Retro Game SuperHyper

As I’ve mentioned, I’m actually working on downsizing my video game collection. I’m still planning on writing about the how and why of this stage in my gamer life, but for now it’s a backdrop to this post.

So even though I’m not adding a lot of games to my collection, I naturally still have the urge to collect. How does one scratch that particular itch? My solution is to make my existing collection better.

Right now I’m having quite a bit of fun hunting down original boxes and manuals for my loose NES, SNES, and N64 games. It’s a little weird paying for empty boxes, but when you put that formerly naked NES cartridge — maybe with a dust sleeve, a fresh block of styrofoam, and his buddy the instruction booklet — into that empty box, and then put that complete package on your shelf with the rest, it feels quite worth it.

Maybe you even put that box in one of those cool clear plastic box protectors…it’s like collection porn.

Now admittedly, one of the roadblocks I’m running into is the fact that some of my loose carts are on the rare side, and therefore the boxes are equally if not more rare, and consequently very expensive. I’m not really prepared to pay well north of a hundred bucks for a Pocky & Rocky, a Mighty Final Fight, or a Gargoyle’s Quest II. I have to draw the line somewhere at this point, so I guess a few of my games will either remain indecent, or I’ll have to come up with another solution.

Wait though- I only mentioned NES, SNES, and N64. What about other systems? I might eventually look for boxes for my Game Boy loose carts and pre-NES stuff, but at this point I can only focus on a little at a time. As for Genesis, Turbo, and Neo-Geo games — I don’t really buy them without their cases in the first place!

At any rate, improving the quality of my collection is a great way to keep the collecting bug fed, but not really adding any more to the stacks.