Nostalgia = pointless?

jkam

jkam

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I've always been the type of gamer that while not holding on to every game I play through I've kept around a few favorites from each generation. I've lately seem to become more and more at a crossroads with this.

It occurred to me the other day while playing Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. This game is already a few years old but I played through Sands of Time so I felt compelled to go through the rest of the trilogy. The thing is even though I've played through Sands of Time I still have it on my shelf...because I considered it to be a great game. Now here comes the problem...

It's obvious that like a lot of people my play time is more limited these days. So if I'm only now getting to Warrior Within what makes me think I'll ever go back and play Sands of Time I'm not 100% sure. It's still a great game but I'm starting to wonder if holding on to it makes sense.

I think some games do lend themselves to holding on to, like fighters that have almost limitless replayability.

I don't consider myself a collector by any means but I also don't want to get rid of RE4 and Ninja Gaiden Black just yet even though I've finished them. I've started thinking maybe I should keep the games I want to initially and then if I don't play them in a year or something get rid of them.

I guess I used to think too that if I didn't own a game at a particular point in time I'd have no way to play it again....but now we have the VC, the Sony Store and LIVE Arcade which seems to make it a moot point. If I REALLY wanted to play something I have options on how to get it.

There is a part of me that just wants to let go of anything I've played through and move onto the next game because it seems to make more sense for my gaming habits. I guess I'm looking to see what other CAGs do and think about nostalgia in general.
 
I tend to get rid of my games after I beat them, I don't think I have ever truly went back and replayed the games single player over except metal gear solid on PS1. I just don't have time, I usually beat them and move on to the next game.

Although, I might start hanging on to some so that some day my son can play them.
 
For me it boils down to disposable income/space.

I have a crap ton of games I've purchased that I'll probably never get to... but the thought of not having them at my finger tips makes me very uneasy.

I don't believe in emulation, VC, etc. though I MUST have the original... I'm not a sealed/packaged new kinda guy though. I just feel to pay proper respect to the mana of the game I have to play it "as it was played back in the day"

Yes, it's a sickness :(
 
I hit this same problem a couple years back when I realized I'd probably never play 90% of my games again, so I sold off the majority of them and I can't say I've missed them. Given my current time for gaming I'd rather play something new (or at least new to me) than a game I've already beaten before.
 
The problem with most games, unlike with films, is that they require too much of an investment of time. I know, it sounds weird since people normally complain about a game being too short. But you simply can't play through a 30 hour game too many times or you'll have no time for other games. So, really, most games just end up collecting dust. Some games are worth hanging on to, but for the most part, if you can never imagine playing them again, what's the point?
 
I used to be a pretty obsessive GCN and DS collector but one day all of that just went out of the window and I sold all my games. No looking back. Got bored with my Wii and sold it. Same thing with the PS3.

For some reason, however, I do feel that I will hold onto my PSP collection for the foreseeable future. The games I've picked up for it I really do love and they don't take up much space so...they can stay.
 
In the days of the NES and SNES, I would go through the same single-player games more than once. Back then, I was young, so I had the time to do so. (And, I didn't make my own money, so I didn't get that many games.)

Now that I'm older, I can't think of a time when I have went through a single-player game a second time...with the exception of Gears of War. (And that was co-op with a friend in two nights.)

I still keep all my games. I suppose I could make some money off of them (the newer released), but I figure it's cool to still have all the games. And, most of the oldies wouldn't make enough money to justify selling them.

Plus, if I have kids in the future, they would have a lot of games to go through (if they wanted to).
 
I sell nearly anything that I've finished, or haven't played in a year, and is worth more than $5.
 
I am one of those dirty collectors. I have a game room, full of bookshelves.

BUT, I do play my old games. I just hooked up my N64 to play Mario Kart 64. I regularly play NES. Not much beats D for 3do. I am married and have a job, but I don't have kids and my wife loves video games too, so I find I have time.

Will I play all my games multiple times? Never. But its a hobby, like being an audiophile or putting a lot of money in a car. DO what you enjoy. I love leafing through shelves of games, finding the style of game that is just right for my mood.

To each his own, you sell your games when you are done and I probably buy them.

Stephen.
 
I keep my games. The same for books and DVDs. I normally don't buy them till they've already dropped significantly in price (I'm about 2 years behind at the moment, so why buy new games when they come out at full price), so I'm not going to get more than a dollar or two back, and I like having a collection even if I know I won't play most of the games again (I am of the opinion that games are a rising art-form and hence worthy of collection).
 
I have about 65 360 games and about 15 of them have never seen the inside of the xbox and most of those probably never will nor will I ever get rid of any of them .....until the next generation comes around....
 
Some video game series are very iterative; once the sequel comes out, there is no reason to keep the previous games (improvements in gameplay, graphics, story, etc...). However, there are titles that are very unique, or got a sequel that just doesn't hold up well. I think the reason you're holding onto Ninja Gaiden Black and RE4 is because you are waiting to see if the next iterations will 'replace' those games, or justify hanging on to them.

It's a bit of a catch 22... do you sell back a game towards buying a new one, and regret it?... or do you hold onto it and never play it again?

I tend to buy games a few years after they've been released, so I normally end up with games that are worth only a few dollars when I'm ready to sell them.
 
[quote name='evyrew']It's a bit of a catch 22... do you sell back a game towards buying a new one, and regret it?... or do you hold onto it and never play it again?[/QUOTE]
That happened to me with Devil May Cry. I played it, then sold it, then bought it again when I realized I wanted to have it on hand should I ever want to play it a second time.

I'm a collector and a pack-rat, so I tend to hold onto games, especially those that I like, because I never know when I'll get the urge to play something again. I'm the same way with books, music, and other things. It's just the mentality I have.
 
[quote name='elwood731']The problem with most games, unlike with films, is that they require too much of an investment of time. I know, it sounds weird since people normally complain about a game being too short. But you simply can't play through a 30 hour game too many times or you'll have no time for other games. So, really, most games just end up collecting dust. Some games are worth hanging on to, but for the most part, if you can never imagine playing them again, what's the point?[/quote]

The point is there's always that little or big chance you'll want to play the game again. And trust me, when you sell some of your most loved games it'll only make you want to play it more, resulting in you shelling out more money!

No one said you had to play the whole game again to enjoy it. I don't need to replay my games to completion to feel they're worth keeping, little playthroughs are more than enough.

So the lesson here is just to learn to love the games you own again(shouldn't be too hard). People are too concerned about the most hyped up new games that they forget how awesome the games they already have are.
 
I have only have a 360 and DS now, and the only older games I have are a handful of GBA games that I can play on the DS--and even some of those I plan on getting rid of.

I used to keep games, but I seldom ever replay anything and if I do it's usually some old 2D game that I just play on an emulator.

I just don't have the time or interest in gaming anymore to keep old crap around and replay it, so I got rid of most everything and I'm using Goozex to get rid of games once I'm done with them now.

I can't even keep up with all the new games I want to play, so I don't like "wasting" time playing old games.

The move to HDTV also killed the little interest I had in retro gaming as I don't like playing 4:3 non-HD games on my HDTV very much.

The space concern someone else mentioned is also relevant, I have around 300 DVDs so my shelves around the TV don't have a ton of room for games anymore, and I don't plan on cutting those down since I enjoy films a lot more than gaming. But in general, I'm not a collector or pack rat at all--really quite the opposite and try not to keep junk I'm not using around.

So for me it's just more sensible to finish games and ditch them as I'll probably never touch them again anyway. And honestly, I'm not even sure if I'll keep gaming beyond this gen as I'll be even busier in a year or so when I'm done with grad school and if I have less free time gaming will be the first hobby that gets sacrificed.
 
I sometimes had trouble with this. I found out that if you sell off the game you won't really care in the end. The hardest part is getting rid of it, but once you do you never look back.
 
[quote name='Mike 01Hawk']Really helps to have a CRT to play the old games... I don't see HOW you guys play pre-2000 systems on Plasma/LCD etc.

My Man TV (sans the 360 I added 1-2008 :) )
http://www.damike.com/Pics/mantv.jpg[/QUOTE]

This is very true, I dumped my CRT for an LCD, then it hit me one day, besides the fact that snes and psone games look terrible on an LCD all those light guns also don't work. I dumped my entire lightgun collection because I had no t.v to play it on. But back to the topic on hand, my time is a lot more limited but i'm not getting rid of all my games any time soon. I cut my collection down to the basics, stuff I liked or stuff I will get around to playing, that is it. A lot of those cheap games I got for 3 dollars on clearance somewhere went.
 
[quote name='Rozz']I sometimes had trouble with this. I found out that if you sell off the game you won't really care in the end. The hardest part is getting rid of it, but once you do you never look back.[/quote]

Not really.
 
I keep every single game I buy now. I had traded in a few SNES games one day when I was younger, and I still regret it to this day. I know I'll end up buying the games again one day, but they'll be more expensive.
 
I love nostalgia... nothing beats the good old days. Life was so much more forgiving back when I was young.

I always wanna have stuff to remind of those times.
 
I've had to rebuy Super Mario Sunshine after regretting trading it. But that's all I can really remember when it comes to ever caring about games I got rid of.

I always just trade off games I don't like. The thing is, a lot of the stuff I traded was crap from before I figured out which games were good and which weren't. It wasn't before I turned 13 that I found a real taste in games. So now that I'm pretty much done with clearing out my old crap, I don't forsee myself getting rid of any of my games.
 
[quote name='leveskikesko']Not really.[/quote]

If you don't want to play the title again and the only value it holds is nostalgia then yes it is true.
 
[quote name='Rozz']I sometimes had trouble with this. I found out that if you sell off the game you won't really care in the end. The hardest part is getting rid of it, but once you do you never look back.[/QUOTE]

I'm with you on that one, I've never had a really big collection of games, but I still go thru them from time to time and sell off ones i've finished, or know I won't play much of. There's always games I keep to play, and new ones coming out, as well as the PC, so I don't tend to look back once they are gone.
 
[quote name='Rozz']If you don't want to play the title again and the only value it holds is nostalgia then yes it is true.[/quote]

Sometimes nostalgia is enough for people though...

It just depends on the person really I guess. Some people just can't stand playing the same game over. I'm the type that can find enjoyment out of any game I liked at some point as long as it's not terribly outdated, and if it is outdated it better have a lot of nostalgia appeal.
 
Depends on the games. Most action adventure games I won't ever replay, but one with a great story I'll replay a few times over. There are a couple of games I bought like three times since I kept trading them in and regretted. You won't actually care till you want to play it again and than you'll be pissed.
 
I will not get rid of my very favorite games even if I beat them. I sometimes go back through Zone of the Enders, Xenosaga series, Star Ocean: Till The End of Time, FFVII, FFIX, FFX, Kingdom Hearts II, etc. because I loved them so much, and love re-experiencing some of it.
 
I used to have this problem up until a few years ago when I sold off my 100+ collection of PSOne/2 games. Recently I even sold off the rest of my old generation systems, so now all that I have is Wii/DS/PSP. It's definitely odd looking at my IGN collection and seeing ~20 games when I used to have several hundred, but for the most part I don't miss anything besides some RPGs.

Now I usually sell a game after I complete it on ebay and get most of my money back, so I can view purchasing games as long rentals.
 
I haven't come up with the right way to do this for myself yet. I tend to keep stuff that either is kind of unique and/or fun, or resonated with me emotionally for some reason.

I've also not solved the right mix of buying games versus renting. Gamefly's a good deal, except then if it turns out you want to own something, you might as well have just bought it...EXCEPT then I'll hit a streak of 6 games in a row that are garbage, that I should have rented. And then when you factor in that sometimes it's cheaper to just buy a discounted games and sell it when you're done, etc., etc. Oh well, I'm using a mixture of Gamefly plus cheap games plus Gametap for now.
 
yeap pointless... not only that, waste space and money too. i only buy what i want and at the reasonable price. i do keep my games after beating them. #1 reason is that, you can't get good prices for them, so why bother getting rid of them (if you don't need money right away that is). #2 reason, i can lend to my friends (i hate that, but not all friends are sloppy and careless).
 
Well, I see the point. I have tons of games I likely will never replay again. But, at this point, I can't get much for them. I'm not going to play Tomb Raiders Angels of Darkness on my PS2. But, what am I going to get for it, a buck? I'll just keep it. Someone wanted to give me $10 for it, I'd hawk it in a second, but for the going rate, I'll keep it in case I do want it for some reason one day.

As far as replaying, it's an interesting shot. There are more than enough decent games released now that you wouldn't ever need to replay a game if you didn't want to. But, many games I enjoy replaying, if I enjoyed them once, I'll enjoy them again. Why play another mediocre game that isn't offering anything new when I can replay a darn good game that I know I'll have 15 hours of fun with, for no additonal cost.

It's more of a preference. I see both sides, I like replaying though, even though it leads me to playing less games (or getting to games really late, just got God of War for the first time yesterday).
 
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