The Stats!

Decided to add a section that will cover both some FAQ and a little background into my hobby of collecting/playing video games. Welcome to my world!

Name: Jason

Location: Virginia (United States)

Age: Born 7/5/73

Status: Married (14 yrs) with 1 son (6) & another on the way (Due 3/8/08)

Picture of my family at a local restaurant taken spring of ‘07

First I’ll cover the beginnings/reasons of my madness

I received my first video game system in 1980 at the age of 7. We got the Atari 2600 for Christmas that year and I’ve been gaming ever since. Through the years, my gaming has seen many seasons of ups and downs as Real Life naturally takes precedence over our Virtual ones. Growing up changes the amount of time you can enjoy video games but never how much you can enjoy playing or collecting them when you do find the time. I actually enjoy collecting the games almost as much as playing them. To many this seems crazy but I honestly can’t think of anyone that doesn’t collect something. From DVD’s, CD’s, Art, Books, Cars, Guns…etc. Games just happen to be my passion. To each his own.

Next I’ll cover some FAQ’s and other general information

Q: What’s your favorite system?

A: NES/Famicom – The NES days were when my game playing days were at their peek. My age was 12-19 during it’s run and so naturally this system saw the most game play. NES was platforming at it’s best. Games were generally made with just one objective in mind (FUN). This spilled into the 16 bit era as well and Genesis/SNES are my 2^nd choices.

Q: How do you find time to play all of these games?

A: I Don’t! – I game an average of 15-20 hours a week, usually staying on 1 title until I beat it before moving onto another except for party or pickup style games that I play with the family mixed in.

Q: Do you own or run a Video Game Store?

A: No! – I’ve never owned or worked for any gaming retail outlet. I work for a large company that builds and remodels retail stores including Sears, Wal-Marts, Kmarts, etc. where I’ve been since 1995.

Q: How do you afford all these games?

A: Very Carefully! LOL – People don’t seem to realize that my collection spans over 20 years. I never sold any of my games or traded them in. This is why my retro collection is so large. I also rarely buy games when they first release. In 2007, for example, the only games I bought new were Mario Galaxy, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Eye of Judgment, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Link’s Crossbow Training & Halo 3. Everything else I buy used, and normally during Buy2Get1 sales at various used game retailers. This saves TONS of money. I spend less a week in video games than most of the guys I work with do in cigarettes.

Q: Why do you play inferior ported console games when PC versions generally are better?

A: Two Reasons – 1) I have 4 brothers who come over for all-night gaming marathons about one weekend every 2-3 months. It’s much easier to have one system and game with 4 controllers rather than 4 up to par PC’s and 4 copies of each game. It’s also much more fun to enjoy a night or two hanging out with all of us siblings and our wives together instead of impersonal playing over a network. 2) Console gaming is just my thing and from a collectors aspect of it, console software tends to hold value over time better than PC software does.

Q: Why did you make a game room in your house?

A: Because I Could! – Our house is very large (two story w/5 bedrooms) and there’s only so many guest bedrooms you need. That room was basically being used for storage for the first 8 years we owned the house. My collection was constantly growing and taking up more space so I simply decided to make the room into a game room like many other people do. Though most other people toss a pool table, dart board & maybe an arcade machine in theirs. The NES theme colors were actually my wife’s idea, from there my visions took off and became what you see in the room pictures.

Q: Why such a crappy TV for such a nice collection?

A: Age & Space – Most of the gaming that’s done in that room is retro gaming, before the age of HDTV or component cables, before magnificently stunning cutscenes and intros. The Television in the game room is a 36” and is perfect for it’s distance from the player since the seating is only 3 feet away from the screen. Buying a new HDTV would be pointless and stupid because of eye strain and also prone to damage from “burn-in” by older games. All of my Dreamcast, PS2, XBOX, Gamecube, 360, Wii & PS3 gaming is done on my 54” HDTV in our living room.

Q: Are you a Nintendo Fanboy?

A: NO! – While the NES has remained my favorite system of all time, I support every console hardware and software maker out there. There are positives and negatives to every system and this generation is no different. Without them all just means less for us gamers to enjoy. Nintendo, Sony & Microsoft fanboys simply lose out on the other systems great experiences by limiting themselves, to me, that’s a shame. I’m just a Console Gaming Fanboy, if I must be labeled.

Q: Why don’t you just sell all of those older games and play them on emulators?

A: I Hate Emulators! – Playing the games on a PC just feels unnatural to me and I prefer playing them on their native consoles for the genuine experience as it was meant to be played.