Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 11, 2013 18:55:14 GMT
The Old School Sanctuary shows us his stuff in his Spotlight.
Some basics first.
Number of Systems: 45 including doubles, but around 35 individual systems
Number of Games: 561, at the moment according to GameSpot, more likely around 580+
When did you start collecting? I guess I never started, I just always have. But I became conscious of it in 2002, when I bought a Dreamcast off a coworker with controllers and games for $50. I realized that I had no real need for a now out of date system, but it was going to be fun anyways. Then once I realized that my mom never threw away any of the older systems and they were all sitting in storage, I suddenly had a collection.
What was your first system? Intellivision. Well, that's the first in my family, since my mom was an old school gamer. First that *I* purchased was the typical PS1 for my age bracket.
What was yourfirst game? Well, when I played the Intellivision, i was like 2 so I have no idea what the titles were, but the first game I remember playing was Donkey Kong on the 2600.
Oh so many hours wasted playing that on the 2600. Anyways, when did you feel a tipping point from gamer to both gamer and game collector?
That's kinda tough. See, I collect lots of things, I'm OCD like that. I've got probably close to 800 DVDs, I've got what seems like 50 Smoking Pipes, all kinds of crap. The games are my focal point though, but I really felt the tipping point after I got married. The night I met my wife we drunkenly played Duck Hunt after a night at the bar, and she kicked my ass! It was love after that, and things went smoothly. We had one rough spot, but Gears of War got us through it. I know it sounds like a joke, but seriously thats true.
Good to hear gaming brings you together. What are your goals as a game collector, how have you developed them, and how do you feel about your progress toward them?
Dozens of small goals. I want as many Shin Megami Tensei titles as possible, things like that, but I guess I focus on the strange titles that people don't see too often. Really, the collection has been formed by those around me. I love having people come over, look at the shelves and say "Oh my god! a Jaguar? I've always wanted to play one!"
How many games, systems, etc. are "enough"?
Never. When the collection gets too big to store, then I'll open a museum to interactive fiction.
What's your proudest moment as a game collector?
Every time I clean the dust off and have everything all set up, thats pretty proud, but I'd probably have to go with when I fought temptation and turned down a burnt copy of Hokuto no Ken and instead paid for it.
Amongst your non-gaming friends are you proud of your collection or is it something you don't bring attention to?
I think there are varying degrees of nerd. I'm more the type of nerd who still hangs out with "the cool kids" and that works for me. But there are nerds out there that can only talk about their own interests (Tolkien, WoW, etc) and those kind of people really bother me. My friends that don't collect know about my collection, and may ask me about things or poke fun of me good heartedly.
Poke fun but deep down they are jealous. What's your favorite part of your collection?
I felt pretty cool when I went on an import kick and got my PS2/SNES/Saturn/DC modded for imports, but my favorite part would definitely be The SNES which my parents bought new in 1993, and I still have and use.
The SNES can be underrated at times but nice to see you still have your original. What would you like to improve in your collection?
Probably more mainstream games. I've got weird stuff like Steel Battalion but I don't have Ocarina of Time.
No Ocarina of Time?! Spend the $5 and find a copy!! What would you like to get rid of in your game collection within the next year?
I made a conscious decision to not get rid of anything in my collection a long time ago. I'd regret it eventually, I cant even part with my wireless 360 headset thats broken.
Thats also how I feel, if I have it, I bought it for a reason. What do you think was your best deal while game buying?
$30 for an Xbox in great shape with 4 controllers and around 40 games, very few of which I already had.
40 games? Holy Moly that is a dandy of a deal. What do you feel is the most valuable and/or rare item in your collection?
I never collect for value. None of my games are in the wrapper (actually, one is. Bible Games for the PS2 but I didn't buy it to play) According to Gamespot, my most rare game is Digital Partner, a digimon title for the Wonderswan which I'm the only one with. But since I neither like digimon titles nor can read Japanese, I guess it doesnt count.
What item in your collection do you feel you overpaid for?
Halo 3 Legendary Edition. It's definitely neat, but every time I look at that helmet, I get a twinge of "what the hell am I doing?"
What do you feel is the strangest or weirdest item in your collection?
Most likely it would be my copy of The Yakyuu Ken Special. It's best summed up by Seanbaby here (NSFW).
What item(s) do you not have in your collection that people are surprised to hear you don't have?
This is where the shame comes in. I JUST got a copy of Metroid for the NES the other day. I don't have Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, or even Twilight Princess. I don't own a single Pokemon game, but thats a point of pride with me.
Zelda fans don't listen!! Where/how do you store it all?
Well at our last apartment, we had two identical shelves on either side of the TV, with the systems taking up all of them. Then another shelf to the right stored all the DVD and CD case games. A smaller tower shelf held all 8-16 bit carts, and a large dresser behind the couch housed all the controllers and cables, all organized in ziploc baggies and labelled.
Is there anyway you'd ever stop collecting?
Nope. I don't see why at this point. It already is the single biggest aspect of material gain in my home, I don't see how something could overcome that.
Do you have a funny story about your collection?
I love walking into game stores like Gamestop, or even used shops, and browsing around. Invariably I'll have someone ask if they can help me find something, which I turn down. That's one of the best aspects of collecting, I can play any game they have since I own about 30+ more systems than they offer. And I love acting like I don't know things, like asking the clerk if they "got any new RPGs out, like Halo or Devil May Cry? I sure love RPGs." Eventually they figure out that I know a thing or two about gaming, usually when I correct them on something. I remember once I was in a store and I asked if they had a copy of Doom 3. They told me it wasnt going to be released for another month, and I informed him that it had been out for two weeks already. He rechecked his calendar, and agreed, but they still didnt have a copy.
Heh I think we all like to poke fun of Gamestop people. Most, not all don't seem to know much about actual gaming. Have you ever had to move your collection to another house? What was it like?
I'm in the middle of one right now! My collection grew to it's present size while I lived in Sault Ste Marie, MI. As soon as I got out of the guard, I left that wretched place and drove down to Kentucky to visit my parents. We borrowed a trailer to fit our stuff, and the games literally took 1/3 of our allotted space. Next week we'll be taking it to Washington. Hardest part is not taking it all out to play it!!
Oh I know, you find all the cool stuff you forget about after its packed away. Sometimes I think about just unpacking it all for the fun of it! If you're significant other told you no more games, what would you do?
She wouldn't. The worst thing someone can do to a loved one is try to change them. Jennifer and I collect together. It's now as much hers as it is mine, but if we WERE ever to split up, MAN thatd be a crazy looking settlement!! Who would get the NeoGeo CD I wonder...
What percentage of your games are still sealed?
Only one, so i guess thats like 0.561%
Very Precise. What percentage of your game have you actually played? Completed?
Played? about 98%. Completed? probably more like 30%.
Thanks for your time Sanctuary!
Some basics first.
Number of Systems: 45 including doubles, but around 35 individual systems
Number of Games: 561, at the moment according to GameSpot, more likely around 580+
When did you start collecting? I guess I never started, I just always have. But I became conscious of it in 2002, when I bought a Dreamcast off a coworker with controllers and games for $50. I realized that I had no real need for a now out of date system, but it was going to be fun anyways. Then once I realized that my mom never threw away any of the older systems and they were all sitting in storage, I suddenly had a collection.
What was your first system? Intellivision. Well, that's the first in my family, since my mom was an old school gamer. First that *I* purchased was the typical PS1 for my age bracket.
What was yourfirst game? Well, when I played the Intellivision, i was like 2 so I have no idea what the titles were, but the first game I remember playing was Donkey Kong on the 2600.
Oh so many hours wasted playing that on the 2600. Anyways, when did you feel a tipping point from gamer to both gamer and game collector?
That's kinda tough. See, I collect lots of things, I'm OCD like that. I've got probably close to 800 DVDs, I've got what seems like 50 Smoking Pipes, all kinds of crap. The games are my focal point though, but I really felt the tipping point after I got married. The night I met my wife we drunkenly played Duck Hunt after a night at the bar, and she kicked my ass! It was love after that, and things went smoothly. We had one rough spot, but Gears of War got us through it. I know it sounds like a joke, but seriously thats true.
Good to hear gaming brings you together. What are your goals as a game collector, how have you developed them, and how do you feel about your progress toward them?
Dozens of small goals. I want as many Shin Megami Tensei titles as possible, things like that, but I guess I focus on the strange titles that people don't see too often. Really, the collection has been formed by those around me. I love having people come over, look at the shelves and say "Oh my god! a Jaguar? I've always wanted to play one!"
How many games, systems, etc. are "enough"?
Never. When the collection gets too big to store, then I'll open a museum to interactive fiction.
What's your proudest moment as a game collector?
Every time I clean the dust off and have everything all set up, thats pretty proud, but I'd probably have to go with when I fought temptation and turned down a burnt copy of Hokuto no Ken and instead paid for it.
Amongst your non-gaming friends are you proud of your collection or is it something you don't bring attention to?
I think there are varying degrees of nerd. I'm more the type of nerd who still hangs out with "the cool kids" and that works for me. But there are nerds out there that can only talk about their own interests (Tolkien, WoW, etc) and those kind of people really bother me. My friends that don't collect know about my collection, and may ask me about things or poke fun of me good heartedly.
Poke fun but deep down they are jealous. What's your favorite part of your collection?
I felt pretty cool when I went on an import kick and got my PS2/SNES/Saturn/DC modded for imports, but my favorite part would definitely be The SNES which my parents bought new in 1993, and I still have and use.
The SNES can be underrated at times but nice to see you still have your original. What would you like to improve in your collection?
Probably more mainstream games. I've got weird stuff like Steel Battalion but I don't have Ocarina of Time.
No Ocarina of Time?! Spend the $5 and find a copy!! What would you like to get rid of in your game collection within the next year?
I made a conscious decision to not get rid of anything in my collection a long time ago. I'd regret it eventually, I cant even part with my wireless 360 headset thats broken.
Thats also how I feel, if I have it, I bought it for a reason. What do you think was your best deal while game buying?
$30 for an Xbox in great shape with 4 controllers and around 40 games, very few of which I already had.
40 games? Holy Moly that is a dandy of a deal. What do you feel is the most valuable and/or rare item in your collection?
I never collect for value. None of my games are in the wrapper (actually, one is. Bible Games for the PS2 but I didn't buy it to play) According to Gamespot, my most rare game is Digital Partner, a digimon title for the Wonderswan which I'm the only one with. But since I neither like digimon titles nor can read Japanese, I guess it doesnt count.
What item in your collection do you feel you overpaid for?
Halo 3 Legendary Edition. It's definitely neat, but every time I look at that helmet, I get a twinge of "what the hell am I doing?"
What do you feel is the strangest or weirdest item in your collection?
Most likely it would be my copy of The Yakyuu Ken Special. It's best summed up by Seanbaby here (NSFW).
What item(s) do you not have in your collection that people are surprised to hear you don't have?
This is where the shame comes in. I JUST got a copy of Metroid for the NES the other day. I don't have Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, or even Twilight Princess. I don't own a single Pokemon game, but thats a point of pride with me.
Zelda fans don't listen!! Where/how do you store it all?
Well at our last apartment, we had two identical shelves on either side of the TV, with the systems taking up all of them. Then another shelf to the right stored all the DVD and CD case games. A smaller tower shelf held all 8-16 bit carts, and a large dresser behind the couch housed all the controllers and cables, all organized in ziploc baggies and labelled.
Is there anyway you'd ever stop collecting?
Nope. I don't see why at this point. It already is the single biggest aspect of material gain in my home, I don't see how something could overcome that.
Do you have a funny story about your collection?
I love walking into game stores like Gamestop, or even used shops, and browsing around. Invariably I'll have someone ask if they can help me find something, which I turn down. That's one of the best aspects of collecting, I can play any game they have since I own about 30+ more systems than they offer. And I love acting like I don't know things, like asking the clerk if they "got any new RPGs out, like Halo or Devil May Cry? I sure love RPGs." Eventually they figure out that I know a thing or two about gaming, usually when I correct them on something. I remember once I was in a store and I asked if they had a copy of Doom 3. They told me it wasnt going to be released for another month, and I informed him that it had been out for two weeks already. He rechecked his calendar, and agreed, but they still didnt have a copy.
Heh I think we all like to poke fun of Gamestop people. Most, not all don't seem to know much about actual gaming. Have you ever had to move your collection to another house? What was it like?
I'm in the middle of one right now! My collection grew to it's present size while I lived in Sault Ste Marie, MI. As soon as I got out of the guard, I left that wretched place and drove down to Kentucky to visit my parents. We borrowed a trailer to fit our stuff, and the games literally took 1/3 of our allotted space. Next week we'll be taking it to Washington. Hardest part is not taking it all out to play it!!
Oh I know, you find all the cool stuff you forget about after its packed away. Sometimes I think about just unpacking it all for the fun of it! If you're significant other told you no more games, what would you do?
She wouldn't. The worst thing someone can do to a loved one is try to change them. Jennifer and I collect together. It's now as much hers as it is mine, but if we WERE ever to split up, MAN thatd be a crazy looking settlement!! Who would get the NeoGeo CD I wonder...
What percentage of your games are still sealed?
Only one, so i guess thats like 0.561%
Very Precise. What percentage of your game have you actually played? Completed?
Played? about 98%. Completed? probably more like 30%.
Thanks for your time Sanctuary!