Are you more of a gamer or a collector?

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michaelbaysuperfan616:
I started out as a big time gamer, playing everything I could get my hands on. Then I turned into a massive collector trying to own everything I could get my hands on. Recently I have thinned things down a lot and try to focus more exclusively just on the games I think I will enjoy and not buy games just to own them.

There are some times where I think maybe if I had more space, money, time, etc, then I would get back into collecting. Sometimes I wish I would just sell everything off and only buy one game at a time, play that game, beat it and then buy the next game. I tried doing this before but I couldn't decide where to start.

Evan_B:
I have hit sort of a middle ground. I did a lot of experimenting with different genres while I was in college, but I've sort of settled into my specific tastes and now I try to play what looks good to me, personally.

That being said, I'm a sucker for special editions.

NWR_insanolord:
I only buy games that I intend to play, but I have a whole lot of things I haven't touched or barely touched. Also, I'm digital-only this generation, which may or may not disqualify me from being considered a collector.

Adrock:
Gamer and not even much of one because I buy games then don't play them. I'm making a concerted effort to go back and actually play through my backlog. I almost bought a PS4 before deciding that I already have too many video games to play.

I tried collecting back in 2007. It's too expensive. I would like to collect most Nintendo hardware, but I'm not obsessed with it. Collecting to me these days mostly involves not trading in games or hardware.

I used to like collecting special editions, but 2010 put an end to that. Both God of War III and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow special edition boxes were lame. Between the two, I wasted about $60 which is an entire new video game. I had to stop though I bought the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U bundle though that wasn't really a special edition. Limited runs that are the same price are fine. Code of Princess had a soundtrack and an underwhelming art "book." It didn't cost extra, but it was one of the few games I bought new because it was an Atlus game and may become impossible to find.

I talked myself out of buying the Xenoblade Chronicles X special edition.

Ian Sane:
I think you can make an unintentional transition from gamer to collector. I first started really buying games when I got my first job and suddenly had disposable income. I started getting a lot of used SNES games (this is in 2001 so these weren't really retro yet, seen more as just old). I had a SNES as a kid but since I was relying on acquiring games as birthday and Christmas presents there were lots of titles I always wanted but didn't have. Some of the first games I got were ones my brothers and I had rented as kids and I wanted to own them to play at any time. SNES games were also cheap at the time. I got Super Metroid with box and manual in fantastic condition for $15.

So around the same time I was also buying current games and some used ones that I had heard good things about. At this point I was putting a good amount of time into playing these games. But over time things kind of got more about collecting. The older a game is the less likely you are to find a copy in the wild so even though I would have stuff I'm playing currently Game X showed up at a used game store and I might never find it again so I would buy it. Also when you're online and on gaming forums and stuff everyone is talking up this game or that and you want to see what the fuss is about so you get it but don't get around to playing it right away. Oh and my personal life is much more busy then it was in my teens so now I don't have as much TIME to play all these games and suddenly you realize you're collecting stuff you never play. Ooops.

I've really changed my approach this generation. I don't have that many 3DS games. I've cherry picked the ones I KNOW I will really get into, rather than accumulate all the major titles that review well. Same with the Wii U. I try to put off new game purchases if I'm currently invested in another game and it's working quite well. The only flaw in my plan is my birthday is in December so with that a Christmas I tend to get a glut of games as gifts and then I suddenly have a backlog. And usually I want to play all of them so I end up bouncing between multiple titles and then lose interest in this one or that one. But that's minor compared to what I was like before. The key is to accept that you can't play everything. So narrow in on the titles that really interest you and avoid buying a new game until you're done with the one you're currently playing.

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