Collecting tips

Ciaran’s Top Tips for Games Collectors

1. Be selective. Unless you’re very rich you’re not going to be able to collect everything.  You might want to focus on genre, or publisher or particular console.  I’ve decided to focus on Gamecube and PSP for now. I also pick up any handheld consoles that are either a bargain or are particularly interesting.

2. Be clear why you want to collect games. There are many reasons why people collect games. Some people want to play the classics on an original console, some people have a particular affinity with a system, some people just like collecting stuff and some people think they can make money (see 3).

3. You won’t make money. Every so often a game will increase in value but even so very few games even maintain their original RRP. So although you might justify to your significant other that your collection is going to pay the kids college fees, in reality it won’t.

4. Digital downloading is coming. We are probably looking at one more generation of games coming on physical media before digital downloads or cloud gaming more likely takes over. Will this mean physical copies of older games will become more valuable? Who knows.

5. Have lots of space in your home and prepare for expansion as your collection grows.

6. Catalogue. As your collection gets bigger it’s definitely worthwhile keeping a record of what you have. It will help you keep track of what you have, what you might want to get rid of and to identify certain key games or items that you are missing.

7. Bargain hunt. Don’t just buy on ebay, there are lots of cheaper ways of picking up games. Try other auction sites, real markets, pawn shops etc. Remember sometimes the fun is in the hunt!