My friend and I collect old video games. But all my physical media just sits on my shelves and collects dust. Why do I even collect them? I literally just emulate everything. Is there a purpose to what I do? People ask me why I collect and I never have a real answer because I don’t even know. If I never play my stuff, is it worth just selling?
You probably enjoyed collecting it. That means finding the games and then putting them together in a neat collection.
You probably did it because you enjoyed finding the games and wanted build the collection because you thought you enjoyed owning them as well.
Goals change, priorities change. Appearently he didn’t enjoy it anymore, and that’s fine. It’s probably hard to realize that you no longer share the same joy about it with your friend.
That said, that has nothing to do with whether you still enjoy it. And regarding your questions: do you? If so, it’s totally fine to own something just because you enjoy having it around. Maybe if you need the money urgently or the space, there’s an argument there to trade that for you enjoyment of this, but that’s up to you.
I hope that whatever you do, it’s because you decided it for yourself and didn’t decide it because of whatever your friend did :)
You planning on dying at 58?
I’ve thought about ending it at 29
I don’t know you man, I don’t know what you’re life is about, but I hope you have people in you life you can seriously talk to about feelings like that.
Your hobbies don’t define you, there’s no such thing as wasted time. Shit your entire collection could have been peer pressure or competitive in nature, and you just lost your fizz when you primary foil moved on. That doesn’t mean the time you spent is worth any less, or didn’t contribute to your life in some meaningful way.
Is it normal to have a midlife crisis at 30ish, fucking absolutely! You’ll have many crisises, you’ve probably already had crisis in the past, you’ll continue to have crisis in the future. You would be a terribly uninteresting person if you didn’t.
If selling some or all of your collection would make a positive difference in your life, and you’re questioning why you even have them, then yeah, sell some. You probably won’t regret it, those items will continue to have a life and be valued by someone else. But if the thought of selling hurts too much, then it’s not time yet. That’s ok too.
Just give yourself a break!
It’s kind of a tough call. In my case I keep a library of Blu-Ray and DVD disks. I’ve ripped them to network storage so I don’t actually need them, but I did spend an amount of money collecting them. So at this point I just keep them for posterity.
In general I have a rule about not keeping stuff I don’t use, but there’s always exceptions. There’s been a few things I’ve wished I had not parted with, but if you never get rid of anything you’re just hoarding. I’m more of an anti-hoarder and it’s cost me before. On the other hand there’s too much “material stuff” in life. Best to keep it minimal.
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I’m personally not the collector type but I do blow money on other things, but usually it’s either hobbies or tech (not to mention all the gear I use for my work).
Pretty normal to reevaluate things from time to time. I went on a cleaning binge recently and let go of a lot of hobby stuff that I wasn’t using any more. It’s created more space for the hobbies i currently enjoy, and it’s so much easier to keep my place organized and clean.
At the same time, there were things i don’t use but kept anyways, either because there are good memories associated or i really want to pick up the hobby again in the future.
Congrats dude, you have a hobby. Enjoy your time, life it’s all about the small things :)
Some people like collecting physical objects. It is a weird thing that some humans do.
Do you enjoy collecting? If you do, that is good enough. If you don’t, then maybe you should sell off your collection.
“Hustle Culture” takes a heavy toll, but being a hoarder consumerist does too. Collecting physical media can be a harmless hobby, but it could also be a sad and futile attempt at recapturing a nostalgic time from when you were young that never really existed. Think about “why” you are doing something and ask yourself when enough is enough. Don’t worry about what others think, you should only care what you get out of it and what your goals are for it.
It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonious conception of memory. - Fitzgerald
I collect planes that just sit around and look cool and I can say I have them. I’d never sell them because I love planes and they make me happy, some of them are toys from when I was a kid and I don’t play with them anymore but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna get rid of them, they bring me great joy. I’d look at it that way if I were you
I’m a fellow collector and I also emulate a lot but even still I collect. For a few reasons.
I will always have the original copy in case I need to make a backup and archive.org is shut down and the cloud providers delete my backups for copyright reasons.
I can display and rotate the games I choose to display. Even if no one besides me see the games I choose to display, they are important to me and I’m glad I can enjoy them.
I can recreate formative gaming moments from my childhood and share them with my children accurate to the way I experienced them
That being said, emulation does bring many conveniences and so I do emulate most of my collection on my phone but I still maintain a physical collection and I do break out the old consoles from time to time
If collecting brings you joy, do it. It keeps retro hardware out of the landfills.
It will still go into the landfills, eventually, when op is gone.
Sure. But eventually is better than now. Because as long as it isn’t in a landfill, and it’s not broken, it can still be experienced. Honestly, even when I’m not using my Nintendo 64 games, I like just looking at them.
I’m similar, except I collect rpg books and I’m 30. I haven’t sat down read a paper book properly in years, I just don’t have the attention span (thanks undiagnosed ADD). But I keep collecting because it brings me joy to do so and I enjoy the thrill of the chase going through second hand bookshops looking for deals.
These sort of hobbies are also great for bringing together like minded people, like you and your friend, so there are additional social benefits to them too if you’re looking for that. This is something Ive come to really come to appreciate more as I’ve aged and fallen out of contact with school friends and it gets harder to meet new people outside of your social circle.
Sorry for the ramble but I guess my main point is to ask yourself whether it brings you joy to continue collecting or not and if it doesn’t maybe to hold off for a few months and check back in with yourself then as you may feel different.
I think it’s a virtue to be the type of person that tries to preserve the past. Hold on to memories and the things that represent them, so that you can share it with others later.
Museums of all types are filled with things that people like you have saved.
It’s an opportunity cost thing. You could sell them and get some money from it. Do you like having those games and the thought of playing them? Or the idea of collecting one more? Or would you get more enjoyment or use out of the money you would get?
