Well, it sure has been a minute here. Outside of work, COVID-19 and just general life things I haven’t had much of a chance to post things on here. To break myself into the habit of writing again, I thought I’d do an easy one and catalogue my video game collection. I think I’ve built up a nifty little collection over the years, mainly focusing on quality and not quantity. My partner already thinks I own too much and so if I decided to do a complete system collection, she’d probably kill me.
Shelving
When it comes to shelving and storage, I’m a big fan of IKEA’s Expedit or Kallax. Most people who have a game collection would most likely be using this already and with good reason. Priced extremely well, versatile for most applications and timeless no matter which area of the house you have them. I’m a big fan of simplicity when it comes to shelving and this fits the bill perfectly. I use a big 5 x 5 unit, along with a 1 x 5 and another 4 x 4 on the end. Making it start lower in the beginning adds some variety to the mix.
I use a few different inserts to break up the look and give me some other storage options. The IKEA shelf insert (exciting title, I know) is used to store loose cartridges and the other one is great for regular CD jewel cases as the space is creates is the exact height.
The collection
My games and consoles are sort of spread all around the place. Most of the cartridge based games and older stuff is on the main bookshelf, where as my PS4, Switch and PS3 games are near the computer desk. I usually only have 1 or 2 retro consoles plugged in at any one time, I’m not a fan of plugging every console it all the time as a nightmare cable wise.
Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64 was the first console that I properly owned. Before that, we had a Mega Drive but we rented every game that we played thanks to Video Ezy. When the N64 came around, we started to own games so its the console that I hold dearest to my heart. I’ve got a decent selection of first party titles along with some great lesser known ones. I own two N64’s, one PAL Australia and another NTSC North American version. The latter is used for a handful NTSC titles and all the games I get from my Japan trips.
SNES
I was a Sega kid back in the 16 bit days so I never really owned or properly played SNES games until emulation. When I went to Japan for the first time I fixed that up, and every year I go back I manage to snag a few solid deals on SNES cartridges. The only CIBs for SNES that I own is Mother 2 and Chrono Trigger, the rest are all loose cartridges. Like my N64 I use aftermarket cases to store them, and the rest I just lean against each other on a shelf.
Portables
My portable collection isn’t the biggest as I’ve always mainly played my portable games via flashcard. That said I do have a handful of games, mainly ones that I really like and boxes that actually survived my childhood. My Pokemon Gold came with my GBC back in the day is in still in good nick. Same goes for Link’s Awakening. Various portable games are scattered around the place, mainly where any space is available.
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid gets its own space in the shelf as it’s hands down my favourite franchise of all time. Although Kojima did go a bit ham on the last one story wise, it still stands as one of the most influential games to me. I own all the main entries as well as the portables and a few re-releases. If you’ve played MGS3, then you’ll understand the Calorie Mate.
Gamecube and Wii
I never owned a Wii into way later and my collection there is pretty thin due to Wii modding. I love my GameCube to bits though despite its library being ever so weaker compared to the PS2 which just reigned supreme at the time. Aside from what I have physically, everything else I played via emulation. Sonic Adventure 2 and Metroid Prime are the GOAT.
PlayStation 2
PS2 was a banger of a console. A killer selection of heavy hitters throughout the years and the DVD player at the time was a game changer. Almost every household I knew, had a PS2. Sadly I traded in almost all my PS2 games for a Xbox 360 when that came out so my current collection is mainly all buy backs. What hurts the most is that I had some really rare gems at the time like Marvel vs Capcom 2 and Rez, but such is life.
NES and Famicom
I don’t have too many fond memories of the NES. Of course I played SMB1 and the like when I was young but it didn’t stick with me like other consoles did. That said though Famicom games, have amazing art. From the packaging all the way down to the multi coloured cartridges, they evoke something that I miss about the 80s and 90s gaming. I decided to put all my carts on a IKEA pegboard and mount it on the wall.
The carts have 3M velco bands attached to them so I want to play a game, I can just pull it off the pegboard and pop it in. If I want to remove the velco band then I can do that as well without any damage. Game storage that doubles as art.
Dreamcast
I think the Dreamcast comes under everyones “way ahead of its time” lists. I have 2 Dreamcast consoles, a US and a Japanese one. I got my original DC on release with Sonic Adventure, Power Stone and Soul Calibur, my personal holy trinity. My US one is hooked up to my main TV via HDMI and is modded for universal power so I don’t need a bulky converter.
Toys and Figurines
I love a good figurine. Somehow, all of my Dragonball Z, Transformers and Beast War toys from my younger years are relatively unscathed through all the moving and travel. All three had a big impact on me and so that’s why you’ll see them around the place. The big DBZ ones I snagged from Japan, as they are literally everywhere from gift stores to claw machines.
My favourite are the Hotline Miami figurines and the custom Mortal Kombat Sektor helmet that I got made for a cosplay.
Hotline Miami is another title that is hugely influential to me in its atheistic and music. The helmet I didn’t end up using but it makes for a nice art piece for the home (Both pictured below).
PlayStation 1
My love with Metal Gear Solid started with the PlayStation 1. Back in the day it was a primarily a Tony Hawks / Time Crisis / MGS box. I had a few other essential games but most of the stuff I had was good old burned CD-Rs from various friends. PS1 games in Japan are nice and cheap so I have a few titles from there too.
CD and Vinyl
Aside from games and figurines I have small selection of video game music on CD and vinyl. Yes I’m one of those snobs who likes music on vinyl, sue me. Our turntable is hooked into an amp which connects to our speakers located near our TV. TV also outputs sound via the same setup, hence why its located there. Hotline Miami is a given, and the Sonic Adventure series, say what you may, have banger soundtracks. However one of my other favourites is the Fighter EX Layer collection.
A lot of people don’t seem to care for the Street Fighter EX series, but this collection is the first and probably only time, the official music was released in a high quality format. Most of the stuff you look up on YouTube are direct game rips. In addition they also included multi tracks (!) of all the songs too – absolutely nuts. I might do an dedicated article as to why this release is so important.
Aside from my arcade machine, which I’ll cover in a separate piece, that is that! Crazy to think its been about a year since I last wrote something up here. I have a few more tutorials in the works which are almost done but I’ll also be trying my hand at doing YouTube tutorials as well in addition to the written stuff.
Stay safe.
