One year ago, I told you everything about my Second Coming of Gaming, dear fellow gamers. This was a story of hope lost and found, the tale of a gamer coming back home after years of forced exile from the gaming industry; it was moving, it was striking, and it felt like destiny. The story of how I became a collector, on the other hand, is pretty subdued. It's a tale of stealth, the story of a hobby taking a life of its own and expanding beyond my wildest expectations. If gaming was Metal Slug's Marco Rossi, making a bold and triumphant return into my life, then collecting was Metal Gear's Solid Snake, sneaking in and becoming a thing before I even realized it. Make yourselves comfortable and bring in the pop-corn, dear fellow gamers: here comes the story of how I became a Game Collector.
Collecting was never on my radar during my formative gaming years, due to a multitude of reasons. The sheer lack of funds and games to collect was obviously a major obstacle; but had my bank account overflowed with money and Europe with localized games, I don't think I would have indulged in stacking up cartridges nonetheless. See, I was not exactly concerned with perennity and replayability as a youngster: the best was yet to come, and the next game in line was always more exciting than the current one. Mind you, this carefree consumerism was far from being exclusive to yours truly: gamers at large, as well as the gaming industry itself, proudly exhibited that same careless attitude. The truth is that pretty much everybody back in the days saw gaming as a hobby for idle youngsters and consoles as mere toys, bound to be discarded as soon as the newer and flashier piece of kit stormed into the market. We were all ruthless, latching onto new gaming systems and fads with an enthusiasm only rivaled by our eagerness to get rid of formerly beloved games and consoles; as a matter of fact, the only thing more shameful that not owning the current hot console was to be caught enjoying an game from the former console generation.
With such a background, suffice it to say that I had no plans whatsoever of becoming a collector when I got back into gaming in early 2012. Sure, I was slightly more concerned with perennity than in the '90s, as I wanted to hold onto my precious cartridges this time around; however, I was only planning to purchase a couple of games and leave it at that. Heck, other handhelds were not even on my radar yet, let alone backup units: as far as 2012's me was concerned, the DS my beloved sister gave me was going to be my one and only system. Oh boy, how things have changed since; and how I laugh at my own past naivety and candor now, sitting on piles of dozens of games and pieces of kit.
So how did I become a collector, exactly? Well, that unexpected development is to blame on several things, the first one being Amazon's fiendishly devious yet highly enjoyable suggestion system — you know, that falsely innocent "Customers who viewed this item also viewed" section, choke-full with games irresistibly similar to the one you're just checking. I kid you not: this section alone is responsible for dozens of purchases, and can account for a massive chunk of my precious collection. Not that it's a bad thing at all, mind you; I was more than glad to cave in, and that suggestion system allowed me to discover the full extent of all my systems' RPG libraries, which would probably have remained unknown to me otherwise.
The question is, why was I so glad to cave in indeed? What made me purchase games so ravenously, despite boasting neither a strong collecting background nor any intention to ever become a full-blown collector? I could chalk it all up to pure greed, but there is actually more to it. In mid-2013, I owned roughly 50 DS games; a respectable number, granted, but one that certainly wouldn't have warranted a featuring in Retro Gamer's Collector's Corner. My collecting fully took flight in late 2013, reaching its peak in 2014 and soaring high until mid-2015; and that two-year bout of intense and frantic collecting matched a troublesome period in my life. To sum it up, this was the time when I rented a matchbox-sized flat in a shitty industrial neighbourhood, slaving away in a job that I only marginally enjoyed in order to save money to purchase my very own piece of real estate; and although I fully chose that situation and owned it, there's no denying that it was a teeny-tiny bit trying and taxing. A fair bit of escapism was in order; and lo and behold, collecting games gave me exactly that. (And so did playing games and writing about them — it's no coincidence indeed that I started this very blog in late 2013, a couple of months after moving into my pint-sized dump.)
With hindsight, it kinda boggles my mind to see how much I accomplished on the collecting front in those mere two years. Not only did I build up a full roster of handhelds, with the PSP, the Vita, the 3DS and the GBA joining my precious DS; but I also bought dozens of games, primarily DS and PSP ones. Those games were so dirt cheap that I could literally purchase several of them every week while still saving dough like a squirrel on steroids. By the time I finally left my tiny dumpster in mid-2015, my precious collection had cracked the three-digit limit and I had become a full-blown collector. In the meantime, concerns regarding perennity had also kicked in, along with a growing desire to compensate for my frustrating meagre gaming years (more on that in this post); the latter only added fuel to the raging fire of my collecting, and the former prompted me to purchase backup units, supplementary cables and extra batteries for all my systems. Better safe than sorry, indeed.
I slowed down ever-so-slightly in late 2015, and my collecting reached its cruising speed. The next two years saw me collect at a steady yet more relaxed pace, focusing more on the Vita and the 3DS and the Game Boy line — without forgetting the occasional DS or PSP hidden gem that had passed me by until then. 2018 saw a noticeable slowdown in all things collecting: with Vita and 3DS releases slowing down to a trickle, only a handful of new games joined my precious collection, along with a couple of Japanese exclusives that had been lounging on my To-Get-My-Paws-On List for years. 2019 is shaping up to be even more indolent, as Sony is about to stop the production of Vita cartridges in the West and Nintendo is slowly but surely abandoning the 3DS to focus on the Switch. Although I predicted the complete halt of my collecting endeavours several times already on that very blog, that probably won't happen any time soon: not only will Vita games still be released in Japan, but I'll also have the random overlooked gem from older console generations to keep me occupied. I'm actually looking forward to that more relaxed purchasing pace, with only the odd acquisition here and there to remind me of my halcyon days of collecting.
Reminding, indeed: because apart from precious, solid physical games, that whole collecting epic will leave me with heartwarming, wholesome memories. Oh, those thrilling hours spent hunting for games on the internet whilst listening to uplifting music! That giddy joy I felt every time I unearthed a new game worthy of joining the fray! That sheer delight that washed over me every time I pored over my collection! From the wonder and elation of the early stages to the contentment and sated gratefulness of recent years, without forgetting the eagerness and ardour of the 'escapism wanted' era, every phase of my collecting career was truly magical — and very much worth remembering indeed. Heck, I even look fondly on all the missteps that occurred along the way. Paying too much for North-American games on Amazon.co.uk because I didn't know yet that Amazon.com and Amazon.ca offered cheaper prices, ordering a Japanese game only to learn a couple of weeks later that it was going to be localized, landing a filthy GBA bootleg: that sure didn't amuse me at the time, but the seasoned collector I've become cannot help but smile at those antics.
And that, dear fellow gamers, was the story of how I became a proud and happy Game Collector. Those seven years of collecting were a most amazing ride indeed, and I'm firmly planning to enjoy that ride's ultimate stages to the fullest. Feel free to share your own collecting tales in the comment section, dear fellow gamers; and as usual, thanks a million for reading, and be my guest anytime!
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