I'll combine both of your messages into one reply:
>In fact, from what I've seen, I'd guess that the rules are reversed
>for software collectors. You guys seem more interested in the
>packaging than the actual code. Am I right? Would you pay the same
>price for a near mint game package that was completely missing the
>disks? Just curious.
Like Hugh, to me the disk is part of the package, like a prop. But
unlike Hugh, I don't consider an otherwise near-mint package missing
the disk to be substantially devalued. Certainly it's not worth as
much as a complete game, but I simply won't pay very much for just
a loose disk ($5 for a rare one is about the max) so by the same
token I don't consider a missing disk to devalue my item by all
that much.
>a) Type of game (adventure, driving/racing, interactive fiction, etc.)
>b) Publisher (Activision, EA, Infocom, etc.)
>c) Series (Ultima, Wizardry, Leisure Suit Larry, etc.)
>d) Games you've enjoyed/heard good things about
>e) Other
Ooh, tough question.
I'd say I'm primarily a type-A collector. My primary focus is adventure
games that use a parser (which isn't necessarily the same thing as
"interactive fiction", but that's a pointless debate best reserved for
every other week on rec.games.int-fiction). Essentially, if you use the
keyboard to either type commands or type dialogue with NPC's, it's got
a place in my collection. This includes all-text games like Infocom's,
combination text/graphic adventures like "Wizard and the Princess",
animated text/graphic adventures like the "King's Quest" series, and
games like the recent "Starship Titanic", where you use a full-sentence
parser to speak in conversational English with the other characters.
However, there's a myriad of grey areas. The "parser" requirement rules
out one-letter-command games ("A" = Attack, "X" = eXamine, etc) such as
the "Questron" series. I also don't collect graphical incarnations of
former text game series (for instance, "King's Quest V" or the point-and-
click re-release of "Space Quest 1") or graphical click-a-command games
(like "Maniac Mansion"). *Except* if the box has the Infocom logo, in
which case all other rules are overridden. B-)
However, for some of the examples above, I'll buy out of an interest in
playing them. Plus, then, I'm also into the ICOM games, which don't use
a parser at all. So go figure.
>And since I mentioned it, do you collect box variations?
I am *huge* on package variations, and consider that my specialty.
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