What consoles do you consider to be collection worthy?

As a few of you may know, I have an addiction to collecting anything gaming, as such I pretty much grab anything I find in the thrift store. One thing I always have a small internal struggle with however, is whether or not devices from VSmile and Leapster are worthy, or even some of the old retro systems from gamings infancy where anyone and everyone had a gaming device. I even find myself drooling over japanese game consoles like the FM Towns Marty or MSX, even though I can't understand the language one bit.

So far I have not picked up any of the 'early child/learning' consoles(with the exception being the Sega Pico, because Sega!), and I do grab the consoles I find from the early atari age, but I've noticed that there are soooooo many clones from that era, a part of me questions whether or not it is even worth picking those clones up.

So what do you guys think? What makes some consoles collection worthy and others not?

I'll go with SNES. It's a worthy collection cause it had lots and lots of games and it's worth the investments.

@davillain-: Oh hell yeah, all the Nintendo, Sony, Sega and Microsoft Consoles are collection worthy in my opinion, but what about the 3DO? Or the Memorex VIS? Phillips/Magnavox CD-i?

3DO has some great games. I love Battle Sport. It even rocked it at 60 fps. I should have held onto my collection but I was offered some great money for it. If I knew about the Adults Only Vivid discs that were playable on it, I may have kept it. But being a kid I had no idea. As far as I know its the only console that had Adult videos on it. Oh and SF2 is awesome on it, and Samurai Shodown on 3DO is only second to the Neo Geo as far as home consoles is concerned. 3DO is really a interesting system, but its bad price killed it.

@ Nintendo, Sony and Xbox consoles naturally are collection worthy. But also extinct consoles from Atari, SNK, SEGA, and NEC. Along with Collecovision, Intellivision. Even the 3DO may be worth looking into. But after that then most of the consoles are just 1 offs or have 1 follow up. there are lots of unusual consoles such as the Apple Pippen. that may not be worth it. Unless you are looking for the most unusual and rare game machines.

If you want to play the games just stick with the main consoles and well known extinct consoles. Sega had 6 Machines Sega 1000, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sega Gamegear, Sega Dreamcast.

Atari had the 2600, 5200, 7200 the Atari Lynx and the Atari Jaguar.

Sony with PlayStation 1,2,3,4 and PSP 1000,2000,3000,PSP go PSP 1000E street. PSvita 1000. 2000 and PSvita TV.

Nintendo with Color TV, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U, Game & watch series, Gameboy, Gameboy color, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, DSXL DSi DSiXL. Nintendo 3DS,3DSXL, 2DS, New 3DS/3DSXL. and the infamous Virtual Boy which lasted only 10 months and sold 700,000

Xbox, Xbox 360, S/E Xbox One.

So stick with those consoles if you want to play the games and collect the machines to play them.

While SNK's Neo Geo is great it is expensive to buy and collect games for. Same to a lessor degree for NEC's TurboGrafx/PC engine series. Which features 12 different systems and about 475 Games. Most are very hard to find and expensive to buy. So while I like SNK and NEC it is best to avoid them.

I'd say most consoles are collection worthy, just some are more than others. And it really depends on how much money one wants to spend also.

consolewise, anything thats not nintendo, sony, or sega. gamewise, the exact opposite.

@Megavideogamer: Actually I already have almost everything you listed, minus the SG-1000, Lynx and Neo Geo AES & CD. I even have a LaserActive and PiPPiN, which is kind of why I thought this would be a good topic to discuss as I am trying to decide where does it end? I've got the Atari 800XL, 400, 5 different versions of the 2600, a 5200 and 7800, but theres an Atari 600 out there, part of me is thinking "I must have that", while the other part of me thinks it is no different than the 800. I also recently picked up a Colecovision, and I have an Intellivision already, but I found there was another atari clone called Leisurevision... part of me 'must have it' and the rest is going 'wtf are you thinking?'

So I guess what I was trying to ask is, as far as the obscure gaming systems go, at what point do you draw the line between collectable and trash?

Hi first post here,

I would suggest if you would like to collect something worthy, that would be something that links to your childhood.

Also it all depends on how much you're willing to spend on collecting, but if you would my personal opinion - I'd personally go with collecting MSX games, I'm glad I still have my Castlevania's Vampire Killer cart in good condition.

I go Genesis, Dreamcast, NES, SNES. Oh and of course the Pippen

Nintendo for me.

@bravo632: gonna be hard to find a Pong arcade machine from the 70s in good condition, cuz that was what existed in my childhood.

@raugutcon: I have a pong clone from Unisonic, I'm looking to get the Atari version sometime soon though.

My rule is that I only buy stuff I know that I'm going to play, which seems like an obvious line of thinking, but it really isn't when it comes to collecting. I don't care about owning every game and system under the sun if all I'm going to do is stare at them.

@raugutcon: I never owned an arcade machine back then, so I wouldn't know. Also if you're going for something so rare, then you'll sure need to be ready for that budget.

For those who are considering collecting SNES games, & in mint condition boxes then you might to have to buy those plastic containers to keep your game boxes from being damaged. It's one of the things I don't like about SNES game boxes.

@bravo632: I'm currently in the market to buy a house finally, and one of the first things I am going to do is get 2 or 3 arcade machines and put them in my garage. Most likely a pair of racing games(with intent on gutting one of them and replacing with an X1 or PS4 for Project Cars) and a Neo Geo MVS Multicart system.

That's awesome. Neo Geo MVS is always great. What kind of cabinet are you willing to go for?
I'd like to see how you set up your garage. :-)

All the best!

I have been collecting a few games in the past, which I still take care of them. I should be taking photos and keep them in an online library or something.

@bravo632: Planning on 2 car garage with a loft over the back half of the garage, I'll probably have the small cabs up in the loft area with a bed & small fridge, with the larger cabs downstairs, half the garage will be for the car, other half will have turf on it with the large cabs and some exercise/sports equipment and/or tools.

I'll either get the 2 slot or 4 slot multicart cab, hopefully I can find one of the 40" big screen MVS's around here.

And I definitely recommend taking pictures of your collection AND(not or) creating an inventory online/on paper.

@suicidesn0wman: I don't know much about cab sizes, but if you're looking for something small or that can support a normal sized screen (for arcades), you might want to check out the following cab models which go by:

• Aero City
• New Astro CIty
• Blast City
• Candy Cab
• "Big Red" if you like fanta-style arcade sticks.

These are the usual popular ones. If you are seeking advice for more detail then you might want to check the Neo Geo forums, there's so much to learn from the enthusiasts there.

Something tells me you're already a member there, since you sort of know what you're looking for.

If I do get the time to take photos of my mini collection, I'll share. :-)

I would say the TurboGrafx 16. I used to have it back in the day and kick myself for ever getting rid of it. I remember the games China Warrior, Bonk's Adventure, Andre Panza kickboxing (probably my favorite from that system) and TV Sports Football (I remember this game particularly because at random times some football player would come on the screen and say "hi, mom". lol so lame)

I think must haves are Atari 2600, NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis.