[POLL] Are you a Gaming Collector or Trader?

[Kliemie]

What type of gamer are you when it comes to holding on or trading your gaming hardware and software?

With next-gen around the corner, are you the type that sells it the moment you buy a newer/better version or do you keep it to show off your amazing collection?
Same for software, do you keep all your games or sell it the moment you are done with it?

I see myself as a Trader;
I have always traded/sold my legacy hardware & games that I don't play anymore to the get the latest hardware/games.
Reason why is very simple - I find it a waste to have have it catch dust, so better sell it and use that money to get the latest stuff.
This is not about money shortage for me as i have a good job with a satisfying salary to sustain multiple platforms in parallel if wanted.

So ERA, are you a Collector or Trader?

 

[Jawmuncher]

Definitely a collector, though i've become a lot more picky on the stuff I buy than I used to.

 

[raketenrolf]

I always wanted to be a collector when I was young. I am not though and sell stuff off if I don't need it anymore. I do have old games and consoles but only keep my favorites.

 

[matrix-cat]

I used to collect, or just keep games on my shelf when I was done with them with the intention of playing them again. Then I realised one day I still had PS3, even some PS2 games on that shelf that I still didn't want to replay, and I just thought... why am I doing this?

Now I sell almost every game when I'm done with it, usually within a week or so of release. Flip those bad boys on eBay, get about 90% of what I paid back (if not more; sometimes I actually come out ahead), and never look back. I honestly have never regretted selling a game or system yet. There are a few games I really love that I do want to have a permanent copy of, and for those I'll usually double dip on a Steam copy during a sale at some point down the line, but for the most part I'm a one-and-done guy.

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

Both. I enjoy having a collection but don't keep everything I buy.

 

[mxbison]

I'm not really a collector but I like buying physical games and can't be bothered to sell them

 

[Bedameister]

I never sold a game

 

[Deleted member 10737]

mostly a collector. i buy most games physically and won't get rid of them unless i didn't like the game or know i'm never gonna play them.

 

[Matush]

Was a collector back in my teens and early twenties. Now I just collect couple of games and sell those that I doubt I'll ever get back to.

 

[Lucreto]

I just collect them as the trade in value drops very quickly. You only get a third back after a month.

 

[kiriku]

Kind of a hard question to answer nowadays, since I only buy games digitally. And the physical games I already own from previous generations are still stored away somewhere in boxes. So, collector I guess.

 

[Lemrik]

I don´t really collect anymore. I buy singleplayer games physical and sell (sold my entire Switch Collection 2 weeks ago) them when I´m done because i don´t replay games.
Digital is for multiplayer titles or stuff I know that I´m gonna play every now and then.

 

[Nintendo]

I used to be a collector but sold everything and went all digital. I had so many cool stuff. Collector's Editions, signed copies and artbooks, actual limited edition stuff, Hot Toys figures,...etc.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

Trader by necessity starting in my teen years. Growing up, my parents used to buy me and my brother a game like once every other month. When I got into my teens, it got limited to like one game per birthday and Christmas. In order to actually play newer games, I had to supplement my low allowance money with trade-ins to afford newer games.

That habit admittedly stuck with me through my college years, and on occasion I still do it as a 32-year-old adult partially because of ongoing habit and partially because I still don't own my own house and live from apartment to apartment, so I like to keep my possessions as minimal as possible. For the first time in my life, starting 5 years ago, I do make enough money to be able to buy the majority of games that I want now without trading anything in, BUT I still like to save myself a little bit of money and lighten my physical load from time to time, so I still do it. PlayStation 4 is the only platform that I buy physical games for anymore, because it is my primary platform and due to getting into my current career 5 years ago, I built out a pretty hefty initial collection (which has since been slimmed down significantly) and thought to myself, "Sure, this will be the one time that I have a physical shelf-loading collection in my life." I currently plan to drop physical games with the PS5, but if it ends up being 100% backwards compat with PS4 games at least, I may continue to build it out there. If it's only software emulation with limited compatibility with titles, I will still go full digital with PS5.

I tend to keep my handheld consoles longer than my full consoles, oddly enough. Like usually up to 5 years into another generation. They don't take all that much space. 3DS and Vita might be my first permanent hangers-on, because I switched to all-digital libraries (which at this time I'm trusting will still be valid going forward, though it is possible that somehow they become deactivated) on both so there's not a lot of clutter generated by the relatively large collections of games I own for both, and because both have backwards compatibility with older console and handheld games that feature some of my favorite retro games. Between Virtual Console and PSone Classics on 3DS and Vita respectively, I have nearly all of my fondest childhood games there. A few missing, of course, but it's mostly accounted for in those tiny systems. Alas, this is relatively unique to me in the long run of games, and I worry about factors like battery degradation or just plain old hardware wear and tear as time presses on, but for now, that is a new and refreshing way to kind of preserve my fonder older games that I've not really had in life before.

 

[ffvorax]

Collector.
This is why changing to Digital was a bless. Better discounts, quicker and easier to find and buy games, space saved in home.

Sure its nice to see them phisically... if I had the money to get a really big home and dedicate an entire room I would definetly do it... :P

 

[Aztorian]

Collector. Only started to be like that after the PS4 came out. I started to realize I (+ family for bday and xmas) paid like hundreds of euro's for just all these PS3 games and at the end of the gen I would sell them to get some cash in for a PS4 and games coming out after release. I wouldn't get much money back and I started to think that getting €5-15 back for a game I spend €30-60 on wasn't really worth it.

I always had the luxury of having enough money to buy a new console + games even without selling my old stuff. I had a job since I was 13 years old and always worked during weekends, evenings and school holidays so I was always in a better financial situation than most of my friends. I had to sacrifice a lot of free time though. Sometimes during the weekends my friends would be playing COD MW2 while I had to work. I hated it at that time, but looking back it really paid of in the end.

Nowadays the collector in me is worse than ever. I am starting to recollect games from my childhood. Especially interested in Zelda titles and they don't come in cheap. I never regret a expensive retro purchase though. While I sometimes do regret buying a PS4 or Switch game I end up not liking or not playing enough.

 

[Fujibayoshi]

Well, as long as I don't get myself in an unstable financial situation, I won't sell my stuff. That's for sure. I love all my games, steelbooks, figurines and artbooks. #collector

 

[Deleted member 37928]

I was a collector until I really sat down and thought about a couple of things that usually dictate what I do with the rest of my life. And also some things that have changed me over the course of collecting stuff.

1. I rarely look back and want to relive past experiences. The exception might be movies since they are short experiences that you share with others that can sometimes transform as you age. I don't believe video games have this effect, at least not for me.

2. I'm minimalistic and don't want to have a lot of stuff presented in my home. This very much included various types of media, such as cd cases and gaming related toys. I also think it looks ugly and stressful to have on display.

3. I have no urge to show other people what I've accomplished or gathered with my money. What's on display in my home is the minimum amount of things to tell a person who I might be. I don't like nerdy stuff like Star Wars posters and such things. If I'm gonna have something represent me I'd like it to be a bit more subtle.

4. I strongly believe that humans have an obligation to share experiences with others, if those experiences can be hard to come by. It's offensive to me that someone would hoard a rare experience for the sake of having pure ownership of it.

 

[Luck]

definitely a trader,


buy used games, resell them further when finished so each, even new game, cost me like $5 - $10.

But I play mostly single player games and I never really feel like going back to them after finished.
Why to keep them when I can get my money back and buy a new one for much cheeper price.

So, used games FTW,

I hope digital games will never completely replace the physical media that I can own and can do whatever I want with them.

 

[tadaima]

I suppose I am between collector and trader.

 

[Camisado]

Collector, and it's getting to a point where I'm running out of reasonable space for stuff now.

Maybe it's time for me to go digital next gen...

 

[Sword Familiar]

I've done both through the years. I'd say I'm more of a collector now though. I'd sell stuff if the price was right though.

 

[Th0rnhead]

I'm more in between. I like collecting, and will keep games that I really enjoyed or are rare. I get rid of games if they're redundant (better version released, or in some cases when a PC port is released), or I can't see myself ever playing it again.

I've sold off pretty much all my stuff from the 5th & 6th gens (and all my Wii stuff). Hardware is just not great to play on with modern AV equipment, even using HDMI adapters (2D consoles/games definitely don't suffer like 3D ones do). A good portion of the notable games have gotten ports, remasters, or remakes. The few without ports that I'd like to play again aren't worth keeping the hardware around for.

I really like collecting for handhelds (Switch included). More than for regular home consoles.

 

[alundra311]

Collector.

But I really should start to trade/sell my old games. I keep telling myself that I'm going to play them in the future, but, we all know that's just a lie. LOL.

 

[oni-link]

Collector but only because I play things so late they're all cheap when I buy them and have little trade in value anyway

Plus I buy like 75% of my games digitally anyway, and these can't be traded yet

 

[Azurik]

A collector I guess, since I only buy digital games.

 

[Kill3r7]

I used to have a relatively large physical collection of games. Ended up getting rid of it at the start of last gen. I still have a few dozen physical games from my collection but they are only still around for sentimental value and my laziness to sell them in a timely fashion.

 

[TheRulingRing]

I don't know tbh I'm too lazy to bother trading in stuff for a few peanuts in return, so I guess I end up just.. losing them along the line somewhere?

 

[sweetmini]

I am "gifter", i give a lot of my old stuff where i think it might bring joy.

I gave 4 pinball machines (and enough coils for a lifetime of good pinball behavior), all my arcade PCBs, a big chunk of my PC and consoles hardware and software along the way.

 

[Dphex]

i am a trader since my youth days, i´ve always exchanged old for new. that way i could have every console i´ve wanted to back in the days.

i am still like this, when i buy collectors editions it is to sell them later. i also always buy physical games to resell them after i am done.

 

[Ojli]

I guess collector but that's mostly because I'm too lazy to sell the stuff.

 

[OneThirtyEight]

Guess im half collector. I have sold so many games but i always keep most of my darlings and looking out to rebuy games i sold in my teens when i got rid of lots of Mega Drive, PS2 and Dreamcast games, sadly.

 

[Rosebud]

I never sold a game when I used to buy physical, but gave some to my friend when I went 100% digital.

 

[Iztok]

Very firmly in the collector group.
I have thousands of games (physical).

 

[FreddeGredde]

At least here in the Philippines, the second hand market on Facebook is great, so I usually buy games on release, finish them, and sell again a few weeks later for just a 5-10 dollar loss.

It's making my hobby cheaper than ever, despite playing more games.

And no, couldn't care less about having a collection. Worst case, I can re-buy a game again down the line.

 

[psilocybe]

I either trade or donate.

Finding people IRL that play videogames is so rare nowadays that I'm more trading at a huge loss than donating (I used to donate to people I knew)

 

[Zeckett]

I neither keep or sell. I usually give them or throw them away.

 

[Deleted member 4413]

I generally keep one console from each generation around, though that's been changing lately. With BC being such a focus for Xbox, I don't need any consoles from the last few gens. Before that we have mini consoles and retropie.

I'm also 100% digital now, which really keeps down on the clutter.

 

[Dolobill]

I keep most consoles, but I don't buy physical.

 

[Ahti]

I collect PC games because I have no choice. But it`s fine because these games are not bound to a certain "console gen".
When it comes to console games, I sell most of them. There`s no need for me to keep them, if they work only on certain platforms and I don`t want to collect old hardware.

 

[Camwi]

I plan to be buried in a vault with my game collection.

 

[Kromeo]

My games and consoles from PS2 and back have all been lost/thrown out/broken

 

[LiS Matt]

I used to sell stuff a lot more often than I currently do. But over the years I've rebought things I've eventually regretted selling and always been worse off financially for it (the dot hack series, terranigma, illusion of time to name a few)
Nowadays I'm not short of space and that's something I don't see changing in the foreseeable future so I have no motivation to sell items at the moment

 

[Lobster Roll]

Where's the "give away my old stuff for free to people who don't mind being LTTP gamers" option?

 

[banter]

Half and half. There are games that i collect. The series that i love primarily. The rest ill trade or give away or whatever.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Collector, I don't trade away or get rid of anything.

 

[Aswitch]

I'd consider myself a collector. I do go the extra mile to get steelbooks and collector's editiony game stuff when I can. I don't sell my stuff since I always feel that I don't get the value I deserve for the care and preservation I put into it anyway and I just can't part with a lot of stuff for sentimental value.

 

[shaneo632]

Used to be a collector but I'm trying to be more minimalist these days. I really just hate having loads of plastic junk sat around. Goodies and collector's editions do absolutely nothing for me, nor do I really care about physically owning something as most games are "one and done" for me.

 

[robjoh]

Where is the "I am to lazy to sell anything so I still have shit that I don't care about" option?

 

[CopyOfACopy]

trader

old funds new

never replay games