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:
“I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“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)
“People’s affections can be as thin as paper; life is like a game of chess, changing with each move.”
—Chinese proverb.
“In the very midst of the crowd about this wreck, there were men with carts busily collecting the seaweed which the storm had cast up, and conveying it beyond the reach of the tide, though they were often obliged to separate fragments of clothing from it, and they might at any moment have found a human body under it. Drown who might, they did not forget that this weed was a valuable manure. This shipwreck had not produced a visible vibration in the fabric of society.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)