Are some game collectors Obsessive-Compulsives? Are you?

[Atari7800]

A few of you might remember a post a did awhile ago about the dangers of game buying addictions... here's a re-print and an update...



"I'm just wondering if I'm the only one.

I was a huge gamer as a child (5200 especially) and me and my college roomies played the hell out of NES, SNES, Genny, 32x, and PSX, plus some Super Gameboy thrown in for good measure. I was a serious GAMER for a number of years.

Now I'm a bit older (33) and my life is full of work and social activites, especially since I got rid of the old ball & chain (ex) a year ago. I just don't have much time to play anymore, and none of my current friends are gamers.

I'm just not spending much time enjoying videogames lately.

I have a problem... I'm a game COLLECTING addict. We're talking $200-$300 a month, sometimes more. I got started with that old 2600 I found on the side of the road and it just went nuts from there. Then I discovered Ebay... certainly the most expensive journey of my life and I suspect a cause of concern for many of you out there. I can't begin to account for all the money I've spent on Ebay... it's in the tens of thousands. For at least two years I lived from paycheck to paycheck, spending all my hard-earned cash on assorted crap that costs less (even MUCH less) than it does now. I don't know how many times I've been to the Post Office to mail off a money order. I spend every weekend going to fleas, game stores, cruising the net... it's as addictive as drugs or sex.

I'm in a better financial position now, with a a decent amount of money to blow. My credit cards are paid off, I actually have a savings account (!!!), and my living expenses are low. I'm not buying as much as I used to, but it's still bad.

I've got well over 1000 games now. Most I've never finished. Most I've never even played for more than 5 minutes. Some I've never played at all. Half my stuff is in storage six hours away, so I couldn't even enjoy it if I wanted without a car trip. I'm at the point where I'll have something to play for the rest of my days, but still I want more. I don't have any of the current systems, and you have no idea how hard I had to restrain myself from going nutty on a Dreamcast. I never got one, and I'm glad (yet saddened) that I did not. I still get the urge when I see those stacks of cheap DC games at GameStop of EB.

I'm especially interested in "RARE" games. I don't know why. Many of them suck. I suspect it's a "boys with toys" thing, a need to own something that few other people have so that deep in my mind I can gloat and think "I have this and you don't. Haha." This is bad. I have a number of things that would be considered "rare" (though not compared to some of you) but I still chase after that rare game until I have it, then pick another target. The smallest thing will set me off... I was reading a post about Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for the SNES a few days ago, and I immediatley went to Half.com and almost bought a copy for $60. I would have gotten it in the mail, looked at it lovingly, and then put it in a box (my SNES is in storage.) Then off to the next. Is this the point of gaming to me now? How pitiful! I spend wads of cash on stuff I'll never enjoy. I could have taken the $10,000 I've spent on games in the past few years (VERY conservative estimate) and bought a nice car or some Real Estate. Instead I have boxes of stuff that I'll never play.

I'm making a concerted effort to stop gradually. I went out last Sunday and only spent $23 (my usual for that particular stretch of gaming stores is $100 plus.) I'm trying to wean myself off my video game crack.

Am I the only one with this disease? Is there a cure? I've almost bankrupted myself a few years ago... I don't won't to ever go there again.

Let me hear some of your stories so I'll feel better and maybe stick to my resolution to save money instead of blowing it on more junk."



I have since figured out that I must have an obsessive-complusive disorder. I wonder if other collectors have it as well?

I just bought a condo, and all my attentions and energies have been directed towards that. I have spent less than $20 in two months on games... a serious record as I have spent $200+ on games for at least the past two years, if not three or four.

How about you?

[chadtower]

I don't know about OCD, but I do find that at times my compulsion to buy/find games borders on the lines of addiction. I think when you get to a point where you NEED to buy something, even though you don't really know what it is, and get that rush from it... and couldn't stop yourself from doing it... that's a problem.

I'm not that far yet but I still find myself saying things like "I'm not going to buy any games this week" and at the end of the week I've bought 5.

[devilman]

Am I the only one with this disease? Is there a cure? I've almost bankrupted myself a few years ago... I don't won't to ever go there again.

I'd say I have that 'disease' too. I get addicted to things very easily. I've been hooked on Fruit Machines for the past of ten years (a far more expensive hobby than videogames) and I'm also addicted to buying games. Part of the reason I've never taken a single drag of a cigarette or done any drugs of any kind is because I know there's a fair chance I'll get hooked.

I think the only 'cure' would be to make sure your time is occupied elsewhere. Personally I'm on the net a lot at home and work so I'm always browsing Ebay when I'm bored, buying more games I don't need. This is partly why I'm job-hunting again - ideally for a job with no net access! I do still play games a lot but I'm buying them in at a far greater rate than I'm playing them so I do need to slow down.

My name's Devilman and I'm a compulsive videogame collector *sits down*

[stonecutter]

I am Obsessive Compulsive...... game collecting is not the only one either. Even the way I do certain things, must be ordered and done a certain way, I have not been clinically diagnosed as I dont go to doctors often, but several people have picked up on some of my habits/rituals and comment to that effect.

[Raccoon Lad]

not me.

I'll stop or slow down when I finish my Master System collection, and I'm in no hurry to do that.

[Funk Buddy]

Not really as a collector, but with other things yes. I do over spend on games, but it's not OCD too me. I'm a checker and it's bad sometimes, but not bad enough for medication.

Thank you.

[christianscott27]

i'm as bad as they come in terms of obsession but luckily i am also amazingly cheap. i keep my game spending at about $35 a week and still meet my self imposed one game per day quota. so the money parts cool but space will become more of an issue as my son out grows the crib and needs his own space.

i think we bargin hunter collectors are a sub set of the collecting community, to me half the brag is not just that i found a rare game but that i got a $45 item for $2. i'm collecting all games in no particular order so i can just take what i find and be happy with it.

[chadtower]

I have some of that bargain hunter in me but I don't have the spare time to do it. I end up paying going rates for a lot of things basically because I don't have time to find them in the wild... I grab the good deals I see, but if I want something specific I'm usually going to grab it at market value because I find so little in the wild myself.

[maxlords]

I'm about 50/50. Half the time I HAVE to have a game and don't care what it costs, the other half, I'll wait 2-3 years just to find it $5-10 cheaper. Very random for me, but I find myself buying more games than I have time to play.

In my defense, I collect RPGs and shooters, and it's seemed that after I buy titles, they tend to mostly go up in price, so how I see it is that I'm buying the games while I can afford them to have them to play whenever the mood strikes me. And I'm REALLY random about what I play.

But yeah, it's part addiction, part compulsion, and part fun At least it won't give me cancer (I hope!)

[Chunky]

the only game recently i had to have was metal slug 3, the others have to wait. Hell i just picked up final fantasy x this week for 14.99. I've never even touched the game. I find it hard to pay full price when i know it's going down down after that.

Well i changed to that after buying a townhouse. that and i only keep what i find good/playable.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I'm able to put my collecting urges on hold and keep them in check. And yet I do get back into it now and again - but I can hit the pause button again pretty quick.

At the same time, I'm genetically predisposed - thanks to both parents' tendencies - toward O/C behavior and addiction. So sometimes I've really gotta hold myself back.

[Berserker]

If I were you, I'd sell off all the stuff in your collection that doesn't really seem to mean anything to you anymore.(and no I'm not just saying that so I can buy it, I'm actually broke right now and don't plan to get into collecting for a while yet.)

seems to me most people are into this because above all else, they love playing video games. it becomes a disease when it's no longer what you want to put your money/time towards, but still do. so again, if I were in your shoes I'd hold on to all the valuable stuff or the stuff that holds a certain personal value and just trim off all the excess, but that's just me.

[Flack]

My wife's first nickname for me was the "Collector of Collections."

500+ DVDs, 1000+ VHS tapes, 1000+ CDs ... you name it, I probably have more than most people.

Debt included.

Flack
Not really. Unfortunately, my salary affords me such nonsense.

[josekortez]

I would have to agree that the hobby can be financially debilitating, although lately my main problem is being a recluse more lately than spending too much. I'm in grad school, but I'm still relatively young, and (I like to think) decent-looking. Yet, sometimes the call of playing when I have free time keeps me from going out and enjoying college fun. Also, unless I lose power here, the games will be waiting to entertain me whereas I can't always count on the babes to do so. Sometimes, I resign myself to playing because I don't think that I can get anywhere with the women around here. Then, I complain internally that I haven't dated enough. Incidentally, I finally have a date tomorrow and she wants to see my living space, so I'm trying to figure out whether I should put my all or most of systems away before she comes up here...

Back to the spending, though -- it has been a problem for me in the past. These days, I have to keep to a budget because I don't make that much, and eating is more important that playing (well, usually). When I worked at game stores, I'd end up spending most of my check at the store, but lately, I can't remember the last time I paid $50 for a game for that reason. Therefore, I scour the shelves in stores to find the cheapest possible deals, but most of what I buy I can't even use. I mean, I've got the first two e-reader sets and still no e-reader. But the thing that gets me is when you can't afford to buy $50 worth, and some game store employees treat you like a leper when you bring your stack of cheap games to the counter. I mean, what's up with that?

[vincewy]

My answer to this question is YES and NO.

NO because before I collect games for a system, it has to be something I really like and/or unique, so far only Neo-Geo AES, LaserActive, and Dreamcast meet the above. I never have desire to collect PSX, XBox, or even Genesis games since there're way too many craps to fill my collection. The result limits me down to only VERY few systems like above.

YES, for those systems I like, I want complete collection of games and hardware accessories, in fact, I stretch my budget if I know it's one of my last chances getting rare games. Back in 1999 when a Japanese seller offered Neo-Geo AES Chibi Quiz for $150, I didn't even blink and bought right away, I know that week I charged credit card to buy grocey. To me those games mean much more to me than money. Money - can always earn it back, Rare games - get them now OR miss out and/or pay a fortune later.

Of course none of these come above 2 things, eating and vacation, I must have these first now before the hobby.

[nesuser2]

this hits me bad. i have absolutely no time to play all this stuff i buy. yet i think i've obtained atleast $10k in video gaming goods in less than a year. if not well over that amount. when i received my gamecube in the mail i did MAKE myself play it. and i played it alot.........so i've been trying to clean out the stuff i know i really don't need......check out my post in the buying selling forum .........and i'm trying every measure to get rid of it but the next alternative may be a dumpster. so i can finally sit down and weed through the other stuff. right now my collection takes up 2 rooms and i'm still living with my parents(i'm only 18 ) and the only reason they let me spend all my money on this crap is the fact that, #1 they love me, #2 they can't say no for reasons i wish not to speak of, and #3 they saw how much money i made on a deal that lured me into collecting for a life time(around $4k profit).........so if anybody can help me, buy my stuff in the other forum, i will make a really good price if anybody is interested in a bunch of it.......it really needs to disappear. and i'm willing to drive anywhere within 100 miles as a centerpoint for pickup.....for large lots, like......all of it

i need help........very badly........i see crap i know i don't need.....

the process goes:

i see it
i know i don't need it
i say to myself, you don't need that
i look at the seller(or pm them)
i say, how much is that
they say the price
i talk them down $10
i walk away with more games than anybody needs

help.