Typical gamer libraries

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steve_k

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Retailers only carry PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. Does this reflect what most gamers typically have in their collections? Personally, I have current and obsolete systems and play just about everything. Do most gamers play older, obsolete games, or do the majority stick with what is most easily found on retail shelves? I ask because Gamestop only carries games for the most current systems. I understand these are the 'money makers' and as a business, Gamestop's number on priority is to make money, but Gamestop is a video game specailty store. They should carry games that will differentiate themselves from the other countless retailers who also happen to carry video games.

Am I one of the few who still plays PS1, Saturn, SNES, and Genesis games? Would I expect to find some of these older systems if I were to walk into the average gamer's home?
 
My gaming library is like this:

PS1 - small (20 or so)
N64 - large (79 last I checked)
GameCube - medium (around 40-50)
Xbox - HUGE (over 100)
PS2 - HUGE (over 100)
Wii - small (20 or so)
360 - large (around 60 titles)
PS3 - small (15 titles)

None of that counts Downloadable titles. I still play my stuff from time to time... The only thing that I don't play that often is the Xbox, the only reason I have so many games for it is that after GS stopped taking the Xbox's games for trades my friends just gave me all their games.
 
I would assume that most gamers probably play, or at least still own plenty of older games. And if we really want to find these games to buy, it usually isn't too hard to find them online (and some people have local games shops that carry those games).

Gamestop, however, is not really for gamers, despite what they claim. As you said, their priority is to make money, and for that reason they actually cater to a broader demographic that tends to mostly buy the latest games. Carrying older games would take up too much space and only appeal to a niche audience (aka people like us).
 
[quote name='ihadFG']

Gamestop, however, is not really for gamers, despite what they claim. As you said, their priority is to make money, and for that reason they actually cater to a broader demographic that tends to mostly buy the latest games. Carrying older games would take up too much space and only appeal to a niche audience (aka people like us).[/QUOTE]

This. If you find a store that really does target gamers (usually smaller stores as opposed to big franchises), you'll find they sell older games.
 
I think the problem with stores like GameStop trying to sell classic video games is they are very hit or miss. What I mean by this is they are either a dime-a-dozen (i.e. Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt) and nobody wants them, even for a dollar, or they are rare (i.e. Earthbound) and nobody can afford them. I think GameStop may analyze those two extremes (which are far more prominant in older games than with newer games) and see themselves sitting on a product that has a hard time moving out the door.
 
[quote name='ckonze']I think the problem with stores like GameStop trying to sell classic video games is they are very hit or miss. What I mean by this is they are either a dime-a-dozen (i.e. Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt) and nobody wants them, even for a dollar, or they are rare (i.e. Earthbound) and nobody can afford them. I think GameStop may analyze those two extremes (which are far more prominant in older games than with newer games) and see themselves sitting on a product that has a hard time moving out the door.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, there's just not enough money in classic games unless you make it a focus. Some of the stores around me have games from classic systems like Atari. So much shelf space for something they charge $1 a game for or whatever and can't possibly sell that often.

I don't have much of a classic collection because my first system was a PS2. My brother always had the systems and I played what he brought home. I love classic games, but i don't have the space to keep a cool collection, and I don't need more boxes in the basement, so I'll stick to my Xbox 360 collection. I'll hopefully be working on a PS3 collection sooner or later. Maybe with my tax return!
 
I have games and systems dating all the way back to the NES, but I just keep my newest systems hooked up. When the basement is done and I get a new TV, I'll have my new systems on that and my old systems in my bedroom.

Probably among seasoned gamers, it's more common to play older systems, but for people that play Call of Duty/Madden just buy the latest and greatest.

I have a friend that plays those, and he sells his old games to gamestop.
 
I still play quite a few retro games, mainly NES & SNES. But with the Nintendo's Virtual Console I rarely have to hook them up. I'm not much of a collector anymore as I just want play the game instead of just owning them to collect dust.

I currently have a library of about 250 games. It's as mix of everything from PS3, Saturn, SNES, etc. I have way too many PS2 games, more than I care to own.

In high school I used to work at a video game store based in a mall. I've been to other little mom n pops places and I have to say were I worked was pretty kick ass. We competed with an EB down the hall and it lead to a lot of competition. We sold everything from current releases to retro games and even dabbled in imports a little bit. It didn't pay well but it was the coolest job ever.
 
I kept classic games around up through the early part of last gen.

I eventually sold them all off and now pretty much don't keep a game library. I barely play all the new games that interest me, so I pretty much never go back and replay old games.

So these days it's pretty much beat the game, put it on Goozex and move onto the next one. I think I currently have 9 or so 360 games and 4 DS games on my shelf.
 
I have my older consoles and games still, but until I get a CRT (Which I don't have the room for currently) that can actually play them they're boxed away. Should I want to replay one, I'll just load up an emulator and map a controller to the game. So until I get a new house that allows me to buy and place a CRT somewhere, they'll be boxed away.

Right now all I have out in the open are GB and later handhelds and PS2/GCN + all of the current gen stuff and a bunch of computer games out. Oh and I guess I do have about 1/5th of my playstation games unboxed and out too.
 
I own systems and games from the Atari 2600 up through the current consoles. However, I no longer actively collect games for the older systems.

If I hit up a flea market or garage sale and see a stack of old NES games, I will def take a look and may even buy something, but I no longer actively hunt down older games like I have in the past.
 
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