collecting Archives - Intensive Gaming Diary

Thoughts About Buying New Games

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Viljami

This is the blog post about my thoughts of buying more new games. I wanted to let you, my dear readers, to know that I have already a huge amount of games. Some of them can be considered retro games and some of them are newer releases. I do play modern games on my PC, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X. To this day I haven’t bought a PS5 gaming console. Now my selection of video game consoles that are in my setup and connected to my 4K television is huge. There simply isn’t room anymore for a console like PS5 that takes loads of space. I read somewhere that the unsual height of the PS5 console is due to a heat sink solution used in the console.

I do play also retro games like NES, SNES and Mega Drive. I also have a GameCube hooked on my TV. I am not sure if it works. I haven’t played it in a while. Last time I played something on it I think I got a disc read error. I also have a PS4 and a PS3 hooked on my TV. I have also a Raspberry Pi 5 that holds Recalbox that I use for retro emulation. Finally on the left side of my TV I have a PC that holds Batocera as its operating system. I use it to run Xbox and PS2 emulation. For Raspberry Pi and the PC I use Xbox Series S/X game controllers. I like them and I think they are of a great quality.

I have loads of games. I took the image that is presented as this blog posts “Featured Image” to demonstrate the situation. Just some days ago I sorted all the games that I have on these two large shelves. I did make some room as I got rid of all DVDs that were sitting on these shelves. DVDs aren’t so precious to me today. I do watch some DVDs sometimes but having hundreds of them lying on a bookshelf is kind of wack thing to have in your living room. We are living the year 2026 after all.

So, I don’t have a lot room for more games. I don’t necessarily need new PS1 games. I have some very good games in my collection. I haven’t played all of them. I don’t necessarily need more PC big box games. I have over ten big boxes already along with some modern games as “collectors editions”. I actually very much like to play all the games that I end up buying. Its been a long time since I finished some game. I think the piles are getting bigger and I seem to have less and less time to play video games. Remember the post I did about some PS3 and PS2 games that I bought. I have barely touched those games. I did play 15 hours of the Need For Speed Most Wanted but that was all I got to play. That purchase included many games that were also very interesting.

What about buying more digital games? Look. I have hundreds of digital games. I have over huhdred games in Steam and almost hundred games also on my Xbox Series X’s Xbox Store. The reason and also the way that I have bought so many of them seems to be somewhat common for any digital video game consumer. You get ahuge discount and you buy tens of games at one sitting. Then you wonder around thinking which one of these games should you install. Even if you end up installing something interesting you don’t actually get to play it a lot. That’s the way I view this situation. People have more games but less time to play. If you are a young person, for example a student, you don’t have money and that seems to be a limiting matter.

I am interested in some new releases that we are going to have available soon. There is System Shock 2 Remastered getting released 29th of May. Forza Horizon 6 is getting released 19th of May. There are some other interesting new releases also. There have been some conversations and presentations about the new Neo Geo console. It might be interesting too. I just don’t seem to have aany space left for a new console.

What about retro games? Am I going to buy annything new soon? I think no is the answer. I have loads of retro titles sitting on the shelves. Also prices of older video games are going up and up. You don’t even find that many games from flea markets because someone is making a side hustle with buying every retro game for cheap and selling it at a higher price. I think also that I have invested, if that is the right word, my money already enough to support my local game shops.

Sometimes I turn to emulation. I don’t so much see that it would be harming the game business so much. It is good to keep consumers interested in also retro gaming. There are many good ways to buy totally legitimately retro games. I mean the collections for modern consoles and remakes and also mini consoles. I think some games are so expensive that gamers cannot afford them. Sometimes I think that for preservation means it is signifant that we have ways to share old games. After all the developer that developed the game in the first place cannot receive in many cases any more money because the game isn’t availalbe legitimately.

I think this is enough about me and my slight frustration against my ever growing collection of games. I do have this dear hobby. If it costs me some money so be it. Some people buy cars. That’s an expensive hobby too. Have a nice end of the week and see you again soon!

Where to go next with this hobby of collecting retro games?

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Viljami

I have been collecting retro games for what…like 8 years or so. I do have been playing video games for much longer, but in 2017 I remmeber starting to plan about a television setup that would include at least 8 consoles and our 32 inch Full HD television. We moved in 2018 and that was when I actualized this plan.

It all started with collecting retro games when I decided to get my Sega Mega Drive back from my parents apartment. I also at same time got an old PlayStation 2 from my wife’s parents. I also bought an original Xbox, PlayStation 1 and also Xbox 360. This was the beginning of my retro gaming hobby.

I have been buying physical games like Super Mario Bros 3 for NES and many others like this that I do remember from the past years. This makes me to have these nostalgic feelings and also makes me to remember better where we actually came from when it comes to playing video games.

My setup has changed a bit over time. I have now a 55 inch 4K television. Also I have had to move some consoles to storage because they broke down. I have also bought more consoles. The latest device I bought was Raspberry Pi 5. So, I do play nowadays also emulated video games. But I think there is something special about old physical games and consoles. They just have this unique feel. And they can be valuable in many ways in the future.

I am moving today more towards emulation. I have spent a lot of money in video games all in all. It was a bit of a disappointment for me that my PS2, original Xbox and also my Xbox 360 all broke down and since I am not so good at electronical repairing I cannot myself repair them. This is the matter that matters the most when we are talking about this move towards emulation.

Now, copying games isn’t currently legal. At the same time we are not getting to play all retro games, these old games, that nobody seems to think that they would have value. This is something that I would like for every hobbyist and also professional in the field to think about.

I do have my newer consoles: Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and also PS4. I am excited at this moment about new releases and some remakes. I am waiting for Switch 2 and I think we are getting some more information about it in the beginning of April this year (2025). I didn’t buy a Steam Deck. At least I didn’t do so yet. I am going to buy a new desktop PC because my current PC is old and isn’t going to be compatible with Windows 11. I have considered moving to Linux but I think I am not going to actually move on to it.

Maybe There Really Is a Reason?

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Viljami

Have you ever wondered what could be a reason for collecting games? Sometimes it feels like you find yourself spending too much money for retro video games. You are getting every legendary game and also every game that gives you nostalgia. You really wish that you can come back to these games that really defined your childhood or youth. You are basically trying to save those moments and hope that you can always come back to those memories.

I have myself found out that I don’t have so much time for playing video games today. There seems to be so many responsibilities. I want to sleep my nights as well as I can. So there’s less time for diving into a good retro game.

There seems to be a limitless count of good games. There are old games and new games. There are games for all ages and games for only grown ups. There are games for young people and games that even old people can play. How can you define what is worth keeping in your collections? How could also those people that don’t know a lot about video games learn something about them.

I am thinking about this. Maybe we should keep our history of playing video games with us. There should be museums for games. There should be books written about this subject. Because if we continue this way all these games are becoming harder and harder to find and get back into.

So, I think, there is definitely a reason for all this. With this I mean collecting video games. There are already lists of games that have been released for a gaming console. It is very valuable if someone knows also something about a game or about some games. I think literature is very valuable. And in a way we hobbyists have a very important mission that I think we have already begun to execute.

There is a reason. You have been learning to play video games. How long have you spent playing? This was a question that came to my mind as I was younger. I thought that maybe this was all a some sort of waste of time. But, actually, it never and rarely is like that. Everything you do, even ifd you are making a mistake, keeps adding up to your experience. You can think of this as you would in a roleplaying game. Everything you do keeps advancing you in some way.

Some good books come to my mind. For example the book about GameCube that I got some months ago. It’s a defnite proof of how it is possible to gather information about a game console that isn’t the newest one anymore and is getting a bit rare to find already. What were all these games about and what were the technical details of this console? I personally find this kind of information very interesting.

There are already some museums that present the history of gaming here in Finland. I think there are many museums like this all over the world. There is a website that holds every Commodore 64 game that you can think of and that does exist.

Just think about how much work it can be when you develop a video game. There are countless individuals that have been involved in all these years in game development. There are some technologies that were used. There are many game engines that were used and also many programming languages. I think every game is a valuable one. So, there really is a reason to also collecting games and keeping them in order just to show and present our valuable history. Also, I think that history in playing video games can definitely give you an edge if you are working as a game developer. So, this was something if you are looking for a reason to this all.