Video game collecting is the hobby of collecting video games and related memorabilia. Collectors may focus on a particular area of interest, such as retro consoles like the Atari 2600 and NES and retro computers like the Commodore 64 and the Atari 8-bit family computers. There may also be some overlap with animation, anime, manga, comic books, or other media. Collecting video games differs from other hobbies in that the collectible is interactive, allowing it to be enjoyed as a game as long as it still functions. Nostalgia plays a large factor, as those who grew up with a certain generation of games may have stronger appreciation for games of that era.
A collector may have started out by purchasing video games with no intent to collect, and later find that the act of owning games is in itself the means to collecting, with games owned for display purposes rather than being played. The value of a game depends on how sought after it becomes by collectors and casual gamers, especially rare games or games with a limited release. The condition of the game may also determine price, such as the quality of the cartridge or disc, label, and packaging. The inclusion of any packaging will increase value, as they are often thrown away. Most consoles, and their games are considered to be collectors' items years after their discontinuation. Many video game collectors are now starting to collect PlayStation, Xbox, Dreamcast, and GameCube games.
Read more about Video Game Collecting: Approaches, Collectible Games, Collectible Systems
Famous quotes containing the words video game, video, game and/or collecting:
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“These people figured video was the Lord’s preferred means of communicating, the screen itself a kind of perpetually burning bush. “He’s in the de-tails,” Sublett had said once. “You gotta watch for Him close.””
—William Gibson (b. 1948)
“The savage soul of game is up at once—
The pack full-opening various, the shrill horn
Resounded from the hills, the neighing steed
Wild for the chase, and the loud hunter’s shout—
O’er a weak, harmless, flying creature, all
Mixed in mad tumult and discordant joy.”
—James Thomson (1700–1748)
“While I am in favor of the Government promptly enforcing the laws for the present, defending the forts and collecting the revenue, I am not in favor of a war policy with a view to the conquest of any of the slave States; except such as are needed to give us a good boundary. If Maryland attempts to go off, suppress her in order to save the Potomac and the District of Columbia. Cut a piece off of western Virginia and keep Missouri and all the Territories.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)