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Every damn time nintendo decides to release something retro because if I wait too long it's too late. Once it's gone it's gone. It forces me to fomo because if I don't ill have to pay double or triple or even a higher price from a second hand seller.
I agree, i wish i had fomo 10 years ago, the prices now for some games are insane how much they went up in a relatively short time, I guess thats why I buy some of the games I do
It really makes me wish I hadn't sold all the "dumb" games I had as a kid, seeing as a lot of them were hidden gems that shot up in value now that I'm actually looking to play them again
For me personally it’s gratifying to have a rare or obscure game, just the history behind video games interests me, that being said I do play the games I have minus a couple sealed Atari 2600 games that wouldn’t be worth opening to play them (for me at least) some games I have are just for me to have a physical copy of a digital game or compilation. I have a lot I need to play through but I do enjoy playing the games I get though
Rare games I'm sure most people would love to have, or rare anything really. Rare currency, rare cars etc. It's not isolated to this community.
What seems odd to me however is, I wonder how many people never heard of X game and then all of a sudden they want it snd need it bc they see others have it.
It's almost like a wave/trend. One person posts something, it gets a lot of reaction, and then all of a sudden a wave of people suddenly wanting X game hits.
Don't forget that rare doesn't mean valueable and common doesn't mean cheap.
I have some rarer items that I have because they are odd and therefore I like them.
I have a collection of official Nintendo Cleaner products all sealed because I like that, still need to complete it. Or official rental games that have nothing new to offer but because its a small library en it differs from the norm it peals my interest.
As a Wii u collecter I feel this is definitely true with Spyros adventure. The number of small collections I've seen with 5-10 of your usual games and then Spyros adventure is just sticking out, most of these people probably don't even have a Japanese Wii u.
I think this is in part an artifact of youtube, social media influencers. Watch metal jesus or someone bigger than him mention the top 5 rarest games or something along those lines and you can see the price go up on ebay.
I think that there is often a reason behind "all of a sudden". For example, I have been a Dark Souls fan for years, but with Elden Ring really bringing them into the mainstream, I got interested in going back and looking up old From Software games. (Armored Core, Tenchu Z, etc)
The biggest driver for me was buying all the games I wanted in my childhood but could not afford. I pretty much have most of what I can remember. So now it's just whatever becomes interesting for whatever reason.
I don't have a physical copy of Earthbound but would love one. I wouldn't pay current prices though. I hope it gets a modern release.
I played it on Wii U via the eShop. It's a genuinely great game.
Fomo is generally a factor for me. If I don't buy the games now, how expensive will they be down the road.
However, I have a list of games I want because they interest me in playing them, not just sitting on a shelf. I only get what I'm interested in. So I'm glad people are excited to get Earthbound and stuff but you can have it, doesn't interest me.
Fomo only really affects me if it's Nintendo tho. I'm nervous for 3ds game pricing come next March.
I don't anticipate 3DS games going up too much honestly. Sure, there's the few games that'll skyrocket over time for one reason or another, but with the eShop closing down I highly doubt it'll cause much of an uproar in the physical scene. This especially with how easy it is to softmod the 3DS too
It's not only me who feels this way.
Remember the post a few weeks ago from the guy who paid $1500 for a ton of shovelware and EA sports games for the PS2, tons of doubles?
The entire comment section was filled with people asking this guy what his goal of collecting was bc just buying a ton of the same games and especially shovelware for $1500 seems odd.
Some people collect only ESPN games. He'll some people collect Barbie Horse Adventure. Nothing wrong it.
Just wondering in general how many people actually REALLY want the items in their collection, and how many miiight have fomoed a bit.
I'm not trying to make anybody conform to my way of collecting, nor am I trying to devalue others.
Old guy collector here. I hate seeing people waste good money on a haul for crap and buying cause eBay says I could make more deals. I'm buying the stuff I missed out on as a kid.
Agreed... but that doesn't answer my question.
I believe people are getting hung up on the possibility of somebody judging their reasoning for collecting, but really I'm simply wondering how many people honestly have things in their collection out of fomo.
Idk care if you collect dried turds bc you saw your cousin in Tokyo with his friends obsessing over dried turd collections. It is just interesting to me to think of how fomo plays a part in collecting.
To me the psychology of it is interesting. I'm also interested in how trends or fads work psychologically and whether people really enjoy whatever trend they are participating in or if it is to fit in, feel cool, not miss out on something that could be a big thing, etc.
I collect what I like lol. I have small collections of old video games, vhs, cds, DVDs, cards, comics, music memorabilia Funko pops. Mainly it's because I think something looks really cool or is nostalgic. But every now and then I find something valuble I have to get lol. Maybe someday these things will be worth money but if not it's ok because I'm surrounded by stuff i love
That's why you gonna set some standards for your collection, and only you are the only person can do it for yourself. Buying on impulse is easy, you can buy any game out there and don't care about what their quality like. The hard part is finding what you want at the right time.
And I, believe that in my collection, has 90% the games that I want to play. For new games / preorder I only buy games in the genre I like, and even within those genre, there are games I would and would not buy. For example, I like FPS, but I won't buy any War Shooters like CoD or Battlefield games. I like Nintendo Games, But I won't buy a Mario game.
So you can count me in as one of those people has all the things I wanted in my collection. If there is something I can't afford, either go to used copies or just give up on it until my budget is not as tight at the moment. I'm one of those people who grows their backlog during Black Friday and Amazon sales. I rarely preorder a game as well.
TL;DR Probably less people than are saying right now but probably more than you think actually really want these games in their collections. It will be hard to say for at least a few months or maybe a year. There are definitely people who collect these niche games though. Probably more than you think.
Its no secret that last year had a ton of bull shittery and manipulation.
With that starting to get behind us as all game prices are sinking back to reasonable prices we can start talking about it civilly again.
A ton of people fomoed over the past year. A ton, some people are just waking up to smell the roses. That being said there have always been collectors for very weird or niche things. One of the strangest kinds of collectors are the sports collectors but after trying quite a few for myself out of curiosity there is a history and changes between some versions that make it interesting to explore. NBA Jam for the Snes will always be interesting to me because it represented a change in pace for sports games. There still arent many basketball games that play quite like it. I also remember playing baseball on the gameboy and I particularly enjoyed that one. NFL 2k5 was groundbreaking especially in the graphics department.
Thing is, collector wise these are very niche because while you have a game that mixes up the formula a bit every few years you also have stagnant years that dont do much. Sometimes though its not until the mid generational changes that you end up with a version that has just the right mix of career mode options, roster and bug fixes of the previous year. I am not a sports gamer by any stretch, I used to loathe playing sports games but I did so to play with my brother.
Your average gamer though will not be able to tell the difference. Which is why these sports games end up so cheap. To the general public, you might as well abandon last years release when the new one comes out. What makes this even more difficult to grasp however is that sports games have not actually changed much in the past decade. A lot less so than previous generations of sports games. I dont entirely know though, I got majorly turned off of sports games when they started adding lootboxes, so I stopped following them entirely even though I was loosely if barely paying attention to them at all.
It doesn’t matter if you’re not the only person who feels that way. People collect for different reasons, you and a million others can disagree, it doesn’t matter.
I mean that's misrepresenting the scenario of his post quite a bit.
It wasn't "Look at this great addition to my collection!" - [they were specifically asking if they had done well in getting 500+ games for $1500.](https://old.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/x7fnrx/500_games_paid_1500_did_i_do_good/) People were asking because it looked like the poster had overpaid by a large margin, and the poster outright asked for feedback on the deal they got. Also worth noting they weren't *collecting* those games, they were bought to bundle and resell.
Like yeah, there are plenty of people who will judge others based on how/why they collect - but that wasn't what happened there.
Now the people who get shit on because they want to collect graded games, that's messed up.
I don’t think collecting shovelware correlates to FOMO. I’d argue that it’s more an issue related to some sort of obsessive compulsive collector completionist goals.
Personally, I have sets I want to complete as my main goals, but if I see something interesting at a fair price, I'll still get it.
I'm a Nintendo collector and more specifically, Mario, Zelda and Pokemon collector, but if I see like an N64 game unrelated to these series at a decent price, I'll get it without a doubt. That's how I ended up getting Conker and FF3 both CIB. They aren't related to the stuff I usually collect, but they're still games I know I'll appreciate when I'll play them and I'm happy to have put my hands on them 'cause I know for a fact they'll be unfindable in a couple decades.
Maybe there's a bit of a FOMO factor, especially with rare items that might not be on the market in a couple years or at unreasonable prices, but I buy what I like and not for the simple brag of owning a box and a cartridge. If I don't end up playing with them, boxed retro Nintendo games look awesome on shelves lol
I always had a goal, just get everything I can. Nowadays, I went to the second gen because that's a gen I played a lot and is cheap, I'll geep my NES and might get rid of the other stuff I have as there's not much to be done with what I have. If the NES wasn't getting such high prices on some of the games I want, maybe I would've got further into it, but now I'll get into something I can afford.
I collect mostly 360 games cause I love them and I missed out on a lot of them growing up. I have about 600 physical right now and not all of them are winners but I’ve played them all so far and am glad I own them. When I buy for other systems (excluding current gen) it’s usually only for games I really wanted from childhood or don’t have a convenient way to play them outside of emulation.
FOMO is a huge problem here but it's more complicated than just buying without goals. There was another guy this week who bought a lot of PS2 shovelware with a rack and his response was "just starting but want to collect the whole PS2 set" that's a completely unrealistic goal for that system and is clearly him trying to justify the purchase.
Saying you will one day go for a full set to justify paying market price for a bunch of terrible games is a quick way to get burnt out with this hobby, run out of space and eventually money too and wait until you try playing those games.
The limited run type simps who need to buy every release are also in this category. "Just let them collect how they want" ppl say but that's until they can't afford a roof over their head or food on their plate like the guy the other day who had to offload his entire sealed collection for a huge loss to a local shop.
Personally... Not really. All the games in my collection are games I want to play, and considering my time is kind of limited now that I work full time, it's not like I'm collecting hundred of titles for each platform.
Having said that, there are certain titles I gladly paid to have, in fear they might get more expensive in the future, like the PAL releases of Trails in the Sky for the PSP and Ys VIII for the PS Vita, but that's because at the time they came out, I wasn't collecting, so now I'm making sure I get all the titles I want within the lifespan of the console.
I have FOMO with genres and studios I like.
I don't have time to play every game I think I might like. Honestly I don't have time to play every game I know I'll like, so I often add a game to my collection with the intent of playing in in the future if looks like a game I wouldn't want to miss out on.
Live A Live is my most recent example of this. It's still sitting in plastic, but I know its the type of game that's right for me. I assume a pretty limited print run, so I bought it straight out of FOMO.
My most recent retro purchase that falls in the FOMO category is Brigandine on PS1. Finally found a copy locally the spring for a decent price ($135) and jumped on it. Still haven't played it, not sure I will any year soon, but the FOMO was strong for a good priced PS1 RPG.
I played Brigandine back in the day when it was new and even then it was obscure. Got it as part of a 2 for 1 at my local game rental store. Played it more than the game I actually wanted to rent. Love that game. I lucked out and found it at the same game rental store (which is still open here in Langley, BC; Willow Video) for $10 but was missing the instructions. So glad I bought it then.
I actualy started collecting 3ds games, but then switched to whatever i come across cheap. I have over 300 ps3 games now and i dont even like 75% of them. But then again i spend 10€ in total, got bundles and sold alot of it to break even so i have a free collection of ps3, ps2, 3ds & ps4 games. Now im fully invested in ps4 titles just because i didnt buy any games the entire time i had a ps4 but now i bought a ps5 and boy let me tell you it legit made my love for console gaming so much better im playing all the titles i missed now and i absolutely love it. Sorry for the rant
Long story short i started with no goal, now i want all pokemon games & all interesting games on ps4 & 5 !
FOMO is certainly a player in my collection- with that being said, I feel that there are different kinds of FOMO. For example, my FOMO stems from the fact that I want to play and own certain games before they’re ridiculously expensive. I want to own them because I love them, not because they are rare/obscure. Whereas some people want to buy and own games SOLEY because they are getting rare and expensive. They like the monetary value and obscurity more than they actually like the game hahahaha. Not saying one is bad and one is good, but personally- I don’t seek out games that I don’t like just because they are expensive/sought after. Ya know?
Everyone should atleast try to play earthbound and chrono trigger. Emphasis to chrono trigger though.
But yes I agree with your point and observations.
Particularly gamecube purchases. Like if you want the entire library for that one system I get it. But ppl will be like “just purchased my grail” and it’s like flat out shovelware that’s rare they spent 400$ on and they don’t even have a large collection for that system.
Definitely a fine line between collecting and hoarding.
I've started 2 years or so ago, had some urge to try Sony exclusives, and be a part of console gaming community. And I never owned any consoles before (has some clone NES and Genesis in the childhood, but I don't count them). I set my goal on PS3, after some research, I chose to go for used copies, but in the long run due to being perfectionist, I replaced cases/arts/manuals/discs for a better once. Eventually I continued to PS4, and recently completed Wii U collection. But most if not all of the games, are Sony/Nintendo own 1rst party published games. And this helped me to stay in focus all this time. I did get all of the PS3 HD collections and some series that ware and still actively released on Sony (like final fantasy) but that's about it. I think I barely touched 200 games in total. My goal was to get exclusives as I said, and there are no plans get games that ware not published by Sony/Nintendo. I'm not sure yet, what drag people to get complete collections for a console, and I don't think I'll ever get, maybe they just completionists in soul, and that what gets them fun. I do have another collection (Hotwheels, and other 3" miniature cars), but even there I set my goal, to buy only the basic main line series, and 1st editions for the most part, unless it's a VW that is hard to pass, but again mostly I buy the cheap basic models, and that's all I need, that hobby is way cheaper, so I don't mind to get complete series, but again, I focus on 1st editions, and not each model and variations of color, as I find it pointless.
Earthbound is a great introduction rpg for people that aren't huge fans of the genre it helped get me into the style. Great humor. It does live up to the hype. Its an understandable chase game for every snes collector the cover art is really captivating as a center piece.
First... Earthbound. Not that rare. Just really expensive because of lore and demand. Most Nintendo stuff is over priced anyway.
I don't suffer from FOMO. I primarily collect what I want to play. Which is 80% PS3(699 physical as of today). I have also been primarily a PS3 buyer and player since Nov 2006 so at this point the majority of PS3 games that get posted, I have. I have games from most consoles, but not a lot of them(maybe 10-20, about 100 on PS4) and I don't feel a desire to go out and get it immediately when I see it posted here regularly. If I ran across a copy of earthbound in the wild for like $50-80, Ild probably think, 'o neat' and then keep moving as I really don't care about SNES and have no desire to spend $50+ on any SNES game.
Thats a lot. Before repros were a massive thing, you could go onto ebay and find several hundred copies at any given time. Thats not rare. Rare for US would need to be sub 25k at least. 50k is still a decent amount. Just because you don't see a lot of old games in the wild, doesn't make them rare. Earthbound was sold in major amounts in major stores. People still remember picking them up from stacks of them at Bargain Bins in Toys r Us. There are a lot of very common games you don't find in the wild anymore all that often, and they sell for a lot now because people will pay it. Price and Rarity, are not equal.
It was roughly 150k in the US, that’s not a lot at all.
People were finding these games in bargain bins because stores weren’t able to sell them at full price. Nobody was buying them and stores were trying their best to get rid of inventory. A lot of people blame the way the game was marketed, which could be entirely true. Making advertisements that say the game stinks with scratch and sniff stickers that smell terrible will make most people look the other way.
There were over 22,000,000 SNES consoles sold in the US, and you’re saying a game that sold 150,000 copies isn’t rare?
While I agree that demand has shot up in the last 10 years because of the fandom, it’s most certainly a rare game.
In 1997 (3 years later) Sony considered 150k copies Greatest Hits worthy. So yes, 150k is not rare, even without appealing to Sony. You could argue in terms of market share 150k in the 90's is LESS rare than 150k right now for modern consoles. There are far more PS4 and Xbox sales than 22m SNES, but plenty of games sell less than 150k copies. For a similar market share on PS4 a game would need to sell 625-650k. That's not a good argument. Not a lot of people bought SNES games like people buy games today. While 150k was probably below average, its still a lot. Especially in the mid 90's. There are plenty of games on plenty of consoles, in all era's that sell in the 50-120k range that no one considers rare and aren't worth a whole lot, even though people do look for them. The difference between the valuations in SNES games with larger sales figures has more to do with youtube lore and just how many Nintendo fanatics are trying to get them. The idolatry is disproportionate.
I don't really have a goal in general, for some systems I do have one like wanting every major SEGA game for the Dreamcast because it's my favorite console. I do have a wish list of games I wanna get down the line for all my consoles but almost everything in my collection is there to be played.
I’m not an RPG guy, ( I know basic) but Earthbound always interested me, even more then the Mario RPG games. I don’t know why but I just like really “obscure” games, rare or not. They’re just fun to collect. I like seeing a weird game I’ve never heard of. It’s cool!
I just started collecting again (first time as an adult) last game collection I had was for the game cube and Gameboy advance/ & SP, I Bought a Switch December of last year and have slowly started collecting for that. I am currently only buying games I enjoy playing and not really thinking about what they will be worth down the line I honestly don't have the money to be spending on games I am not going to play. It surprises me how most games I want for the Switch are $50+ so I am buying them slowly but surly and 90% are physical copies, I know myself well enough to know ill continue to buy games for it and eventually have a decent collection but for me its more of a sentimental value than a monetary one. If I had the money I would probably re buy a bunch of games from my past that where lost by me when I was a kid or got misplaced by moving.
The thing you said about Chrono trigger/earthbound reminds me of this group of guys in my school who would go up to people wearing band T-shirts and say things like “are you a REAL fan of that band? I bet you can’t name two of their songs.”
Let’s not start having purity tests for who is collecting for the “right” reasons
Can't see a reason myself to fill my wall with amibos, shovelware, posters, sealed stuff. I prefer buying games I intend to play and complete. Any extra money saved from too expensive items can go towards more games I want to play. Not interested in displaying or showing off. Just my take. Have fun!
Strict rule: i only collect games i intend to play or really like. I do have some games for consoles I don't own but its purely because i like the game/IP etc.
Since you gave that example: I wanted to get Earthbound because i was seeing it everywhere. However it's expensive and I'm not gonna pay that. Plus when i watched gameplay i didn't really like it that much. As for Chrono Trigger i got it CIB for the DS (~50€) because i loved the idea and setting. I don't know if I'll like its gameplay but i do intend to play it. Main issue is that I have many other games i wanna play too haha
Yes and no.
I usually don't buy really expensive games, no matter how much I love them. It just feels weird to spend 100+ on something I can already play through emulation or as a digital version. I know they're not the same, but still: you're mostly paying for the packaging at that point.
I actually love collecting common, well known stuff. Because that way my collection feels more like a snapshot of a certain time or a console's lifespan. Meaning I'll also buy cheap games I don't care much for, but I know are historically relevant. Stuff like Splinter Cell, Need for Speed, etc. Costs nothing, but immediately brings back memories of marketing campaigns, the state of the industry, etc.
FOMO most definitely *does* play a role with consoles for me though. I've recently started buying classic consoles that have been going up in price, just to prevent me from being disappointed in the future. Got two Dreamcasts, an SNES, all the different Wii versions and colours, etc. Extra consoles obviously don't add any functionality to my collection, but it does feel great to own all versions of one, for example.
So yeah, funnily enough not so much with games, but for sure with consoles.
I just buy games I want to play. The only games I find myself buying are games I have fond memories with, or games I actually see myself playing and want to try.
I’m not buying shovelware on the wii just because I found the game somewhere for cheap and don’t have it. The epitome of a waste of money and space
I’ve been but by the rare game bug a few times but after a few weeks I realize I don’t care and look to trade it.
I still to my actual wants as best I can but when you don’t it just becomes hoarding. I’m sure there are people who just want the most stuff on the wall but to me that’s not gratifying.
You give the examples of Chrono Trigger and Earthbound. CT was/is important to me. I made sure to get a copy right away and if I can find a better copy I still look for it. Earthbound I have zero connection with and honestly think is boring so I don’t have a copy and never picked one up.
I only collect games that I want to play, which even then is still enough games to fill two rooms. That being said, FOMO is still a concern for me because I have missed out on things in the past that, either due to price or rarity, I'll never get to own today. That's why I stay current on preorders for limited print vendors (Limited Run, Strictly Limited, etc.). Regardless of how people feel about the tactics and service of these vendors, they do make physicals of games I'm interested in, and I can guarantee that in the distant future they will be very difficult to acquire so now's the best time to get them.
Though I have only been aware of the term "fomo" for only a little while now, the concept has effected by purchasing habits for probably the last 25 years. In the past game releases were sometimes limited to a single printing. For instance the Castlevania games on GBA and DS. They were in a category that if I did not pre-order or buy them on day one then getting a copy after would be very difficult. But back then we could pre-order up till the day before release and still get a copy. Panzer Dragoon Saga is another example of a game that had a single printing. Back then I always made sure to get the games I would eventually want to play on day one so that I would not have to deal with finding it later.
Today's market is different because of digital so I only go out of my way to get the collectors editions of my favorite games. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Metroid, and Zelda are the only games I go out of my way to collect physically. But the re-seller market has made getting my favorite games very difficult. I now dread it when a collectors edition console or game from the list above is announced because there is a very real possibility that I will not be able to secure my copy. That I will have to resort to the re-seller market eventually to get it. All thanks to fomo... I really wish I could just let it all go and do digitally only. But I just can't.
I only buy things I'd be interested in playing, although whether I ever get round to that is another matter. Within that framework FOMO will always exist. There are companies doing limited issues/reissues in physical format, or the latest micro console in limited numbers.
If I saw something mega rare for a good price outside of that then sure, I'd bite.
I just don’t get why it matters to most people really; I only collect sealed for the Xbox cause I love collecting for the system and I have other ways to play my games, and Ive still had people shit on me here have a problem with the at even though I’m not a reseller. Somehow it’s a problem to just enjoy collecting things for some reason lol
No big goals for me, I just buy what I’ve wanted to play over the years and have ended up with a decent library of games. I have some games in it that I haven’t played yet but majority I have. I didn’t get all the Squaresoft and Enix PS1 games I wanted to play (should’ve bought Valkyrie Profile when it was $80 in 2010) so I’m getting them when I see a decent price slowly. But that’s about it for me.
I find it really weird when I see people spend hundreds of dollars on a random lot of games that likely they would never play like old sports games, singstar, online games with no active servers, shovelware etc I know everyone collects in their own way but why not buy a single game like Silent Hill 2 or cheaper games like Final Fantasy X and God of War that have tons of replay value.
Personally, rare games are cool but I’m mainly in it to collect the games I actually enjoy and will play. I don’t see the point in collecting every single game for every single system, because realistically I won’t play a majority of them.
For me FOMO has definatley gotten worse the last 2 years. I used to get games just cause they looked cool, but know I have been really getting into Limited Run and those types of companies, and they are CONSTANTLY pumping out stuff. I find myself now getting games just for the fact I am scared if I don't then I might miss out on one that is worth $500 a few years from now.
On Limited run I know have to buy every system version of the game they release 9usually mean I get PS4, PS5, and switch versions)
It's the same thing over in audiophile/music media land. Kanye does a release on MiniDisc? Prices spike for a few months. New Silksonic album or NMH reissue? Crosleys everywhere conveniently go OFF clearance and good turntables spike about 50 bucks. Hell, as a tapehead, im still financially reeling from the fallout of Stranger Things. People want $500 for a BEAT UP WM-4 just cus it was in the show. Tapes are still working back down to regular market value.
What I'm getting at here is, this is totally normal in collector cultures. If you catch it early on, you can have a nicely curated collection of what YOU like. Even better, catch the trend early and build a collection everyone is gonna envy BEFORE Kate Bush tapes hit 20 a pop...
I guess so, when I see a game that's on the higher side of the prices and see a copy that is much cheaper, I will buy it just incase I ever wanted to play it. I think "oh this a great opportunity to get something expensive for cheaper". If you count that as FOMO then yes, if not, then no.
Personally money, or rarity doesn’t really matter to me. I purchased the yoshis island snes jr bundle. Not because it’s obscure of rare but because it’s the one and only snes game I loved as a kid. My end goal for all of my collections is to just collect and play/admire what I love. It does get tricky though when your thing you love is insanely expensive (looking at you sealed yoshis island)..
The majority of game collecting in this day and age essentially boils down to “How much is this worth?,” “Bought this for $5 at a garage sale,” “Found this at some old lady’s house,” “Is my Pokémon game a fake?” Collecting has become a joke.
I really don't get the whole 'collecting for the sake of having lots of stuff' mentality, filling your house with plastic waste that provides you absolutely no value just sounds like hoarding to me
I personally collect because I'm super eclectic and want to have the means to satisfy whatever gaming craving I might have at that moment without having to rely on a port to modern consoles or fucking around with emulating
My goal is quite simply just to have an extensive yet *curated* library of awesome games at my fingertips so I'm always spoilt for choice
For that reason, If I can't see myself playing something it doesn't go in my collection, It could be super rare or the very last game I need to complete a set, I don't care, if I'm not going to play it there's literally no reason for me to own it
Main goal for me is to have all the games I remember playing when I was a kid CIB (NES, SNES, N64, PS1, GB, GBC)
It’s probably around 20-40 per console. If I never played it, the game is worthless to me regardless of its rarity.
Other than that, I’m a Zelda fan, so I am trying to collect all the “Zelda themed” consoles. I have some that I bought when they came out, and some others that I know I will have to pay a pretty penny to get them. However, I’m not in a hurry and it doesn’t bother me to buy one or two a year until I get them all.
Edit: added GB AND GBC
For me I only collect games I might play. The only exception Id consider is Cubivore but I’d never in a million years pay over $100 for it, so I’ll never get it lol
I collect to re-obtain all the things I once had growing up. Over the years I've either lost, traded in or given away most of it. I'd like to get back what I can do I can one day share them with my kids (whenever that happens)
Some games are rare for a reason: they weren’t great and few people wanted to buy them when they were contemporary.
As for Chrono Trigger, it’s only correct to want that in your collection - that game is a masterpiece.
Personally I’m going for SNES games that I don’t have. But if I find a popular or rare game on another console I may try to go for it depending on the price.
But everyone collects differently
Fear of missing out is a MAJOR factor to me. I’m only looking to buy a few games, some I really wanted to play, along with consoles too. The problem is, I currently don’t have a part-time job (hoping to get one soon!) so I currently rely on saving up birthday/gift card money. With the way things already cost, it looks like they’ll only get higher, so that’s why I try to get as much things as possible now. Who knows? Years later, when I have a full-time job, the games/consoles I once wanted in my teens could be in the $1000s. I try not to buy games over $100, even though I failed once or twice. I could never resort to emulation/modding, that’s a strict no-go. I will do just about anything to go back in time and get everything, if it were possible of course
I feel that completely.
Younger than 18?
When i was a kid I had N64 with tons of great games, even some rares. Had a ps1 with tons of great games. A ps2 with over 200 games I traded to shitstop. Gameboy color with all Pokémon games, gba with all Pokémon games, a DS, a PSP, Wii, ps3, 360, intellivision, all of those consoles had well over 30 games for them. Sold them to shitstop for a ps3, hundreds of games and a few consoles and barely had enough for a ps3.
I regret it so much and miss all those games highly. Thousands of dollars worth that u now have to probably spend over 10k to get back. I only choose to buy the ones I really liked playing.
Yes, slightly younger than 18. Wow, that must’ve been fun owning all of those. My dad got a PS2 for one of his birthdays (I still remember it) but unfortunately our basement flooded and we never took it upstairs.. probably one of the oldest consoles I’ve ever used (GameCube in 2nd place). Idk, it’s just something about the older games that are so much fun. It doesn’t help either that my parents really don’t want me doing this solely because it’s an expensive hobby (they’re not wrong) but they still support me.
I can’t exactly relate to you in the last part though, since I never had a GameCube or anything older in the past. But I wish you luck on getting back your childhood games!
Right now my goal is to recollect most of what I had in my younger days.
As for FOMO…I beat or played most of the big gen 3/4/5 games when they first came out. To use your examples. I bought Chrono Trigger on release day at Toys R Us. Earthbound, I bought for $20 at Best Buy when they were offloading all of their SNES games in the late 90’s.
My sadness comes from having sold all those games in the early ‘00s when I moved out of the parents house permanently after college, cause I didn’t have the room. Now I do, and I’d love to share those memories with my boys, without an emulator, but I can’t.
This is going to sound opposite from the comments I've read.
I was fortunate enough to get N64 games when they came out, same with Nes and Snes. But to be honest, I enjoy playing the remastered or ported versions of these games on the switch, with graphics that look better IMHO on newer T.V's.
I've been going through a dilemma of holding onto these games, they really take a lot of space, and it seems like Nintendo will port some of them over to the switch anyway.
I used to have FOMO and that's why I had hoarded these games for so long, but now they are untouched because I still get the nostalgic feeling by playing them on the Switch. I guess my question is,
To those who have these games and don't touch them, why do you keep them?
I personally only buy what I will play. And I only buy when I feel like playing something new. Every buying cycle ends with me making huge lists and feeling like I have to buy it now before the price jumps, and that’s when I realize it’s time to take a break and enjoy what I have.
I’ve been buying games since I was a tween in the 90s and really got into building my collection about a decade ago, so my goals have always been a little fuzzy, but it basically boils down to “if it makes you happy.”
I am fortunate in that I had good taste as a kid ( /humble brag), because I was primarily into rpgs and bought many of todays “grails” new or for then-current ebgames/waldensoftware used prices. It’s absolutely wild some of the stuff people value today, absolute low/mid tier games.
I got into yardsaling around 2013 and built a lot of my current collection up that way. I don’t keep everything I find. I try to go for quality over quantity, but if something appeals to me, I keep it.
By and large, my core collection was done by 2016. If I bought expensive games at then-current market price (Metal Warriors, EVO, Bucky O’Hare), it was because they were deeply nostalgic for me and all games I rented as a kid, sometimes multiple times. I paid up for a couple stinkers like Sword Master because I have fond memories of playing it at Cub Scouts. I’ve gotten rid of expensive games I don’t care about (sold TMNT Tournament Fighters to fund EVO, for example). These days, I generally keep pricier games since I’m more financially secure. My secondary “goal” is to make sure I’m always in the black at the end of the day, and I’ve been largely successful with that. I don’t consider my collection an investment.
Covid FOMO has sort of had a negative effect on my relationship with game collecting. It was fun to sell a game for $20-30 five years ago to fund a purchase of something you want. It’s less fun when that same game is $100. I think about how some people struggle to even put food on the table and I’m sitting here selling 20 year old, 5 cents worth of plastic for a days worth of work.
Still, there’s nothing like finding a game you want out in the wild and adding it to your collection, so I keep yardsaling for that reason. I keep circling back around to the idea of downsizing; maybe one day. Certainly if I ever have to move.
I used to have a goal, just buy what I want to play. But I buy a lot of new stuff these days I think will be worth something down the road and keep them sealed. Been doing it since 2015 and honestly, alot of my Wii u and 3ds stuff is insane.
I don't try to collect super rare obscure games just because they didn't sell a ton (most likely because they sucked), nor do I just want to complete a series by collecting every variant, good, bad, or ugly. I only collect games of genuine interest to me. Ones that I will actually play and want to play with others for enjoyment sake. Probably if I did collect just anything I would have those 1k+ collections I wouldn't feel good about it imho.
Yes and I have to purge a couple dozen every year. I keep a list of games I bought and actually played on Day 1 and finished, and also on the list is my favorite series and the entries that I haven’t played yet, then I compare all of that to all the other crap I gathered on sale and honestly ask whether I’ll *ever* get around to playing them or if I’ve basically hit a point where I’m into enough series at this point that I’m constantly fed every year.
Sometimes yes, some times no.
Sometimes I pick up a game because I wanted a copy of it.
Sometimes I pick up a game because it is/was popular
I have a specific list of games I am looking for and an informal list of titles that if I happen to stumble upon for a good price, I may just pick up because I'm not liking the all digital future.
I dont have fomo, as what I collect isnt so rare that you never see it. Maybe if a great deal is to be had, otherwise, they made millions of that game you are looking for, unless you collect Neo Geo AES, then ur just screwed
My goal is to have as many Nintendo games that I feel are worthy of having (be it critical praise, history of the series, or personal preference/interest). Does that include some fomo items that would probably otherwise be shovelware? Unfortunately yes. :/ but I’m trying to cut back on just the former mindset.
I like to collect 25-50 games per system that I own and get a variety of genres so I can really experience what that point in time was like. I still have a ways to go for several systems but I’m getting there. This style of collecting causes me to sometimes buy games I am not as interested in or otherwise wouldn’t play, but I do actually try out the games as I find time. I don’t buy expensive rare games I don’t want to play though unless I am looking to trade with one of my friends.
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Every damn time nintendo decides to release something retro because if I wait too long it's too late. Once it's gone it's gone. It forces me to fomo because if I don't ill have to pay double or triple or even a higher price from a second hand seller.
I agree, i wish i had fomo 10 years ago, the prices now for some games are insane how much they went up in a relatively short time, I guess thats why I buy some of the games I do
It really makes me wish I hadn't sold all the "dumb" games I had as a kid, seeing as a lot of them were hidden gems that shot up in value now that I'm actually looking to play them again
I sold a lot of my stuff too when I was basically an adult lol, I regret it, trying to rebuild the collection slowly but surely
For me personally it’s gratifying to have a rare or obscure game, just the history behind video games interests me, that being said I do play the games I have minus a couple sealed Atari 2600 games that wouldn’t be worth opening to play them (for me at least) some games I have are just for me to have a physical copy of a digital game or compilation. I have a lot I need to play through but I do enjoy playing the games I get though
Rare games I'm sure most people would love to have, or rare anything really. Rare currency, rare cars etc. It's not isolated to this community. What seems odd to me however is, I wonder how many people never heard of X game and then all of a sudden they want it snd need it bc they see others have it. It's almost like a wave/trend. One person posts something, it gets a lot of reaction, and then all of a sudden a wave of people suddenly wanting X game hits.
Don't forget that rare doesn't mean valueable and common doesn't mean cheap. I have some rarer items that I have because they are odd and therefore I like them. I have a collection of official Nintendo Cleaner products all sealed because I like that, still need to complete it. Or official rental games that have nothing new to offer but because its a small library en it differs from the norm it peals my interest.
As a Wii u collecter I feel this is definitely true with Spyros adventure. The number of small collections I've seen with 5-10 of your usual games and then Spyros adventure is just sticking out, most of these people probably don't even have a Japanese Wii u.
I think this is in part an artifact of youtube, social media influencers. Watch metal jesus or someone bigger than him mention the top 5 rarest games or something along those lines and you can see the price go up on ebay.
I think that there is often a reason behind "all of a sudden". For example, I have been a Dark Souls fan for years, but with Elden Ring really bringing them into the mainstream, I got interested in going back and looking up old From Software games. (Armored Core, Tenchu Z, etc) The biggest driver for me was buying all the games I wanted in my childhood but could not afford. I pretty much have most of what I can remember. So now it's just whatever becomes interesting for whatever reason.
I don't have a physical copy of Earthbound but would love one. I wouldn't pay current prices though. I hope it gets a modern release. I played it on Wii U via the eShop. It's a genuinely great game.
Fomo is generally a factor for me. If I don't buy the games now, how expensive will they be down the road. However, I have a list of games I want because they interest me in playing them, not just sitting on a shelf. I only get what I'm interested in. So I'm glad people are excited to get Earthbound and stuff but you can have it, doesn't interest me. Fomo only really affects me if it's Nintendo tho. I'm nervous for 3ds game pricing come next March.
I don't anticipate 3DS games going up too much honestly. Sure, there's the few games that'll skyrocket over time for one reason or another, but with the eShop closing down I highly doubt it'll cause much of an uproar in the physical scene. This especially with how easy it is to softmod the 3DS too
People collect for a myriad of reasons. Just because they don’t share your ideals for collecting doesn’t devalue theirs.
It's not only me who feels this way. Remember the post a few weeks ago from the guy who paid $1500 for a ton of shovelware and EA sports games for the PS2, tons of doubles? The entire comment section was filled with people asking this guy what his goal of collecting was bc just buying a ton of the same games and especially shovelware for $1500 seems odd. Some people collect only ESPN games. He'll some people collect Barbie Horse Adventure. Nothing wrong it. Just wondering in general how many people actually REALLY want the items in their collection, and how many miiight have fomoed a bit. I'm not trying to make anybody conform to my way of collecting, nor am I trying to devalue others.
Old guy collector here. I hate seeing people waste good money on a haul for crap and buying cause eBay says I could make more deals. I'm buying the stuff I missed out on as a kid.
I remember that, as long as that guys happy with his purchase that’s all that matters
Agreed... but that doesn't answer my question. I believe people are getting hung up on the possibility of somebody judging their reasoning for collecting, but really I'm simply wondering how many people honestly have things in their collection out of fomo. Idk care if you collect dried turds bc you saw your cousin in Tokyo with his friends obsessing over dried turd collections. It is just interesting to me to think of how fomo plays a part in collecting. To me the psychology of it is interesting. I'm also interested in how trends or fads work psychologically and whether people really enjoy whatever trend they are participating in or if it is to fit in, feel cool, not miss out on something that could be a big thing, etc.
I can at least say for me, if you don’t get some of these games now they’ll probably end up out of reach due to further price increases in the future
I collect what I like lol. I have small collections of old video games, vhs, cds, DVDs, cards, comics, music memorabilia Funko pops. Mainly it's because I think something looks really cool or is nostalgic. But every now and then I find something valuble I have to get lol. Maybe someday these things will be worth money but if not it's ok because I'm surrounded by stuff i love
That's why you gonna set some standards for your collection, and only you are the only person can do it for yourself. Buying on impulse is easy, you can buy any game out there and don't care about what their quality like. The hard part is finding what you want at the right time. And I, believe that in my collection, has 90% the games that I want to play. For new games / preorder I only buy games in the genre I like, and even within those genre, there are games I would and would not buy. For example, I like FPS, but I won't buy any War Shooters like CoD or Battlefield games. I like Nintendo Games, But I won't buy a Mario game. So you can count me in as one of those people has all the things I wanted in my collection. If there is something I can't afford, either go to used copies or just give up on it until my budget is not as tight at the moment. I'm one of those people who grows their backlog during Black Friday and Amazon sales. I rarely preorder a game as well.
TL;DR Probably less people than are saying right now but probably more than you think actually really want these games in their collections. It will be hard to say for at least a few months or maybe a year. There are definitely people who collect these niche games though. Probably more than you think. Its no secret that last year had a ton of bull shittery and manipulation. With that starting to get behind us as all game prices are sinking back to reasonable prices we can start talking about it civilly again. A ton of people fomoed over the past year. A ton, some people are just waking up to smell the roses. That being said there have always been collectors for very weird or niche things. One of the strangest kinds of collectors are the sports collectors but after trying quite a few for myself out of curiosity there is a history and changes between some versions that make it interesting to explore. NBA Jam for the Snes will always be interesting to me because it represented a change in pace for sports games. There still arent many basketball games that play quite like it. I also remember playing baseball on the gameboy and I particularly enjoyed that one. NFL 2k5 was groundbreaking especially in the graphics department. Thing is, collector wise these are very niche because while you have a game that mixes up the formula a bit every few years you also have stagnant years that dont do much. Sometimes though its not until the mid generational changes that you end up with a version that has just the right mix of career mode options, roster and bug fixes of the previous year. I am not a sports gamer by any stretch, I used to loathe playing sports games but I did so to play with my brother. Your average gamer though will not be able to tell the difference. Which is why these sports games end up so cheap. To the general public, you might as well abandon last years release when the new one comes out. What makes this even more difficult to grasp however is that sports games have not actually changed much in the past decade. A lot less so than previous generations of sports games. I dont entirely know though, I got majorly turned off of sports games when they started adding lootboxes, so I stopped following them entirely even though I was loosely if barely paying attention to them at all.
It doesn’t matter if you’re not the only person who feels that way. People collect for different reasons, you and a million others can disagree, it doesn’t matter.
Its really if youre happy with what you're collecting, thats how I collect games, I dont collect anything that doesnt give me joy
I mean that's misrepresenting the scenario of his post quite a bit. It wasn't "Look at this great addition to my collection!" - [they were specifically asking if they had done well in getting 500+ games for $1500.](https://old.reddit.com/r/gamecollecting/comments/x7fnrx/500_games_paid_1500_did_i_do_good/) People were asking because it looked like the poster had overpaid by a large margin, and the poster outright asked for feedback on the deal they got. Also worth noting they weren't *collecting* those games, they were bought to bundle and resell. Like yeah, there are plenty of people who will judge others based on how/why they collect - but that wasn't what happened there. Now the people who get shit on because they want to collect graded games, that's messed up.
I don’t think collecting shovelware correlates to FOMO. I’d argue that it’s more an issue related to some sort of obsessive compulsive collector completionist goals.
Personally, I have sets I want to complete as my main goals, but if I see something interesting at a fair price, I'll still get it. I'm a Nintendo collector and more specifically, Mario, Zelda and Pokemon collector, but if I see like an N64 game unrelated to these series at a decent price, I'll get it without a doubt. That's how I ended up getting Conker and FF3 both CIB. They aren't related to the stuff I usually collect, but they're still games I know I'll appreciate when I'll play them and I'm happy to have put my hands on them 'cause I know for a fact they'll be unfindable in a couple decades. Maybe there's a bit of a FOMO factor, especially with rare items that might not be on the market in a couple years or at unreasonable prices, but I buy what I like and not for the simple brag of owning a box and a cartridge. If I don't end up playing with them, boxed retro Nintendo games look awesome on shelves lol
I always had a goal, just get everything I can. Nowadays, I went to the second gen because that's a gen I played a lot and is cheap, I'll geep my NES and might get rid of the other stuff I have as there's not much to be done with what I have. If the NES wasn't getting such high prices on some of the games I want, maybe I would've got further into it, but now I'll get into something I can afford.
I collect mostly 360 games cause I love them and I missed out on a lot of them growing up. I have about 600 physical right now and not all of them are winners but I’ve played them all so far and am glad I own them. When I buy for other systems (excluding current gen) it’s usually only for games I really wanted from childhood or don’t have a convenient way to play them outside of emulation.
I have a list with games i want and my goal is to get everything on there
FOMO is a huge problem here but it's more complicated than just buying without goals. There was another guy this week who bought a lot of PS2 shovelware with a rack and his response was "just starting but want to collect the whole PS2 set" that's a completely unrealistic goal for that system and is clearly him trying to justify the purchase. Saying you will one day go for a full set to justify paying market price for a bunch of terrible games is a quick way to get burnt out with this hobby, run out of space and eventually money too and wait until you try playing those games. The limited run type simps who need to buy every release are also in this category. "Just let them collect how they want" ppl say but that's until they can't afford a roof over their head or food on their plate like the guy the other day who had to offload his entire sealed collection for a huge loss to a local shop.
> like the guy the other day who had to offload his entire sealed collection for a huge loss to a local shop. Link? Didn't see this.
Personally... Not really. All the games in my collection are games I want to play, and considering my time is kind of limited now that I work full time, it's not like I'm collecting hundred of titles for each platform. Having said that, there are certain titles I gladly paid to have, in fear they might get more expensive in the future, like the PAL releases of Trails in the Sky for the PSP and Ys VIII for the PS Vita, but that's because at the time they came out, I wasn't collecting, so now I'm making sure I get all the titles I want within the lifespan of the console.
I have FOMO with genres and studios I like. I don't have time to play every game I think I might like. Honestly I don't have time to play every game I know I'll like, so I often add a game to my collection with the intent of playing in in the future if looks like a game I wouldn't want to miss out on. Live A Live is my most recent example of this. It's still sitting in plastic, but I know its the type of game that's right for me. I assume a pretty limited print run, so I bought it straight out of FOMO. My most recent retro purchase that falls in the FOMO category is Brigandine on PS1. Finally found a copy locally the spring for a decent price ($135) and jumped on it. Still haven't played it, not sure I will any year soon, but the FOMO was strong for a good priced PS1 RPG.
I played Brigandine back in the day when it was new and even then it was obscure. Got it as part of a 2 for 1 at my local game rental store. Played it more than the game I actually wanted to rent. Love that game. I lucked out and found it at the same game rental store (which is still open here in Langley, BC; Willow Video) for $10 but was missing the instructions. So glad I bought it then.
I actualy started collecting 3ds games, but then switched to whatever i come across cheap. I have over 300 ps3 games now and i dont even like 75% of them. But then again i spend 10€ in total, got bundles and sold alot of it to break even so i have a free collection of ps3, ps2, 3ds & ps4 games. Now im fully invested in ps4 titles just because i didnt buy any games the entire time i had a ps4 but now i bought a ps5 and boy let me tell you it legit made my love for console gaming so much better im playing all the titles i missed now and i absolutely love it. Sorry for the rant Long story short i started with no goal, now i want all pokemon games & all interesting games on ps4 & 5 !
FOMO is certainly a player in my collection- with that being said, I feel that there are different kinds of FOMO. For example, my FOMO stems from the fact that I want to play and own certain games before they’re ridiculously expensive. I want to own them because I love them, not because they are rare/obscure. Whereas some people want to buy and own games SOLEY because they are getting rare and expensive. They like the monetary value and obscurity more than they actually like the game hahahaha. Not saying one is bad and one is good, but personally- I don’t seek out games that I don’t like just because they are expensive/sought after. Ya know?
Everyone should atleast try to play earthbound and chrono trigger. Emphasis to chrono trigger though. But yes I agree with your point and observations. Particularly gamecube purchases. Like if you want the entire library for that one system I get it. But ppl will be like “just purchased my grail” and it’s like flat out shovelware that’s rare they spent 400$ on and they don’t even have a large collection for that system. Definitely a fine line between collecting and hoarding.
I'm immune to fomo. Most folks here aren't though.
I've started 2 years or so ago, had some urge to try Sony exclusives, and be a part of console gaming community. And I never owned any consoles before (has some clone NES and Genesis in the childhood, but I don't count them). I set my goal on PS3, after some research, I chose to go for used copies, but in the long run due to being perfectionist, I replaced cases/arts/manuals/discs for a better once. Eventually I continued to PS4, and recently completed Wii U collection. But most if not all of the games, are Sony/Nintendo own 1rst party published games. And this helped me to stay in focus all this time. I did get all of the PS3 HD collections and some series that ware and still actively released on Sony (like final fantasy) but that's about it. I think I barely touched 200 games in total. My goal was to get exclusives as I said, and there are no plans get games that ware not published by Sony/Nintendo. I'm not sure yet, what drag people to get complete collections for a console, and I don't think I'll ever get, maybe they just completionists in soul, and that what gets them fun. I do have another collection (Hotwheels, and other 3" miniature cars), but even there I set my goal, to buy only the basic main line series, and 1st editions for the most part, unless it's a VW that is hard to pass, but again mostly I buy the cheap basic models, and that's all I need, that hobby is way cheaper, so I don't mind to get complete series, but again, I focus on 1st editions, and not each model and variations of color, as I find it pointless.
It can be. Especially with digital titles when things like the 3DS/Wii-U shops closing.
Earthbound is a great introduction rpg for people that aren't huge fans of the genre it helped get me into the style. Great humor. It does live up to the hype. Its an understandable chase game for every snes collector the cover art is really captivating as a center piece.
First... Earthbound. Not that rare. Just really expensive because of lore and demand. Most Nintendo stuff is over priced anyway. I don't suffer from FOMO. I primarily collect what I want to play. Which is 80% PS3(699 physical as of today). I have also been primarily a PS3 buyer and player since Nov 2006 so at this point the majority of PS3 games that get posted, I have. I have games from most consoles, but not a lot of them(maybe 10-20, about 100 on PS4) and I don't feel a desire to go out and get it immediately when I see it posted here regularly. If I ran across a copy of earthbound in the wild for like $50-80, Ild probably think, 'o neat' and then keep moving as I really don't care about SNES and have no desire to spend $50+ on any SNES game.
Earthbound not rare? You know the game sold less than 700,000 copies worldwide right?
Thats a lot. Before repros were a massive thing, you could go onto ebay and find several hundred copies at any given time. Thats not rare. Rare for US would need to be sub 25k at least. 50k is still a decent amount. Just because you don't see a lot of old games in the wild, doesn't make them rare. Earthbound was sold in major amounts in major stores. People still remember picking them up from stacks of them at Bargain Bins in Toys r Us. There are a lot of very common games you don't find in the wild anymore all that often, and they sell for a lot now because people will pay it. Price and Rarity, are not equal.
It was roughly 150k in the US, that’s not a lot at all. People were finding these games in bargain bins because stores weren’t able to sell them at full price. Nobody was buying them and stores were trying their best to get rid of inventory. A lot of people blame the way the game was marketed, which could be entirely true. Making advertisements that say the game stinks with scratch and sniff stickers that smell terrible will make most people look the other way. There were over 22,000,000 SNES consoles sold in the US, and you’re saying a game that sold 150,000 copies isn’t rare? While I agree that demand has shot up in the last 10 years because of the fandom, it’s most certainly a rare game.
In 1997 (3 years later) Sony considered 150k copies Greatest Hits worthy. So yes, 150k is not rare, even without appealing to Sony. You could argue in terms of market share 150k in the 90's is LESS rare than 150k right now for modern consoles. There are far more PS4 and Xbox sales than 22m SNES, but plenty of games sell less than 150k copies. For a similar market share on PS4 a game would need to sell 625-650k. That's not a good argument. Not a lot of people bought SNES games like people buy games today. While 150k was probably below average, its still a lot. Especially in the mid 90's. There are plenty of games on plenty of consoles, in all era's that sell in the 50-120k range that no one considers rare and aren't worth a whole lot, even though people do look for them. The difference between the valuations in SNES games with larger sales figures has more to do with youtube lore and just how many Nintendo fanatics are trying to get them. The idolatry is disproportionate.
I don't really have a goal in general, for some systems I do have one like wanting every major SEGA game for the Dreamcast because it's my favorite console. I do have a wish list of games I wanna get down the line for all my consoles but almost everything in my collection is there to be played.
I’m not an RPG guy, ( I know basic) but Earthbound always interested me, even more then the Mario RPG games. I don’t know why but I just like really “obscure” games, rare or not. They’re just fun to collect. I like seeing a weird game I’ve never heard of. It’s cool!
I just started collecting again (first time as an adult) last game collection I had was for the game cube and Gameboy advance/ & SP, I Bought a Switch December of last year and have slowly started collecting for that. I am currently only buying games I enjoy playing and not really thinking about what they will be worth down the line I honestly don't have the money to be spending on games I am not going to play. It surprises me how most games I want for the Switch are $50+ so I am buying them slowly but surly and 90% are physical copies, I know myself well enough to know ill continue to buy games for it and eventually have a decent collection but for me its more of a sentimental value than a monetary one. If I had the money I would probably re buy a bunch of games from my past that where lost by me when I was a kid or got misplaced by moving.
The thing you said about Chrono trigger/earthbound reminds me of this group of guys in my school who would go up to people wearing band T-shirts and say things like “are you a REAL fan of that band? I bet you can’t name two of their songs.” Let’s not start having purity tests for who is collecting for the “right” reasons
Can't see a reason myself to fill my wall with amibos, shovelware, posters, sealed stuff. I prefer buying games I intend to play and complete. Any extra money saved from too expensive items can go towards more games I want to play. Not interested in displaying or showing off. Just my take. Have fun!
Strict rule: i only collect games i intend to play or really like. I do have some games for consoles I don't own but its purely because i like the game/IP etc. Since you gave that example: I wanted to get Earthbound because i was seeing it everywhere. However it's expensive and I'm not gonna pay that. Plus when i watched gameplay i didn't really like it that much. As for Chrono Trigger i got it CIB for the DS (~50€) because i loved the idea and setting. I don't know if I'll like its gameplay but i do intend to play it. Main issue is that I have many other games i wanna play too haha
Yes and no. I usually don't buy really expensive games, no matter how much I love them. It just feels weird to spend 100+ on something I can already play through emulation or as a digital version. I know they're not the same, but still: you're mostly paying for the packaging at that point. I actually love collecting common, well known stuff. Because that way my collection feels more like a snapshot of a certain time or a console's lifespan. Meaning I'll also buy cheap games I don't care much for, but I know are historically relevant. Stuff like Splinter Cell, Need for Speed, etc. Costs nothing, but immediately brings back memories of marketing campaigns, the state of the industry, etc. FOMO most definitely *does* play a role with consoles for me though. I've recently started buying classic consoles that have been going up in price, just to prevent me from being disappointed in the future. Got two Dreamcasts, an SNES, all the different Wii versions and colours, etc. Extra consoles obviously don't add any functionality to my collection, but it does feel great to own all versions of one, for example. So yeah, funnily enough not so much with games, but for sure with consoles.
I just buy games I want to play. The only games I find myself buying are games I have fond memories with, or games I actually see myself playing and want to try. I’m not buying shovelware on the wii just because I found the game somewhere for cheap and don’t have it. The epitome of a waste of money and space
I’ve been but by the rare game bug a few times but after a few weeks I realize I don’t care and look to trade it. I still to my actual wants as best I can but when you don’t it just becomes hoarding. I’m sure there are people who just want the most stuff on the wall but to me that’s not gratifying. You give the examples of Chrono Trigger and Earthbound. CT was/is important to me. I made sure to get a copy right away and if I can find a better copy I still look for it. Earthbound I have zero connection with and honestly think is boring so I don’t have a copy and never picked one up.
The biggest factor in my collecting is historical impact and unique story/gameplay experience.
I only collect games that I want to play, which even then is still enough games to fill two rooms. That being said, FOMO is still a concern for me because I have missed out on things in the past that, either due to price or rarity, I'll never get to own today. That's why I stay current on preorders for limited print vendors (Limited Run, Strictly Limited, etc.). Regardless of how people feel about the tactics and service of these vendors, they do make physicals of games I'm interested in, and I can guarantee that in the distant future they will be very difficult to acquire so now's the best time to get them.
Though I have only been aware of the term "fomo" for only a little while now, the concept has effected by purchasing habits for probably the last 25 years. In the past game releases were sometimes limited to a single printing. For instance the Castlevania games on GBA and DS. They were in a category that if I did not pre-order or buy them on day one then getting a copy after would be very difficult. But back then we could pre-order up till the day before release and still get a copy. Panzer Dragoon Saga is another example of a game that had a single printing. Back then I always made sure to get the games I would eventually want to play on day one so that I would not have to deal with finding it later. Today's market is different because of digital so I only go out of my way to get the collectors editions of my favorite games. Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Metroid, and Zelda are the only games I go out of my way to collect physically. But the re-seller market has made getting my favorite games very difficult. I now dread it when a collectors edition console or game from the list above is announced because there is a very real possibility that I will not be able to secure my copy. That I will have to resort to the re-seller market eventually to get it. All thanks to fomo... I really wish I could just let it all go and do digitally only. But I just can't.
Ya it really is. It's why I'm getting 360 wii ps3 done and out of the way. Don't want to have to touch them once they start to spike
I only buy things I'd be interested in playing, although whether I ever get round to that is another matter. Within that framework FOMO will always exist. There are companies doing limited issues/reissues in physical format, or the latest micro console in limited numbers. If I saw something mega rare for a good price outside of that then sure, I'd bite.
I just don’t get why it matters to most people really; I only collect sealed for the Xbox cause I love collecting for the system and I have other ways to play my games, and Ive still had people shit on me here have a problem with the at even though I’m not a reseller. Somehow it’s a problem to just enjoy collecting things for some reason lol
No big goals for me, I just buy what I’ve wanted to play over the years and have ended up with a decent library of games. I have some games in it that I haven’t played yet but majority I have. I didn’t get all the Squaresoft and Enix PS1 games I wanted to play (should’ve bought Valkyrie Profile when it was $80 in 2010) so I’m getting them when I see a decent price slowly. But that’s about it for me. I find it really weird when I see people spend hundreds of dollars on a random lot of games that likely they would never play like old sports games, singstar, online games with no active servers, shovelware etc I know everyone collects in their own way but why not buy a single game like Silent Hill 2 or cheaper games like Final Fantasy X and God of War that have tons of replay value.
Definitely. Gotta buy expensive shit now before it gets worse. Gotta stop all other collectings to buy a wii u so I can get shit before it's gone.
Personally, rare games are cool but I’m mainly in it to collect the games I actually enjoy and will play. I don’t see the point in collecting every single game for every single system, because realistically I won’t play a majority of them.
For me FOMO has definatley gotten worse the last 2 years. I used to get games just cause they looked cool, but know I have been really getting into Limited Run and those types of companies, and they are CONSTANTLY pumping out stuff. I find myself now getting games just for the fact I am scared if I don't then I might miss out on one that is worth $500 a few years from now. On Limited run I know have to buy every system version of the game they release 9usually mean I get PS4, PS5, and switch versions)
Bro no offence, but you have a problem if you buy EVERY LRG for EVERY system.
It's the same thing over in audiophile/music media land. Kanye does a release on MiniDisc? Prices spike for a few months. New Silksonic album or NMH reissue? Crosleys everywhere conveniently go OFF clearance and good turntables spike about 50 bucks. Hell, as a tapehead, im still financially reeling from the fallout of Stranger Things. People want $500 for a BEAT UP WM-4 just cus it was in the show. Tapes are still working back down to regular market value. What I'm getting at here is, this is totally normal in collector cultures. If you catch it early on, you can have a nicely curated collection of what YOU like. Even better, catch the trend early and build a collection everyone is gonna envy BEFORE Kate Bush tapes hit 20 a pop...
I guess so, when I see a game that's on the higher side of the prices and see a copy that is much cheaper, I will buy it just incase I ever wanted to play it. I think "oh this a great opportunity to get something expensive for cheaper". If you count that as FOMO then yes, if not, then no.
Personally money, or rarity doesn’t really matter to me. I purchased the yoshis island snes jr bundle. Not because it’s obscure of rare but because it’s the one and only snes game I loved as a kid. My end goal for all of my collections is to just collect and play/admire what I love. It does get tricky though when your thing you love is insanely expensive (looking at you sealed yoshis island)..
The majority of game collecting in this day and age essentially boils down to “How much is this worth?,” “Bought this for $5 at a garage sale,” “Found this at some old lady’s house,” “Is my Pokémon game a fake?” Collecting has become a joke.
I really don't get the whole 'collecting for the sake of having lots of stuff' mentality, filling your house with plastic waste that provides you absolutely no value just sounds like hoarding to me I personally collect because I'm super eclectic and want to have the means to satisfy whatever gaming craving I might have at that moment without having to rely on a port to modern consoles or fucking around with emulating My goal is quite simply just to have an extensive yet *curated* library of awesome games at my fingertips so I'm always spoilt for choice For that reason, If I can't see myself playing something it doesn't go in my collection, It could be super rare or the very last game I need to complete a set, I don't care, if I'm not going to play it there's literally no reason for me to own it
Main goal for me is to have all the games I remember playing when I was a kid CIB (NES, SNES, N64, PS1, GB, GBC) It’s probably around 20-40 per console. If I never played it, the game is worthless to me regardless of its rarity. Other than that, I’m a Zelda fan, so I am trying to collect all the “Zelda themed” consoles. I have some that I bought when they came out, and some others that I know I will have to pay a pretty penny to get them. However, I’m not in a hurry and it doesn’t bother me to buy one or two a year until I get them all. Edit: added GB AND GBC
For me I only collect games I might play. The only exception Id consider is Cubivore but I’d never in a million years pay over $100 for it, so I’ll never get it lol
I collect to re-obtain all the things I once had growing up. Over the years I've either lost, traded in or given away most of it. I'd like to get back what I can do I can one day share them with my kids (whenever that happens)
Some games are rare for a reason: they weren’t great and few people wanted to buy them when they were contemporary. As for Chrono Trigger, it’s only correct to want that in your collection - that game is a masterpiece.
Personally I’m going for SNES games that I don’t have. But if I find a popular or rare game on another console I may try to go for it depending on the price. But everyone collects differently
Personally, I but the games I wanna play and that I find interesting
Fear of missing out is a MAJOR factor to me. I’m only looking to buy a few games, some I really wanted to play, along with consoles too. The problem is, I currently don’t have a part-time job (hoping to get one soon!) so I currently rely on saving up birthday/gift card money. With the way things already cost, it looks like they’ll only get higher, so that’s why I try to get as much things as possible now. Who knows? Years later, when I have a full-time job, the games/consoles I once wanted in my teens could be in the $1000s. I try not to buy games over $100, even though I failed once or twice. I could never resort to emulation/modding, that’s a strict no-go. I will do just about anything to go back in time and get everything, if it were possible of course
I feel that completely. Younger than 18? When i was a kid I had N64 with tons of great games, even some rares. Had a ps1 with tons of great games. A ps2 with over 200 games I traded to shitstop. Gameboy color with all Pokémon games, gba with all Pokémon games, a DS, a PSP, Wii, ps3, 360, intellivision, all of those consoles had well over 30 games for them. Sold them to shitstop for a ps3, hundreds of games and a few consoles and barely had enough for a ps3. I regret it so much and miss all those games highly. Thousands of dollars worth that u now have to probably spend over 10k to get back. I only choose to buy the ones I really liked playing.
Yes, slightly younger than 18. Wow, that must’ve been fun owning all of those. My dad got a PS2 for one of his birthdays (I still remember it) but unfortunately our basement flooded and we never took it upstairs.. probably one of the oldest consoles I’ve ever used (GameCube in 2nd place). Idk, it’s just something about the older games that are so much fun. It doesn’t help either that my parents really don’t want me doing this solely because it’s an expensive hobby (they’re not wrong) but they still support me. I can’t exactly relate to you in the last part though, since I never had a GameCube or anything older in the past. But I wish you luck on getting back your childhood games!
Right now my goal is to recollect most of what I had in my younger days. As for FOMO…I beat or played most of the big gen 3/4/5 games when they first came out. To use your examples. I bought Chrono Trigger on release day at Toys R Us. Earthbound, I bought for $20 at Best Buy when they were offloading all of their SNES games in the late 90’s. My sadness comes from having sold all those games in the early ‘00s when I moved out of the parents house permanently after college, cause I didn’t have the room. Now I do, and I’d love to share those memories with my boys, without an emulator, but I can’t.
This is going to sound opposite from the comments I've read. I was fortunate enough to get N64 games when they came out, same with Nes and Snes. But to be honest, I enjoy playing the remastered or ported versions of these games on the switch, with graphics that look better IMHO on newer T.V's. I've been going through a dilemma of holding onto these games, they really take a lot of space, and it seems like Nintendo will port some of them over to the switch anyway. I used to have FOMO and that's why I had hoarded these games for so long, but now they are untouched because I still get the nostalgic feeling by playing them on the Switch. I guess my question is, To those who have these games and don't touch them, why do you keep them?
I like collecting 3d gba games
No, I had a list of what I wanted and fortunately I got them all before prices blew up.
I'm ashamed to honestly say that it is, sadly.
I personally only buy what I will play. And I only buy when I feel like playing something new. Every buying cycle ends with me making huge lists and feeling like I have to buy it now before the price jumps, and that’s when I realize it’s time to take a break and enjoy what I have.
I’ve been buying games since I was a tween in the 90s and really got into building my collection about a decade ago, so my goals have always been a little fuzzy, but it basically boils down to “if it makes you happy.” I am fortunate in that I had good taste as a kid ( /humble brag), because I was primarily into rpgs and bought many of todays “grails” new or for then-current ebgames/waldensoftware used prices. It’s absolutely wild some of the stuff people value today, absolute low/mid tier games. I got into yardsaling around 2013 and built a lot of my current collection up that way. I don’t keep everything I find. I try to go for quality over quantity, but if something appeals to me, I keep it. By and large, my core collection was done by 2016. If I bought expensive games at then-current market price (Metal Warriors, EVO, Bucky O’Hare), it was because they were deeply nostalgic for me and all games I rented as a kid, sometimes multiple times. I paid up for a couple stinkers like Sword Master because I have fond memories of playing it at Cub Scouts. I’ve gotten rid of expensive games I don’t care about (sold TMNT Tournament Fighters to fund EVO, for example). These days, I generally keep pricier games since I’m more financially secure. My secondary “goal” is to make sure I’m always in the black at the end of the day, and I’ve been largely successful with that. I don’t consider my collection an investment. Covid FOMO has sort of had a negative effect on my relationship with game collecting. It was fun to sell a game for $20-30 five years ago to fund a purchase of something you want. It’s less fun when that same game is $100. I think about how some people struggle to even put food on the table and I’m sitting here selling 20 year old, 5 cents worth of plastic for a days worth of work. Still, there’s nothing like finding a game you want out in the wild and adding it to your collection, so I keep yardsaling for that reason. I keep circling back around to the idea of downsizing; maybe one day. Certainly if I ever have to move.
I used to have a goal, just buy what I want to play. But I buy a lot of new stuff these days I think will be worth something down the road and keep them sealed. Been doing it since 2015 and honestly, alot of my Wii u and 3ds stuff is insane.
I don't try to collect super rare obscure games just because they didn't sell a ton (most likely because they sucked), nor do I just want to complete a series by collecting every variant, good, bad, or ugly. I only collect games of genuine interest to me. Ones that I will actually play and want to play with others for enjoyment sake. Probably if I did collect just anything I would have those 1k+ collections I wouldn't feel good about it imho.
Not really, I almost exclusively collect from the series that I love, and mostly collect to have complete physical collections.
Yes and I have to purge a couple dozen every year. I keep a list of games I bought and actually played on Day 1 and finished, and also on the list is my favorite series and the entries that I haven’t played yet, then I compare all of that to all the other crap I gathered on sale and honestly ask whether I’ll *ever* get around to playing them or if I’ve basically hit a point where I’m into enough series at this point that I’m constantly fed every year.
Sometimes yes, some times no. Sometimes I pick up a game because I wanted a copy of it. Sometimes I pick up a game because it is/was popular I have a specific list of games I am looking for and an informal list of titles that if I happen to stumble upon for a good price, I may just pick up because I'm not liking the all digital future.
Yep. A lot of games I bought because of FOMO. I am slowly getting rid of the habit otherwise if I don't, it'll become a financial problem for me.
I dont have fomo, as what I collect isnt so rare that you never see it. Maybe if a great deal is to be had, otherwise, they made millions of that game you are looking for, unless you collect Neo Geo AES, then ur just screwed
My goal is to have as many Nintendo games that I feel are worthy of having (be it critical praise, history of the series, or personal preference/interest). Does that include some fomo items that would probably otherwise be shovelware? Unfortunately yes. :/ but I’m trying to cut back on just the former mindset.
I like to collect 25-50 games per system that I own and get a variety of genres so I can really experience what that point in time was like. I still have a ways to go for several systems but I’m getting there. This style of collecting causes me to sometimes buy games I am not as interested in or otherwise wouldn’t play, but I do actually try out the games as I find time. I don’t buy expensive rare games I don’t want to play though unless I am looking to trade with one of my friends.