Tips for New Video Game Collectors

Disclaimer: I’m not the biggest or best collector ever. I’d rarely even describe myself with that moniker. However, as someone who’s been into this whole sphere for a while; I always wanted someone to just give me some general tips and tricks.

So, I’ll do that for you…I guess?

What do you want to have a collection for?

Pretty obvious question when you think about it and it’s the most important.

Do you just want to relieve some nostalgia? Would you rather have a revolving door of the biggest games? Or are you just focusing on making YouTube videos?

All of these goals have different needs. And the last thing you want is to buy a console and then realize that you have absolutely no use for it. Take it from me. I’ve done it before.

Therefore, you are far FAR better off figuring this out now than you are later. It’ll save you time, money, and heartache.

What kind of games do you like/What console do you want?

This one works along with my previous point, as well as the one coming up next. Figuring out what kind of games you like is key. Just 7-ish years ago, it used to be that Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo were entirely different. Nowadays, they’re pretty homogeneous. Besides the big Nintendo games and the PlayStation exclusives that don’t get ported to PC; you can pretty much play almost everything on anything.

However, someone who likes niche Japanese games is not the same as the person who just wants to play F2P multiplayer shooters. Maybe you want to play older gems? Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you. Do you want objectively cheaper games or are exclusives your biggest priority?

Then there’s genres. Hack and slash. Survival horror. Visual novels. RPGs. Racing games. Fighting games. I can ramble on forever about each different genre and their respective sub-genres.

This all kinda seems like a mute point. But it is paramount that before you dedicate yourself to slapping down $300–500, you know that this console has the kind of games you want that will make this investment worthwhile.

Avoid the “collecting bug”

This is something that I legitimately fight to this very day. Quite often, I will jump at the chance to buy something. Not just because I really want it, but because I’m afraid that it will become hard to find.

It’s happened with all of my collections. From action figures, to movies, comics, manga, and now; with my game collection.

I get this fear that whatever I want will be gone and I’ll never get it. Which was part of the reason why I made my (now removed) video about Limited Run games.

And to be fair, it’s happened before. Gun Gun Pixies was a Japanese PlayStation Vita exclusive. Meaning that literally like 5 people got to play it. It was then localized and released on Steam and Switch, where it was given a physical release. A physical release that became as cheap as $30 for a little while back with the pandemic began.

But then, all of a sudden, it was sold out everywhere. And if you could find it, it was ridiculously marked up. Even the originally inexpensive Vita release was being sold for upwards of $80. Luckily, that Switch physical price has since lowered down to a comfy $60.

But that optimistic outcome is often a rarity. Most of the time, something that becomes hard to find stays that way. Especially if it was released pre-digital sales. Oftentimes, the issue isn’t the title being rare. But just expensive. And, fortunately for my father who raised me this way, I’m a cheapskate unless I REALLY want it (Which I got from my mother).

Thankfully, all of my FOMO buys have been amazing games. For the most part…

Overall, my best advice is to just sit on it for a while. Add it on your eBay alerts to see new listings and wait for a decent price. Regardless of rarity, just think about any purchase over a certain amount for a day at least.

No. I’m serious. Sit on it.

Very, VERY rarely will something like that Gun Gun Pixies thing happen again. Yes, as time goes on, some things will become hard to find or just really expensive. And to be honest, there are some items that you will never be able to buy.

And you need to come to terms with that. As long as you’re buying something for your own enjoyment and it isn’t out of your means, then don’t stress about it. But if you can’t afford to get a specific game, then: BONUS TIP! Get a friend who already has.

If money is tight, then seriously consider emulation.

“OH NO! JUSTUS IS A PIRATE! KILL HIM!”

Chill out.

I’m not telling you to get your hands on an illegal copy of Breath of the Wild 2 before it even hits store shelves.

But what I AM saying is that if, for whatever reason, money isn’t something you can be too frivolous with; then it may be best to just emulate all of those older titles from Atari up to the Wii. I mean, sales on GOG and Steam can only go so far.

I don’t want to get into emulation and it’s legal ramifications because I’ve talked about this before to death. Plus, Nerrel’s videos on the topic are some of the best made out there surrounding the arguments for and against emulation.

Sometimes, it’s just not really worth the hassle to track down some game for collection purposes or to make some quick YouTube video, as good as that video might be.

Conclusion

If you haven’t read this whole guide, yet you made it down here (somehow), then the gist of what I said is this:

Take your time, weigh all of your options, don’t give in to FOMO, and if it’s old/too expensive=emulate it.

Man, I miss Blockbuster.