RF Generation Message Board

Hey all
Is there anything you collect that's sort of a guilty pleasure no one else is doing? For example collecting the worst ps2 games?

I would say the handhelds that many consider to be terrible like the Tiger Game Com, Nokia N-Gage, Gizmondo, Tapwave Zodiac, etc.   Part of collecting is the fun of holding your little piece of history and I like handhelds.

Oh, and hockey titles.  I know sports games tend to be a thorn for many.

Ha! This will be a fun thread if we can get people to participate. I actually collect the original, purple V-Tech game for my kids. They enjoy playing them and learning, and I enjoy grabbing them a flea markets and yard sales when I find them cheap enough.

I have several Tiger handhelds.  Probably my most shameful collection are all the Japanese games I will likely never get around to playing.

Sonic games... all of them.

Pokemon games... all of them.  ;D

I wouldn't exactly say that anything I collect is shameful, but what is shameful is that I have collected so many games and played so few of them.

Hear, hear.

Well, you should have added them to the "Keep An Eye Out" thread.  I've come across quite a few titles you might want to complete your set.  So many LeapPads and VTech games in the thrift stores.  Careful, I might get you started on Leapster and Didj.

Probably my pile of standalone handhelds that aren't even game&watch or tiger. In a pile because you can't really stick them on a shelf properly. I need a chest or something... That and the shovelware/sports games that I only play once to riff on when I'm inebriated.

Nothing I'd call a "guilty pleasure," but I've never encountered anyone else who's gunning for a full Pico collection.  2/3 of the way there now...

Think a few people here have complete sets?

I would eventually like to collect the CD-I stuff...but that needs to wait until the NES is finished.

I was going for Pico, Game.com, R-Zone

When i had a large collection i'd say the bulk of my focus could be considered "shame" at the very least i went out of my way to try and grab more out of the norm stuff.

This would be my shame as well.  And I don't consider my collection to be that huge, but some games I've owned for 10+ years and haven't put more than an hour into them, I always feel a bit bad about that.

The collecting idiosyncrasy I have that best fits is my love of ugly cartridges.  Torn labels, marker, stickers, I enjoy them all, and not just because they are often available at reduced prices. 

My copy of Frankenstein: The Monster Returns is missing 4/5 of its label.

My copy of The Empire Strikes Back for the NES is missing its entire label, which was then replaced by what appears to be an index card glued where the label should be.

I "label downgraded" my Power Blade from a fairly good label to one with creases and fading.

My copy of King Kong 2 Ikari no Megaton Punch has the name "KUWAHARA" writ large on the back sticker.

My copy of Brawl Brothers has a Hypno pokemon sticker on it.

And so on and so on.

@Ikariniku That is a fascinatingly awesome phenomenon. Have you ever thought about why you prefer your games that way?

Sure, I've thought about it.  I try to have a general idea of why I do the things I do.  :)

Obviously, price is a consideration.  Getting a working copy of Kickmaster for NES essentially free in a lot of games because it looks like it was melted on a waffle iron is a win in my (pocket) book.

However, the main reason is the sense of history these defects, scars, and markings give to the games.  Some of the items in my collection are 30-40 years old.  They've "lived" as long as I have.  They have stories.  It's an extension of the joy collectors might find in seeing high scores written in a manual or old saves on a cartridge.

Dings and dents go further than game information, though.  Rather than being a chronicle of things inherent to the game, it's a record of the world around the game.  Who owned it, where it was, what happened to it, all these facts about the game, the physical cartridge, are glimpsed.

The depth and completeness of this glimpse varies, of course.  A name on a cart pretty obviously points to its owner, but who was it that put that Hypno sticker on my Brawl Brothers?  Was it the owner?  Their sibling?  Their child?  I have an NES that has a rental store name and phone number dremeled into the bottom.  Little mystery how that got there, but just what happened to my poor, mangled Kickmaster?

I find that the less explanation a defect has, the more I enjoy it.  It sparks the imagination and reminds me that these games are not just the province of collectors and "nerds".  These were out in the world, enjoyed by all sorts of people.  They are cultural artifacts, and "ugly carts" help me appreciate that.

With all that highfalutin speechifying out of the way, I'll admit that I do enjoy pristine copies of things as well.  Despite label downgrading my Power Blade, my very nice Mega Man cart won't suffer the same fate (and not just because I got it from a friend).  I'm also quite a stickler for condition with new items, but new items have no history, just poor quality control at the factory.

Here's another idea I've had but not been able to put into practice.  At one time, I considered trying to assemble a non-functioning NES full licensed set.  However, given the low failure rate of cartridges, I abandoned the idea as HARDER than collecting working carts.  In my collecting, I've come across only one or two nonfunctional NES carts.  The chance that a broken Little Samson or Stadium Events is out there waiting for me seems slim, at best.

Very interesting way to look at collecting.  Yes, grabbing non-functioning NES games can definitely be difficult considering many of the cheaper or inoperable carts are being recycled into homebrews.  Eventually, all NES carts will no longer function but likely it will happen after we are all gone the way of EPYX and LJN.

@Ikariniku Thanks for sharing, that is really cool.

Oh, I've always been known as being a Tiger addict. I have probably close to 200 Tiger LCDs. Quite a few of which are SIB or blister pack. I also have a very nice Game.com and R-Zone collection. Have a few of the watches too. Hell, I even have Tiger catalogs! I WANT THEM ALL!

The most embarrassing part of this is that I have gotten into some nasty bidding wars in the past. The problem with collecting Tiger handhelds is that the collectors for the other shit out there are willing to pay top dollar at times to get their hands on something. I got into a particularly nasty bidding war once that went up well over $200 (which I LOST). Really I think it's become more of an obsession to me than a collection. In a way I'm glad I married poor and can't continue to pay outrageous prices for the damned things.

I also have a Nokia N-Gage. I actually used it as my phone for a while too. I traded/sold some of my N-Gage games (the ones I didn't play).