Video Game Collecting

Originally I was planning on starting with this phenomenon after moving out, but recently I have been reading up and viewing all kinds of collecting videos, that I finally gave in, despite all of the criticism, negatives and scams being involved nowadays. I will get to those factors next time.

Most famously, I choose to start collecting for the NES. My first console I experienced was an NES as a 3 year old after all, with Bubble & Bobble, Mega Man 1 and Super Mario Bros. 3 giving me an excellent introduction.

However, I and my brother had small amounts of games for it and the SNES as well, rounding up for both of them to no more than 7 games, and for the forseeable future, I would only be emulating most of the major hits I had been missing out on, with an occassional virtual console purchase inbetween.

Lately, the combination of hidden gem articles/videos/podcasts and video game collecting for the numerous consoles and the games has inspired me to start collecting in my own way too. The reason I choose to go for the NES is because of it's fascinating and iconic library, from the shittiest turds to the most ridiculous expensive holy grails, while inbetween having masterpieces and of course hidden gems.

Officially starting with 1 game back in february at a pawn shop, I wrote my "Master Game List" inside Excel in the mean time of what I currently own, and sooner than later, I realized that there is a smart and dumb approach to collecting, and also a cheap and expensive way.

To me, if you hypothetically would buy a complete collection of say the N64 or Dreamcast immediately, that is taking the fun out of going on the hunt and finding those games with impressive deals awaiting. If you are instead looking here and there, you are bound to find the majority of titles you are interested in.

I also think that no one should immediately go for the most expensive stuff as well in order to brag for instance on social media or elsewhere. Bargaining for a better deal is also an art I could develop further, and I am eager to use it.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, I have discovered something recently which I was not aware of yet, and I am referring to video game auctions then, in particular those found on Ebay. With the right amount of filters set, I was able to find dozens of items shipping to The Netherlands, and also auctions ending soon, or auctions where most of the bidding is happening, in order to perceive the general value awareness of collectors.

So, on Ebay, well, let's just say that I rediscovered the Famicom and it's shrouded exclusive game library, and to be honest, I kind of went frantic, overboard and wild with some of the offerings I saw online. (I won't share the amount of Famicom games I have won, yet :) )

Which reminds me to properly review the Family Computer itself on Flok Factory, which definitely will happen this year! Luckily, Famicom games have the awesome combination of being for the majority cheap, and they are also some of the tiniest cartridges for consoles out there, meaning that space is not an issue with them.

After I got somewhat sidetracked and distracted on Ebay, I will continue to focus on NES and it's Japanese counterpart, and after I have figured out how to play NTSC and NTSC-J games properly on my PAL TV, I can't wait for the enormous amounts of 8-bit joy awaiting me, with the majority of it having never been experienced by me in any way yet!