@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.
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