Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 12, 2013 18:00:45 GMT
Subject: DouglasBuffone - joined CCU July 4th 2007
Basics
Number of Games(at time of printing): 1006
Number of Systems: 44 Total -- Atari 2600, Intellivision, NES (2), Super Nintendo (2), Sega Genesis, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance (3), Game Boy SP (2), Virtual Boy, Playstation (2), Playstation 2 (2), Nintendo 64 (2), Gamecube (3), Xbox (2), Dreamcast, Wii (2), Playstation 3 (2), Xbox 360 (4), Neo Geo Pocket, PSP (2), Nintendo DS (4)
When did you start collecting? I really feel like I started to collect from the time I got my first system. That banner year: 1991. I was 3 years old
What was your first system? Game Boy (1991)
What was your first game? Played: Super Mario Bros. (NES) Owned: Dr. Mario (Game Boy)
Where does your screen name come from?
Unlike many people on this site, when I came I thought I would be staying for a long time. I did not want to choose a username that would be embarassing for me later on, or something with a lot of numbers in it. I chose my name Douglas Buffone because it was simple; I thought I could get some name recognition in case I wanted to start my own site or video game development studio someday, but the real reason was that at the time of signing up, I was not really obsessed with one game.
Makes sense to me, maybe more of should have taken that approach, then we could relate to a name more then a user name that has nothing to do with the person. Just a thought!? When did you feel a tipping point from gamer to both gamer and game collector?
I honestly feel like I collected from the minute I got my Gameboy when I was 3 years old. My parents like to tell the story that they knew that video game were important to me when a house keeper threw away the box to my Gameboy and Dr. Mario game. I was really upset, and I conviced my parents to buy me another copy of Dr. Mario so I could have another box---I was 3.
However, the real point that I feel like I became a hardcore collector was when I got the Nintendo 64 from my grandmother (luckily on the day it came out). I decided to save up all of my money and buy as many games as I could. When I played a game my friends would tell me "Oh I loved that game on the SNES or Genesis". I never had those systems, so I decided to buy them. I guess I kind of went overboard (from some people's perspectives) as I bought virtually every console I saw.
Just think the more consoles you own, the larger your game world is, giving you more options to more titles - sounds like a Netflix commercial LOL. What are your goals as a game collector, how have you developed them, and how do you feel about your progress toward them?
One of the basic goals of my collection is that I would like to establish some sort of video game museum in the future. I first got the idea when I saw at the then Pokemon Center in New York City (now the Nintendo World Store) that they had a bunch of unique Nintendo related items from the past. I really liked the whole setup and that is really where I got the idea for the museum.
Currently, my shorter term goal as a collector is to buy every single Xbox 360 game. This stemmed out of my achievement obsession. However, the expenses are just so great when you buy every single game at the retail price. Also, my achievement obsession subsided when I hit 100,000 recently.
I was really crazy about it all, I mean, I bought Hour of Victory for $60! I have started to wait for games to drop in price before I buy them.
It is also important to note that I like rare and promotional items. I collect consoles so I usually buy limited editions consoles and I also buy limited or collector's editions of games if they are available. The promo items are a large part of my collection as well, whether it be posters, action figures, soda, or books.
Liking the rare stuff is what makes us more of a collector than the casual gamer. How many games, systems, etc. are "enough"?
I don't know if I will ever have enough, which could be a problem down the road. Video game collecting is very different from collecting things that are no longer produced, because there is new items all the time. It already is sort of problem because I do not have enought room to put all my games up on shelves. You will notice by the pictures that there are hardly any cartridges on the shelves. I don't have enough space to put them up, especially because I have so many Xbox 360 games. Despite this problem, I have started to collect older game libraries, especially Xbox and SNES games .
What's your proudest moment as a game collector?
Proudest moment? Well I can't really narrow it down to one so I will list some of the cooler moments. First off, something that happened recently--I met Hideo Kojima in New York City at the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4 and he signed the limited edition gun-metal-grey PS3. That was just an awesome experience that the actual item is secondary, but very special nonetheless. I also have a nice Ryu Hayabusa statue that I got for winning a tournament at a cosplay event that I did not want to go to (it was my first and last event). I had the fastest time after beating the first level in Ninja Gaiden, which is kind of ironic because I was never able to get past the second level so I played the first a lot. The third thing that made me very proud was when I finally got all of my stuff set up in a room. I take a lot of pride in my collection so the ability to show most of it off was a proud moment. I will keep the list at three, but there are many more.
I think we are all jealous of the Hideo Kojima meeting. That is something to be proud of without a doubt. What's your least proud moment as a game collector?
I have never traded in a video game so I don't really have any least proud moments in that sense. However, when I was younger my parents would punish me when my brothers and I got into a fight by taking away my video games. Unfortunately, a lot of my stuff went missing. I had every single box for every single game I owned for the Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo, and they were thrown away. Also, Nintendo Power issues 66-130 were thrown away as well because my parents wanted me to stop playing games.
Actually now that I think about it, my least proud moment as a game collector that occurred under my control was when I left all of my Gameboy games on a plane. I was 8 years old and had this case filled with about 70 Gameboy games which went missing forever. That was not a good day
Where/how do you store it all?
Since I am in college, I still have all of my stuff in the house that I grew up in. I don't think I will move all of my gaming stuff out until I get a big enough house to store it (which I would like to have by 30). For the time being, it is in my bedroom and in my basement, which is perfect because not too many people go in those two rooms and thus there is less of a chance something will get damaged.
The unfortunate truth is that I don't have enough space in the present moment. A lot of my games are in boxes, which is something I am looking to fix. Any suggestions?
Hmm I would leave them at the house they are at right now since college brings uncertains that might cause problems in your collection. My opinion but I would bet on the safe side to be sure. What's your favorite part of your collection?
I can't really name my favorite part. If anything it would be the items that I listed before. However, I like my collection as a whole. I have spent a lot of time and money gathering it and I really can't imagine it any different.
So would those be the most valuable and/or rare items in your collection? If no, then what is?
I was offered two thousand dollars for my Ryu Hayabusa statue and I know that the Kojima signed PS3 is worth a lot of money too. To be honest, I don't really care about the value of the collection. The reason is, I will never sell any of my gaming stuff so I don't really know or need to know how much everything is worth.
I would say without a doubt your PS3 is worth quite alot. Sometimes money worth isn't as important as a personal worth. What would you like to improve in your collection?
I would like to improve my catalogue of retro games. I have a good amount, but I enjoy getting obscure games as well as the well known ones. Also, I have sub-par shelving. It does the job, but I can't put up cartridge games on it which really stinks.
What do you think was your best deal while game buying?
I picked up all the Atari 2600 games that I own for $10 which I thought was a complete steal. They also included some unopened games which I thought was nice, but I have to say, the vast majority of times I will overpay for my stuff. I am so stubborn that I always think that it is the only time I will see the item and money is not an object when I am in that mindset.
$10? I am jealous again....What item in your collection do you feel you overpaid for?
I really don't think I could name one thing. There are many. Especially most of the terrible games that I have paid full price for over the years. There are also games that I paid a lot of money to buy used, but they were in bad condition (mostly from retailers).
What do you feel is the strangest or weirdest item in your collection?
I don't really think anything is strange in my collection. I have a lot of different video games and a lot of different video game related things. Each one is unique, I wouldn't label them strange or weird. Actually, the Virtual Boy is the weirdest thing in my collection. Common! That thing was terrible!
What item(s) do you not have in your collection that people are surprised to hear you don't have?
I tried to erradicate this feeling by buying a lot of ****c games and consoles. However, I think most people are surprised to know that I do not own the original Tomb Raider games. It is not a big deal, but I was really not a fan of that series--the controls are clunky.
If it makes you feel better, I don't have any Tomb Raider games either Is there any way you'd ever stop collecting?
I really do not forsee anything that would stop me from collecting. Even if I had terrible financial troubles, I would think that I would still save some money to get the big games which come out every year. Like I said, I love learning about the industry's on going development and I can't stop collecting if I am going to open up a museum!
Do you have a funny story about your collection?
Funny collection story? How about that I make regular four hour drives (round trip) to the Digital Press store in New Jersey. That store is a mecca for video game collectors in the United States. I don't know if that qualifies as funny, but I think it kind of strange to know that I travel that far to get well priced games.
Yeah that guy is crazy with 30,000 games to boot, I would travel there and stand in awe probably. Have you ever had to move your collection to another house? What was it like?
There was only one time that I had to move my collection. However it was not a large move because my parents built a house behind my old house and then when we moved into the new house we tore the old one down. I did loose a couple of items, but nothing that threatened the integrity of my collection.
If your significant other told you no more games, what would you do?
I don't think I could accept that. Some of my previous girlfriends have said that I shouldn't waste my money on so many games, but I luckily have enough money to collect games and to do a lot of other things. If they told me that I would have to stop outright, I wouldn't be with them. I want to own my own development company eventually, so video games will always be a part of my life.
What percentage of your games are still sealed?
Out of the near 1000 games that I own, only a few are sealed. I would guess about 50 in total are sealed. I only really thought about buying sealed games recently because it seemed so popular--especially among people at the union. Like I said before, I am not going to sell anything in the collection so I don't really worry about keeping games sealed. I like to enjoy them.
And if you want sealed you have to add another chunk of change just to get the game you want due to the rarity factor. What percentage of your game have you actually played? Completed?
I have played the majority of the games that I own. Up until a few years ago I had a terrible tendency to get frustrated and not finish games. I would say that I have beat about 25% of the games in my collection, most of them in the last few years. That is probably the biggest element of my video game collection that I want to change, I want to beat most of the games I own, especially the epics.
Thanks for your time Doug, its been a pleasure!
Basics
Number of Games(at time of printing): 1006
Number of Systems: 44 Total -- Atari 2600, Intellivision, NES (2), Super Nintendo (2), Sega Genesis, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance (3), Game Boy SP (2), Virtual Boy, Playstation (2), Playstation 2 (2), Nintendo 64 (2), Gamecube (3), Xbox (2), Dreamcast, Wii (2), Playstation 3 (2), Xbox 360 (4), Neo Geo Pocket, PSP (2), Nintendo DS (4)
When did you start collecting? I really feel like I started to collect from the time I got my first system. That banner year: 1991. I was 3 years old
What was your first system? Game Boy (1991)
What was your first game? Played: Super Mario Bros. (NES) Owned: Dr. Mario (Game Boy)
Where does your screen name come from?
Unlike many people on this site, when I came I thought I would be staying for a long time. I did not want to choose a username that would be embarassing for me later on, or something with a lot of numbers in it. I chose my name Douglas Buffone because it was simple; I thought I could get some name recognition in case I wanted to start my own site or video game development studio someday, but the real reason was that at the time of signing up, I was not really obsessed with one game.
Makes sense to me, maybe more of should have taken that approach, then we could relate to a name more then a user name that has nothing to do with the person. Just a thought!? When did you feel a tipping point from gamer to both gamer and game collector?
I honestly feel like I collected from the minute I got my Gameboy when I was 3 years old. My parents like to tell the story that they knew that video game were important to me when a house keeper threw away the box to my Gameboy and Dr. Mario game. I was really upset, and I conviced my parents to buy me another copy of Dr. Mario so I could have another box---I was 3.
However, the real point that I feel like I became a hardcore collector was when I got the Nintendo 64 from my grandmother (luckily on the day it came out). I decided to save up all of my money and buy as many games as I could. When I played a game my friends would tell me "Oh I loved that game on the SNES or Genesis". I never had those systems, so I decided to buy them. I guess I kind of went overboard (from some people's perspectives) as I bought virtually every console I saw.
Just think the more consoles you own, the larger your game world is, giving you more options to more titles - sounds like a Netflix commercial LOL. What are your goals as a game collector, how have you developed them, and how do you feel about your progress toward them?
One of the basic goals of my collection is that I would like to establish some sort of video game museum in the future. I first got the idea when I saw at the then Pokemon Center in New York City (now the Nintendo World Store) that they had a bunch of unique Nintendo related items from the past. I really liked the whole setup and that is really where I got the idea for the museum.
Currently, my shorter term goal as a collector is to buy every single Xbox 360 game. This stemmed out of my achievement obsession. However, the expenses are just so great when you buy every single game at the retail price. Also, my achievement obsession subsided when I hit 100,000 recently.
I was really crazy about it all, I mean, I bought Hour of Victory for $60! I have started to wait for games to drop in price before I buy them.
It is also important to note that I like rare and promotional items. I collect consoles so I usually buy limited editions consoles and I also buy limited or collector's editions of games if they are available. The promo items are a large part of my collection as well, whether it be posters, action figures, soda, or books.
Liking the rare stuff is what makes us more of a collector than the casual gamer. How many games, systems, etc. are "enough"?
I don't know if I will ever have enough, which could be a problem down the road. Video game collecting is very different from collecting things that are no longer produced, because there is new items all the time. It already is sort of problem because I do not have enought room to put all my games up on shelves. You will notice by the pictures that there are hardly any cartridges on the shelves. I don't have enough space to put them up, especially because I have so many Xbox 360 games. Despite this problem, I have started to collect older game libraries, especially Xbox and SNES games .
What's your proudest moment as a game collector?
Proudest moment? Well I can't really narrow it down to one so I will list some of the cooler moments. First off, something that happened recently--I met Hideo Kojima in New York City at the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4 and he signed the limited edition gun-metal-grey PS3. That was just an awesome experience that the actual item is secondary, but very special nonetheless. I also have a nice Ryu Hayabusa statue that I got for winning a tournament at a cosplay event that I did not want to go to (it was my first and last event). I had the fastest time after beating the first level in Ninja Gaiden, which is kind of ironic because I was never able to get past the second level so I played the first a lot. The third thing that made me very proud was when I finally got all of my stuff set up in a room. I take a lot of pride in my collection so the ability to show most of it off was a proud moment. I will keep the list at three, but there are many more.
I think we are all jealous of the Hideo Kojima meeting. That is something to be proud of without a doubt. What's your least proud moment as a game collector?
I have never traded in a video game so I don't really have any least proud moments in that sense. However, when I was younger my parents would punish me when my brothers and I got into a fight by taking away my video games. Unfortunately, a lot of my stuff went missing. I had every single box for every single game I owned for the Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo, and they were thrown away. Also, Nintendo Power issues 66-130 were thrown away as well because my parents wanted me to stop playing games.
Actually now that I think about it, my least proud moment as a game collector that occurred under my control was when I left all of my Gameboy games on a plane. I was 8 years old and had this case filled with about 70 Gameboy games which went missing forever. That was not a good day
Where/how do you store it all?
Since I am in college, I still have all of my stuff in the house that I grew up in. I don't think I will move all of my gaming stuff out until I get a big enough house to store it (which I would like to have by 30). For the time being, it is in my bedroom and in my basement, which is perfect because not too many people go in those two rooms and thus there is less of a chance something will get damaged.
The unfortunate truth is that I don't have enough space in the present moment. A lot of my games are in boxes, which is something I am looking to fix. Any suggestions?
Hmm I would leave them at the house they are at right now since college brings uncertains that might cause problems in your collection. My opinion but I would bet on the safe side to be sure. What's your favorite part of your collection?
I can't really name my favorite part. If anything it would be the items that I listed before. However, I like my collection as a whole. I have spent a lot of time and money gathering it and I really can't imagine it any different.
So would those be the most valuable and/or rare items in your collection? If no, then what is?
I was offered two thousand dollars for my Ryu Hayabusa statue and I know that the Kojima signed PS3 is worth a lot of money too. To be honest, I don't really care about the value of the collection. The reason is, I will never sell any of my gaming stuff so I don't really know or need to know how much everything is worth.
I would say without a doubt your PS3 is worth quite alot. Sometimes money worth isn't as important as a personal worth. What would you like to improve in your collection?
I would like to improve my catalogue of retro games. I have a good amount, but I enjoy getting obscure games as well as the well known ones. Also, I have sub-par shelving. It does the job, but I can't put up cartridge games on it which really stinks.
What do you think was your best deal while game buying?
I picked up all the Atari 2600 games that I own for $10 which I thought was a complete steal. They also included some unopened games which I thought was nice, but I have to say, the vast majority of times I will overpay for my stuff. I am so stubborn that I always think that it is the only time I will see the item and money is not an object when I am in that mindset.
$10? I am jealous again....What item in your collection do you feel you overpaid for?
I really don't think I could name one thing. There are many. Especially most of the terrible games that I have paid full price for over the years. There are also games that I paid a lot of money to buy used, but they were in bad condition (mostly from retailers).
What do you feel is the strangest or weirdest item in your collection?
I don't really think anything is strange in my collection. I have a lot of different video games and a lot of different video game related things. Each one is unique, I wouldn't label them strange or weird. Actually, the Virtual Boy is the weirdest thing in my collection. Common! That thing was terrible!
What item(s) do you not have in your collection that people are surprised to hear you don't have?
I tried to erradicate this feeling by buying a lot of ****c games and consoles. However, I think most people are surprised to know that I do not own the original Tomb Raider games. It is not a big deal, but I was really not a fan of that series--the controls are clunky.
If it makes you feel better, I don't have any Tomb Raider games either Is there any way you'd ever stop collecting?
I really do not forsee anything that would stop me from collecting. Even if I had terrible financial troubles, I would think that I would still save some money to get the big games which come out every year. Like I said, I love learning about the industry's on going development and I can't stop collecting if I am going to open up a museum!
Do you have a funny story about your collection?
Funny collection story? How about that I make regular four hour drives (round trip) to the Digital Press store in New Jersey. That store is a mecca for video game collectors in the United States. I don't know if that qualifies as funny, but I think it kind of strange to know that I travel that far to get well priced games.
Yeah that guy is crazy with 30,000 games to boot, I would travel there and stand in awe probably. Have you ever had to move your collection to another house? What was it like?
There was only one time that I had to move my collection. However it was not a large move because my parents built a house behind my old house and then when we moved into the new house we tore the old one down. I did loose a couple of items, but nothing that threatened the integrity of my collection.
If your significant other told you no more games, what would you do?
I don't think I could accept that. Some of my previous girlfriends have said that I shouldn't waste my money on so many games, but I luckily have enough money to collect games and to do a lot of other things. If they told me that I would have to stop outright, I wouldn't be with them. I want to own my own development company eventually, so video games will always be a part of my life.
What percentage of your games are still sealed?
Out of the near 1000 games that I own, only a few are sealed. I would guess about 50 in total are sealed. I only really thought about buying sealed games recently because it seemed so popular--especially among people at the union. Like I said before, I am not going to sell anything in the collection so I don't really worry about keeping games sealed. I like to enjoy them.
And if you want sealed you have to add another chunk of change just to get the game you want due to the rarity factor. What percentage of your game have you actually played? Completed?
I have played the majority of the games that I own. Up until a few years ago I had a terrible tendency to get frustrated and not finish games. I would say that I have beat about 25% of the games in my collection, most of them in the last few years. That is probably the biggest element of my video game collection that I want to change, I want to beat most of the games I own, especially the epics.
Thanks for your time Doug, its been a pleasure!