People of RF Generation: The People of RF Generation - Addicted

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Name(First only):
John

Location:
Chicago, IL

Where does your screen name come from?
I used to use the screen name pcb-a-holic when I collected arcade and pinball machines, but I started branching out to other aspects of gaming and changed my name to Addicted.

How did you find RFG?
Duke Togo. He made a thread on NintendoAge promoting RFGen and the upcoming Collectorcast. He invited me to take a look at the site and I joined.

What made you stay and become part of RFG?
The people and database. RFGen is a constructive forum and site with little drama.

Have you ever met or personally know anyone at RFG?
I haven’t but I plan to make it to Midwest Gaming classic or Retro World Expo soon.

Number of Games Owned(at time of printing):
Over 4000.

Number of Games on Wishlist(at time of printing):
200

Number of Systems:
77 spread across five TVs.

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/RrD3OAN.jpg[/img]

When did you start collecting?
1997 for PC games, 1999 for Arcade Games, 2008 for Retro Games

What was your first system you owned?
The NES I saved up half of the purchase price $50 and my parents paid the rest.

What was your first game?
Jungle Hunt for the 2600

What was your first game you bought yourself?
The first game I remember buying myself is A Link to the Past.

What made you decide to buy that particular game?
Have you played it? It’s a great game! (He's not wrong...)

First game you ever beat?
The Legend of Zelda for the NES

Have you ever broken anything due to frustration from a game? Be honest, we won't tell...
Just my foot. I was working on a Speed Racer conversion kit and was having trouble getting the wheel to line up with the control panel. The wheel wasn’t anchored properly and fell over right on to my foot.

Are you collecting now, if so what anything specific?
I’m slowly collecting shoot em up games for an upcoming podcast.

When did you feel a tipping point from gamer to both gamer and game collector?
I bought a Genesis 1 and Power Base Converter out of nostalgia in 2006. They gave me the wrong power adapter. When I tried to return it they apologized and gave me a Genesis 2, SNES, and NES!

What are your goals as a game collector, how have you developed them, and how do you feel about your progress toward them?
Like most I started out buying games that I had nostalgia for or always wanted as a kid. This led to multiple trips to pawn shops, game stores etc. Now I’ve started to slow the process down and I’m trying to focus on games and series that hold some meaning to me or I’ve always wanted.

How many games, systems, etc. are "enough"?
I’ve set aside a set amount of space and when that is filled it’s enough.

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/5Hfth8P.jpg[/img]

What's your proudest moment as a game collector?
When I moved in to my new house and was able to have everything organized and in the same space.

What's your least proud moment as a game collector?
Overspending. I should play more and collect less but I love the thrill of the hunt.

If you had to give part of your collection away for a worthy cause what part would it be, and why?
Realistically I could probably cull most of my collection and keep only items that are nostalgic to me or I know I would never find again and love to play such as Gimmick!

Where/how do you store it all?
I store it in the finished portion of the basement. I use kallax shelving and skubb boxes (organized by system) to keep everything nice and neat. If I need a game I just pull out the box and game and then put it back. I tried the look of tons of games on the shelf but it felt too claustrophobic to me. If I can’t find it and access it easily I’m not going to play it. The boxes are also great when a guest wants to peruse what titles I own for a given system. I have a printed master list with what is in each tote. I also have a Surface LT tablet that has old issues of Nintendo Power and Sega Visions on it for some light reading.

As far as the over design goes Slackur introduced me to the idea of Parallel Play in regards to setting up a Game Room. With Parallel Play you don’t want to force or funnel people to a single location so I have multiple gaming stations set up. I recently set up a 27” CRT on a cart so it can be a standalone station or moved near another gaming station for 2 player 2 CRT Time Crisis 2.

What's your favorite part of your collection?
Items that have a story associated with them. I was able to buy Panzer Dragoon from Disposed Hero a couple weeks ago and playing it again brings back memories of high school and renting it from the local game store.

What about a favorite series?
Dragon Quest. I received the first one as a Christmas gift and I’ve been playing each entry in the series since. I’ve finished 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. I’ve preordered 11 and will probably pour hundreds of hours in to it.

What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to gaming?
Sports games. I’m terrible at anything post SNES but I keep buying and playing them.

What is the most valuable part of your collection(Value or sentimental)?
Sentimental:

My NWC Grey shirt signed by Robin Mihara and Thor Aackerlund. My father surprised me with a trip to downtown Phoenix when the NWC 1990 came to town. I spent hours running from station to station playing games I had only read about in Nintendo Power. I played Ninja Gaiden 2 and Castlevania 3 prototypes and loved both games. It’s the reason I will always own two of each cart in my collection.

A close second is the signed Silent Service cart by RfGen members. It’s a great in joke and a reminder of all the great people on the site.

Value:

The most expensive game I own is currently my CIB Aero Fighters closely followed by a sealed The Last of Us: Post Pandemic Edition.

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/SuiFV8W.jpg[/img]

What game do you have the most nostalgia for?
The original Legend of Zelda. My parents bought it from a family friend and brought it home from vacation. Our flight home was delayed until the next day so I spent the night (and next 8 months) pouring over every secret in the game.

What would you like to improve in your collection?
Video quality and the ability to record gameplay. I need to buy some more SCART cables, some SCART switches and a capture card.

What do you think was your best deal while game buying?
I’ve been blessed with many great deals but the best had to be a lot of CIB SNES games. I paid $60 for the lot and it contained a CIB Aero Fighters, War of the Gems, and King of Dragons to name a few.

What item in your collection do you feel you overpaid for?
My PCE DUO. It was advertised as working when I bought it but I had to have it repaired several times due to cap replacement, a bad trace, and corrupted ram. It’s solid as a rock now but for the price of all the repairs I could have bought a DUO-R.

Good spending is crucial in collection. What do you feel is the strangest or weirdest item in your collection?
I own a shirt of Link feeding Pigeons in Central Park. It made sense to me at the time I bought it.

[img width=700 height=933]https://i.imgur.com/DT4KHkr.jpg[/img]

What item(s) do you not have in your collection that people are surprised to hear you don't have?
A Nintendo Switch. I plan to buy one this year.

Is there any way you'd ever stop collecting?
If I ever run out of space or I’m too old to play.

Do you have a funny story about your collection?
I had a bunch of items on hold at the local video game store including a US Saturn. A couple weeks passed and I finally had the money to buy them. I stopped by the store and they told me they couldn’t find them! I was disappointed but there was nothing I could do. A couple weeks later Christmas came and when I opened up my presents there was the Saturn and games.

Have you ever had to move your collection to another house? What was it like?
I had to move it twice. Both times it took a lot of organization and help from friends. I took the most valuable items and moved them myself. The rest of the items were carefully packed in plastic totes and bubble wrap. I made up a code system and location (such as 3 B would be xbox games and it goes in the basement) to help me identify what was in the tote and where the movers should place it without advertising what was inside.

It sucks, period. If your significant other told you no more games, what would you do?
Buy flashcarts and ODE (Optical Drive emulators) and enjoy playing games.

What percentage of your games are still sealed?
1%

What percentage of your games have you actually played? Completed?
50% Played Completed 10%

Do you own any complete collections?
I don’t nor do I think I ever will.

Time to bring out the fanboys! What is your favorite game of all time?
Final Fantasy. I’ve played this game so many times across so many systems and to me it never gets old.

Least Favorite?
Super Pitfall. Jumping in to random spots and things is not fun. I’d rather play the 2600 original.

Do you collect anything else besides games?
Due to space restrictions I don’t collect anything else. At one point I collected movies (DVDs) and Comic Books.

What do you outside of games?
Work, spend time with my wife and family, watch movies, learn new things, hike, road trips, listen to music and spend more time than I should at Kuma’s Corner.

What other features would you like to see more of at RFG?
I would like to see more Twitch streams. I really like what I’ve seen so far and hope to see more people streaming.

ericeskapade, the previous interviewee, asked, "Do you have a handheld-console to play on the go. Which is it and on what opportunities do you play it the most?"
I used to carry around my GB Micro and play RPGs on it during my commute via Train and during lunch breaks. I might do this again once I own a switch.

Thanks for your time!