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One important thing that I forgot to mention was my mini gaming bio.
Ive been gaming pretty much since any logical recollection. I remember playing Streets of Rage 2 for the Sega Genesis with my Dad. The combination of the music, the gameplay, and the fact that it was the rare occasion that I got to stay up uber-late (9 pm!!!!) firmly cemented the game as one my favorite games of all-time. After the Genesis my Dad received a PlayStation for Christmas, promoting me to de facto-caretaker of the system. The PSOne was the first instance in which I went hardcore into gaming, namely reading about games in magazines, playing over my friends houses, purchasing my own games, and discussing them during lunch breaks at school (in addition to when I wasnt supposed to). From there I later got a PS2, the first system that I officially owned, paving the way for my current tastes in gaming. Along the way I picked up a Dreamcastthe holy grail of hardcore gaming, and later a Xbox 360 riding on the hype-wagon of the release of Halo 3 (and being thoroughly disappointedforeshadowing my ire for the system). Of course handhelds have also made a massive impact, with the Gameboy, GBA, SP, and DS intermittently scattered throughout.
In the summer of 2010 I officially started collecting: i.e. no longer trading in games to GameStop, scouring bargain bins, fleamarkets, Goodwills, and buying from Ebay and Amazon. Currently I have around 250 games, with my final goal of acquiring all of the games on my wishlist (which consists of another 300 more gamesfairly limitedfor now).
My gaming genre preferences are quite broad: RPGs, FPS, third-person Action/Adventure/shooter, puzzle, arcade, and fighting. I absolutely will not tolerate sports games, and with the only exception of the Burnout series and the Midnight Club series, will not touch racing games. I always am willing to purchase quirky titles, and always on the lookout for hidden gems. With that said, I will play any game as long as it seems interesting, and has at least one good game mechanic, I treat reviews as a ballpark estimate not a definitive source of a games worth.
I also like to think that I am liberal in my company allegiances. While Nintendo is my least favorite company (I generally hate Mario and his affiliatesmore on that in later entries), some of their franchises I do enjoy like: Metroid, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Kirby, and Legend of Zelda.
Even though I do own only a 360, Sony and Sega are by far my favorite companies. And despite the many headaches attributed toward the 360, it still a great selection of games, and in my opinion the pinnacle of gaming controllers. So in all I am relatively balanced, but Ill let my entries speak for themselves.
So in all I look forward to interacting with this community, ranting about how developers should do what I say, and learning a few things along the way. Share some of your own gaming stories. Thanks for readingand until next time: Hira-SUGI!!!
I can also be found on GameSpot, GameInformer, and Youtube under the same name (and of course this fine site).
Good tidings fateful Game-philles and Master-sword enthusiasts, welcome to my first blog post ever.
Game collecting can be quite an enjoyable hobby, with a nearly limitless expanse of games, undiscovered gems and rarities just waiting to be played and appreciated for their role in the larger advancement of the median as a whole at the time of release. Like the wide-eyed awe from the English major experience the grand libraries of Oxford and Cambridge, so too is the game collector digging through Goodwill bins, and garage sales to finally find that rare historical gem. However like most collecting hobbies it can be quite an expensive endeavor, particularly for serious PlayStation One collectors (such as myself), since that market is ballooning even despite the weakened economic state of the US. With that stated alternate avenues and concessions must be made in order for one to have any hopes of complete their collection. Even though I only began officially collecting games for about a year, I have made particular observations that some uninformed may find useful. The main problem that I want to tackle today is coping with the often egregious price inflation currently on the market (with of course an emphasis on the PSOne price bubble phenomenon) understanding the inner workings of these market shifts and, planning accordingly to maximize the dollar of the collector community.
This interested me unofficially at the beginning of the year. After almost a year of scouring my local area, expending all known sources accordingly, I finally made the move to the online nether-regions of eBay and Amazon. While compiling my list of PSOne classics and gems that I was hotly anticipating I was confident that the price margin would be no larger than about $40 US dollars, or the highest price that I say for a particular PSOne game out in the wild (outside of the domestic, or online retail establishments). Imagine my shock when I ventured on Amazon planning on scoping ten or so games for at the most $50, only to realize the futility of my preconceptions. Not only was $40 considered a normal price point for most PSOne RPGs of merit, some products were as high as $150 (Suikoden II is and continues to be the bane of my existence ~-~). Having done thorough research before hand on what exact titles I had plans on purchasing (the number staying consistently at 54 titles), and having around half those titles being of a RPG nature, makes for quite a hefty sum total at the end of the day. So naturally I started asking questions of how I can get these at a discount. Well to save from needless deliberation, no one in the history of the Internet has found out a solution to the problem. Perhaps during the days in which markets were dictated locally, instead of globalization one may have had a chance at snagging these treasures from unsuspecting sellers. However the truth of the matter is, the ones selling, have done their homework, and will follow the flow of the market. And before anyone shots Objection! and refutes that flea markets, thrift stores, and auction lots are feasible options, these endeavors are of an undecidedly randomized nature, and differs irradically in terms of completeness and condition. So for the sake of brevity we will not entertain this as a viable option. The short answer to this conundrum:
You have no choice but to pay the price so save up your pennies peasantsthis may take awhile.
With the futility of chasing the value specter of the past out of the way, instead us collectors need to look forward. The video game market, like almost all markets have a deprecating curve in value. Most video games follow said curve at a consistent rate, however some show signs of exponential growth depending on certain attributes. Growth may in some cases curb the rate of decline to 25% as opposed to 75%, or in rare cases increase the value beyond the initial market value. The purpose of this series of entries is to take a laymans approach to identifying these attributes, and predicting these price curves to finally overcome the curse of inflation. Only by preempting on these choice items will we be able to truly save money on the items we want, not being at the mercy of arbitrary Ebay lots or tyrannical sellers. I claim to be no expert on the matter, and actually have little interest in economics, but I do have passion for my hobby (and I find saving money kind of fun). My love for collecting means that I need to be able to sustain such a pricy past-time so that I can do this for years to come. Join me in this exploration in addition to some other random gaming commentary/gushing/complaining. I hope both I and my audience may learn from each other; and off course save money as well 
Until next time "Hira-SUGI!!"
And yes there is a story behind that name keep reading to find out!
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