My friend and I collect old video games. But all my physical media just sits on my shelves and collects dust. Why do I even collect them? I literally just emulate everything. Is there a purpose to what I do? People ask me why I collect and I never have a real answer because I don’t even know. If I never play my stuff, is it worth just selling?
Two questions to ask yourself:
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Does it make you happy?
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Does it hurt anybody (yourself included) in any way (including financially)?
Collecting physical media is very valuable if you are a passionate gamer. Time has proven that the older a game gets, the harder it will be to legally obtain it. Yes, emulation is a thing but doesn’t quite beat the experience on the original hardware IMO. And of course emulation is under constant legal scrutiny to the point where it’s only a matter of time before enough money passes hands and emulation itself could be outlawed or heavily restricted.
Unless you have extraordinarily rare games, likely you will not see any financial benefit. If you do not want to play any of your games ever again, and you will never have kids or anyone you want to pass history onto, then likely the collection holds no value.
Yes, emulation is a thing but doesn’t quite beat the experience on the original hardware IMO
This is why I think the best solution is original hardware with flash carts. The correct experience but no clutter.
. Yes, emulation is a thing but doesn’t quite beat the experience on the original hardware IMO
Depends on which hardware. I have had more fun with emulators than I had when I was a child with a real NES, because I could play more games with an emulator, and was easy af.
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Look mate. Sometimes we do things just because we want to or just because we can. I feel like in the world we currently live in, everything has become a struggle to squeeze out every last drop of our life to generate money, reputation, fame or whatever else.
It’s ok to just have something you do that’s just sits there and it makes you happy or relaxed or even if you just look at it and not have to worry about anything else.
That’s a good piece of advice. I went from being a carefree teenager to a highly “efficient” grown-up who’s always asking how I can get more by doing less. I mean, that are obviously perks in setting goals and being time and money savvy, but in the process I’ve lost the child in me – the child who wonders and has multiple hobbies. I couldn’t even sit down to play a game without feeling like I was wasting my life away.
So yeah, like you say, fulfilling one’s responsibilities is important, but don’t go crazy chasing after the next shiny thing. It’s perfectly fine to want to do nothing and just enjoy ourselves sometime.
I relate so much to your comment. I’ve actually been trying to “go back” by making more time for myself. Simple things like taking naps, playing my console (instead of just watching YouTube videos about it), getting more physical activity in, etc. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully reconnect to my inner child but I’m closer than I was a few years ago that’s for sure.
I knew something was wrong when I first noticed that I was feeling anxious for wanting to do something that I enjoy, and that the anxiety has been slowly killing off all of my interests. I’m so calculative that in order to prevent wasting 2hrs of my life watching a movie I wouldn’t enjoy, I’d spend hours browsing through the whole catalogue and going on IMDB to check out the rating for every single movie, then bookmark them and end up watching nothing.
The same thing for Spotify. Never happy with my choice of song. But when a good song comes up on the radio, I totally enjoy it.
I miss being spontaneous and going with the flow, and I’m working on “going back” like you too, by reminding myself to be contented and live more in the moment.
It’s pretty wild that I have the same exact tendencies. Are you (or were you) super into finances? That was my thing for a very long time. I was trying to optimize every purchase, striving for an earlier retirement, and so on. It became pretty unhealthy because for years I was planning and living for some distant future instead of enjoying the moment.
This thread is a great commentary on grind culture. I feel every word of this. As I understand it, it’s in part the mindless pursuit of “success”, and the suffering caused by losing a feeling of safety in the world
At the end of the day, life isn’t meant to be effective, it’s meant to be enjoyed as much as reasonably possible. I’m also on a journey of getting back to my inner child. Only piece of advice I can offer: if it seems a little silly as an adult, you should probably do it.Today as I left the gym, I one-foot-hopped through some hula hoops laid on the ground for the next class. I realised after it probably looked silly, but it also made my heart smile, so: worth it
Your comment put a smile on my face. “Growing up” is such a huge lie isn’t it? I don’t remember ever crossing a line where I suddenly become an adult and stop being the child I was being crossing the line.
Are you (or were you) super into finances?
I am, or was, I don’t know anymore. But mostly to survive rather than wanting to be rich and successful. I’m free spirited by nature but circumstances made me this way. All my loved ones, while being great in many things, totally suck in managing their finances. It’s up to me to constantly watch over everything like a hawk so I won’t have to keep cleaning up their mess.
I think the grind culture as mentioned in comment below applies to most people though, not just those who are really into finances. We’re all driven by the fear of not being able to put food on the table, of falling sick and becoming a burden to our families.
I’m now in a pretty comfortable spot where I can just work part time and still pay off the loans comfortably. Maybe even retire a little earlier. But getting here has really taken its toll. Don’t get me wrong though, I’d still do the same even if I was given a second chance; not for myself but for my loved ones. But I’ll go through everything again with a different attitude, enjoy the journey more, have fewer expectations and be a little kinder to myself and others.
I couldn’t even sit down to play a game without feeling like I was wasting my life away. I’ve only recently managed to tackle this particular problem : I now play while commuting.
“Hustle Culture” takes a heavy toll, but being a hoarder consumerist does too. Collecting physical media can be a harmless hobby, but it could also be a sad and futile attempt at recapturing a nostalgic time from when you were young that never really existed. Think about “why” you are doing something and ask yourself when enough is enough. Don’t worry about what others think, you should only care what you get out of it and what your goals are for it.
It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonious conception of memory. - Fitzgerald
Why do people collect cars when they don’t drive them ever? What about stamps (who use stamps anymore)? Pokemon cards? We keep things that bring us memories and make us happy from time to time. If they have ever made you feel proud or happy, I would say keep them. It definitely worths more than the monetary gain from selling them.
If collecting brings you joy, do it. It keeps retro hardware out of the landfills.
It will still go into the landfills, eventually, when op is gone.
Sure. But eventually is better than now. Because as long as it isn’t in a landfill, and it’s not broken, it can still be experienced. Honestly, even when I’m not using my Nintendo 64 games, I like just looking at them.
I am a big believer in decluttering and getting rid of stuff that no longer has value to you. But I also take photos of everything before I get rid of or sell them. Old letters, drawings from children, small collections, large collections. Maybe I’m sentimental, but I don’t need the physical object to remember the feelings associated with it. But a photo helps
Congrats dude, you have a hobby. Enjoy your time, life it’s all about the small things :)
I think it’s a virtue to be the type of person that tries to preserve the past. Hold on to memories and the things that represent them, so that you can share it with others later.
Museums of all types are filled with things that people like you have saved.
I collect planes that just sit around and look cool and I can say I have them. I’d never sell them because I love planes and they make me happy, some of them are toys from when I was a kid and I don’t play with them anymore but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna get rid of them, they bring me great joy. I’d look at it that way if I were you
Why do we do anything?You do what brings you joy. That’s enough and actually very healthy. We are not machines. We do things even if it don’t make sense.
I think it’s just up to if that’s something you enjoy and gives you value then it’s worth it.
I’m similar with books. I personally prefer to read ebooks because I find the experience a lot easier and better, but there are some books or authors that I really enjoy so I like to get the hardcover books as well. Some books I have both digitally and physically even though I’ve never read the physical copies but I like and enjoy them so I keep them even though they “collect dust” as you say.
If you are thinking of paring down or downsizing, mayve just think of what games are really special to you and that you find meaningful to keep.
I’d be more worried about what you’re gonna do with the last 29 years of your life
You can download pictures of stamps and butterflies, but people keep collecting those for some reason. Unless you’ve got issues with hoarding or it otherwise affects you negatively, don’t worry about having a collecting-based hobby.
Are you buying things just to collect them? Or do you have a collection of stuff you bought when you were younger and are holding on to that for nostalgic reasons?
I don’t really actively buy any retro stuff anymore unless I’m wanting to play some particular game or something. It’s just too expensive.
But I would have a really really hard time selling things with sentimental value. Maybe that will change someday but for now it’s too recent (20-30 years ago for me for most of it).
The other thing is, unless you really need the money (or space) now… Physical video game paraphernalia is not likely to go down in price over time. It necessarily becomes more scarce as time goes on. So that’s something to consider even if you’re just collecting to gain value.
I disagree on the last point, sure, the supply won’t go up, but the demand is likely to go down. Prices have ballooned hard in the past several years. The bubble has to burst at some point
I guess time will tell. I kind of doubt demand is going to drop until the people who are nostalgic for these things start to die, and that is many years off. By that time supply will have dwindled even more.
I think the exponential growth is a bubble that will burst but I’m not sure I can see values actually dropping.
I’m a fellow collector and I also emulate a lot but even still I collect. For a few reasons.
I will always have the original copy in case I need to make a backup and archive.org is shut down and the cloud providers delete my backups for copyright reasons.
I can display and rotate the games I choose to display. Even if no one besides me see the games I choose to display, they are important to me and I’m glad I can enjoy them.
I can recreate formative gaming moments from my childhood and share them with my children accurate to the way I experienced them
That being said, emulation does bring many conveniences and so I do emulate most of my collection on my phone but I still maintain a physical collection and I do break out the old consoles from time to time
