Welcome to the second in our series of posts showing the achievements of retro collectors form around the globe.

This time we are back on home turf (Great Britain) with NES_4Life who, unlike his name suggests does not only collect Nintendo. No siree, this magnificent collection has a massive amount of hardware and software from a great many of the big names in gaming plus some you may not have heard of. Enjoy.

The Collection

Click on images to enlarge

From top to bottom:

The poster that started it all / Collection

Collection / Collection

Board games / Megadrive II

PSOne, PSX, PS2 / Dreamcast

Saturn / ZX Spectrum

Hyperkin FC Mobile II / GenMobile

Supaboy, FC Mobile II, GB Advance / Lynx

Commodore 64 / NES

NES, Megadrive II / Neo-Geo MVS Arcade cabinet

PS2, Xbox classic, Dreamcast / Amiga 1200

TI99/4A / Interton VC4000

Q and A with NES_4Life

When did you become interested in video games and what was the first video game you played?

NES_4Life: I have a feeling that video games consoles weren’t really a mystery to me and were just a fact of life. Nearly every friend I played with had a console in some form or another and it was just another way to enjoy my friends’ company. I’m not sure if the first game I played was Pong, Rainbow Islands on an Atari, or Sonic 1 and Altered Beast on a Master System. I really had to focus hard to stir up the memories of those games and they all seem to happen at the same time. I can definitely recall visiting a friend and him cranking up the speed dial on his dedicated Pong game (I also remember losing badly and then not ever coming back for a second go!). I experienced Sonic and Altered Beast with an older cousin… I say ‘experienced’ as he only let me watch as he sped through the Green Hill zone and then walked the underworld in chase of a floating head: “Welcome to your doom!”.

[EDIT] After an hour of mulling this question over I finally recalled the actual first game I saw and played! I was in a supermarket crèche / kindergarten (of all places) and behind the crash-mats, past the ball pit and through a play tunnel was a PAL N.E.S, two controllers, a Zapper, a 14″ TV, Castlevania, Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. I can actually remember crawling through the tunnel into a little den, seeing some older kid playing Castlevania and then being taught how to play. I was totally drawn in by it. Looking back now I’m not really sure what a vampire slaying game and toy gun were doing in a crèche – but I’m glad they were!

What was the first games console or computer you owned and how old were you?

NES_4Life: I had two Nintendo Game & Watches for car journeys but my first true console was unsurprisingly a PAL N.E.S. I spent most of my time playing Excitebike, Cosmic Spacehead and The Flintstones: Rescue of Dino and Hoppy. It was around 1989 when we got the NES so I was about 5 at the time. Unfortunately in only a few years it became nearly unplayable (having the ridiculous pin design flaw) and the power pack was temperamental – often cutting out in the late stages or Mario. If only I knew what I know now: blinking light… be gone!

What got you into collecting videogames, computers and consoles?

NES_4Life: Whilst at university I wanted a good multiplayer console to play with my mates and a local games shop had a N64 in the window – complete with Mario Kart 64, 4 player Tetris, and Golden Eye. I bought it and had some really good evenings. I could have put that money towards a PS2 or Xbox, but my friends already had those so this was somewhere else to hangout for a different experience. Before I knew it my flat mate had bought a Dreamcast and i’d bought a NES on eBay. Good times! Sadly, I forsook my future retro-collecting self and sold my NES collection to fund a PowerBook for my studies. It wasn’t until the last few years that I started collecting again. I saw a portable NES on eBay (an FC-Mobile II by Hyperkin) that could take the original carts and knew I had to have it. Suddenly I’d gathered 16 consoles, portables and computers as well as a whole sea of games!

Where do you source most of your retro purchases from (ebay, flea markets etc) ?

NES_4Life: I frequent a local bootfair for most of my purchases but there’s also 3 local retro shops that I call in on from time to time (South East of England: Level-Up Games in Canterbury, Xpress Games in Ashford, and a little retro den in the Malthouse Arcade in Hythe). I sometimes use eBay but try to keep clear of it most of the time.

What is your most prized retrogaming possession and how much did it cost you?

NES_4Life: A very tough question. I’m fond of the bulk of my collection but I’d have to say the most prized possession is my Neo-Geo MVS arcade machine. It cost £150 and I had to hire a van to get it home. It’s awesome because MVS carts are cheaper than their AES counterparts but, even more than that, it’s an arcade machine… in my own home! Who wouldn’t want that?! Always a conversation piece and always good to thrash out some Metal Slug as it was meant to be played.

What is your favourite console or computer?

NES_4Life: Recently I received an Amiga 500 and a Commodore 64c from a generous work colleague (cheers @StuartYoung I still owe you beers!). I love the idea of modding the Amiga so it can tweet and email, and the Commodore is practically brand new (with some of the packaging remaining still sealed). These are both top contenders but my heart is still, and probably always will be, set on the N.E.S. It’s a simply fascinating piece of hardware, from a company at the top of its game, being arguably solely responsible for resuscitating the home video games market after the crash of 1983. True the games varied in quality but it also brought forth some of the best series and characters in the industry.

Where do you want to go now with the collection?

NES_4Life: There’s a long list of NES games I’d like to acquire and I’m also missing some key consoles e.g. SNES and N64. I really only want to collect a few specific consoles rather than blanket collecting everything – I’m not looking to get a Philips CD-i for example (although 7th Guest, Myst, and Dragons Lair are very tempting). I’d definitely consider getting a Nintendo Play Choice 10 if one became available as it holds some very fond memories for me (I spent many a happy hour at a pub playing one with my dad who sadly has since passed away). In fact i’d probably trade most of my collection for one – including the Neo-Geo MVS. I still need a copy of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for PS2, and I’d like to own a copy of Rival Schools 2 for Dreamcast (I spent a great number of evenings at university battling it out with my mates).

Apart from expanding the collection itself I’m now looking at ways I can share it. I’m putting some serious consideration into monthly hiring a hall and inviting the locals to enjoy it. Otherwise I could always ship it out to other events. It’s all earmarked for donation to a retro museum when I finally stop… but I think there’s many years before that happens.

Have you any tips for budding retro games collectors?

NES_4Life: Go to bootfairs / flea markets early! There’s a load of guys out there that don’t know what they’re buying but they’ll get there early and buy retro stuff anyway because it looks old (then it ends up on eBay and never sells at it’s ignorant and ridiculously inflated price). These people must be beaten at their own game (or just beaten).

If you must buy on eBay then you’ll want to buy other people’s smaller collections. Please swap the duplicates with other collectors and sell the extra consoles to your local, or independently online, retro emporium (that way you can easily get your original money back, support your local and also help out other collectors). To keep auctions low, always use an auction sniper service (Gixen has served me well thus far), as they also have the added benefit of stopping you from over-bidding in the heat of the moment. Finally, don’t forget to enjoy your collection! If you’re not using it then you’ve missed the point. I personally only truly enjoy my collection when I play with other people – so investigate the different ways you can share it.