Japanese Niche Games Deals & Discussion Thread 4.0

[shivan128]

Welcome to the Japanese niche games deals and discussion thread!  Feel free to talk about local and import Japanese games here.  Our goal is to maintain a thread dedicated to active deals on niche games including RPGs, Visual Novels (VN), Shoot'em ups (Shmups), Musou, etc.  Also maintained are pre-orders for standard, limited and collector's edition games with key release dates provided.

I've wikified the thread to make it more friendly and open to others that can actively update with important information. You can find the wiki post directly below this one.

NOTE:  Please, leave the censorship discussion away from this thread.  It's common for japanese games to have questionable content outside of the country.  We want to keep discussions to the game itself and not about cultural/societal tolerance.

A message from Thorbahn:

Our CAG Japanese Niche Games Thread also has a community on PS4, where you can interact and game with other members of the thread.

Our moderators are: Draekon, Las_Hole, and Waffleswanton

You can basically friend any of our members, or any moderator, and you will be able to request to join the community under "Communities friends are in" tab, and a mod will approve your request.

You can also leave your PSN ID in the thread, saying you want to join, and we can invite you directly as well.

As always, have fun and enjoy your stay!

 

[shadowysea07]

Pqube and idea factory sales are on the eshop.  Is Moero chronicle hyper a port or something? Or is it another game and that's now a series?

 

[InvertedY]

I haven't actually played any since monpiece.  But I think Crystal is the newest release and Hyper is just the port of Moero Chronicle.

 

[elessar123]

Pqube and idea factory sales are on the eshop. Is Moero chronicle hyper a port or something? Or is it another game and that's now a series?

Actually, both. It's the Switch port, but it's always been part of a series.

Monster Monpiece -> Moero Chronicle -> Moero Crystal -> Genkai Tokki: Seven Pirates

 

[Shadowmoses12]

Looks like US is getting a collectors edition of dungeon munchies. Has anyone played it and would they recommend it? I was suppose to have the Japanese version but amazon jp denied my card for it.

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

I've quit buying ps4/5 games since I'd rather have them for switch.

Absolutely hate how devs hide switch versions. I'm 99% sure that next nep game will come.

 

[Tothoro]

Opposite for me - I'd rather have the PlayStation versions. Seems like lots of indie games launch on Switch and then come to PSN 6-12 months later. Some of the weirdest things are the Disgaea 6 western-only console exclusivity and FF7R's console exclusivity being apparently indefinitely extended.

For a while I was double dipping when stuff came out and then when it came to my preferred platform, but after being burned several times I just said screw it and stopped buying stuff unless it was first-party (i.e. Mario) or on PS. At this point I have enough of a backlog that I won't feel like I'm missing out if a few games do end up not coming to PlayStation.

All that to say - timed exclusivity is just nuts this gen. I get why companies do it, but the customer definitely loses in these situations.

 

[nightc1]

I'd rather have games on switch too.  The natural transition from the PSPGo with it's dock... to the VIta combo with PSTV ... was to continue on to the Switch and it's dock.  I only buy games for the PS4 in series I follow closely that aren't on the switch... which has mostly been the Yakuza series.

 

[Mattiful-Joe]

On balance, always prefer games on my PS4 vs. Switch, so outside of exclusives, it's Playstation for me. I generally dislike playing games on handheld and given the Switch version almost always has performance issues (by comparison), not to mention a higher price most of the time, the choice is an easy one for me.

 

[heavy liquid]

On balance, always prefer games on my PS4 vs. Switch, so outside of exclusives, it's Playstation for me. I generally dislike playing games on handheld and given the Switch version almost always has performance issues (by comparison), not to mention a higher price most of the time, the choice is an easy one for me.

Same here. I almost exclusively play the Switch docked, so I always buy PS versions whenever possible for the same reasons you gave. Most games look and run moderately to significantly better on PS vs Switch.

 

[62t]

Playstation over Switch due to trophy support

 

[shadowysea07]

I'll buy both but typically stick to ps because switch tax is real and usually 10$ more than the sony ones.  If I had a fricken ps5 I'd get those versions since they are usually 10$ cheaper than ps4 >.> probably because free upgrades and whatnot so it makes the ps5 versions slightly useless. 

 

[nightc1]

If I bought more games I'd probably be more concerned with price.  I admit too, I have a thing for playing games off of a cartridge over installing them from a disc onto a harddrive.

This year alone I've bought 5 games total (all switch)... and one $20 eshop card.   Even then I only paid full price for one game (LIve A Live) and then bought the import of Hardcore Mecha on ebay but it was less than a new release game.  XC3 I paid $38.14 for thanks to certificates.  The other two were Grand Mountain Adventure ($30.56 tax and all)... and Immortals Fenyx Rising ($16.19 total).    So... despite not being turned away by full price... I'm still CAG'ing it up.

Total for the year (including eshop card)... $211.21

 

[TheKbob]

On PC? -> Steam (PC or Deck)

Graphics Intensive, Console Only Game -> PS5

2D, Less Demanding, or Nintendo Exclusive -> Switch

Some weird edge cases for games I want to keep a physical copy or the physical copy on console was released before a PC version was announced, but otherwise that's the general balance.  Usually price is the overall guide, but since I have a Steam Deck now, the calculus now favors digital releases on Steam since cloud saves make playing on the go and back at the desktop super easy.

Also, Steam games are typically cheaper than Switch games, as are PS4 vs. Switch.  I want Super Robot Taisen games for Switch physically, but I was not going to pay ~$20 premium each on the Switch (when I bought them on Play-Asia), so I bought the PS4 copies.

 

[Vinny]

Playstation over Switch due to trophy support

I didn't realize how much of a surprise this was for me until recently- Nintendo really needs some kind of achievements system.

Also agreed that I'd rather have games PS4/5 vs NS. Nintendo's stance on censorship is better than Sony's and portability is a nice feature to have... except I rarely use the portable mode and also hate that my hands simply aren't used to the NS joycons so my hands get cramped easily.

 

[TheKbob]

except I rarely use the portable mode and also hate that my hands simply aren't used to the NS joycons so my hands get cramped easily.

Get the Hori Split Pad Pro, IMO. Holding the Steam Deck and then the regular Switch with JoyCons, I would agree, the Switch sucks. The Split Pad Pro does a lot better, but it cannot fix the weight distribution on the Switch. Since they split up the guts, the weight is centralized in the unit versus being dispersed evenly, making it awkward to hold.

And yea, no idea how we got Switch = booby games and Sony = prudes, but here we are.

 

[elessar123]

except I rarely use the portable mode and also hate that my hands simply aren't used to the NS joycons so my hands get cramped easily.

Mine.. don't... but just being on the third left joycon puts me off (second for the missus). Stupid me kept buying foreign limited edition ones til my third one. At least I only had to buy the left one.

 

[Pheria]

I have learned to appreciate getting away from achievements somewhat. I was never all in in the first place though, but liking the Switch / 3DS has gotten me to let go of the "I want my internet points". I've considered just making all mine private and turning off notifications for them, so in that regard there's no reason not to have them on Switch if you don't like them as long as you can turn it off/hide it.

I still use them a little bit as almost like a send off, so I don't completely dislike them either. "I just finished the game, what else am I close to achieving or sounds fun before I shelve it?"- kind of thing.

 

[Nothing-]

I mean you either have a good TV or you don't.  People whom have good 4K HDR televisions aren't usually buying games on Switch foremost. 

 

[Vinny]

Mine.. don't... but just being on the third left joycon puts me off (second for the missus). Stupid me kept buying foreign limited edition ones til my third one. At least I only had to buy the left one.

I think it's more of a "me" issue, only happens when I do it after long stints of not using it in portable mode. If I play it for like 4 or 5 hours, it goes away.

 

[nightc1]

I have learned to appreciate getting away from achievements somewhat. I was never all in in the first place though, but liking the Switch / 3DS has gotten me to let go of the "I want my internet points". I've considered just making all mine private and turning off notifications for them, so in that regard there's no reason not to have them on Switch if you don't like them as long as you can turn it off/hide it.

I still use them a little bit as almost like a send off, so I don't completely dislike them either. "I just finished the game, what else am I close to achieving or sounds fun before I shelve it?"- kind of thing.

I never really got into the whole trophy hunting thing. If a game is a great experience to me... then it's just a nice bonus list of other things to do in the game world after finishing it. Like after completing Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I went back and tried to get all of the unique blades and then also complete their affinity charts. That was fun. I didn't get all blades (probably a couple short) but I got most of the very rare ones and it was a fun bonus to complete the affinity charts as often there were blade/character specific mini stories with each one.

The main PS game I actually did a full platinum trophy for was inFamous on PS3. I loved that game, the world... the super power mechanics... everything. There were some dumb things... but it was a bonus. Most games though have so many stupid time consuming things to do... it's not worth doing everything for participation trophies.

 

[Nothing-]

Just like how some people buy the OG Switch instead of the OLED  "cuz its $50 cheaper".  You can't teach people to have taste in graphical quality / video fidelity. 

The Switch is neat little machine; I love mine.  But I don't I consider the physical games to be super collectable with the 100% samey box spines and tiny sizes.  They don't display nicely or present well at all.  I really enjoy importing a few of the EU steelbook versions a few times per year, and buying some of their collectors editions.  The steelbooks are incredible.  But standard Switch cases are not very collectable imho...

 

[Nothing-]

We really need to go back to the days of full-color instruction manuals and unique box art.  I'm honestly shocked that there aren't more companies doing this.  That would be the first thing I'd do if I was trying to get a company off the ground.  Big publishers take everything for granted these days.  90s kids spend adult money now on even obscure nostalgia like TMNT. 

 

[nightc1]

But I don't I consider the physical games to be super collectable with the 100% samey box spines and tiny sizes.

We haven't had pretty box spines since the days of cardboard boxes. I think most spines for every Playstation system have been pretty uniform (same for Sega, Microsoft, and most every other platform since discs took over and spines went thin).

I was too much into the Vita and DS/3DS... so the smaller size to me is a benefit as they just don't eat up a lot of shelf space... but the actual front art can be quite nice on a lot of games and is perfectly displayable.

 

[Nothing-]

Perhaps I worded that poorly but I think you know what I meant. 

The 3DS box spines are infinitely more attractive by comparison.  You have to get close and squint to even see what Switch spines say on them.  Plus some Switch steelbooks don't even have titles on the spines.  Terrible. 

 

[Gameboy415]

Perhaps I worded that poorly but I think you know what I meant.

The 3DS box spines are infinitely more attractive by comparison. You have to get close and squint to even see what Switch spines say on them. Plus some Switch steelbooks don't even have titles on the spines. Terrible.

I agree that the spines on Switch cases are extremely unappealing. It's especially frustrating because a few early games (like Super Bomberman R and The Binding of Isaac) actually did have unique logos/fonts on their spines but now everything has been standardized to the same boring font.

I really liked how 3DS spines had the little game icons at the top and (mostly) had full-color title logos with publisher logos at the bottom - I wish they would've continued the game icon thing with Switch cases. At least PS4 cases still have full-color spines/logos (for the most part).

 

[Nothing-]

Do you know how much money you'd make selling Dragon Warrior 1-4 NES-like packages?  Full color instruction manuals, foldout map, a few secrets and hints, and some signature high-fantasy box art that becomes both vaguely and insanely nostalgic over time.  You could even venture into the world of full-sized 24" x 36" limited edition, signed & numbered art prints.   People love art. 

 

[nightc1]

Perhaps I worded that poorly but I think you know what I meant.

I mean, to some degree but I still think art on the spines died with cardboard boxes with N64 really going over the top with the best spine art. Nothing really jumps out as being that special since those days. Sure we got logos... but it's so thin and compressed and often hard to read. Thinking over the past decades since cardboard... I can't think of a single game with side art that I would be like "yes, get that spine art on a poster"... cover art, sure... but spine art? I'm drawing a blank. But someone mention Contra or SuperC... or Castlevania ... now those games... yeah that's some beautiful work.

Looking at my switch library it's like looking at one of those collections of classic books that are all leather clad with the same uniformity when lined up on a shelf (especially since I didn't care for Super Bomberman R). Ok, no they aren't as pretty as leather bound books... it's boring... but they are similarly SUPER functional and it's easy to find something specific when organized alphabetically. The front art is nice to display but the functionality of the spines is nice in an OCD / rich-mans-library kind of way (which I'm not OCD... but I can appreciate the beauty in order and uniformity).

But hey we all like what we like and it's cool to have different views. Looking at Xbox, Playstation, GameCube... etc... and the system logos take up so much space. They have conformity but the art itself just... nothing special. Wii was pretty decent.

Do you know how much money you'd make selling Dragon Warrior 1-4 NES-like packages? Full color instruction manuals, foldout map, a few secrets and hints, and some signature high-fantasy box art that becomes both vaguely and insanely nostalgic over time. You could even venture into the world of full-sized 24" x 36" limited edition, signed & numbered art prints. People love art.

Looking back at the original NES boxart for those games... 1 & 2 were fantastic... 3 & 4 were pretty ho-hum. I'm all for art like 1&2 ... (original new art, or classic art remade to be even more impressive) though I'd never buy CE's... but I'm sure they'd sell well but it's just too much stuff on the shelf. The beauty of Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy on the NES (with it's oversized manual) were they had extra stuff but still were in the standard boxes all the other games came in. They just felt a bit beefier. I would love it if we got back to including manuals or at least something substantial in regular releases like an art book or something. Some games do pack in some cool stuff... but most are so barebones without even bothering to do art on the back side of the cover art page.

 

[elessar123]

I think it's more of a "me" issue, only happens when I do it after long stints of not using it in portable mode. If I play it for like 4 or 5 hours, it goes away.

I'm not doubting you (I had cramping issues with all the Dualshock controllers). I was just adding that even without physical reasons, the controllers still aren't the best.

 

[Vinny]

Do you know how much money you'd make selling Dragon Warrior 1-4 NES-like packages? Full color instruction manuals, foldout map, a few secrets and hints, and some signature high-fantasy box art that becomes both vaguely and insanely nostalgic over time. You could even venture into the world of full-sized 24" x 36" limited edition, signed & numbered art prints. People love art.

A lot of niche publishers are releasing games like that, LRG and the like and given how it seems like there's a new company doing "limited print" games every other month, your point is prob valid.

But given that big publishers aren't doing it and how well the new microtransaction filled Diablo game is doing and how SE is dipping into NFT, seems like larger publishers are chasing other fish than physical packaged games.

 

[Souffrir]

So the full Sega Genesis Mini 2 lineup was announced, and it looks... pretty decent to me, actually. I’ve never paid too much attention to these mini consoles, so I was hoping maybe someone here had been and could tell me if they think it would be wiser to pre-order this or if I could safely wait for a price drop.

 

[Vigilante]

So the full Sega Genesis Mini 2 lineup was announced, and it looks... pretty decent to me, actually. I’ve never paid too much attention to these mini consoles, so I was hoping maybe someone here had been and could tell me if they think it would be wiser to pre-order this or if I could safely wait for a price drop.

I'm not sure you'll have the luxury of waiting for a price drop if the much-lower stock (1/10 of the number of Mini 1s IIRC) is in effect.

 

[Souffrir]

I'm not sure you'll have the luxury of waiting for a price drop if the much-lower stock (1/10 of the number of Mini 1s IIRC) is in effect.

And it’s $22 more than it should be because Atlus USA is too damn cheap to import them itself, nice. At $42 more than the previous model, I may skip.

 

[TheKbob]

I want it, but cannot justify $100 want it, when you're able to take the current Genesis Mini and make it more "complete" yourself if you so desire.

Or use retro emulation handheld devices, as well. 

Definitely interesting titles and has value, but too pricey, IMO.

 

[Souffrir]

I want it, but cannot justify $100 want it, when you're able to take the current Genesis Mini and make it more "complete" yourself if you so desire.

Or use retro emulation handheld devices, as well.

Definitely interesting titles and has value, but too pricey, IMO.

The main thing that annoys me about not getting it is the M2 homebrew on it, especially Space Harrier. Space Harrier 2 suffered from being a rushed launch title, and although the Genesis had no built-in sprite scaling, Panorama Cotton demonstrated pretty ably what the hardware could do for that sort of game with skilled programming. From the sounds of it, M2 have implemented better sprite scaling for SH2, and are porting Space Harrier to the Genesis for the first time (not counting the 32X version), and I’m pretty interested in seeing how those play. Given the protections they put in place for Aleste 3 on the Game Gear Mini, though, it seems unlikely you’ll be able to emulate their special ROMs from this collection any time soon.

 

[nitrosmob]

Just letting everyone know Harvestella has physical/digital pre-orders available now. Likely to be up on Best Buy/Target/Others as time goes on. This is the last of the S-E titles coming this year that hadn't had the the physical pre-order be available. I'm a sucker for anything farming related, so it's likely a must buy for me and comes out 11/04/2022.

Amazon

Steam

Nintendo Switch eShop

Also Acquire releasing dungeon crawling samurai looking game Labyrinth of Zangetsu in 2023 localized by PQube for PS4, Switch and PC. I love dungeon crawling titles and samurai titles, so an easy buy.

Steam

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fJ6DeJxD5w[/media]

Three Ninja JaJaMaru collections are coming to PS4, Switch in the west in 2023. Limited physical copies will be available for pre-order starting August 21 at midnight CEST on Strictly Limited Games.

Gematsu

 

[nightc1]

I think the genesis 2 mini is a case of... if you want it, better go ahead and preorder it.   I'm kind of over the whole mini console thing unless we get a mini dreamcast... or mini saturn (even though neither is likely).   I have 2x NES classic (along with extra official controllers, NES was a huge part of my later childhood and college years), an SNES classic, 2x PS1 classic (great sale at BB made getting 2 a solid deal thanks to free shipping), and I have a retropi (pi3b+).  Plus theres always the PSP Go... Wii... and PC.   Oh and a lot of collections came out for various systems... I still have the PS3 genesis collection sealed as I never got around to it.   Genesis was pretty cool but it came later in life for me after it was already done and being pushed off the market.  So I have fond memories of it, but not to the point that I "need" a special mini for it.   PS1 classics... I mainly got those as emulation boxes.

 

[Mattiful-Joe]

I think the genesis 2 mini is a case of... if you want it, better go ahead and preorder it. I'm kind of over the whole mini console thing unless we get a mini dreamcast... or mini saturn (even though neither is likely). I have 2x NES classic (along with extra official controllers, NES was a huge part of my later childhood and college years), an SNES classic, 2x PS1 classic (great sale at BB made getting 2 a solid deal thanks to free shipping), and I have a retropi (pi3b+). Plus theres always the PSP Go... Wii... and PC. Oh and a lot of collections came out for various systems... I still have the PS3 genesis collection sealed as I never got around to it. Genesis was pretty cool but it came later in life for me after it was already done and being pushed off the market. So I have fond memories of it, but not to the point that I "need" a special mini for it. PS1 classics... I mainly got those as emulation boxes.

I feel the same way. I was mildly interested in the PSOne mini but when I heard about all the issues and the lack of a library, what little interest I had disappeared.

 

[beenaround]

I think the genesis 2 mini is a case of... if you want it, better go ahead and preorder it. I'm kind of over the whole mini console thing unless we get a mini dreamcast... or mini saturn (even though neither is likely). I have 2x NES classic (along with extra official controllers, NES was a huge part of my later childhood and college years), an SNES classic, 2x PS1 classic (great sale at BB made getting 2 a solid deal thanks to free shipping), and I have a retropi (pi3b+). Plus theres always the PSP Go... Wii... and PC. Oh and a lot of collections came out for various systems... I still have the PS3 genesis collection sealed as I never got around to it. Genesis was pretty cool but it came later in life for me after it was already done and being pushed off the market. So I have fond memories of it, but not to the point that I "need" a special mini for it. PS1 classics... I mainly got those as emulation boxes.

So I've sold off almost all my old games and systems and downsized my video game collection from being in the thousands down to maybe 100 titles, I like to buy these mini systems as a compromise with myself, otherwise they are kind of pointless aside from a show piece.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if we got a mini saturn and dreamcast down the line though. Or they could just release powerstone 1 and 2 on modern platforms along with Skies of Arcadia and we could all just pretend like the dreamcast never existed.

 

[nightc1]

So I've sold off almost all my old games and systems and downsized my video game collection from being in the thousands down to maybe 100 titles, I like to buy these mini systems as a compromise with myself, otherwise they are kind of pointless aside from a show piece.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if we got a mini saturn and dreamcast down the line though. Or they could just release powerstone 1 and 2 on modern platforms along with Skies of Arcadia and we could all just pretend like the dreamcast never existed.

That's the number I tried to reduce to... 100... but I struggled to get to around 190'something. Everything else is just waiting for me to sell off or give away. It's just really hard to make the push to get started as I've sold off many console collections in the past and I know just how much work is involved (especially with my shipping standards for packing stuff).

The number I landed on was after taking a month or so and sitting down and testing every single opened game and deciding if it was worth my time... and looking at the sealed stuff and deciding if I'd rather have the money or the experience. I will likely push more to the sell pile once I play through them.

 

[beenaround]

That's the number I tried to reduce to... 100... but I struggled to get to around 190'something. Everything else is just waiting for me to sell off or give away. It's just really hard to make the push to get started as I've sold off many console collections in the past and I know just how much work is involved (especially with my shipping standards for packing stuff).

The number I landed on was after taking a month or so and sitting down and testing every single opened game and deciding if it was worth my time... and looking at the sealed stuff and deciding if I'd rather have the money or the experience. I will likely push more to the sell pile once I play through them.

It's freeing for sure, I downsized during the time of Free Money and got a pretty absurd amount for my collection. I really thought I would regret it or miss it but being in my 40s and realizing life doesn't go on forever? I don't care at all that I don't have all those super rare JRPGs anymore or amiibo or other stuff. I bought some stuff to enhance my gaming experience and home theater in general and am far happier now. The days of getting through 30-40 games a year are just over for me and probably will be forever, I think I probably average 12-15 so I'd rather really invest in a few games than try and rush through a ton.

 

[Vinny]

That's the number I tried to reduce to... 100... but I struggled to get to around 190'something. Everything else is just waiting for me to sell off or give away. It's just really hard to make the push to get started as I've sold off many console collections in the past and I know just how much work is involved (especially with my shipping standards for packing stuff).

The number I landed on was after taking a month or so and sitting down and testing every single opened game and deciding if it was worth my time... and looking at the sealed stuff and deciding if I'd rather have the money or the experience. I will likely push more to the sell pile once I play through them.

The fact that you made progress, even if it was a FEW games is something. We've all got games we know we'll never even touch but are sitting on them. I'm still kicking myself for not actively selling during the peak COVID prices... and instead, I actually bought a few games thinking "what if they never get cheaper?!?" (unfortunately, they all did).

 

[TheKbob]

Man, me cutting down to 500 was supposed to be an achievement.

I'd have to sell off entire consoles to get to that, to include DS, 3DS, 360, and PS3.  I suppose I could go all digital for my PS4/PS5, as well, but I genuinely enjoy having those libraries and they don't take up a terrible amount of space currently. 

I curate on physical space.  All my stuff fits in one small cabinet in the living room and some cabinets in my office.  Maybe someday I will sell off more after I start playing them more (adulting stuffs taking up free time currently), but only having 100 games is commendable, IMO.

 

[Daniel_Shadow170]

I have a couple thousand. Some are forever keeping but most are for sale. I started selling videogames as a business in 2020 after my wife lost her job and getting a small settlement.

I can't say the exact number but 2020 we did well over six figures. I sold everything not switch related or that had meaning to me.

I keep my money tied in physical assets. Switch collection of mine I have 12k in worth over 60k stuff like that. I absolutely love my switch and will argue it's the best system made all day.

 

[nitrosmob]

I think about 100 is good for stuff like board games and maybe books, but for video games, seems a little small IMHO. For me around 200-300 is probably a good place. I really just need to get rid of generic RPGs and other sale games I bought that just don't connect with me. Ever since the PS2 era I've been accumulating too many games, and I know I wont play likely 50% of them, so about 50% should go. It is nice though for a smaller collection and going what should I play, and being able to choose for it. I know my Steam library is so much a mess, but the physical game collections are easier to handle.

 

[Pheria]

When I was selling more a year or two ago I had to pace it out, I didn't like spending all my time doing it. I would list maybe 1 thing a day, or do 5 or so on Sunday. I actually kind of didn't want things to sell because then it would just take more time to box and ship lol, but that made it easy to ignore all the lowball "what's the lowest you'll take" messages and patiently wait for a sale.

I finally took the step of cataloging all my games in a spreadsheet (previously was just using backloggery).

I added some checkboxes for games I would enjoy jumping back into briefly in an afternoon. Things like fighting games fit well here, but I also put things like some Neptunia games, even though I've beaten them I'd still have fun jumping in and playing a little. Then I have a section that will query all those and randomize it, and I set aside time a few days a week for 'my personal arcade'. It makes me feel a bit better about having so many, and builds in some time to dabble rather than just have them sit (I'm more interested in playing than collecting so this is a goal for me).

I also have a checkbox to mark games I wouldn't miss or would be fine selling, so next time I feel like downsizing I can start there.

I'm trying out structuring in time for other games too, like a specific day of the week to play my (personally) highest rated game I haven't beaten yet, and one for chosen from random. It isn't a hard requirement, just suggestions to avoid time spent sitting around not sure what to do and then just ending up doing nothing. I like having the 'default' defined to get over the analysis paralysis of a large collection.

I did some huge downsizing over the past maybe 4 years. I got rid of everything pre-PS2 (NES, Genesis, Gameboy/Color/Advance, PS1, Saturn, SNES, N64, Dreamcast), plus selections of games from things newer, and that freed up a lot of space, plus helped with large repair expenses at the time.

I think the only thing I really miss is my frontlit modded Neo Geo Pocket Color. Most of them are on Switch now or are easily emulated, but I do miss that clicky joystick.

I'm not super into displaying my collection or the space it takes up either, I kind of just want to be able to access things I want to play. In the future I may just get some plastic bins and sort by system or something. Right now I have them on two IKEA Billy shelves in a corner, but it's all the space I have for them and I'm to the point I'm having to double up or get some extra shelves/risers.

 

[Vinny]

I think about 100 is good for stuff like board games and maybe books, but for video games, seems a little small IMHO. For me around 200-300 is probably a good place. I really just need to get rid of generic RPGs and other sale games I bought that just don't connect with me. Ever since the PS2 era I've been accumulating too many games, and I know I wont play likely 50% of them, so about 50% should go. It is nice though for a smaller collection and going what should I play, and being able to choose for it. I know my Steam library is so much a mess, but the physical game collections are easier to handle.

Depending on how long you've been gaming and how many generations/systems, I think even that could be tough. Like realistically, you'd want to keep your 200-300 favorite games but then it's like, there's other games that may not be your favorite (or even good) but nostalgia takes over. Like the GameBoy was my first system (as in, my own, not my brother's or friend's) and Link's Awakening is easily my favorite game on it. I also have fond memories of Super Mario Land 1/2, Kriby's Dreamland 1/2, Tetris, etc.

 

[Souffrir]

I was following you till you started listing examples. Link’s Awakening, Super Mario Land 2, Kirby’s Dreamland 2, and Game Boy Tetris are legitimately some of the best games ever made, of course you wouldn’t want to sell them.

 

[Vinny]

I was following you till you started listing examples. Link’s Awakening, Super Mario Land 2, Kirby’s Dreamland 2, and Game Boy Tetris are legitimately some of the best games ever made, of course you wouldn’t want to sell them.

I'm just saying that there's some games you can easily identify as your favorite (Link's Awakening) but then you realize there's tons more that are worth considering as your #2, #3, etc but that eventually, you're gonna have to stop and decide which ones are worthy of the cut-off.

And as a side note, no way in hell I'm selling any of my GB or GBC games- I searched high and low to find complete copies in very good shape.

 

[Pheria]

Don't blame you there, almost all of mine I sold were cartridge only. I had done the thing where you can cut out some plastic from a DS case and store the GB/GBC/NGPC cartridges in there, and make/print custom art, then cut the prints and use that). I did the whole order bulk Universal Game Cases and make/print art for NES/SNES/Genesis games too. Also had a bunch of nice reproduction carts with translation ROM's with custom boxes I made. The collection looked good! But that's the stuff I'm over now, lol. I still like having a complete copy and will pay more for it just in case I ever get into displaying again, but I think I'm done spending time sliding cardboard between the plastic of a DS case [to not damage the transparent plastic when cutting through] and using a box cutter to hack out plastic just so my gameboy cartridges have a home on a shelf.. I enjoyed it a little bit at the time though as project/hobby, so certainly no shade to anyone that does).

I had RGB JP-21 cables to use on a mini Framemeister and even a CRT as an option. I still have the framemeister, but ditched the cables with the systems when I sold them. I still like the idea of having a small CRT somewhere as an option though, and if I encountered one I might consider picking it up, but these big barely moveable Trinitron behemoth's - I get it, but I'm good and I'll pass on that now!

I only had complete GBA copies for a few things - Ulala's Cosmic Attack, FFVI, Pokemon Ruby, Sigma Star Saga (all of them basically perfect too). I regret getting rid of a couple, the Ruby one a little, but mostly I missed (and eventually rebought Sigma Star Saga - eventually I bought Emerald too, which I never had previously so getting rid of Ruby stings a little less for that swap).

 

[Pheria]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but on a Gematsu article I noticed they gave two codes for Play-Asia. One is listed as 'reusable'

I don't order from PA much, but I remember they had switched to codes being one-time use. If there are some reusable ones out there now though, that's handy.

The reusable code is GEMATSUCOM

I don't know if 'multiuse' means unlimited, but I hope so.

https://www.gematsu.com/2022/08/this-weeks-japanese-game-releases-soul-hackers-2-sd-gundam-battle-alliance-more