Thursday, October 28, 2010

On being an anal-retentive game collector

Hello. My name is Bryan, and I'm an anal-retentive game collector. (All together now: "Hi, Bryan!")

I know, that's not as bad as being addicted to drugs or drinking to excess, but it's bad enough. After all, it causes me to spend a lot more money on games and systems than I should.

Take, for instance, the complete-in-box Famicom cartridges (below) that I recently bought. Although I believe I got them at a good price, I certainly paid more for them than I would have had I bought them "loose" (without boxes and manuals).



The same will be true when I finally break down and buy a trio of PC Engine games that I've been eyeing up for some time. If I weren't so anal retentive, I could pick up loose copies of Gekisha Boy, Mizubaku Daibouken *and* Parasol Stars for little more than it would cost me to buy a single PS3/Wii/ Xbox 360 game. Instead, I'll probably end up spending that amount (or more) on each of them individually.

I used to be similarly anal when buying systems, but I've loosened up a bit in recent years--i.e., I no longer automatically turn up my nose at them if they don't come with their original boxes and manuals.

OK, I've owned up to my shameful, anal-retentive ways. How many of you are going to do the same?

Note: this post originally appeared on my other gaming blog, iwasateenagepcenginefan.wordpress.com

12 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

If I had more money, I'd be that anal. But, honestly, I've got most of my desired games, so...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yeah, I hear you. Like I said, sometimes its OK and makes sense and sometimes it's a bit crazy :)

Nuts) said...

lol, that making me feel good, cuz i know i'm not the only one like this :D

Bryan Ochalla said...

See, that's what I'm trying to do with this blog -- bring us all together :) (LOL!)

Starfighter said...

It's different for different consoles for me, I don't really know why. I prefer loose games to NES, PC Engine and Gameboy (I'm turning down complete ones all together in those cases) and at the same time I can pay $10 extra for a Saturn-shooter if it has the spinecard.

Bryan Ochalla said...

That's very interesting, Starfighter! Now, why do you prefer NES and PC Engine games to be loose? Is it because they're cheaper, or you don't really care if they have the packaging, etc?

Although I definitely want complete PC Engine games at this point, I definitely won't be buying many more complete Famicom carts. They're just too expensive, plus I don't really feel the need to own the boxes, etc., for most of the games I want.

Sean said...

Love that photo.

My collection is loose Famicom carts, but I wish I had some more of the boxed ones (out of my whole wall only about 20 have boxes)!

The boxes, at least the good ones, have an even more "retro" feel to them than the carts themselves. Especially the cardboard ones (the plastic ones that Namco made aren't worth the bother).

Those pulse line cart boxes are probably the best. Hence my previously noted jealousy!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there Sean!

Yeah, some of the boxes that house those old Famicom carts are great! Honestly, the boxes were the main reason I finally decided to pick up the pulse line games.

I have to say, I was completely surprised at how *small* the boxes and the carts were/are. The boxes especially surprised me, as they're basically the same size as the cartridges. (There's no packaging or stuffing around the cart -- each box contains just the cart, a manual and maybe a flier.)

Sean said...

Yeah, I like the fact that they are small. Somehow it looks cooler that way. The boxes on later games got bigger. Not huge, but bigger. Big is not good. At least not when it comes to Famicom box size.

Good luck with getting the whole set!

Bryan Ochalla said...

That's too bad re: the bigger boxes. I really like the tiny ones that house the pulse line carts :)

Speaking of which, three more pulse line games are on their way to me: Devil World (complete), DK Jr. Math (loose) and Popeye English (loose). I'm going to hunt down Baseball and Golf after my b-day.

Sean said...

Cool!

Actually I do have extra copies of Baseball and Golf lying around on my shelf. Unfortunately they are cart only.

I'd suggest getting boxed versions of them as I think you can get those two for reasonable prices boxed (and the boxes look cool, especially Baseball). If you want to trade or something though, well, the offer is there:)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, Sean -- I'll definitely keep that in mind :)

As for Baseball and Golf -- yeah, I'm planning to pick up complete copies. Like you said, the boxes are cool (esp. Baseball).

I would have bought complete copies of DK Jr Math and Popeye English, but they're EXPENSIVE! Actually, I haven't seen a boxed copy of DK Jr. Math yet, but the one boxed copy I've seen of Popeye English was over $100. Yikes.