I mean, not full system collecting, but I'd like to start collecting Not-for-Resale PS2 games. Yeah, there's not going to be much in early content, but there seems to be quite a few games that have these copies in the wild. I stumbled into these by buying what turned out to be a NFR PAL Okami. That was a surprise. What I'd like to know is, is there any advice you'd give to those looking at collecting video games?
1) Don't collect crap just because it's cheap and looks like your collection grows faster. Pretty much everyone who did that will eventually end up selling the crap and make a loss, including me. 2) Buy only what you like. Big collections usually start out by buying only stuff you really want, not by hoarding everything related to a console/brand. That comes later, if at all 3) Don't overspend. Compare prices. It's not so hard to wait for a few months... time is passing by quickly. 4) Have fun with it! Don't just collect because it's rare or because other people say it's good! Of course, sometimes that means it's indeed also fun to collect, but don't care too much about other collectors!
Be careful with the Saturn. Collecting the gems (Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, Saturn Bomberman, ect.) will rob you dry (as I'm discovering). However there are the good games which are normal price like Panzer Dragoon 1&2, NiGHTS, and Astal. Takes patience to weed through the shovel-ware. But once you do, it truly is an underrated system.
Be careful with the [insert name of a good retro game system]. Collecting the gems ([insert few names of rarer retro game titles] ect.) will rob you dry (as I'm discovering). However there are the good games which are normal price like [insert few names of the better but not so rare/expensive retro game titles]. Takes patience to weed through the shovel-ware. But once you do, it truly is an underrated system.
Only get the games you like for your system. I have all games for the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, and NES. (They're ROMs as I don't have the space or money to buy official carts. Don't give me smack about it.) I'm currently focused on the classic Xbox and only have 6 games right now. The collection will keep growing once I get a big HDD in it to give me room for more games. I'll be slowly buying the games over the years, ripping them to the HDD, and shelving the original disks for safety's sake. And don't always go for the cheapest option when looking for a game. I got burned good when buying Shadow the Hedgehog for the Xbox. Disk was scratched up pretty badly. Thankfully I got the disk repaired enough to copy to the HDD.
Nice hints here already. If you will end up selling all the stuff, why bother start collecting? Buy something you like to see, for a long time... (example: big paper boxes of old pc games) Or something you like to replay and replay and replay... (example: sega arcade racers)
My collection grew out of "I want to play this game". even if it was just for 10 seconds. Shop wise. Don't buy a HUGE bulk of games to have a big collection. You'll get ADD when it comes time to play them.
I collect retail PS2 games, but I also have about 50 of those review/NFR discs. The tricky part is knowing which came with a paper insert and which didn't. Or maybe they all did. I'm not sure. There's not much information out there on these yet.
Buy bulk packs and on-sell the leftovers to recoup your costs. Otherwise, shit gets real expensive. I've lost count of the THOUSANDS I've spent to buy games and build a collection, literally would be THOUSANDS. My fault was being impatient and buying expensive games separately rather than in packs - obviously finding them in packs will be an extremely rare occurrence, but it is possible. Good luck with it, these days you need a big budget to get the common games that everyone used to have simply because everyone now wants them. I wish I started 20 years ago... I justify it though as I don't plan to ever sell my personal collection, I want to actually set it up in a games room where you can switch between consoles as you please and enjoy playing games as often as possible.
Listen to what everyone is saying. It is good advice and very true. When I start collecting games for a new console, I usually look at all the games for the system before I even get the console. Then I pick out games I may like, read up on them, and emulate them on my computer (come on, I plan to buy it...). Then I pick the games I like most and look out for cheap prices on eBay (except the Lynx which has cheaper prices on Amazon) then buy them. After the initial find, I keep an eye out on eBay, Amazon, Listia, ect. for anything decently priced, test out the game to see if it is fun, and then buy it. If it isn't fun (for instance "Ren and Stimply" for the GameBoy was up on Listia recently for a decent price) I won't buy it. The only games in my collection that I don't like are games that came with something I did like or that I owned them from my childhood. I just bought a copy of "Dragon Warrior Monsters" that came with a crappy Shrek fighting game (that I already own from my childhood) and NFL Football. Hope you take my and everyone's advice and end up with an amazing collection.
