Video Game Collecting: Musings of the Geek

To see photos of the collection, click the link below!

2010-08-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

First things first . . .

You all need the link to the Facebook photo album of my video game collection. Facebook makes for very adequate image hosting. Thanks Facebook! Enjoy this internet traffic!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71496&id=661112359&l=85f76a38f0

The coming blog entries will be explorations of my thoughs on the ideas behind collecting these things.

Stay tuned!

The Hunt

2010-08-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hunting for video games has kept me sane this summer. I've dreaded the return to work because of the direction things are going there politically speaking. It put me in a very unhealthy frame of mind. I've been short tempered with ignorant people in public and bottle that frustration up. Falling asleep has been difficult and once asleep, on several occasions, I've been awakened by nightmares about the upcoming year.

My only respite has been sinking into my hobbies. By either drawing, putting models together, or collecting video games, I am able to forget for a few moments the psychological stress. I become focused on THE HUNT.

The hunt is sweet. Collectors can relate. We know how it is: its primal. It tickles the animal brain of our ancestors. Long lost genes get switched on and and gratification is dealt in dark, physical sensations. The hunter takes over and all that exists is the target. When stalking one's quarry, all senses become honed. Superfluous, feelings, emotions are separated from consciousness. It is a vacation from logic and thought to be on the hunt. The heart races when the prey comes into sight. The pulse quickens when as what you've been seeking falls into a position where it is obtainable. Your mind is consumed by it (Jennie will attest). Finally when you grapple with your victim you achieve a satisfaction unlike any meaningful, real world success.

I have had two good hunts. One has turned up an Odyssey 1. I now own the original, first home video game console EVER. The second is a system I never thought I'd see in the wild--a Vectrex. The hunt is not over on the Vectrex. I need to struggle with it. I must close my jaws around the jugular and wait until it stops fighting me. It will be mine.

The Lament

2010-08-01T22:09:00.001-07:00

Last year I told people my video game collection was complete. I had found a Colecovision. I was complete. Yes, you read that right, *I* was complete. Something felt good. It was easier to breath for those glorious few moments as I pulled it out of the shipping box. The goal was to have every system I had ever played, and I had achieved it. Why then have I continued to spend more time, more energy, and continued to spend money on the collection since then?

A few people have come forward and jokingly reminded me that they thought I said I was finished. One friend doesn't understand why I'm not pirating these games to play them on the computer or at least playing the ones I have on a television. These questions have caused me to ask why I feel compelled to do build this collection. Why are some human beings driven to hoard things?

There is a part of me that is sad for the cash and time that I've spent. It could have been better spent on other things. My wife, my future child . . . I could have cleaned my house. I could have made some art and sold it! I have this pit of my stomach feeling when I think about what I've done.

Then I look at that collection and finally am starting to feel a bit of pride. Every time I find a new bit that I didn't own, I am bathed in positive feelings. Gratification. Reward. That primal sense of the hunt and the kill. It is very fun when I set out on a mission to find something. My heart pounds for a moment like my animal ancestors must have felt coming around a bend in a river and seeing their dinner . . . an orgasmic release as I pay for it, and an aftershock of excitement as I photograph it for the Facebook album. Ahh. THIS is why I collect these things.

I'm not an expert about anything video game related yet. My Facebook captions are probably full of errors, but I will constantly seek to learn, collect, and most importantly, preserve these things. Too bad to those of you who question why I do what I do. I don't know for sure either, but its fun.

Thoughts?