I’m into video games… mostly the old-school variety.
I’ve been into video games since I first got an Atari 7800 ProSystem back in the late-1980s and enjoyed the system tremendously until I eventually got the almighty NES. The NES survived until my brother picked up an Super Nintendo for himself, but eventually the system migrated over to me. I’ve grabbed a Sega Genesis for five bucks at a thrift store, but the system lacked controllers, forcing me to borrow a couple 3-button controllers until I got my hands on a couple six-button controllers and eventually one with Turbo capabilities.As time passed, my interest in video games would wane (I sold my Super Nintendo with the small bunch of uninspired games I had for the system, including a couple Madden games and a crummy port of Wolfenstein) with only my trusty Game Boy and the occasional session of PC games to sate whatever desire was left. before I eventually picked up a Playstation (the smaller PS-One model) and started collecting games again. It was mostly wrestling games at first, but eventually I relented and picked up a few choice titles – mostly sequels or updates to game series I had played during my younger years.
A couple years later, I got an original Xbox for Christmas and began collecting games for that system. Somewhere along the line, I picked up a GBA SP unit when the Classic NES Series came out (only got a couple of those before getting real GBA titles).
When I finally got work, I eventually picked up a Playstation-2 and even a GameCube with GameBoy Player. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a Nintendo DS Lite and a PSP which were the best ways to keep up with the latest crop of games, since I knew that it’d be a good long while before I get my hands on a current-generation console.
That’s okay, though. I picked up a clone system called the FC Twin, which played NES and SNES games. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to play all the old NES games I had left over and it was incentive enough to start building a new SNES library as well as build upon the existing 40+ NES titles I already have. Heck, I even picked up a Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, and a damn Game Gear along the way, just to get more old stuff in the collection.
And then last year, I bought a current-gen console, Nintendo Wii. Mind you, it was mostly for Mega Man 9 – a wonderful new-old game – and also bex but also because of their amazing Virtual Console service which opened up a new realm of titles I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to get without paying major cash for.
I don’t necessarily consider myself hardcore (I play video games for fun and not for arrogant bragging rights – although I like winning too), but I’m not necessarily casual either (unless keeping records of game play on DVD is a casual player attribute).
I don’t have a massive collection (roughly 550+ games total plus 15+ consoles – nothing compared to Handsome Tom’s huge-ass collection), but at least none of it is from eBay and online sources (mostly flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores, and specialty shops… and the newer retail stores for the “recent” stuff too, I suppose).
I’ve never imported Japanese games, but I do have a couple of those Hong Kong multicarts on NES… also from a flea market for much cheaper ($40) than they would have asked for years ago ($200+).
And that’s pretty much my brief history with video games – which is still ongoing. I still play games, but I’m holding out on getting any new ones. What I’ve got at the moment is enough for me… at least until something catches my eye.
So ends the first video game-related post on this blog. Expect normal rants on the topic in the future… whatever that means.
dtm666 