My Video Games
Tearing Down an Empire
July 3, 2010
After four years living in Oregon, I came to the realization that twelve years of collecting video games blinded me from important activities and hobbies that were second nature to me, like writing, artwork and other hands-on projects. The impulsive nature of collecting allowed me to live a life of clutter and distraction with reckless abandon. Somewhere along the way I went too far, and suddenly I felt like I had no space, both physically and mentally, for anything else.
I torn down my empire in order to save myself and the relief has been immediate. I sold my entire collection of consoles, including my Atari 2600, Colecovision, NES, Famicom, GameCube, GameBoy Advance, The Wii and Nintendo DS collections.
I also sold the last of my dedicated coin-ops. The only one left is the Atari Break Out European wall unit, which considering it's vintage and compact size is a great conversation piece.
I didn't give up on video games completely. I'll be building a JAMMA cabinet this year or in 2011. And I still collect and archive video game flyers. It's expensive at times but that's a part of collecting them. I feel rewarded when I find flyers I need and share them at The Arcade Flyer Archive.
