Topic: Retro consoles/games: moving on

Just something I've been mulling over here for a while...

Like many here I'm a gaming enthusiast who not only likes to play games, but likes to collect games and to discover new games in as many different genres and styles as possible. A big part of this has been purchasing games for retro consoles (although, personally, my interests haven't gone too far back in time - with little in my collection going past the 5th generation), often with the hope of "reliving" the experience of playing those games back in the day.

However, a number of factors (increased living costs due to renting in London; lack of time associated with...adulthood; modern consoles like the Switch having such fantastic libraries; the realisation that I like to replay a lot of games that I already have access to; the rising cost of retro games; a realisation that I can never play everything that interests me; a realisation that I barely touch my retro consoles) have led me to reconsider my stance on retro games and collecting. It seems at the very least, I'm at a standstill in which I'm not really interested in buying any retro games, unless they're from a series in which I'm especially interested (e.g. Pokemon). More likely, I'm considering going a step further and letting go of some of my consoles and games - particularly those to which I have no particular sentimental attachment (e.g. those that I didn't grow up with), or those that it looks unlikely that I'll ever actually play.

It's...not from lack of enthusiasm - maybe just a realisation that my priorities are probably better placed elsewhere?

Has anyone had a similar experience, where they've lost interest in their collections and have considered moving on? Have you gone through with it? And if you went through with it, was there any regret or backtracking involved? Any advice?

@timleon
Recently i'm hunting for old games such as PS3, PS2, PS1, NDS, 3DS, Wii games when there are some upcoming new games i want to buy.
There is always at some point we get bored by our collections but we can counter it by play different games from different machines.
When i got ACNH on 27 June 2020, i was really hyped for several months until i got Sly Cooper PS3 games, my hype switched until 1 month i finished Sly Cooper 2 + 3 PS3 and Sly Cooper Thieves in Time PS3.

And btw, it's not about adulthood. Just because we are already grown up, it doesn't mean we just throw away our gaming experience in the past. Just ignore the peoples who called you childish for playing video games. Who the heck cares with their opinion ? They are just jealous.

Btw, not every retro games are expensive. Recently i got very cheap old games from Tokopedia, well.... the games that i have never before played but still caught my interest. Just keep build your games library. New games, old games, never before played games, obscure games, whatever, just pick them if you have interest with them.

@timleon Years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I pitched/sold a lot of Super Nintendo stuff because I felt like I had outgrown it. I wouldn't say it was a mistake (although I pitched the big box for my copy of Earthbound. That was a mistake) but I was changing my station in life and unsure how I could take that with me. Since then, I've gone through similar fits. I get gamer ennui and want to sell everything I own, or conversely collect as much of one thing as I can. I own all the Dragon Quests, for instance, but I've only played three of them I think. Gaming is strange hobby because I think part of us just like owning the media and not necessarily playing it.

I recent have felt that way. Before last year I would buy any SNES game or Genesis game I could find just because I wanted a retro game collection. Sadly though I just don't have the time to play alot of these games. Instead I just focused on the games that meant the most to me now. If there are other retro games I want to play there are places I can go to play them without having a physical collection.

I've felt that way about alot of newer games. I'm getting to the age where more than half the stuff coming out is things I've never heard of. I feel like I'm not as hip to what's cool in gaming as i used to be. So basically usually when i decide to play something it's some 30 year old favorite from gamings past. I like old games cause they're old and so am i.

As for throwing it all away and forgetting about games all together no way in hell would i do that! I haven't been into this hobby this long so i can just wake up one morning have me a mid life crisis and just burn my entire collection. What would i do when I'm bored? Stare at the walls? Take up knitting?

I'm a gamer and i will be one until they pull the plug. If games get too weird I'll just stick to the classics.

Absolutly, i have overthinked my Behaviour in a similiar Way you did.
I am managing it for myself that Way:

I love my Super Nintendo, so i mainly buy Games for that System.
I am here in a lucky Position that i only "need" and want Games that go for a reasonable Price.
Games that are overpriced and i want to play, i would just use my SD2SNES aka FXPak Pro.
Or i import them and use a Romhack with that, have done it with Chrono Trigger for example.

I only buy games for other Systems if i truly want to play them, especially for Disc based Games, since they'll die before Cartdriges will do.

Also, Shops as Gog give me the Oportunity to buy Games digital that i can manage as i wish, no fear for me that DRM will kill the Games one Day.

Here i am relativly undecided if i'll sell one of those Systems, as the Gamecube.
I love playing Games on original Hardware, but i am nearly not using it and my Collection is rather small with about ten Games.
Also some Games got ported to newer Systems or the mentioned Gog Store, so to get them on a format that isn't as fragile as Discs (Switch and its "SD Carts) is tempting.

I also ordered a MISTer now.
This could shape my View on the whole Thing once again.

At the End, i am pretty sure the Super Nintendo will stay with me until the End

I’m only interested in playing games. But a number of years ago I did begin a collection of GBA carts that I felt I should have. I loved those things. But after getting a collection together I felt it wasn’t a priority to continue the collecting. Years later it’s still not a priority and I’ll let others amass cartridge collections, I’m fine having an ever drive to just play the games

@timleon Retro collecting is expensive hobby. That is why I only buy the games I really want. But you are right it should NOT be a top priority like rent and other essential things in life

@Anti-Matter "Just ignore the peoples who called you childish for playing video games. Who the heck cares with their opinion ? They are just jealous." He actually never said such a thing in his post. Stop projecting your issues on others

@timleon If there's one thing I've observed since I began regularly spending time on gaming forums, it is that people regret getting rid of their games. By all means, take a hiatus from collecting/playing if that's how you're feeling. But. Never. Sell. Your. Games.

Of course, one could speculate that the market for retro is at a peak right now, so if you're absolutely sure you want out then now could be a decent time to cash in, but while you're undecided... Never. Sell. Your. Games.

@Azuris What is a MISTer?

Thanks all for your responses.

Just to be clear: I'm not on the verge of outright selling everything. It's more a case of pruning my collection than anything. For example, I grew up with the Gamecube and have no intention of selling that or any of the games I have for it. However, I recently required an original Xbox many years of owning both a 360 and XBox One and - despite having a handful of games that can only be played on this system, none really stand out to me as essential; and to be honest I don't have any particular love for the hardware itself (I'd much rather be playing on a more modern Xbox).

As for enjoying old games? I still love them - and some of my favourites include Super Mario World, SMW2: Yoshi's Island and Pokemon Red/Blue. But these are games that, for the most part, have seen life in modern consoles - if I'm to go back to the former two games, I will use the Switch's SNES online app, for example. Almost without exception, I will play a game on the most recent console it's been released on (unless that version has any glaring issues with it).

This is an interesting point and really hits the nail on the head with my mindset here (although whether on the right side of the argument, I don't yet know). I think with a lot of my collecting the mindset is to have a library of games that I can play at any time...even if I know I'll never play them all. There's some comfort in knowing that I have a game available and won't have to hunt it down (potentially at an exorbitant price) should the day come when I get the urge to play it in the future. So there's a definite element of FOMO here.

That said...that day is looking less and less likely for a good chunk of my collection. Maybe it's better to sell 20 games in the off chance that I might have to hunt only one of them down in the future?

That said, regret is a real risk so I agree that I shouldn't hurry into things. I might trial putting a number of games into storage for a few months / a year, and see if I "miss" them or not.

I think at the very least I have a clear idea of which games I could never part with - these include the vast majority of my Gamecube and handheld Nintendo collections - particularly games in the Pokemon series.

@gcunit

It is is a Device that has a FPGA Chip, that Chip is programable to act exactly like another Chip.
So for Example a Super Nintendo or Mega Drive / Genesis Chip.
In that way, it acts exactly as original Hardware.
Because of that it is not facing the same Issues classical software emulation does (lag, sound and picture problems).
Short said, it is Hardware Emulation.

This Device seems to be one of the biggest Steps in preserving the Experience and Behaviour of old Systems without the need of having that Hardware.

The Chip is limited in what it can mimic by its Size, at the Moment it seems that the Limit will be the Playstation.

Maybe we'll get a new Generation of FPGA Chips that can handle more.

The biggest Complain with it was that you had to build it yourself.
But i've found with a simple Search three Shops in Europe that sell them Ready to Go (Germany, Portugal and England).

@timleon For the most part, I've only bought games when I'm looking for a new game to play. Being a non-collector here, I realize I may be in the minority (I've held onto gamecube/ps2 and their games, but those games fit couple shoe boxes.)

I have a small bunch of cheap games I've gotten from Switch eshop sales and feel guilty for not playing them. So, with eshop, I'm back to only buying games, when I'm looking for something new to play.

I won't buy Toree 3D for 99 cents, unless I'm going to play it. It feels comical to say that, because it's so cheap. XD But I hate the Switch home screen clutter & accumulating unplayed games. It's in my wish list.

I had a massive collection of retro games and consoles and I got fed up about 10 years ago and sold pretty much everything (I kept my yellow GBC and framed it with the Pokemon Yellow cart and an Original Pikachu Card).

I dont regret it at all as I hardly ever hooked them up, they were just sat on shelves. So what was the point past hoarding.
I actually play way more games since getting rid of the collection and weirdly have gone mostly digital (will pick up a disc/cart if I see them cheap) the last few generations and loving it.

Due to financial difficulties, I sold a bunch of my old consoles and games five years ago. Since then, I've been fortunate to be able to purchase games again. However, I haven't re-purchased any classic games.

One of my life lessons is learning to focus on things that I enjoy. A lot of the carts and discs which I sold had been gathering dust. Someone else will hopefully appreciate them.

Around 20 years ago I had to sell all my stuff after splitting up with my partner. The collection consisted of, among other things, 4 x Dreamcast & 150+ games, 3 x Saturn & 120+ games, 2 x PC Engine w/ CD Tom & 90+ games, 3 x SNES/SFC & 80+ games, MD & 80+ games, Neo Geo & 35+ games, plus various 3DO, Jaguar, Master System, Panasonic Q, various handhelds and other misc stuff. Took up an entire room, and I probably got no more than 15,000 for the lot.

The first few years afterwards I was gutted. But as the X360 era began, more and more of the games I'd missed started to crop up on digital stores, and now I struggle to think of anything I played seriously back then that I now don't own in some form or other. Border Down and Cosmic Smash on the Dreamcast are the only two titles that spring to mind actually.

As for the physicality of it, that's one thing I don't miss at all. In my mid 40's, I could not be arsed anymore to dust shelf after shelf after shelf of carts, knowing that of the hundreds there, I've probably only played 50-100 in any meaningful way.

I've got a middling collection of PS2/X360/PS4/X1/Switch stuff and I'm quite happy with those, though I'll probably sell off the PS2 stuff soonish.

Only physical thing I intend to 'collect' is the Evercade - I've ordered the Founders package, there's a lot of interesting stuff on the carts, and they're small enough not to take up a massive footprint.

The only thing that does make me wince is how little I got for it all. I got bored a few weeks ago and looked on Ebay at what my Neo stuff alone was worth - I got around £3,500, and now that alone would buy me a decent-sized family car outright, or a decent deposit on a house.

Oh well.