I love game history, playing games on original hardware with my kids and searching for games in the wild. I've amassed over the years a larger collection of about 3000+ games and 8 working game kiosks. I've gone through the time of setting it all up nicely to have it well organized by system with the kiosks dispersed throughout for people to play. I love going through the physical games, collecting them at garage sales and finding new stuff to play. I enjoy restoring the kiosks, setting them up as close to original, complete with demo consoles, as possible to give the same experience as they would have in the store.

Sometimes I feel people that dont have the motivation/knowledge to emulate or the desire to collect would still enjoy playing classic games but have never had the chance. When family come over many are blown away by games they never knew existed, on systems they never played nor would have in their normal daily life. I often feel like it would be fun to let kids in the neighborhood come by to play, giving the games more of a purpose than just sitting on a shelf for long periods of time until I'm ready. The fear of course is that more people would know valueable stuff is in my basement, and with strangers around things can get "lost" or broken. I enjoy watching people experience my collection because it gives people a gaming experience they wouldn't normally get.

I've been thinking about this for a while. Does anyone share their collection with a wider audience? Do you have local collectors nights, do you have family birthday parties or even strangers come by to play? I'm curious to see if anyone else has experienced this feeling that the games they have collected should be accessible to more people to give the games the purpose they were meant for.

 

Not even a little bit. Outside of posting some photos here and there on the internet, I'd rather no one knows about the value sitting in my house.

Does Instagram count? I remember someone mentioning why they love the gram but hate twitter - the latter is just negativity but Instagram is just people sharing their passion with other people. So that's what I did.

Generally, no. I work in a highly professional job, so most people would think my hobby is somewhat insane if I ever told them about it. That being said, I'm quite proud of my NES wall and I show that to people who don't even play video games. They usually get a kick out of it since most people know at least a little about Nintendo. They usually think it's hundreds of VHS tapes at first glance (yes I am old and so are my friends).

Every time I have someone over for the first time and they see my collection they tend to comment on it, then ask if we can play on the Switch.

Video related

I barely trust some of the people I know, I sure as heck don't trust people I don't know.

Nah, it's a trust issue. Too much value sitting here. If someone broke in, worst part would be my cat would probably go out, and then if course yeah, the tapes...

I definitely want to share though, got some ideas just gotta find some business partners here to make it happen.

I don’t even share my collection with friends let alone strangers

Stranger danger

Here here! But I do offer my arcades up to my local family no one comes so sane difference right 

 

My son's friends do this, although they're 8. I find that older kids are most likely to tryout and want to keep playing games from all generations. Most kids just want to play what they know but will keep playing a fun game once they find it. My kids play a lot of dreamcast bomberman on one of the kiosks, it's a fun game and they are curious as to why the controller is different than the switch pro controller lol. I find that people in general find old consoles and peripherals interesting but they are very conditioned to just pay attention to the latest games that are popular on streams. I enjoy sharing gaming history with family that come over, although like other people have mentioned, I've barely let anyone know I collect anything out of fear of losing it.
 

Come see my video game collection in my basement has been how a few local children have vanished in my neighborhood......................

The only way I'd lose my collection (by means of others finding out about its value) is if someone decided to break into my home and steal it. I have it insured so I'd just have to start the hunt over again. Some may even consider that a blessing in disguise.  

 

We found him guys. Lock 'em up.
 

Next time you find yourself in Iowa I have free mint CIB games for you................right there in the back corner near those leg irons. 
 

Mr. Plinkett?

 

We have had lots of local NA gatherings and they are always at someone's house, probably like 15 or so of them over the years by now.

I don't generally have strangers coming into my house, but I have had people like cable guys or furnace cleaners who have noticed my game room and I show then around/talk games. I don't slam the door in their face and yell GET OUT!!

Now that my kids are of the age where they have birthday parties (5 and 6), we have had parties in the backyard and I have had dads I haven't met before come over and I've showed them around.

So yes, I guess I do sometimes share with people I don't know well. I'm not overly worried about people breaking in and stealing my stuff later.

This is generally true for me working as an attorney. I have found a couple other lawyers that like gaming who come over and play here and there on weekends or in the evening. They think my collection is the end all be all of retro gaming collections because I am the only one they have seen with more than a handful of carts. If they saw some of the collections here, they'd realize I'm a small fish. Buts it's nice to have a couple people who appreciate it and like to game.

I have thought about showing it to the local game shop owners because I likely do have the best collection in the city I live in. But I fear word getting out and being a potential target for burglary/theft.

That sounds pretty cool. I’ve also had contractors and service guys over and we usually have good conversations as well. Most people I take downstairs are usually just in either complete awe or horror of what I’ve filled my basement with.
 

The dilemma of a collector:
To show off a passion filled with cardboard, metal and plastic?
To risk possible damage by the hands of a non-collector? or increasing neighbourhood awareness and more chance of theft and rising home insurance premiums?

I currently only trust my wife and immediate family for now. Mainly because they aren't interested in getting near my games, not because of love or blood relations.

I tended to keep it to family and online but, once I moved here we ended up having a BBQ and basically like 50 people ended up seeing it, coworkers mostly. They seemed mostly impressed but I'm sure some felt judgmental about it. I do have cameras, security system, etc in place however.

No I never share it with friends or strangers. I had a city worker come over at our last house to switch our water meter and in the basement he saw my collection that I had kept pretty private. He immediately was asking about my pricier boxed games and it made me paranoid to the point i didnt lwt him out of my sight while he worked. This dude knew where I lived, what valuable games I had, and where to find them because I had it neatly displayed. Unless I really trust someone, I don't even mention my hobby. Most of my friends have been over and I won't show them either.

Also, I dont want to get people too hot and bothered about collecting because they might turn into my local competition

My friends know aboot the tapes and they mostly don't care. Nobody outside of the hobby cares aboot any tapes they didn't have growing up.

I'm a little surprised at how worried everyone is about being burgled. Maybe it's because of where I live, but that is way down on my list of concerns. And if that did happen, I'd probably just get the insurance money and start a new collection.