World 1-2: Collector Vs. Someone with a Bunch of Games

I think its important to make clear what I feel collecting is VS. someone who has a lot of games or just likes games (Players). You become a collector, in my eyes, the moment you buy a game you know you are never going to play or when you keep a game to fill a need. Most of the time those two reasons go hand in hand. Often times people will buy or keep games they don't like and you will hear statements like this "Well I have all three, so I guess I'll just keep Simon's Quest even though it's clearly the worst Castlevania I don't want to break the set". You may hear something more common like " UGHHHH I have to spend $12 on stupid Make My Video with Kriss Kross to complete my Sega CD set."

People who have a lot of games (Players) have different reasons for having games than collectors and their reasons are usually more clear. Players may keep their favorites titles, they keep games because they are going to replay them, or perhaps they still play certain titles. Some people with lots of games have them because they simply have the money. Excess money allows them to buy and try more game. This does not mean that collectors don't have some games for the same reason, but they have many more games that don't meet that criteria. For instance I have this gem in my library.

The difference is the feeling of need, or the emotional reasoning that is accompanied with keeping games that separates the collector from just a player. I have Barbie in my library because its kind of rare and its new and sealed, it has some value and when I decide to work on Playstation I am going to "NEED" it. Someone who has a lot of games probably doesn't just have this lying around. People who have a lot of games can become collectors, in fact I think having a lot of games makes you much more likely, because you obviously appreciate games and have invested lots of time into them. I started out just having games I liked being just your average player and then one day I decided I'd like to have all the games I ever liked, and then it grew again into I'd like to have every Sega CD game and every N64 game and all the RPGs on the SNES and now its 2000+ games and growing pretty much daily.

To boil down an overlong point: Collector = Need, while Player = Like. In my next installment I will take about collector types. Oh before I go, here is my latest find

Crusader of Centy in the wild and complete $25

World 1-1

This blog has been created to catalog my journey as a video game collector. It has also been created to talk about the madness and obsessive compulsive behavior that I feel accompanies collecting. I want this blog to be an honest look into my methods and thought process. I plan on tell you exactly what I spent on each game, how I organize my collection, the lengths I am willing to go to obtain a game, and my goals as a collector. Hopefully each post doesn't come off sounding as melancholy as these first few statement, because he truth is I love video games and I love collecting. I want to be able to share the highs and the lows with everyone willing to read. The last thing I want to be able to show is my latest finds, and how each one moves me one step forward in my current collecting goal.

Current Collecting Goal: Finish Sega CD 143/147, then Complete a US Set of Saturn games.

Larger Goal: Complete US Library of all Sega Console Games.

I have discussed the blog, now time to tell you a little bit about myself and my collection. My name is Johnny, in most forums you will find me under the user name Timemaster11, but I really do just prefer Johnny. I am 32 years and I have been collecting video games for about 7 years. Collecting is more then just having a lot of games, I will discuss how I define a "collector" in my next post. My collection is over 2000 games and 100 systems. My favorite system of all time is the Super Nintendo, I don't have a favorite genre, if good games counts as a genre then that is my favorite. my favorite system to collect for currently is Sega CD. Favorite current gen games include Portal, Mario Galaxy, Bio Shock, Uncharted 2, Pac-Man CE, and Braid. Favorite Retro games, Castlevania SOTN, Shining Force Series, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Final Fantasy 2 SNES, Super Metroid, and Zelda..all of them.

Outside of video games I am a Basketball Coach, and love the game. I am married without children, though I am curious how that will affect my collecting, a college graduate with a BA in Communications, and a Masters Degree in Education. I play adult Kickball, if you haven't tried it you should.

That's the basic run down of this blog. I will try to update it when I get something good or believe I have something relevant to talk about.

Thanks for Reading

~Johnny~