My introduction to the Genesis and Game Collecting

[Genesisdoes]

Growing up I was a SNES gamer. But when I was around 12 or so my dad, who worked for Seagate at the time, brought home a bunch of consoles coworkers had left for free. Being late to the NES, I discovered games like Contra and Kid Icarus for the first time. I always thought NES games were cool and played them at cousins houses, mainly Super Mario bros. 3. But we also got 2 Sega Geneses', model 2 and model 1. We actually gave the model 1 to my best friend. I had few games for the Genesis, but Sonic 2 was one of my favorite games growing up. We also had Evander Holyfields boxing, which I thought was decent.
Unfortunately, we sold the Genesis 2 at the flea market. Along with Secret of Mana for SNES. Ugh!

Around '97 the Genesis 3 came out, and I picked it up from Toys R Us. It was Genesis time again!
I got Sonic 3 on Ebay, which was my only game for a while. Then during high school I started working at Baskin Robbins. That was a shitty job. But I had money, so I starting buying every video game I could find at the flea market, and getting games off Ebay. My Genesis collection grew to around 130 games. I'm pretty content with it. I'm not a completionist type of collector, I just want all the games that I will actually play. I can't understand why someone would want a Blockbuster Championship Gold NES cart for thousands of dollars that would just collect dust. Also the discovery of Sega-16 around '04 or '05 grew my interest in the genesis.

My interest in game collecting started when I was 14, around 10 years ago. I discovered a site called NES World. This guy had a huuuuge NES collection. I was in awe. My favorite systems to collect for are SNES and Genesis. When I started it was a good time for collecting. Many games could still be found in the "wild", and stores such as Funcoland still existed. Now the flea market is a dismal place, filled with greedy mexicans charging way too high prices. In the past I amassed nearly every console under the sun in the "wild". It's a different feeling than buying a game on Ebay. There's a rush, kinda like seeing a really hot girl!
It's worn off over time, but when I was a kid seeing gold in a pile of useless junk was a great feeling. I had the same feeling whenever I saw NES carts. There's just something about their retro design. The only finds that have recaptured this childhood excitement were finding an ankroid cabnet at the dump, which became a mame shell. (and my Mom made me throw it out later :/ ) And recently when I found Phantasy Star IV at the flea market. I also went to the Classic Gaming Expo in 2004 and '05 when it was in California which was AWESOME, but unfortunately it then moved to Las Vegas and now is no longer.

For me now game collecting has lost its magic. Maybe because I feel satisfied with my collection.
But if I could travel back in time and relive those finds that'd be heaven on earth.

[Nick16]

Despite not being able to go back to where your memories are, thinking of them gives you a warm feeling inside, doesn't it. I am quite a bit younger than you(by nine years) but I too share memories like that, mine were mostly of my Sega Saturn/Playstation and my Nintendo 64. I don't really "collect" games now, I just buy them to play them.

[tz101]

If you're content with your current collection, then so be it.

If you're interested in adding to it, I recommend yard sales and charity thrift stores. Craigslist can offer some good classic finds at decent prices, but you have to watch your local CL often to find the best deals.

Over the past year I have found an Atari 5200 and a Sega CD both in the wild, both at yard sales. Got a nice Sega Master System and Dreamcast off of Craigslist for cheap.

[Rusty Venture]

For me now game collecting has lost its magic. Maybe because I feel satisfied with my collection.

I think everyone gets to this point. Some will go until they have a complete collection, others (like myself) only collect and keep what they are going to play.

I know I started up a small Master System collection but I never really play it, so that is probably gonna be sold off. My NES collection is small, maybe 10 games, as is most of my systems. The only systems I have a good # of games for are: Genesis/MD, Xbox, & PSX.

As long as you don't lose the thrill of playing games there isn't anything to really feel bad about.

[Mark Robert]

I also collect only the stuff I'm interested in playing. I'm an avid collector but not a completionist as you put it. I'm avid because I'll buy even very rare and expensive games I'm interested in.

[Jasper061992]

I feel i only just started in my Videogame collection. I started when i was around 12 and saw a huge interest in retro games. Now that i think about it, going back to Christmas 04 i feel i was spoiled rotten. Got my first GameGear, got the SNES, got my Xbox, and a few more Mega Drive games. Best Christmas Evaaaar!!

Recently picked up an Amiga 1200 with an assorted array of floppy disks consisting of stupid trial demos and such. Got a few games for it before Christmas. Collected a few Gameboy games ala Super Mario Land 2 and such and picked up a nice few amount of Mega Drive games including Zool and Virtua Racing. Most games i got before Christmas was mostly platformers. I always had a massive thing for platformers.

Slowed down recently due to no funds lol. But will definitely start up again when i get some money, starting with an Atari 7800 maybe.

[OldSchool]

If you're content with your current collection, then so be it.

I think everyone gets to this point. Some will go until they have a complete collection, others (like myself) only collect and keep what they are going to play.

2ed!

I recently got back into playing Console games. Had a NES back in '86 and an Atari 7800 before that. I've been hardcore into PC gaming since '95 and hadn't been into Console gaming since then.

I started dating a girl about 4 months ago and she has a SNES... lol, needless to say, I got interested in owning a SNES so I found a couple sellers on Ebay that I like and trust and I've got around 100 for the SNES and 50+ for the NES. Am soon to get an N64 and a Genesis... in a couple months, will get a Wii and as many Gamecube titles as I can.

I'm not a 'completionist' as it was put... am simply collecting games that I will play and enjoy.

There's nothing like plugging in the real thing and relaxing in my recliner, turning up the big speakers (the authentic sound can't be beat), and having the oldschool controller in my hands... I love it!

[zetastrike]

I'm the same as you guys. I had 50+ SNES games as of 2 weeks ago, but I took all the ones I don't play anymore and sold them to a local game shop for store credit and got some SNES and Genesis games I knew I would play. I can't see the point of keeping games around that will just sit there.

[NCN]

I'm the same as you guys. I had 50+ SNES games as of 2 weeks ago, but I took all the ones I don't play anymore and sold them to a local game shop for store credit and got some SNES and Genesis games I knew I would play. I can't see the point of keeping games around that will just sit there.

I am sort of on the fence with that. Half of me agrees with you about only collecting what I will play. It makes sense and it's better on the wallet. Then again, have you ever seen a shelf full of games for the same system that are nicely organized? Oh, man...