Ever since the beginning of time our ancestors have either hunted, or they gathered to survive. Modern humans have taken it to the next level by not only doing both but by also hunting and gathering items that are not necessary for our survival. We are now a society of collectors. People collect all sorts things from little things like rocks or stamps to the expensive luxuries like cars or boats. In between those extremes there are the retro video game collectors. Depending on which video game console you are collecting for, it could be a fairly cheap hobby or it could be an expensive hobby. I know this because I am a retro game collector myself.
You may have heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, well it takes a community to amass a collection. Nothing is more exciting than seeing someone complete a collection with the help of other local gamers. I still remember the excitement in our local group when a member was going for a complete Nintendo Entertainment System set, and only needed about 20 games to finish his collection. The community banded together to help this collector by keeping an eye out for his missing titles, and he managed to complete his set shortly after. Some people would say “you could always log onto eBay and click “Buy It Now” on the games you need,” but where is the fun in that? I personally would rather hunt around and have an amazing story about the adventure of where I found it or finding it for such an amazing deal. In the end, the games might be fun to play and own but the memories are really what this hobby is about. Some families have even turned video game collecting into a hobby with their kids, where they will go out on weekends and go to shops and yard sales pursuing games for their collections. Game collecting is now like the nerdy version of a father and son building a car.
I joined the Pittsburgh Retro Gaming community back in 2014. When I joined, I did not know anyone in this local scene. Since that time, I have had made trades and attended conventions and other local meetups. Along the way, I have met people whom I would consider some of my closest friends and whom I never would have met if not for this local community. We even had a couple in our community who met at one of our events and recently got engaged. So, the next time you think about simply logging onto your computer and clicking “Buy”, just think about what adventures you might be missing or the people you may never meet while hunting for that game instead, that adventure may change your life.
