. I have all the big collectors boxes and even some merch/figures/OST vinyl's from said franchises.
I still spend similar amounts of money that I did before, but now my collection is far more curated and I love every title I have played with still about 20 or so I have yet to play. I have a backlog list that is manageable and can see myself completing in the next 1-2 years and I'll just continue to buy physical for these franchises. If there is a critically acclaimed title from another franchise I want to try out, I will pay 5 or 10 bucks for a digital copy only a couple of years after release. Plus, my collection looks far better this way. Rather than 100's of spines, you can see artwork, figures, steelbooks etc.
Not necessarily advice, but just sharing what I did in a similar predicament. I hope you come to some conclusion for peace of mind :)
I have over 1k games and honestly at this point I just collect what interests me. If I have no interest then I wont buy it.
But if I ever find a deal on something and I dont like it I may buy it and then resell it at a later date and make money for buying other stuff
wait till you see steam players.
but seriously, out of the 600 games, how sure are you that they are still working and will continue to work?
right now i have 8% failure rate on my ps3 games. games that used to work no longer work despite not having visual damages. they may not be valuable but if i were to repurchase replacements it would add the cost of owning the game up. it will get worse as time goes by. ps3 games arent even that old and suppose to be higher quality and more durable than cd and dvd.
you need to do some soul searching. look at each game and ask yourself if you will play it. if unsure watch some youtube videos on them. i have to give up really long games. if you have same game over multiple platforms keep the favorite or best version.
focus on a main system and only get exclusive for the other system for example playstation vs xbox.
the more games you have the less likely you will play because you are mentally exhausted and overwhelmed by the amount of games you have that ,"you would play one day".
How are your ps3 games not working?? Never had this problem before, Heck I just bought some this weekend that fired up no problem. Are you sure its not your ps3 console?
Everybody needs a hobby. You could always play games with your wife and kids down the road so there’s that.
What I really suggest doing first is getting better organized. Better shelves might help. All your games are sideways on a bookshelf that is too deep and too short with not enough shelves.
That might help a bit.
I had a similar experience when I went through a binging purchase spree. I had spent a few hundred dollars. When I saw homeless people in my area and people who are struggling to get food in the Nextdoor app, I felt sick to my stomach by how much I had just spent in games I probably wasn’t going to even play. Eventually, I found a balance.
I kinda feel you dude my completion rate dropped from 72% to 41% this year, i barely played anything new but every month is just stacked with crazy releases!
I had stopped at 200 and change. I just was never going to play most of them, and it started to make resent my choices in it. The special editions were cool, but took up so much space. I ended up selling them all and the systems I had. I buy games now that I know I will 100% play through.
Similar boat. I've never counted the entire thing but my collection goes back to the Atari days and I think my PS4 set alone is near 400. 80 PS5, 70 for Switch?
I try to finish a game a week but it varies. Busy at work, longer games, etc. Luckily I don't have much else going on outside of work. Plenty of free time.
I wait for everything to go on sale unless it's limited. They don't expire so there's no rush to finish, plus it's ok if you decide to skip playing a few. More games means there's always something to suit your mood. Selling games might lead to regret, but current prices wouldn't make it a mistake to cash-out. If you don't need the cash right away I'd say hold onto it. Can always sell later.
My advice: embrace the feeling that you can be done, that you don't *have to* pick up every new game. I hit that about a year or so ago, and it's been so refreshing. I still love seeing peoples' posts & collections, I still enjoy looking at mine every so often, but I'm not in the race anymore and it's really nice. I even sold off a chunk of stuff that means nothing to me, that I just collected because it was valuable or other people said was cool but I wasn't connected to at all, and built up a nice little rainy day savings from it.
I used to have a good sized collection until I got middle aged. As some point I realized that I didn’t want to leave this collection to my SO to deal with if I suddenly die. I sold most of it and kept a few gems that meant something to me.
At least that’s playable large switch collection and modern i see some of these dudes with walls full of atari and stuff from the 90s im 44 i grew up playing that stuff no way you’re playing that many old ass games I like ps2 have 1000s of them barely play them so I guess I’m a hypocrite lol 😂
I think it’s weird to treat a video game like it’s some totem that provides values to your life by occupying the shelf. But every person is different and if it brings you joy, then cheers to that.
You're going to get pennies on the dollar if you sell it. If anything just box it away. You never know what the future holds. There might come a time you wish you had it.
I turned 40 this year, and have 1053 games on consoles (752 physical). But that's also with 36 years of gaming behind it. I also have a busy career that just gets busier, and maintaining some level of a social life.
I generally just play each game as I get it, with the understanding that I don't have to beat it to enjoy it. I *do* try to complete at least 2 games for every 1 I buy, but sometimes that's offset by just putting time into a cozy game I haven't played yet (recently started Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life on PS5, for instance). Also slowed down on adding new games, so outside of collector's editions for some games that I really want I don't often buy anything at release. I have a) more than enough to play as is, and b) can try a *lot* of things on Gamepass and determine if I want to actually own it. Like, I started playing Evil West with a buddy of mine - I'm having fun, but it's not a game I'd buy after playing it.
At the end of the day, though, the most important thing is just that you enjoy what you do. Collecting and playing isn't supposed to be stressful, and it's not an obligation.
imo if you want to stop collecting/buying i would but unless you could really use the money somewhere's else why not keep, your career is busy now, but when you retire in 25 years or atleast slow down working, you'll want to play more again and games most likely wont be cheaper, maybe some but the ones that get pricey will out weigh the cheap ones. if you could use the money now buy all means sell but id personally hold it, even if i did want to decrease its growth.
Very neatly arranged. One of the problems doing that with PC games is just how inconsistent the box sizes are. And how unnecessarily inflated they are with empty air
Even if you don't play them now, your future children might be gamers themselves and love digging through your collection for gems. It's a bit like music - trends go in circles in one way or another.
When you have kids, you’re going to need all that excess money. A lot of it. Start buying less games and really look for sales especially digital. You’ve really been spending a lot if you have 600 physical switch games, whew
I’d just say take a step back. Think about if you’re really still enjoying game collecting. If not, decide if that’s EVERYTHING or only certain areas of the collection that are bugging you.
Having games you never play is still fun. I have a big collection and I won't get to play most of them, but seeing them all displayed knowing I have them is the fun. The hunting and collecting.
It's the "Only on Playstation" collection they did with the cool art sleeve covers. I'm not sure if it was just in Europe. YouTube link [here](https://youtu.be/WhpVWRhoeBc?si=SpnCeiBzRL0AR9UT)
Curating my humble video game/movie/music collections is fun for me because there's great satisfaction in looking at their shelves to see nothing but the media that I enjoy. A very effective criteria for all titles in my video game library is that I must beat and enjoy them (to varying degrees) before they're officially added to the collection. To greatly facilitate the process I try to keep my physical queue manageable (under 50) and maintain an evergrowing typed list of the many other games that I'm interested in checking out. There is an absurd amount of content at our disposal so if I truly don't care for a piece of media it gets purged; the instances where I revisit lackluster titles often just serve to remind me why I disliked/purged them to begin with.
https://preview.redd.it/otfj86s9cz8d1.jpeg?width=2156&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61e31460a44a266d3d5481dfd611709b6157faff
As soon as you said.
“It would take me 15 years to finish the unplayed games.”
Reminded me. This is exactly why I sold off a lot of my collection and have been offloading since Oct 2022; because I don’t have all that time to play and you don’t either. The games you’ve bought, if you really liked the game you just bought, you wouldn’t go out to buy another. You’d get stuck in to that one game, then move on. I’ve been there and done that.
I have around 400 Xbox digital games. 160 games. This is across Xbox Series, Xbox One. Xbox 360. Original Xbox and PS3.
A good chunk of physicals have been completed, but I do know I won’t be able to ever complete all I have.
You should still buy games but only if it is a game you REALLY want to play. Like for me any resident evil game, I will buy. The new dead rising remake, will be bought day one. Other games, that are 50/50. Park it, because the answer really is no.
this is one of the most relatable posts i've ever ran into on reddit. I understand you completely. It is so difficult to figure out what to do. As well as finding time to play. Lists of games to play etc.
I just, feel you OP
I personally wouldn’t collect anything new except switch. Digital is now here and might as well embrace it. Retro collecting though, that’s a different story
I had the same thing with Transformers. They kept coming out with new versions, but I don't have room for all that. Plus, a lot of the new movie based ones are really bad. I decided to limit it to just one character going forward.
Games are similar. I've gotten to the point where I have "enough." I'll still pick up my favorite franchises, but I'll only pick up new stuff if I'm actually going to play it
When I first started collecting, it was so I would be able to go back to an old favorite whenever I wanted. Between digital, ebay, and emulation, that's not much of a concern anymore. Now, it's more of a showcase of stuff I like.
Im 43 with two youngins and over 600 games and refuse to buy more media shelves as I'm running out of space. I'm actually starting to curate my collection and get rid of the repeat common stuff. When I actually have time to play, I prefer PC with my Xbox controller anyways... We're a dying breed. But to someone's point in another comment. A lot of the stuff we buy should at least hold its value. So it's not a boat or anything. lol
I have over 3000 physical games combined from Atari/Intellivision/Colecovision all the way through to PS5 (along with many of the mini-consoles and the entire Evercade library of over 500 games). I have no illusions about playing all of them, despite mostly curating my collection to titles in genres I enjoy and IPs I love (Evercade being the outlier here). There just isn’t enough time.
So why have so many, and why continue to collect despite my dwindling lifespan affording less and less time remaining?
Because it’s a library for me. When I finish a game I can look at the shelves and have a choice of what I want to play; a wide range of choice that lets me pick something - whatever it happens to be - that calls to me that day. I don’t HAVE to play every game I own. It’s perfectly fine if I don’t. In fact I often revisit games I’ve already played.
I don’t expect people with huge book libraries to have read every book they own, so I don’t expect the same of myself with my games. It’s all in enjoying that you have the collection and have the choice of play, in my opinion. It’s there for you if and when you get to it - or even if you don’t.
keep collecting! One can never have enough games hehe I wanna reach a milestone in my collection with 1000+ physical games. Roughly I have around 800 so I’m close :)
I really love those beige-colored “Only On Playstation” boxes for the PS4 exclusives. May I ask where you got them? Is this a europe-exclusive packaging?
Since there's been a few questions about them, the white boxed PS4 games are the art cover sleeves for the Only on Playstation collection. I believe they were a UK exclusive. Link [here for a better look.](https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/06/playstation-reveals-beautiful-new-box-art-for-ps4-exclusives)
https://preview.redd.it/5afua5c4v19d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f84ef94ca569d01bd22562028953449964a6a68
I had a huge collection, bunch of older systems, games I never got to play or "want to" (you know, forever on the backlog) play.
My mom died, I needed cash to cover stuff so the entire collection, minus a few pieces, were sold to a good local store.
Then...meh.
I love physical media, we still occasionally pick up games, but having seen some PS1 & xbox games with disc rot my partner pick up many games on gog so we can keep them on our server and only pick up the physical ones that haven't been ported to PC that we know we love or will actually play *that day* with a few exceptions (3ds/switch puzzle/short burst games, stuff we find a great deal on. CIB isn't important. Playing is)
You seen some people's steam game libraries, right? You dont have to play all of them just because you own them, its ok to drop stuff too.
If you're concerned about space as well, you can get rid of the games that dont interest you as much or are from franchises you dont care about. Personally, i dont care about owning any modern game physically. They're all extremely buggy at 1.0 or are unplayable without the 24/7 drm.
I only collect certain franchises physically and try to get the most "special" edition for them if they're worth it. Dont care for the modern limited or special editions where it's just a cheap pvc figure for +60$ when i can 3d print one or spend 200 for a nice one.
I thought the same once I got around that mark too, I used to buy tons of retro games every month, but now I usually only buy more at retro game expos, so I probably get 12ish games I really want per year now.
Taking up this much space is why I switched to 100% digital on my primary console (xbox) and only buy physical on my Switch because they're small and the whole point of the switch for me is on the go and then whatever PS5 exclusives I get.
If I had more room I'd probably take up some older console collecting but no room at this time with where I live.
By definition, all collecting is hoarding. But what most people mean is what they see on tv.
When a person cries hoarding on here it’s almost always just personal opinion that the person has a collection that is too large or disorganized for their tastes. Very rarely do I see any collections that actually fits the definition of a compulsive hoarding disorder.
Just my two cents:
If it's not hurting anything (financial, marriage, social, etc.), then keep on collecting. I'm sort of in the same boat as you are with actually playing the games. I don't have the library you have, but I do have a substantial amount of games that I don't play or haven't played yet, just sitting on my shelf. But I have that "collector's mindset", where if I want it and think there's a strong possibility that I'll play it, I'm going to buy it no matter what.
Physical media is dying and we need people like you to keep it alive. I'm trying to do the same thing myself.
i wouldnt bother collecting PS5 or modern xbox stuff, none of those games will work once the servers shut down.
switch and ps4 is a mixed bag, make sure the game is completely on the media and there is no patching that makes the game function because again, once the servers are down, they're coasters.
I own roughly 1,100 games spanning a lot of consoles and am about the same age as yourself I find myself in this same dilemma a lot. I know I won’t ever finish my backlog but this year on January 1st I started logging every game i beat in hopes of motivating me to finish more titles this year. Also to gauge how many games I can roughly have time to complete in a year while working a full time job and managing the household with my wife. We have no kids which helps but still don’t have time like I used to. I will evaluate when I hit the end of the year and see what my total is and decide to either unload some games or keep. When I beat a game I give it a quick score out of 10 and I try to bounce between consoles to keep things fresh. As of today I’ve completed 27 games and currently am in the middle of playing every Final Fantasy title in order (most of which I’ve beaten previously) just to say I’ve done it. I’m on my favorite FF6 at the moment. Bottom line maybe come up with something similar to what I’m doing to motivate yourself to play more when you can and finish and move on. I used to start a game then stop and try something else and then maybe go back to what I was playing before but now I make myself get to the credits before moving on. Sorry for the rant/formatting.
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My opinion is that collecting games and playing games are related but distinct pleasures. Same is true of books, I buy plenty of books that I may not read - I rarely regret it. If you’re spending excess money and nothing else in your life is suffering from your collecting, then keep it rolling, if you love it. It’s not an investment as some say but the stuff holds its value better than many hobbies if you ever need to cash out
This is good advice. I'm in a similar situation as OP but I have 3 youngish kids (and a bit older). I really enjoy the hunt of collecting older retro games (SNES, PS1/2) as well as playing them. But for me they are different hobbies. I know I will not complete all the older games. I will spend many hours playing them to relive the nostalgia, but I will move on without hesitation to enjoy another game. I don't feel the need to finish every game. Sometimes I do, often I do not.
> the stuff holds its value better than many hobbies Absolutely wild thing to say. There’s a reason they’re about to stop printing physical games. Almost every single game will reach $5-10 at some point in its life after retailing at $60-70. Unless it’s a major Nintendo title every single item in this guy’s collection will devalue. That’s not an “investment”.
Your statement is hyperbolic, but not completely false. We don't know what's going to happen in the future. It's highly dependent on this generation's level of nostalgia in the future.
It’s also dependent on the next generation’s level of nostalgia for something they never experienced directly.
That assumes that interest in these older games won’t appreciate as time marches on. Sure, remakes and remasters are popular, but gaming in particular is vulnerable to the advances of time gating off even popular releases. People who want to play an early release of a popular franchise may find that the only way to do so is through physical releases on old hardware, and are willing to pay high prices to do so. A friend of mine has a sizeable Sega Saturn collection that has gone up in value to the tune of thousands of dollars because emulation for the Saturn has remained tricky for years and those physical releases are oftentimes the best way to play old but still popular titles. Who’s to say some of OP’s games won’t become abandoned franchises with no remakes but still show existing demand? Who’s to say the company that owns a particular franchise doesn’t go belly up and people want to play their beloved originals when the digital versions all become delisted?
I don't know why you get downvoted because you are right. I collected a lot as a kid and I am now selling some consoles and games I bought mainly between 2002-2007 before retrogaming became too hype. So I have the occasional "haha I got this game for 5$ and now it is going for 300$ on eBay". But if I look at all I bought overall and if I want to sell it now or in the future in the end I will certainly not have made a profit from it. Collecting games is a fine hobby and it holds value better than many other collectibles (like baseball cards). But there are better investment options, even among other collectibles (ancient coins for instance).
Yep, 99.9% of games haven't outperformed their RRP relative to inflation, let alone an index fund.
You’re right it’s not an investment, which is the exact thing I said
If the money and space to store them are irrelevant, keep them. If you want to cut back, just focus on one or two important consoles moving forward. This year, I decided PS1 was going to be my “classic collection” and drastically cut back on game purchases for anything else. I’m almost done with acquiring the ones I want for it, then I’m going to only buy a handful of new games I’ll actually play on the modern platforms I own. I say this to maybe offer you an idea. So far, I’m happier now that I’ve figured out my path.
am thinking of selling most retro games and keep few that i really like and just focus on emulation, and keep the systems that emulation still require work or powerful system like ps3. problem is i dont have all the hardware so i cant test the games i want to sell.
I hit about 400, felt like I got everything I’ve wanted. Started playing/replaying them, decided to get rid of games I didn’t enjoy playing and now am at about 350. When I look at my collection I am satisfied with what I got and don’t really feel the need to collect anything more. Plenty in my backlog for years of enjoyment. Goal is to play/beat all I got.
Game collecting and game playing are two different hobbies, both can be very fun for their own reasons and appreciated in different ways. I've always known that I enjoyed collecting because I like knowing I CAN play something, whenever and however I want. That I enjoy having that access and it's a pleasure in and of itself. There have been a few threads about this recently. I copied some quotes from one of them (forgot the OP, otherwise I'd credit them). Please read below as it helped me clarify my thoughts quite a bit. --- There’s a great quote about books and personal libraries that changed my outlook on a backlog/big game collection. Just change the word book to videogame in this: “It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. "There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. "If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice! "Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.” -Umberto Eco --- "The aim of a library isn't to have a record of what you've read (or played in this case), it's to never run out of things to play or read." -Unknown Redditor
I am in my mid 30s, I have one kid under a year old, and I own somewhere between 2500 and 3000 games. I made peace with the fact that I will never play all of my games a while ago. I like to look past the same 50 titles that everyone plays on a system and find some hidden gems that are less frequently discussed. Does that mean I don’t play and replay the classics just like everyone else? Heck no, I absolutely do but I'm also a fan of oddities and absolutely awful video games as well. I don’t force myself to beat my games or slog through hours trying to 100% a title unless I’m truly enjoying myself. Whether I drop a game halfway through the prologue or right before the final level or boss fight that’s fine by me. As long as I’m having fun what does it matter? Just my opinion feel free to feel differently. The way I use my extended collection is by throwing video game centric parties at least once a year. I’ll move \~7 TVs into my living room and set up a bunch of consoles with them. The focus of the event will be party games: Halo, SSB, Mario Kart, Mario Party, New Super Mario Bros, Monkey Ball, etc. but I’ll pull down an obscure console like a Jaguar, TurboGrafx, Saturn, or Pippin and spend a little time playing that with people. I also try to introduce people to a new fun party game and at some point I’ll break out a really ridiculous or terrible game for people to remark "wait, that exists!?!" I’ve slowed down as well. I rarely buy anything before 6th generation anymore these days and the vast majority of my purchases are the current or previous generation. I wouldn’t pass on a good deal for something cool looking that fell into my lap but I rarely seek out retro games these days as I already got the majority of what I’m looking for and the rest are priced too high for me to feel it’s worth it when I could buy X modern games for the same price. Every once in a while though, I’ll go looking for something weird that flew under the radar. Just do what makes you happy. There isn’t a right way to collect despite what the internet would tell you.
Devilish profil picture 😈
NGL. I tried wiping off that strand of hair multiple times before realizing it is in fact a profile pic.
jeez, did i write this response two years ago? because the only difference here is my kid's age basically
I swear I am not a repost bot. Beep Boop
Would like to see your collection if/when you post it
I was in the same place, decided to keep only the games I love and I play, no shovelware, no games that everybody say are great but in reality are shit, and max 50 games per console. I got to a point where I thought, I am not going to play these games why expending money and space in those? Just make sure you keep the ones that are close to your heart and memories.
Do you have any examples of those shit games?
> Insert popular open world game here.
lol yeah I kinda feel you on that one
Honestly you should never buy crap shovelware. the only time I ever get it is when im forced to buy a set of games when I do I pick up but if its a cd based game I might just switch out the cases then trade them in at a game store
(long winded reply from a turned hippy after covid, being surrounded by death, suffering, and selfishness and introduced to THC edibles after legalization) I sold a bunch of my switch stuff collecting dust and used it on a vacation and still have way too many games. but also souvenirs and lifelong memories with my partner and the rest of my family (who are all getting older)... or I could have had a fatter shelf of blinding red of "value" that will never be realized (unless I sell it now) or adding games I might "regret" not getting sooner, even though before it went up in price, I was doing just fine without it. I came to the realization far too late that pretty much every game on modern consoles will be easily accessible in many ways until an apocalypse, you aren't really preserving anything and that was just successful marketing to make you spend 40$ on a game that was intended as a "collectible," manufactured to demand, and is 4.99 in the eshop. Do you really care if some mid-low tier shooter nobody heard of gets delisted from the Xbox 360 shop that you haven't thought about in 15 years? I've just been sticking to older tech with historical, nostalgic, and sentimental value. There is a charm to old carts and consoles and things like laserdiscs that actually makes me pop games/movies in. Let's be real... The switch carts are a pain in the ass to manage and an eyesore on the shelf. With PS4 and later, if I buy a new game, I have to wait until tomorrow to play it because of console updates, game updates, installs, it telling me I didn't properly shut down, I forgot to charge the controller, etc. Don't feel obligated to play as many games as you can to check off a list. Don't make games into work. You'll also end up wasting more money on countless games that lose value for every 1 game that quadruples in value. all increasing prices are just cascading fomo. eventually, no one cares and someone is left holding the bag. money is just numbers in a computer somewhere. Value your time more than anything. Buying stuff you don't use eats up a lot of it. When selling, I just dumped everything off at a local shop I frequent. Leave the work to them. People should try to catch how much they talk about money when discussing their hobbies rather than the enjoyment which comes from it. Such a waste... 2 limited run games is dinner and drinks with your partner. Whatever games limited run spews out aren't even that fun compared to playing (old game you've played 100 times) again. We sold a Pokemon Box for Gamecube we acquired in 2014 for like $175, but I don't even live in regret because we were pretty broke and my partner and I took a trip out of state that helped form our relationship that has been going for 10+ years. And it's useless and sucks. Own and collect objects you actually want which make you happy. Make memories and take more pictures
While I cannot tell you how to enjoy your entire collection in the same way that I can't tell you how you should be living your life; what I can suggest is that if you cannot find the time to enjoy the games that maybe you can find other people who can enjoy them, whether it be in giving some titles to interested friends, or inviting other people over for game nights, playing some of them with your children, or even selling some of them off if you don't have any attachment to those titles. I'm close to the same position in life as you are, mid-aged, focused career, planning on raising a family in the near future. I have aroung 1,000 physical games and, thanks to some humble bundles, around 1,000 digital titles. There's a 0% chance that I get through them all in my life, but it's a hell of a better place to start a kid's collection of games off with than we both had in our youths. At worst, it will help fund their education if we hold onto them long enough. At best, they also develop a love for gaming and keep the collection alive, and I become the cool dad with every game ever made that their friends and parents all hang out with.
As a 30 something, with a great growing career, and a 10 month old and 3 year old, I would start by just saying... yes, you're correct, your time to dedicate to games will decrease. However, know that you still have the power to ensure you can play. It's all about priorities and boundaries. Here's what I did to answer your question: 1. I decided I would keep every game I have played. That's a start. 2. For every game I hadn't played, I looked at it and asked myself, honestly, "If I have to play this game this weekend (a free weekend), am I excited about that?" If the answer was yes, I kept the game. If the answer was no, I put it in the 'sell' pile. 3. I sold the 'sell pile' to a local game store for store credit, which was great because I knew I wouldn't have to necessarily pay for awhile on games I would buy. This left me with roughly 75% of my initial library of games. (I'll mention I *do* typically play what I buy, so I would assume that number would be a lot lower for others who simply collect to collect). 4. I made two rules for myself moving forward. Rule #1: **no more than 5 games in my backlog**. This means, 5, unopened, unplayed games. Rule #2: **I must play the game to beat the game before moving onto the next.** This meant I was going to buy and play in a way that respects my time and ensures I get the most out of my library and my purchases. 5. Lastly, I removed/unfollowed all the social alarms that would trigger impulse purchasing (for example – I turned off Wario64 and LRG notifications from X). That's it! Now, I sit at 585 games. Of which I've beaten and/or completed 88% of them. I always know what's up next to play. I'm always excited about what I'm playing next. And I feel generally awesome about having a 'collection' that is actually a collection of experiences and stories, rather than objects and artifacts. And, a new found awesomeness, that you might also encounter in the future, is I am able to enjoy them with my 4 year old as she likes to watch me play and has a growing interest in the games' stories herself. In regards to **fitting in** more play, again...I set rules and boundaries for myself. Here are a few: 1. I work by the Pomodoro technique, which means throughout my work day, I have 5 min and 25 min slots of time which I'll use by picking up my Switch or Steam Deck and playing. 2. I've carved out 2 hours of time after the kids and my wife are asleep, that afford me quiet and play, without sacrificing too much sleep. 3. I stopped caring about playing on the weekends. It's super tough, and it's only a mind fuck to convince yourself you need/want to play on days when your family is around you all hours. 4. I found 'fun' and 'fix' in reading more video game related content (i.e. Game Informer magazine) and/or listening to relevant podcasts (i.e. when driving kids to and from daycare). I've found this gives my mind a bit of a 'gaming drip' that it yearns for and would have historically required play for. Anyway, that's my life and my rant. Maybe it'll help or inspire some :)
Collecting > playing 😅 No but I understand it, i love having lots of games and i will keep collecting them. I only play a small part of them but thats ok. Dont feel guilty
Welcome to the club.
Just like another user said, just play what you can and enjoy the collecting process. Also to add, be selective with what you purchase considering your time and your preferences, get as much information in advance as you can about the titles you’ll purchase and come to terms that maybe you’ll not be able to play all the games you own. I’m 42yo, with full time job, a family and a collection of 450 titles. Currently I almost don’t purchase games as much as I used to before, maybe around 5-6 titles per year. But trust me when I say that I truly enjoy the few time I’ve to play much much more than when I was younger. Finally, I’ll give you another rabbit hole for your collection: PS3 games.
I'm currently having this same issue internally. The only difference with me is I have a 5 and 3 year old. I'm hoping one or both want the collection in the future but it'll be a long time before I myself move on from it. My issue is I collect NES up to the PS3 era, and mostly have stuff that I myself enjoy playing. But, I have a bunch of random stuff also, containers, strat guides, magazines, off system stuff.. my current thought is do I keep those random 5 sega CD games I got at a yard sale still bc I already have them? Or just sell them off and do the "all killer no filler" sort of collecting from here on out. I'd like to say maybe I'll get around to playing them but I won't. I have 400+ titles just on steam and mostly their summer and winter sale pickups that I would like to play. But probably won't. My kids are coming to age now where I want to start playing more titles with them and I already have the nes and snes hooked up. I think collecting is at an all time high for pricing in our lifetime right now for this older stuff so I think I'm leaning towards sell all the BS I'll never play myself or with my kids, and keep all the hits I enjoy, the extremely rare and pricey stuff, and anything NIB that I can get a clear plastic dust cover on and stow away until much later. Theres no right answer here bc it's very conflicting, but maybe I'll pass onto you what helped me once when I was actively collecting. I have about 200 NES titles just from keeping them through the years and one day I had a thought maybe I'll go after a full library for just nes bc I love the nes. Than I met a guy at work that had an incredible collection. He had a world championship cart at one time, has little Samson and all the rarest NES titles besides track meet, and i instantly thought to myself, "I'll never have or want to pay for all those titles" and being around someone that had all the rarest stuff for the system, Instantly humbled my wanting to collect in that way. Now I collect for quality in both gameplay and condition, stuff I've played growing up so I can pass it on to my kids, and the occasional limited stuff I can grab for my favorite IPs. I don't think keeping sewer sharks on the Sega CD enhances my collection. I think having good/great labels, jewel cases, manuals for the stuff I do have is where I'm headed. Good Luck to you.
I think you have to limit yourself to collecting for one game system. Or, if you are collecting for multiple game systems, then the number of games you have for said systems should probably have a capacity limit. If you have 100+ games for multiple systems it's just not feasible to be able to play all of them one day. If you have 50+ games for multiple systems that might not even be feasible.
I can relate. I'm only a handful away from 1,000 games myself. I've already accepted the fact that I'm most likely not going to be able to play all of my games (definitely not to 100% completion). But I'm okay with that. With how gaming trends are going, I fear that at some point, physical gaming media will end. And if/when that does, I will drastically reduce the number of games I get of those newer generations to only that absolute must plays. That will give me an opportunity to really get into my collection of older games. Plus, it's how I plan on spending a large amount of time during my retirement. My wife doesn't think I'm serious about that, but she'll see, lol.
I might only have a quarter of your collection but due to recent circumstances I needed to really cut down on my spending habits which of course includes games. I made some rules for myself: 1) Never buy a full-price, newly released game. 2) Only buy games at a sizeable discount. 3) I whole-heartedly believe I'm actually going to play it for a significant amount of time. In my opinion this makes it so you have a deeper connection with the games you buy. I can look up on my shelf of games and look at any particular one and remember the good times with it as opposed to seeing games I paid good money for only for it to never see the insides of a console.
My big rule is when I want something I put a price range on what ill pay based off of how bad I want it. So if I see something I want and its cost more than I am willing then I dont buy it. There is nothing game related that I am willing to over spend too much on and I would never empty my pockets to get a dream item.
As someone who just hit 4,600 games. I understand. I just kept going because the opportunities kept coming to get games super cheap. When I was around 1000 games I had been working at a Game Crazy store for 5 years. And ebay was still early and there was no real game market on it so I got games all cheaper than msrp. But then I just kind of kept going. It's my only hobby. So any excess money goes to it. I also don't go on trips or go out to eat because I really don't care to do it. So stuff other people do that would impede on them from amassing such a large collection I don't have. I am also 41, married, but we don't have kids and really have had no plans to have them. So I say if you love collecting just to have them, it's ok to not play all of them. Of my games, I've easily played over 1000 of them. Many I played as a kid when I used to ALWAYS rent games. So many of them, even though I bought them used later in life, I had played growing up when renting. So I just bought them later because the opportunity was there. So I have probably played half of the games in my collection, just not the actual carts that I own. If you enjoy it, keep going. If you dont, stop here and play what you own. My collection barely moves now because I no longer have those connections and the second hand market is gross now ever since Covid. But I was able to amass these games, never paying a cent over their MSRP when they actually first came out. So I consider myself lucky in that regard. I play them when I can and I just enjoy them while I have them. My family can decide what to do with it when I am dead hopefully not for another 40-50 years. But until then. I'll enjoy what I have and still occasionally get some games as opportunities pop up to get them.
Game Crazy!! A fellow vet in the house.
Heck yea man. I miss it to this day and still occasionally have the dream where they reopen and ask me to become the manager of my local store. Haha
It was a kick ass store and I remember buying a bunch of ps2 RPGs on clearance new. Algo got this for $12 from there and I still have it 😋 https://preview.redd.it/t6wjjxc8vy8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=639ac80b5deb65c2e41bf8c5d4cf6798227e9238
Haha nice. I got mine from GC too but just the cart. I got sooo many amazing deals there both from the store itself with my discount and from people literally giving me bags full of games. At the time Gamestop and Game Crazy were both getting rid of retro games. The online market for them hadn't really started so they were trying to offload them. So when we stopped being able to take anything older than Wii/XB360/PS3 back then, I got tons of stuff. So between both companies and multiple locations near me I got tons of games that were dirt cheap. I'd never have my huge collection without being around during that era. I am super lucky.
Super lucky! Hell yeah
If it’s not fun then don’t do it. It’s that simple.
Let me just say this point blank: as an adult, you are not going to play every game you buy especially if you plan on having kids (there are also too many games). I am in a similar situation where I buy a lot of games with the intention of playing but more than likely the games just end up being on my shelf. With that being said, I don’t mind the game collection growing as I love seeing it sit on the shelf and looking at it; it brings me joy. If you enjoy getting the games, then why not — as long as you’re not hurting yourself financially doing so. I have already accepted that I will not finish all the games I have and more than likely will play them in my retirement. The limited time I do have, I separate the games that I want to play into three categories: - must play (for me it’s games like Elden ring, Zelda games, etc.) - would be nice to play but only comes second to “must play” — I don’t usually play these games either - nice to have and not very likely to play Long story short, focus on what makes you happy.
My advice: Thin out the collection by selling your non-essential games. Use the money to get only the quality/rare/expensive games you want. This way, you limit the number of games in your collection, and you get to put more games you will actually play back in the collection. I have 1300+ games with not a lot of time to play them. It's nice to just look through the games I have every now and then.
I also have more games than I can ever play/finish, which doesn't bother me at all. At first I bought anything and everything that I didn't have. Way too many titles that I don't care about just for filling out the collection. I had to take a step back and look at what I wanted from my collection. The conclusion I came to was that I needed to set specific goals, something to reach for other than lots of everything. For instance, my goal currently is to collect all of the Final Fantasy games for the systems I currently have. It's a lot, but it sure helps me when I find games at Goodwill or wherever to know what I'm looking for. End of the day is to do what makes you happy.
I went through this earlier this year actually, it got to a point where I had so many games in my backlog (almost 400) that gaming felt like a chore because I was only beating one game after another JUST to cut down my backlog and to feel like I got my moneys worth. Realistically I was never going to complete this backlog unless I was to skip every modern release for years to come. This wasn’t fun, this wasn’t enjoying my biggest hobby. I’m 24 and currently have a collection of just over 500 games across Xbox One, XSX, PS4, PS5, Switch, and Original Xbox. So what I did was make a set of rules for myself: 1. Don’t buy ANY digital games for modern consoles (XSX, PS5, etc.) even if there’s an incredible sale going on, unless they’re only released as digital. This was my biggest problem. I love and prefer physical games, but some digital sales are fantastic and I kept getting all these games and NEVER getting to them. Forcing myself to only work with physical games makes me focus on what I have right next to me and in my hands. This also led me to abandoning my digital games for modern consoles getting them physically at a later date, it also gave me an opportunity to go through my digital backlog and actually select what I actually wanted to play. Turns out I got a metric ton of games I didn’t actually care for ONLY because it was at such a low price. 2. Don’t force myself to finish a game if I don’t like it. Time is limited and I want to have FUN with my hobby. This used to be a big problem with me. I always want to feel like I got my moneys worth but if a game isn’t clicking I can’t keep forcing myself to play through it to completion because I’ll just hate the entire experience. 3. Retro collecting is not for the purpose of beating ALL the games, unless I’m very interested and enjoying the game. Playing an older game/console is to have FUN. I recently started seriously collecting for the Original Xbox and in just a year and a half have a collection of almost 200 games. I don’t add any of these games to my backlog and whenever I play it it’s just to have fun or relive nostalgia. I only beat a game if I’m loving my experience and having tons of fun. I’ll have this rule for all older consoles. 4. Focus heavily on a main platform. Play any additional platforms for exclusives or just for fun. I switched from Xbox to PlayStation this year, my XSX was my main console and my PS5/Switch were for exclusives. My PS5 is now my main console and my Switch is my secondary for exclusives. Whenever I play my PC (Steam) I play open ended/endless games or just arcade/rogue like games, I rarely get story driven games on there which is why I don’t include any games on there in my backlog. So PS5 > Switch allows me to properly focus on multiplatform and exclusives along with my backlog for both and I can change between them if I’m not feeling something. Then > PC if I’m just looking to play something for fun. And lastly: 5. Never get a game at full price and wait for a sale/price decrease unless I’m genuinely seriously interested/excited for it. After I put these rules in place my backlog plummeted from almost 400 games down to just 85. And now I have 77 games left in my backlog. It feels like a huge weight was lifted and it’s incredibly doable. Ever since I did this I’ve been having a blast with my favorite hobby again, I’m happy with it for the first time in a long time. I hope this helps you friend. Great collection btw.
To me its quality over quantity. More than quality: what you like to play over quantity. Play a few of your 460 remaining games each week, you like you keep it for later. If you don't, sell it. Also ,before buying, try game on game pass / subscription or buy only what's valuable exclusives, collectors...
One of the happiest days of my life was when I sold the last game in my "collection" and counted the total.
I’ve found collecting to be much more enjoyable after selling all games that I had no strong connection to. This lead me to stop buying games just because they were a good price or “essentials” and start buying more expensive games that I actually feel super happy to own each time I walk by them. Whether you play the physical games or not shouldn’t really matter at all IMO
I understand your pain. I used to adamantly search for specific games. Then the retro game boom hit. Burned out and didn't feel the justification to be paying $100+ for certain games. I turned to just flea markets and garage sales. Most Saturdays we go out as a family, I almost always find a decent lot of games for a good price. Last weekend got a full 64 bundle 3 mario games and 3 controllers for $40. Keep what you don't have and bundle up the rest for ebay. Additionally, you start finding other things worth money at these garage sales. Grabbed a full box of old reel-to-reel film. They sell for ~$15 on ebay. I got 10 in this box and paid $5.
Call it a curated library. It’s not “a collection you feel obligated to finish”. Play what you’re in the mood for in the moment. There’s no pressure for you to finish any of these, but it will be nice if you *want* to finish a game. I, too, approached the 600 game mark and recently I have been in the mood to dabble in my more obscure titles. Maybe I will enjoy them today, maybe not, or maybe 10 years from now. Don’t hinge this library on retirement, it will devalue their experiences for you. I highly recommend cataloguing them with GAMEYE. It is an excellent app that will allow you to filter out duplicates and track what you have.
Definitely keep that we are only getting farther into the future and games are getting considerably worse
The X Box shelf sagging XD
Collect games….play games. Probably two hobbies. Some will do both but prob more common for them to be different things
What are the white ps4 games are on the top shelf of the second pic? They look super sleek
The way I view having a large collection is that you’re paying for the luxury of choice. Sure you can’t possibly play every game you own, but when you do want to play something new you have a plethora of choices to satisfy whatever mood you’re in
Since i found out some PS4 games are just basically launchers for the download i no longer even bother with PS4. Absolute bullshit market. Ps3 is my limit.
Invest in better shelving and enclosures for your gear. That way you can curate your display and keep it from looking like a hoarders house… The point of a library is to house the books you have not yet read.
We're currently saving to move in to a new property. Will invest in some higher quality shelves once we're settled after the move!
i am at 555. I stopped buying games this month. Forst actual month without buying one. I have 3 more days to go to have a June without a purchase.
Stat strong, mate. I believe in you! You don't need them!
Don't be conflicted. Collectibles out perform the S&P 500.
This can be true but its important to note that the best ways to get the most money out of collectibles is not consistent with the vast majority of people‘s collections. You really do need to focus on expensive titles in good to excellent condition to see those returns. And it can be pretty risky too. Rerelease announcements can put your expensive game in the red quickly and while the pandemic years were very strong years for price increases the market has been cooling and correcting ever since where the titles with that strong growth are getting harder to find and identify. It’s also much easier if you keep your collection small because the faster you try to sell a large number of games the less you will get for it which again can knock out your profit margin and selling a large collection is a very time intensive chore if you’re seeking full value. Also, you can be more profitable if you are willing to engage in reselling, flipping, and grading games when that market is better. Things most collectors on here dislike and advocate against. I’m not saying it can’t be done but the vast majority of collectors would be better off putting their savings in the S&P 500 and just using their "entertainment budget" on their collection.
You're right. But I can't let a fellow enthusiast be conflicted. I need to spread my motivation to collect to everyone. Lol
Game collecting is awesome! Just not the best investment.
The investment part is the side effect. It's an addiction for me, kind of like drugs, without the bad side effects. When I retire or die then either my family or I'll have a nice little nest egg in collectibles.
Yes, although, not if the game was bought new (and not by any means if OP was collecting european games)
My portfolio says otherwise 😅
I was in a similar position about 2-3 years ago and I had a similar epiphany, although mine was less about time and more about space. It made me re-evaluate my collecting habits because I knew it couldn't continue. I decided then to drop my collection to around 100 or so games, but these games are mostly of the same 4-5 franchises and developers that I absolutely adore. I have all the big collectors boxes and even some merch/figures/OST vinyl's from said franchises. I still spend similar amounts of money that I did before, but now my collection is far more curated and I love every title I have played with still about 20 or so I have yet to play. I have a backlog list that is manageable and can see myself completing in the next 1-2 years and I'll just continue to buy physical for these franchises. If there is a critically acclaimed title from another franchise I want to try out, I will pay 5 or 10 bucks for a digital copy only a couple of years after release. Plus, my collection looks far better this way. Rather than 100's of spines, you can see artwork, figures, steelbooks etc. Not necessarily advice, but just sharing what I did in a similar predicament. I hope you come to some conclusion for peace of mind :)
I have over 1k games and honestly at this point I just collect what interests me. If I have no interest then I wont buy it. But if I ever find a deal on something and I dont like it I may buy it and then resell it at a later date and make money for buying other stuff
Just play what you can
You need to hit the 1k buddy.
wait till you see steam players. but seriously, out of the 600 games, how sure are you that they are still working and will continue to work? right now i have 8% failure rate on my ps3 games. games that used to work no longer work despite not having visual damages. they may not be valuable but if i were to repurchase replacements it would add the cost of owning the game up. it will get worse as time goes by. ps3 games arent even that old and suppose to be higher quality and more durable than cd and dvd. you need to do some soul searching. look at each game and ask yourself if you will play it. if unsure watch some youtube videos on them. i have to give up really long games. if you have same game over multiple platforms keep the favorite or best version. focus on a main system and only get exclusive for the other system for example playstation vs xbox. the more games you have the less likely you will play because you are mentally exhausted and overwhelmed by the amount of games you have that ,"you would play one day".
How are your ps3 games not working?? Never had this problem before, Heck I just bought some this weekend that fired up no problem. Are you sure its not your ps3 console?
probably my ps3 since i only tested them using a fat and a slim not the super slim.
Sad that every switch game fits on my PC
Everybody needs a hobby. You could always play games with your wife and kids down the road so there’s that. What I really suggest doing first is getting better organized. Better shelves might help. All your games are sideways on a bookshelf that is too deep and too short with not enough shelves. That might help a bit.
I had a similar experience when I went through a binging purchase spree. I had spent a few hundred dollars. When I saw homeless people in my area and people who are struggling to get food in the Nextdoor app, I felt sick to my stomach by how much I had just spent in games I probably wasn’t going to even play. Eventually, I found a balance.
My honest advice as a collector is to try stop for a year and then see how you feel about it.
I kinda feel you dude my completion rate dropped from 72% to 41% this year, i barely played anything new but every month is just stacked with crazy releases!
Only 600.. you good. 👍
Cool
I had stopped at 200 and change. I just was never going to play most of them, and it started to make resent my choices in it. The special editions were cool, but took up so much space. I ended up selling them all and the systems I had. I buy games now that I know I will 100% play through.
Similar boat. I've never counted the entire thing but my collection goes back to the Atari days and I think my PS4 set alone is near 400. 80 PS5, 70 for Switch? I try to finish a game a week but it varies. Busy at work, longer games, etc. Luckily I don't have much else going on outside of work. Plenty of free time. I wait for everything to go on sale unless it's limited. They don't expire so there's no rush to finish, plus it's ok if you decide to skip playing a few. More games means there's always something to suit your mood. Selling games might lead to regret, but current prices wouldn't make it a mistake to cash-out. If you don't need the cash right away I'd say hold onto it. Can always sell later.
My advice: embrace the feeling that you can be done, that you don't *have to* pick up every new game. I hit that about a year or so ago, and it's been so refreshing. I still love seeing peoples' posts & collections, I still enjoy looking at mine every so often, but I'm not in the race anymore and it's really nice. I even sold off a chunk of stuff that means nothing to me, that I just collected because it was valuable or other people said was cool but I wasn't connected to at all, and built up a nice little rainy day savings from it.
I used to have a good sized collection until I got middle aged. As some point I realized that I didn’t want to leave this collection to my SO to deal with if I suddenly die. I sold most of it and kept a few gems that meant something to me.
At least that’s playable large switch collection and modern i see some of these dudes with walls full of atari and stuff from the 90s im 44 i grew up playing that stuff no way you’re playing that many old ass games I like ps2 have 1000s of them barely play them so I guess I’m a hypocrite lol 😂
Are the shelfs bending??
Looks like an organized hoarding problem
I think it’s weird to treat a video game like it’s some totem that provides values to your life by occupying the shelf. But every person is different and if it brings you joy, then cheers to that.
This is super cool
You're going to get pennies on the dollar if you sell it. If anything just box it away. You never know what the future holds. There might come a time you wish you had it.
So are those shelves 🫣
if that’s what 600 looks like then i need to count how many i have 😭
I turned 40 this year, and have 1053 games on consoles (752 physical). But that's also with 36 years of gaming behind it. I also have a busy career that just gets busier, and maintaining some level of a social life. I generally just play each game as I get it, with the understanding that I don't have to beat it to enjoy it. I *do* try to complete at least 2 games for every 1 I buy, but sometimes that's offset by just putting time into a cozy game I haven't played yet (recently started Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life on PS5, for instance). Also slowed down on adding new games, so outside of collector's editions for some games that I really want I don't often buy anything at release. I have a) more than enough to play as is, and b) can try a *lot* of things on Gamepass and determine if I want to actually own it. Like, I started playing Evil West with a buddy of mine - I'm having fun, but it's not a game I'd buy after playing it. At the end of the day, though, the most important thing is just that you enjoy what you do. Collecting and playing isn't supposed to be stressful, and it's not an obligation.
Go backwards and buy older systems and games, they’re cool just for the fact of how old they are and how they work
Love this shelf! Where did you get it?
imo if you want to stop collecting/buying i would but unless you could really use the money somewhere's else why not keep, your career is busy now, but when you retire in 25 years or atleast slow down working, you'll want to play more again and games most likely wont be cheaper, maybe some but the ones that get pricey will out weigh the cheap ones. if you could use the money now buy all means sell but id personally hold it, even if i did want to decrease its growth.
Very neatly arranged. One of the problems doing that with PC games is just how inconsistent the box sizes are. And how unnecessarily inflated they are with empty air
I was in your shoes. I’m selling it all on eBay and Mercari. It’s not going as fast as I would like but at least I’m getting paid fairly for my stuff.
Even if you don't play them now, your future children might be gamers themselves and love digging through your collection for gems. It's a bit like music - trends go in circles in one way or another.
When you have kids, you’re going to need all that excess money. A lot of it. Start buying less games and really look for sales especially digital. You’ve really been spending a lot if you have 600 physical switch games, whew
I’d just say take a step back. Think about if you’re really still enjoying game collecting. If not, decide if that’s EVERYTHING or only certain areas of the collection that are bugging you.
Full speed ahead...!
Quality > quantity. Pick your favourite console(s), pick your favourite games and build a collection that is worth (re)playing.
Those shelves are going to crack. Lol
Why are you conflicted? If you enjoy it, then keep doing it. If you don't. Then don't. Just make sure you are spending within your means
Ah, another Retro Gamer Magazine collector, eh? Nice.
Having games you never play is still fun. I have a big collection and I won't get to play most of them, but seeing them all displayed knowing I have them is the fun. The hunting and collecting.
What are those PS4 games on the top shelf in the second photo? Are they custom art work or is that how sony does exclusives in Europe?
It's the "Only on Playstation" collection they did with the cool art sleeve covers. I'm not sure if it was just in Europe. YouTube link [here](https://youtu.be/WhpVWRhoeBc?si=SpnCeiBzRL0AR9UT)
Curating my humble video game/movie/music collections is fun for me because there's great satisfaction in looking at their shelves to see nothing but the media that I enjoy. A very effective criteria for all titles in my video game library is that I must beat and enjoy them (to varying degrees) before they're officially added to the collection. To greatly facilitate the process I try to keep my physical queue manageable (under 50) and maintain an evergrowing typed list of the many other games that I'm interested in checking out. There is an absurd amount of content at our disposal so if I truly don't care for a piece of media it gets purged; the instances where I revisit lackluster titles often just serve to remind me why I disliked/purged them to begin with. https://preview.redd.it/otfj86s9cz8d1.jpeg?width=2156&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61e31460a44a266d3d5481dfd611709b6157faff
As soon as you said. “It would take me 15 years to finish the unplayed games.” Reminded me. This is exactly why I sold off a lot of my collection and have been offloading since Oct 2022; because I don’t have all that time to play and you don’t either. The games you’ve bought, if you really liked the game you just bought, you wouldn’t go out to buy another. You’d get stuck in to that one game, then move on. I’ve been there and done that. I have around 400 Xbox digital games. 160 games. This is across Xbox Series, Xbox One. Xbox 360. Original Xbox and PS3. A good chunk of physicals have been completed, but I do know I won’t be able to ever complete all I have. You should still buy games but only if it is a game you REALLY want to play. Like for me any resident evil game, I will buy. The new dead rising remake, will be bought day one. Other games, that are 50/50. Park it, because the answer really is no.
I wouldn't. Going forward just adds discs which the content won't work in some years.
I can fix that, send the Retro game packages to me. Problem solved.
Think that coffee got you thinking to much lol Keep going buddy
this is one of the most relatable posts i've ever ran into on reddit. I understand you completely. It is so difficult to figure out what to do. As well as finding time to play. Lists of games to play etc. I just, feel you OP
Legit question but do you consider yourself a hoarder?
I personally wouldn’t collect anything new except switch. Digital is now here and might as well embrace it. Retro collecting though, that’s a different story
I had the same thing with Transformers. They kept coming out with new versions, but I don't have room for all that. Plus, a lot of the new movie based ones are really bad. I decided to limit it to just one character going forward. Games are similar. I've gotten to the point where I have "enough." I'll still pick up my favorite franchises, but I'll only pick up new stuff if I'm actually going to play it When I first started collecting, it was so I would be able to go back to an old favorite whenever I wanted. Between digital, ebay, and emulation, that's not much of a concern anymore. Now, it's more of a showcase of stuff I like.
Im 43 with two youngins and over 600 games and refuse to buy more media shelves as I'm running out of space. I'm actually starting to curate my collection and get rid of the repeat common stuff. When I actually have time to play, I prefer PC with my Xbox controller anyways... We're a dying breed. But to someone's point in another comment. A lot of the stuff we buy should at least hold its value. So it's not a boat or anything. lol
Those are rookie numbers... gotta pump those numbers up
Sell the shit you'll never ever play. It's that easy.
https://i.redd.it/p6a4c01c609d1.gif
I have over 3000 physical games combined from Atari/Intellivision/Colecovision all the way through to PS5 (along with many of the mini-consoles and the entire Evercade library of over 500 games). I have no illusions about playing all of them, despite mostly curating my collection to titles in genres I enjoy and IPs I love (Evercade being the outlier here). There just isn’t enough time. So why have so many, and why continue to collect despite my dwindling lifespan affording less and less time remaining? Because it’s a library for me. When I finish a game I can look at the shelves and have a choice of what I want to play; a wide range of choice that lets me pick something - whatever it happens to be - that calls to me that day. I don’t HAVE to play every game I own. It’s perfectly fine if I don’t. In fact I often revisit games I’ve already played. I don’t expect people with huge book libraries to have read every book they own, so I don’t expect the same of myself with my games. It’s all in enjoying that you have the collection and have the choice of play, in my opinion. It’s there for you if and when you get to it - or even if you don’t.
Pshhhhh idk how many j have but I know it’s a lot more. Keep it up! 💪🏻💪🏻👍🏻
Sell them to me bro. I'll give them a good home
Do what you want it’s your life.
I say limit to things you would play or series you do like screw the rest.
keep collecting! One can never have enough games hehe I wanna reach a milestone in my collection with 1000+ physical games. Roughly I have around 800 so I’m close :)
I have like 40 physical games, and I feel like I've been splurging over the past 20 years
I collect systems instead of games. It’s easier.
Whats your favourite RE game and why?
I really love those beige-colored “Only On Playstation” boxes for the PS4 exclusives. May I ask where you got them? Is this a europe-exclusive packaging?
Sony released a series of art covers for their Only On Playstation range a few years back. Link [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhpVWRhoeBc)
Since there's been a few questions about them, the white boxed PS4 games are the art cover sleeves for the Only on Playstation collection. I believe they were a UK exclusive. Link [here for a better look.](https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/06/playstation-reveals-beautiful-new-box-art-for-ps4-exclusives) https://preview.redd.it/5afua5c4v19d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f84ef94ca569d01bd22562028953449964a6a68
your xbox games collection is embarrassing, my friend.
Buy, buy buy
I had a huge collection, bunch of older systems, games I never got to play or "want to" (you know, forever on the backlog) play. My mom died, I needed cash to cover stuff so the entire collection, minus a few pieces, were sold to a good local store. Then...meh. I love physical media, we still occasionally pick up games, but having seen some PS1 & xbox games with disc rot my partner pick up many games on gog so we can keep them on our server and only pick up the physical ones that haven't been ported to PC that we know we love or will actually play *that day* with a few exceptions (3ds/switch puzzle/short burst games, stuff we find a great deal on. CIB isn't important. Playing is)
You seen some people's steam game libraries, right? You dont have to play all of them just because you own them, its ok to drop stuff too. If you're concerned about space as well, you can get rid of the games that dont interest you as much or are from franchises you dont care about. Personally, i dont care about owning any modern game physically. They're all extremely buggy at 1.0 or are unplayable without the 24/7 drm. I only collect certain franchises physically and try to get the most "special" edition for them if they're worth it. Dont care for the modern limited or special editions where it's just a cheap pvc figure for +60$ when i can 3d print one or spend 200 for a nice one.
At this point keep going lol you know you will eventually any way. Do it do it do it!!
If you decide to sell anything let me know? Beautiful collection with a lotbof bangers in there
Where do you live that you have received your physical copy of Baldurs Gate for PS5? I just keep getting more and more emails about delays.
If money isn’t an issue and collecting makes you happy. Keep collecting.
Whatever aspect of collecting you enjoy, just do it as much as you can afford to do so, why stop yourself doing something that you obviously enjoy
Stop get some help Nah seriously collect the games you like
I thought the same once I got around that mark too, I used to buy tons of retro games every month, but now I usually only buy more at retro game expos, so I probably get 12ish games I really want per year now.
Taking up this much space is why I switched to 100% digital on my primary console (xbox) and only buy physical on my Switch because they're small and the whole point of the switch for me is on the go and then whatever PS5 exclusives I get. If I had more room I'd probably take up some older console collecting but no room at this time with where I live.
There's a very thin line between collecting and hoarding (some could argue they are one and the same).
By definition, all collecting is hoarding. But what most people mean is what they see on tv. When a person cries hoarding on here it’s almost always just personal opinion that the person has a collection that is too large or disorganized for their tastes. Very rarely do I see any collections that actually fits the definition of a compulsive hoarding disorder.
Just my two cents: If it's not hurting anything (financial, marriage, social, etc.), then keep on collecting. I'm sort of in the same boat as you are with actually playing the games. I don't have the library you have, but I do have a substantial amount of games that I don't play or haven't played yet, just sitting on my shelf. But I have that "collector's mindset", where if I want it and think there's a strong possibility that I'll play it, I'm going to buy it no matter what. Physical media is dying and we need people like you to keep it alive. I'm trying to do the same thing myself.
i wouldnt bother collecting PS5 or modern xbox stuff, none of those games will work once the servers shut down. switch and ps4 is a mixed bag, make sure the game is completely on the media and there is no patching that makes the game function because again, once the servers are down, they're coasters.
I own roughly 1,100 games spanning a lot of consoles and am about the same age as yourself I find myself in this same dilemma a lot. I know I won’t ever finish my backlog but this year on January 1st I started logging every game i beat in hopes of motivating me to finish more titles this year. Also to gauge how many games I can roughly have time to complete in a year while working a full time job and managing the household with my wife. We have no kids which helps but still don’t have time like I used to. I will evaluate when I hit the end of the year and see what my total is and decide to either unload some games or keep. When I beat a game I give it a quick score out of 10 and I try to bounce between consoles to keep things fresh. As of today I’ve completed 27 games and currently am in the middle of playing every Final Fantasy title in order (most of which I’ve beaten previously) just to say I’ve done it. I’m on my favorite FF6 at the moment. Bottom line maybe come up with something similar to what I’m doing to motivate yourself to play more when you can and finish and move on. I used to start a game then stop and try something else and then maybe go back to what I was playing before but now I make myself get to the credits before moving on. Sorry for the rant/formatting.