My video game collection, issue #0.

Hello everyone who reads this, my name is Dave
and I like video games. Not only do I like playing games, but I love to collect them as well. I've been playing games since I was a wee lad, and it has stuck with me through the years. Like most people my age, I began my video game career on a Nintendo Entertainment System and am currently getting my kicks watching Netflix on my $300 Netflix machines (read X-Box 360 and PS3).

When I was growing up, I didn't have a lot of games. I'd only get a game for my birthday and Christmas, and on a very, very, very, very, very, very, very rare occasion I would get a game on one of the other 363 days out of the year. Needless to say I had to be VERY SERIOUSLY SURE YOU GUYS about what game I was getting on these momentous occasions, so I read video game magazines religiously. While you kids probably read math books or the bible, I read Game Player and Tips & Tricks.

These magazines were pretty much our go to source for information in the dark days before the internet. I actually had internet access waaaaayyyyyyyy back in 1993, but even then vidya gaim news on the web was scarce. So I spent a lot of time looking through these magazines, even reading ones I didn't have a subscription to at Kroger while my mom was shopping for groceries. These magazines were loaded to the brim with colorful screenshots and information about all these cool games coming out, and I had to sort through and figure out what games I wanted!

Luckily I grew up in the 90s, so I had access to a video store that had games. I'd rent games constantly, so I was able to play a majority of the games I wanted when I was younger. Unfortunately, a lot of games stayed rented out, so I never got to play them.

When I was old enough to start working, I got a job working at the mall. This new revenue source allowed me to start getting games on my own terms. After a while I started seeking out more and more games I wanted growing up, but never got. It started small, then the bottom fell out and my parents were probably like "LOL WUT."

Ever since high school, I have been collecting games. I have slowed down my collecting in the past few years due to financial problems, but I've never entirely stopped. I always enjoy looking for new games, and I find it to be the most entertaining aspect of collecting. It may be boring sifting through bins of shit, but when you find a rare or expensive game and pay next to nothing for it, it's a weird kind of rush. It's totally awesome.

My collection primarily spans the era of games I call the "Middle School." It's not old school and it's not new school, but middle school. The earliest system I own is an NES, and I have only a minor interest in collecting games prior to this. I tend to stick to collecting within the past five generations of game consoles or so, rarely getting stuck prior to the NES.

My current collection has about 500 or so games in it, along with around 15 or 16 consoles (including handhelds). In the picture at the top you can see a few of my consoles, but I still have a few boxed up in the closet. I keep most of my handheld units in a little plastic shelf unit, along with their cords and a few loose games.

I plan on keeping this blog updated pretty regularly with video game related stuff. I've always wanted to start sharing my collection with everyone, because I think it's pretty cool to see other people's collections and hear their stories about how it came to be. So check back often for updates and more crap about my video games!