Videogames: a collection you can use

It’s not just a collection representing technological advancement

Starting a collection is something anyone can do. Having a collection worth bragging about is a feat not many can muster.

One of the biggest, uprising collection fads in the world is that of videogames. From the 70s to the present, from the Magnavox Odyssey to the PS4 gaming has had quite the history with new systems created by different companies almost every two years – not to mention the games that come with these systems.

The first home console was the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972, which hooked up to a TV and allowed owners to play very simple games that related sports like hockey, tennis and other professional sports. It wasn’t until Atari’s Pong that video games mainstreamed.

Since then we have seen the development of 3D graphic integration, handheld systems and motion sensing technology. Whether the development has been for better or for worse, the fact remains people love collecting consoles and videogames.

Avid collector and gamer from South Florida Jesse Boyd said he got into collecting when he was nine years old and had inherited an Atari 7800 from his uncle. He said he has gone through many systems and sold a lot of them but he has many items he considers prized collections such as his Vectrex and Apple ][.

“Most of the systems I sell or trade once I grow tired of using them or I’m no longer interested in them,” said Boyd. “I’ve owned and sold most every common system and a lot of esoteric ones and the thing that keeps me coming back to the hobby is the interesting history of the industry and the technology and the fascinating oddities of technology you come across, especially with early stuff.”

Boyd said another of his favourite systems is the NES because of the amount of quality games it produced and franchises it started which are still stakeholders in the industry today.

Nintendo Entertainment System is considered by many the best console to ever have been made and popularized titles like Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda, both of which still have new games coming out constantly and are considered “faces” of the gaming industry.

Boyd said he is more partial to older systems because they come with less baggage from game developers.

“I feel like they come from a simpler time when games weren’t trying to be epic franchises, they were just trying to create solid gameplay,” said Boyd. “Every game has a history and a story behind it, whether it’s the story of how the game was made or the great story you get finding something rare in the wild – garage sales and swap meets.”

With more new games coming out almost every day, the opportunity to start a videogame collection has never been better. Old, new or somewhere in the middle – what will your collection look like?