Question for full set collectors. Are video carts/discs part of the main set?

[Grondorr | 49]

I'm mostly asking in the case of GBA Video carts. If someone was going for a full GBA US retail set, would GBA Video be considered part of that set? (And out of curiosity would the answer be any different for PSP video UMDs?)

[drxandy | 3,225]

I personally would consider it a subset, not part of the main because they're videos and don't have any interactivity. Same for psp.

Edited November 4, 2019 by drxandy

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

That would be a no for me. But I don't collect GB or PSP. Games is games. Everything else is whatever it is.

[Alder | 243]

I don't consider them part of the set, they're more like an accessory. A different type of media that happens to share basically the same hardware as a game. But isn't that basically what the King James Bible is on the Game Boy? Though that's more of a one-off so it doesn't really warrant its own category. And they're not a sort of adapter like the Game Genie or Super Game Boy, so the lines are blurred somewhat. I still think they're cool to collect though. 

[fcgamer | 4,719]

I'd say they count, though I can certainly understand why people might not want them to count.

These look like GBA carts, and can only be used on GBA hardware and whatever other backwards compatible hardware. These aren't hardware, that would be like considering CDs or VHS tapes hardware, so where does it place them? Yup, exactly in the GBA full set.

[Rooster | 124]

Personally I would consider them part of the set.

[Grondorr | 49]

For those that consider the GBA Videos part of the set, do you also consider the 700 or so UMD movies and UMD music discs, which are only playable in PSPs, part of the PSP set? If not, why the difference? If so, must suck to be a PSP full set collector! 

After thinking this all through, in my mind the full set of US Retail "media" for the GBA consists of three subsets.
1) GBA Game set. If you get these all, I consider you to have what most people would call a full set of GBA games.
2) GBA Video set. Note: As I understand, these do use a different cartridge technology, via a codec and storage technology developed by NERD (Nintendo European Research & Development). The largest games were 32MB, and the largest Videos were 64MB, which required a different storage technology to support. Also note they DO NOT work with the Game Boy Player for the Gamecube.
3) eReader card set. (Arguably, this could be considered a separate system like 32X or Sega CD) The walls blur a bit when we consider pack-in bonus cards. (IE: Are they part of this set, or are they inserts for a CIB game?)

In addition there is the non-retail NFR set, but that's clearly its own thing.

[DefaultGen | 5,399]

I would want them and count them personally. I count the 3DO Vivid Interactive discs which are essentially just softcore porn video CDs. Original Game Boy has things that aren't games like Infogenius Spanish and Personal Organizer.

On the other hand I wouldn't want PSP UMD movie discs if I collected PSP. So my standards are totally arbitrary.

[Grondorr | 49]

1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

I would want them and count them personally. I count the 3DO Vivid Interactive discs which are essentially just softcore porn video CDs. Original Game Boy has things that aren't games like Infogenius Spanish and Personal Organizer.

On the other hand I wouldn't want PSP UMD movie discs if I collected PSP. So my standards are totally arbitrary.

Oh I definitely plan to own the full GBA Video set, but I consider them separate. Remember, they were packaged in different packaging, used different color plastic housings and weren't distributed to entirely the same stores.  It's also been well advertised that they were made to compete directly with UMD video disks. (In my opinion poorly compete, as the video quality isn't great.)

The 3DO Vivid disks are FMV games, which is a genre of games, so clearly part of the main set. I also consider software like the organizers and whatnot part of the main set, mostly because that's how they were packaged and sold, and also because there seems to be a strong consensus to count them.

Thank you for the viewpoint, as having this discussion helped me clarify how I feel about it. I'd also love to hear from the hundreds of collectors who own full GBA sets. (Where are they?!)

Edited November 4, 2019 by Grondorr

[RH | 4,895]

I seem to recall a couple of unrelated conversations on NA where in two separate conversations, knowledgeable people have mentioned that we don't even know of all of the GBA video cartridges, nor Video/Music UMDs are out there.  IMHO, when a subset is so prolific and poorly documented, it doesn't count.  I'd personally stick to a set of just carts.  I mean, I think the idea behind these video carts is kind of cool, even though they were released while I was in college.  I wouldn't mind having a complete set of those, but some are super hard to find, and if the right to people spot one in auction, hold on to your hats cause it won't be going for cheap!

So, I'm voting no.  Yes, they are licensed carts, but I'd only count "games", personally.

[peg | 370]

I would count them, both for GBA and PSP.   I have zero interest in either of those consoles but they are still part of the set.  They literally cannot be run on any other devices and were made specifically for those platforms.  If these were carts for the NES, would people not count them?  I have a lot of trouble believing that.

[Tanooki | 4,930]

I actually picked up around 10 of the GBA video carts and still would like to get the two shrek movies. All I’ve seen even from old rom groups was that they’re a separate entity than the standard release window and I’d agree. They’re movies and tv show selections and not games and I felt the same about UMD too. 

[BirdDogGaming | 218]

On 11/4/2019 at 7:55 AM, Grondorr said:

For those that consider the GBA Videos part of the set, do you also consider the 700 or so UMD movies and UMD music discs, which are only playable in PSPs, part of the PSP set? If not, why the difference? If so, must suck to be a PSP full set collector!

My gosh, I had no idea there were that many. 
 

Regardless, this drives a good point. If you consider those GBA video cartridges part of the GBA set, you would certainly have to consider the PSP ones part of the PSP set. But set collecting is really just what you want it to be, there’s no standard that says “You have to collect these games listed here in order to call your set complete.” Just take a look at NES set collectors, they can argue for an eternity about whether or not unlicensed cartridges count towards the set. 

[DarkKobold | 190]

On 11/6/2019 at 8:29 AM, thatgamernerd said:

My gosh, I had no idea there were that many. 
 

Regardless, this drives a good point. If you consider those GBA video cartridges part of the GBA set, you would certainly have to consider the PSP ones part of the PSP set. But set collecting is really just what you want it to be, there’s no standard that says “You have to collect these games listed here in order to call your set complete.” Just take a look at NES set collectors, they can argue for an eternity about whether or not unlicensed cartridges count towards the set. 

Or whether or not Sachen games count as part of that unlicensed set... *summons fcgamer*

Another thing to consider - lots of sets have unverified games. Do you count NBA Elite 11 as part of the PS3 set? Do you need 1 of the 2 existing copies of Chase HQ to complete the Amstrad GX4000 set? Do you need that Hilton instructional video for the PSP set? There's too many psuedo prototypes out there for most sets to have easy definitions.

The deeper you get into collecting, the more you have to define what *you* are going for, not what consensus of a forum is. You'll go insane letting others make those choices for you.

 

[Splain | 2,560]

Yep, it's definitely part of the GBA fullset, but not part of, say, a "GBA games-only fullset" or however you define what you are collecting. Those 5 Infogenius titles for GB don't say "game pak" on them, they say "source pak," whatever that means. They're not expensive or hard to find, so it doesn't really come up whether or not they count. But you can bet that if one or two of them went for $100+, there would be collectors going for "game-only fullsets."

And a couple of those GBA video carts are hard to find and relatively expensive. So I don't blame anyone for not wanting them, especially since they're atrocious to actually try and watch. But if you say you own a GBA fullset, the first question you'll hear is going to be "even the video carts?" then possibly "even the e-reader stuff?"

The KJV and NIV bible games on GB actually do have some playable games on the cart, as well as the full text of the bible. Maybe another thing to consider is the Singer Sewing Machine Software cart for GBC. Does anyone NOT include that in a GBC fullset? It definitely gets mentioned that way ("I have every GBC game, including the Sewing Machine cart")

[Grondorr | 49]

So, while I agree that this is an individual choice, what people want to collect, I do think that for each system it seems there are things that, whatever we might personally feel fall into two categories.:
1) indisputably in the set
2) arguably in the set

I think as someone collecting a set, it's useful to know where that distinction lies, for communicating with other people in our tribe of collectors. e.g. - I'll now say, I am planning to collect a full US retail boxed GBA set, including GBA Video and eReader. This is concise enough that no matter what anyone believes is or isn't a full set, it is clear to others.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Grondorr

[Tanooki | 4,930]

Even the Virtual Boy would in a way have a small hurdle with this one at least with the US library because Mario Tennis while sold in Japan was a pack-in entirely for the US market.  Despite that fact, Blockbuster or Nintendo, not sure who bothered with it, but one/both of them made a run of DISPLAY ONLY boxes for the game so they could have something to shrinkwrap up for the shelf when renting out games.  Someone may argue a CIB set from the US is 13 games or 14 games because of that one and it's not a cheap box, this year alone it has been over the $100 mark and creeping northward so I could see some moaning about that being a thing.