The Game Collection: Where My Money Goes
Much to my roommate's dismay, I am a gamer. Like many gamers, I spend a good amount of money purchasing things that relate to this hobby and it tends to take up a considerable amount of space. That being said, I never really think much of my collection until I have company over and that is one of the first things they notice.
I know I don't have the biggest collection, but to the layman I guess it is impressive and\or horrifying to see a grown man with this much video game related paraphernalia. There are several things missing from these photos like my Xbox 360, Dreamcast and Gamecube (in repair or on loan), as well as the stuff I didn't take with me after I moved out of my parents house so many years ago.
Frequently I am told that my living room looks like a 4 year old's bedroom. Prior to most recently, it was also often that potential male callers were taken aback by the predominance that video games take around various sectors of my house. I'm curious as to how many people also experience this, and how much money they sink into gaming.
Asterick
Posted to Video Games on 17 March 2008
· Comments (9)
Other stuff like this: game collection, roommate dismay, toddler's room
I'm definitely a fan of "less is more," so gaming clutter is something I try to avoid. I don't game too much, so that's a good thing, because I can limit my collection to games that will last me plenty of gameplay hours. I constantly find myself enjoying smaller consoles, wireless controllers, universal controllers. (I love playing Rock Band at a friend's but the amount of space the game takes to store with drums, and the cord clutter and incompatibility with other games -guitar + mic- has been keeping me at bay).
I have my old systems in boxes, and I'm always wondering if I should get rid of them, because they rarely get played, and I wouldn't miss them if they were gone. I'd be happier to clean up the space they take up!
So definitely I'm a fan of backwards compatibility, slim models, downloadable content, universal peripherals, and wireless peripherals. Which often has me playing the waiting game, and saves money when I decide something isn't what I want anymore. Patience, grasshopper!
I'm definitely a fan of "less is more," so gaming clutter is something I try to avoid. I don't game too much, so that's a good thing, because I can limit my collection to games that will last me plenty of gameplay hours. I constantly find myself enjoying smaller consoles, wireless controllers, universal controllers. (I love playing Rock Band at a friend's but the amount of space the game takes to store with drums, and the cord clutter and incompatibility with other games -guitar + mic- has been keeping me at bay).
I have my old systems in boxes, and I'm always wondering if I should get rid of them, because they rarely get played, and I wouldn't miss them if they were gone. I'd be happier to clean up the space they take up!
So definitely I'm a fan of backwards compatibility, slim models, downloadable content, universal peripherals, and wireless peripherals. Which often has me playing the waiting game, and saves money when I decide something isn't what I want anymore. Patience, grasshopper!
People are surprised that adults play video games? Are they from the 80s, perhaps recently freed from carbonite or cryogenic freeze?
Seriously, it's a pastime that makes more money than the movie industry does at this point, and if they can't understand that someone would be into games and not be a child, then the problem is theirs, not yours.
Just like anything in your life, you have to embrace it and enjoy it without embarrassment. If someone told me that my room looked like a four-year-olds with all my games and toys and such, I'd really just shrug and not listen to their advice on the matter. It's one thing to have a room that's cluttered and messy, but it's another thing to have a room focused around something you love and having it on hand and easy to access at all times. And if someone comes in there and is impressed instead of turned off, or just flat out gets it without explanation, well, there's a keeper. Something like that, anyway.
As far as how much money I spend? Video games are my hobby and my entertainment and sort of my everything in that regard, so that's sort of where all my money allocated for such things goes. And I enjoy it, and that's what matters.
My boyfriend and I are both gamers, but the stuff is predominantly mine. Our bedroom is...
well, we got a 42" LCD tv last christmas, and between that, the three current-gen consoles, my 800+ DVD/HD DVD/Blu-Ray collection, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, DDR, my computer, 5.1 surround system, etc...
And it's all in our bedroom because we have four roommates...
Once we move, I'm sure the space will be more organized. Actually, considering how much crap we do have, it doesn't look too bad.
Isn't that why people HAVE jobs? To buy morre games? I know that's what mine is for, anyway.
If a gentleman caller is taking issue with your games collection, that's when you shove his underwear in his mouth and tell him to stop talking. He's clearly not there for the conversation.
ZOMG, you have Mochi plushie.. SOOO cute~ ^.^
It's also interesting when you share a space with a non-gamer boyfriend. When a roommate complains about all your gaming paraphernalia, they can pretty much stuff it unless it's in their way. With a boyfriend you're expected to compromise a little more. You're expected to come up with a diplomatic answer to the question "Why do you need five consoles, and why do you need them all out in the living room?"
(Thankfully a good boyfriend usually wants you to be happy and to do some things you enjoy, so things balance out.)
I suffer from a similar problem. If all my games were on a bookshelf, I'd have a similar looking book shelf. I imagine there's probably a box somewhere filled with even more games, that you didn't think to take a picture of.
Sometimes I wonder if I've switched from a hobby of playing videogames to a hobby of simply collecting them so I can look at the shiney cases.