I usually collect 3rd-6th gen games and I usually just buy whatever catches my fancy at the time.

My only rules are I only buy at stop and trades because that's when games are at their cheapest and you could find a good trade there, try to get your games in good condition, and setting specific goals is always good.

Yeah!!!!!!

+1 

Rules are made to be broken.

You should make your own threads on rules!

I'm such a rebel that the OP in my thread on rules would be about last night's episode of True Detective.  I wouldn't even follow the typical thread format!

Oh IMO this looks more like the rules for poor game collector...

My rules would include, no GOTY/Greatest Hits box allowed!

So do many games, including Fallout 3 and GTA 4, and I own them... how? I have the 'Game Of The Year' edition, which comes with the patches and DLC pre-installed on the disc. I actually do own The Last Of Us, but I was completely unaware of the day one patch because I don't have the patch, (PS: is it vital, ie. can I complete the game without it?). My PS3 isn't connected to the internet. Now, all that said, the main reason I own the game is it was a Christmas present. I was originally intending to wait for the inevitable 'Game Of The Year' or 'Complete' edition which will both give me the patches and DLC without needing the internet.

I'm actually more likely to buy the wildcard game than the "I know I'll like it" game; why? Because mainstream is easy to come by. I may not be able to find Resonance Of Fate, Vanquish, or Alice: Madness Returns in 3 years, but GTA 5 or Skyrim will be easy to find. I don't own GTA 5, Bioshock: Infinite, or Tomb Raider; all because they're easy to find and I can always borrow them off a friend if I want to, (which I have done in the past).

I have a collection of over 200 games spanning 12 systems, how am I not a game collector. If I had over 200 coins spanning 12 forms of currency I'd be a coin collector. I am a games collector. My rules make my hobby fun for me, I collect games because I enjoy playing them and I like getting value for money. I'm not some snob who wants the "first print" just because it came out first, and I have no desire to hoard hundreds of games I don't play like a fucking magpie just because someone on the internet says you're not a "real collector" if you sell games.

I've been playing games for more than 2 decades, I've owned more than a dozen consoles and almost as many handhelds. This is my passion and my hobby, or at least one of them... I have many hobbies. Quite frankly I think you've got a bloody cheek dictating who is and isn't a "real collector" as though you're some kind of expert. I'm so sorry I don't fit your stereotype, I'm sorry I don't have 500 NES carts on shelves around my room so I can look at all the money I've wasted, but I'm a game collector not a cartriage/optical disc collector.

*reported for breaking da' rules*

I follow similar rules, but i do take exceptions now and then.