Videogame Collecting

Underneath my TV(Toshiba 32" HD), I have 3 game consoles. PS2, Gamecube, and XBox. Under our older TV that is currently sitting in my son's room, I have a Dreamcast that seriously needs to find a new home under my Toshiba. In our storage closet, also in my son's room, I have a SNES, N64, Atari 2600, and a ColecoVision with the Adam Module attached. I also have a lot of PC games, but nothing really new. This is not a large collection by any means, and I would definitely LOVE to add more to it.

Next to the TV is a shelf that holds our movies. The top 2 shelves are filled with DVD's and some VHS. The bottom shelf is my favorite shelf. It holds all my PS1, PS2, N64, SNES, Dreamcast, XBox, and Gamecube games. There are a ton of them.

One problem I have had over the last year is that I have bought a ton of console games that have barely been played. I would buy a game, play it for a little while, and then put it back on the shelf where it begins to collect dust. It isn't like I didn't like these games. I love them and want to play them. But there was always something that kept me back.

Everquest and Anarchy Online.

I got sick of Everquest and quit it back in March. It had consumed almost all my game time from July of '03 to the day I downloaded the Anarchy Online trial. Once I fired up AO, I was hooked. It took up ALL my game time. I found it much more satisfying than Everquest, and easier to play on my schedule. I went from playing a few games religiously to not playing them at all. My gaming has revolved around AO.

To make things worse, I was still buying other games. For example, while playing AO, I had bought Viewtiful Joe, Ikaruga, R-Type Final, Beyond Good and Evil, and Prince of Persia 2. They have all been played, and while I love all of them, they got ignored. The only purpose they had was to collect dust, and my XBox was only used to play DVD's(my DVD player quit on me).

Well, now I have a problem. There are games both out now or coming out soon that I want. My wife says I can't have anymore until I play the ones I already have, and she has a point that I can't, and won't argue with. It has also made me feel like a child, which is depressing.

So, I have quit Anarchy Online. I have quit for a couple of reasons. One is that my sons needs come before my own, and it made playing a game like that difficult and at times impossible. The other reason I left is because it took up all my gaming time and I want to play the games I have spent over a thousand dollars to collect. I love Anarchy Online, and do plan on eventually playing it again, but not now. Also, if you are reading this and are interested in a MMORPG, consider AO. It is difficult to get into at first, but a lot of fun once you know your way around the game.

The other night, I decided to put Knights of the Old Republic in my XBox and play it. I bought the XBox for this game, and never beat it. I had a blast playing it and I can't see why I put it down. It made my decision to quit AO seem more like a good idea.

Eventually, I would like to get into more serious videogame collecting. I want to grab some of the rare games, like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Suikoden 2, and some of the imported Final Fantasy games. I would not mind a European copy of Ico, even though I couldn't play it. I would just like to have it. There are older consoles like the Vectrex and Atari Jaguar I would love to grab also. But, this will have to wait for awhile.

It's a good thing I am married. Someone as dorky as me would never be able to find a date.