XYZ

I always aim for complete sets but I am an opportunist and I will go whichever way the market leads me. For example, if I only need 10 games for PS1 and have a chance at them, but I walk into a game store and I see a hell of a deal on a pricey Sega Genesis game that I am far from a complete set, I will grab that instead. That kind of mentality has caused me to have a lot of near-sets, but I prefer it personally. I always go for the opportunity as my first priority before completion. I also don't see the point of hitting a complete set on anything newer than 4th or 5th gen systems. There are constantly new titles emerging that nobody knew about. I still laugh about someone who claimed they had a complete DS set and then title after title emerged and said person would start posting WTB threads desperately looking for the game. I guess he didn't have a complete set after all! And then there's always the "completionist dilemma" which is like being surrounded by a dome that you're inside and it keeps expanding outwards. Take any console, NES for example, and ask yourself what are the ingredients to the NES complete set. Therein lies the dilemma.. what is a complete set? Whatabout unlicensed games? Whatabout PAL games? Whatabout the hint books or strategy guides? Accessories? If you are able to identify what a complete set consists of and stick to that definition, then I say its good for you to aim for. But if you're someone who is constantly evolving and growing your view of things, then this can become a very problematic thing. Will you get every NES game, cart or CIB and will you then say "I have a complete set" or will you then start messing with trying to get every homebrew game or all the mail-in hint booklets that were offered? It's a real issue that many experience. So if you're going to spend years of your life and thousands of dollars on this goal, you need to have an end game in mind, otherwise you'll find yourself in encapsulated in a neverending race.

Well, I have only 2 parts of collecting I don't like. The first is people saying the "bubble is going to pop", which I have been hearing for at least 10 years now and prices just continue to go up and up and up. I kinda just tune them out, so it doesn't bother me much anymore. Second one is hard to ignore - I have a real problem with "collectors" who enter the scene and buy up a bunch of high demand games, show them off and then either sell them in an attempt to profit or sell them because they spent all their money and are burned out/desperate. This kinda shit has been happening for so long and it has ruined people's lives. I think it's really bad for the hobby. There used to be a lad from Canada on Nintendoage who showed up out of nowhere one day and started posting pictures of new pickups, almost always the most pricey stuff on Nintendo's consoles. Then, he disappeared for a while. Then he returned out of nowhere and started selling off his entire collection. Then he tried to say he was selling duplicates. Then he disappeared again. To each their own, but this kinda crap is just lame and I'll never be able to accept the new guy who shows up and has to show off no matter what the burden on his finances are.

I had a nice DS collection thread on NintendoAge (R.I.P.) which tracked my collection as I surpassed 1000 titles. I miss those days! One interesting thing is in the last year how many titles that are super hard to find/rare, are games that were "cheap shovelware" just a few years earlier. Hoppie is a great example of such. I still have my sealed copy from 5 years ago that cost an whopping $5. I downloaded the PS2 version (PAL region) to play and see what the fuss is. It's a TERRIBLE GAME. A total letdown after thinking this might be an awesome isometric puzzle platformer. The same can be said for other pricey DS titles.

I am still working on finishing a set for DS North America CIB. 1496/1761, problem is, I almost exclusively buy local/brick and mortar and it's at the point that finding titles I actually need to be quite challenging. I just added Dragon Ball Origins for 12$, which felt good. Only 4 away from #1500 CIB.