Curmudgeon Gamer
05 May 2008
Giving It Away (or: Why the State of North Carolina now owns a lot more videogames)
My alma mater, NCSU, has a videogame collection. What they have covers newer systems and mostly popular games. So when they sent out requests for more games recently, I responded.
Last week I gave nearly every Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 game that I own to them. In total 120 games, many with boxes and manuals, which I've listed below for the curious.
There are some items there that are probably worth a few dollars. I don't keep up with the scene any more, so I don't know how much a Limited Edition Okie Dokie cartridge goes for nowadays. (Mine looked like this, but with #49 on it.) Nor how much a special edition of Qb (#93) fetches on eBay, complete in wood box with source listing and the original broken version circuit boards. When I was collecting, it was a big deal to get games like Track & Field, KLAX (2600, boxed), and Road Runner. I suspect demand is lower today, but at least NCSU has them without the fuss.
I only regret that I sold my two Swordquest Waterworld cartridges (both found in the wild, one with instructions and comic) and Motorodeo and way back when. I even had a Shuttle Oribter -- I wish I could have given that to NCSU too, but it was long ago liquidated.
In the coming years, I plan to donate the rest of my collection -- NES, Genesis, SNES, Jaguar, Lynx, PlayStation, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2. Those later systems will be more difficult, surprisingly. Whereas I spent a lot of time collecting Atari games with which I had little emotional connection, it's quite another thing to think of donating my original copy of Tomb Raider for the PS1 or my copy of Metal Gear Solid 3 for the PlayStation 2. [Note: Originally the word "selling" was used above. I meant "donating", as the text now reflects. The items I've given to NCSU were donated, and I declined offers of money to "defray costs" of transporting the items to Raleigh in person.]
I'm not sure on a timeframe, but my dwindling free time makes having this library in my home less desirable. And, I can visit it any time I want. There is even talk of some public events, to which I would be an invited guest. Neat.
Oh, and I did keep one Atari 2600 cartridge. Which one? The Stellalist Beta Cartridge. It's special twice over: my dear friend, Ruffin, gave it to me and it has code on it that I wrote. As far as I know it's not available anymore.
If you're interested in what I just gave away, just click here to see the inventory sheet.
Last week I gave nearly every Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 game that I own to them. In total 120 games, many with boxes and manuals, which I've listed below for the curious.
There are some items there that are probably worth a few dollars. I don't keep up with the scene any more, so I don't know how much a Limited Edition Okie Dokie cartridge goes for nowadays. (Mine looked like this, but with #49 on it.) Nor how much a special edition of Qb (#93) fetches on eBay, complete in wood box with source listing and the original broken version circuit boards. When I was collecting, it was a big deal to get games like Track & Field, KLAX (2600, boxed), and Road Runner. I suspect demand is lower today, but at least NCSU has them without the fuss.
I only regret that I sold my two Swordquest Waterworld cartridges (both found in the wild, one with instructions and comic) and Motorodeo and way back when. I even had a Shuttle Oribter -- I wish I could have given that to NCSU too, but it was long ago liquidated.
In the coming years, I plan to donate the rest of my collection -- NES, Genesis, SNES, Jaguar, Lynx, PlayStation, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2. Those later systems will be more difficult, surprisingly. Whereas I spent a lot of time collecting Atari games with which I had little emotional connection, it's quite another thing to think of donating my original copy of Tomb Raider for the PS1 or my copy of Metal Gear Solid 3 for the PlayStation 2. [Note: Originally the word "selling" was used above. I meant "donating", as the text now reflects. The items I've given to NCSU were donated, and I declined offers of money to "defray costs" of transporting the items to Raleigh in person.]
I'm not sure on a timeframe, but my dwindling free time makes having this library in my home less desirable. And, I can visit it any time I want. There is even talk of some public events, to which I would be an invited guest. Neat.
Oh, and I did keep one Atari 2600 cartridge. Which one? The Stellalist Beta Cartridge. It's special twice over: my dear friend, Ruffin, gave it to me and it has code on it that I wrote. As far as I know it's not available anymore.
If you're interested in what I just gave away, just click here to see the inventory sheet.
Labels: atari, collecting, libraries
--jvm at 20:27
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02 April 2008
Collecting sickness gone mad (or: Demo discs!)
Well, I've finally done it. I've officially started collecting demo discs.
I've always had a few demo discs around. For example, that's the only way I could play Intelligent Qube for years. (Cue people asking me for an Intelligent Qube ISO...) And my wife nearly killed me when I played the Parappa the Rapper demo for ages. I also picked up the Official PlayStation Magazine demo of Tomb Raider: Legend within the past couple of years.
But now they've gone beyond utility into that bizarre realm of "neat artifacts I'd like to buy just to own". Oh boy. This is like label variations of Atari 2600 games all over again.
Here's the best source of data I've found on them. I even made a spreadsheet of the PS2 demos so I could keep track of mine. I have 13 ... out of over 400 listed on this page. At least I'll have something to keep me busy. I also have 3 PS1 demo discs and a handful of PSP demo UMDs.
Incidentally, there is competition out there for these. On a lark, I bid $18 on a lot of 41 demo discs the other day on eBay. The final bid was $38 or so. Yow.
Anyway, if you've got some you'd like to ditch, give me a holler.
I've always had a few demo discs around. For example, that's the only way I could play Intelligent Qube for years. (Cue people asking me for an Intelligent Qube ISO...) And my wife nearly killed me when I played the Parappa the Rapper demo for ages. I also picked up the Official PlayStation Magazine demo of Tomb Raider: Legend within the past couple of years.
But now they've gone beyond utility into that bizarre realm of "neat artifacts I'd like to buy just to own". Oh boy. This is like label variations of Atari 2600 games all over again.
Here's the best source of data I've found on them. I even made a spreadsheet of the PS2 demos so I could keep track of mine. I have 13 ... out of over 400 listed on this page. At least I'll have something to keep me busy. I also have 3 PS1 demo discs and a handful of PSP demo UMDs.
Incidentally, there is competition out there for these. On a lark, I bid $18 on a lot of 41 demo discs the other day on eBay. The final bid was $38 or so. Yow.
Anyway, if you've got some you'd like to ditch, give me a holler.
Labels: collecting, demo, ps2, psone, psp
--jvm at 08:55
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[ 2 ]
22 May 2007
More about PlayStation Museum
I wrote the PlayStation Museum curator about their liquidation. Here is the response:
jvm: What precipitated the liquidation of the PlayStation Museum's collection?So now you know.
PS Museum: A partner in the museum has decided to split and force a liquidation (unless I can come up with the money which I can't).
jvm: How will the online museum change after this liquidation?
PSM: The online museum may stay. The future of the museum is still slightly uncertain.
jvm: Are you in touch with preservation institutions about selling the collection?
PSM: No, I haven't been.
jvm: And has the eBay auction been removed by you or by eBay? In either case, why?
PSM: Apparently ebay removed it for trademark violation, unauthorized item? Your email was the first I heard of it and now I just read the standard email from ebay. Everything will now have to be listed separately.
Labels: collecting, psone
--jvm at 18:04
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[ 3 ]
21 May 2007
Death of the PlayStation Museum?
Via Simon at GameSetWatch, I see that the PlayStation Museum (site down as of this writing) is probably closing down. The collection is for sale here currently, with an asking price of $30,000. As someone who is quasi-obsessive about PlayStation game collecting, I'm sad to see it go. If there is a university out there looking to jump into preservation with both feet, I'd think thirty grand would be pretty cheap for this extensive a collection.
On the plus side, owning about 8.5% of the number of PSOne games they have doesn't make me feel too bad about my collection. And it's not jointly owned (one PS Museum partner is apparently the reason for the liquidation), so I don't have anyone urging me to sell it off. (No, I'm not counting my wife. I think she's found her peace with my collection.)
On the plus side, owning about 8.5% of the number of PSOne games they have doesn't make me feel too bad about my collection. And it's not jointly owned (one PS Museum partner is apparently the reason for the liquidation), so I don't have anyone urging me to sell it off. (No, I'm not counting my wife. I think she's found her peace with my collection.)
Labels: collecting, psone
--jvm at 20:10
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[ 3 ]
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