I think I have gone a bit overboard with my obsession with physical games lately and I don't really want to stop
I am not quite sure of what changed about me with the way I collect games at least for my Nintendo Switch, I remember my first few blogs about how I would borrow games from my friends, and then steal it from them and adopt them as my own complete them and borrow another one.
Eventually, this was not enough, I kept buying games on sale from the eShop, looking at Deku Deals day after day, night after night, looking for that one game at the right price with the largest amount of content and that took the longest time to complete, just so I can add it on my infinite well of entertainment.
At some point I borrowed more and more physical games from friends, even though I had not even finished the previous one, I basically appropiated them for myself and cared no more about who owned something or the other. I finally understood communism.
I initially wanted to buy things from a local store in my city, with decent prices compared to the Walmart or department stores. And I did end up getting quite a few of them that way, such as Risk of Rain 2.
Despite this, online shopping of physical media was the way. Here in Mexico and Latin America, the clear choice is Mercado Libre, since Amazon is a bit pricier most of the time. At first, I just went for the obvious choices one should own. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the first physical game I got, eventually I saved up for Tears of the Kingdom, even if I hadnāt finished Wild just yetāwhich was stolen borrowed from a friend.
At some point I tried Risk of Rain 2 and didnāt quite like it, so I tried to exchange it for a different game, I saw a used copy of Final Fantasy X/X-2 and decided to sell it back and pay the difference.
Annoyingly, I realized that FFX/X-2 on Switch only comes with FFX and the sequel is a digital download, which was already used, and itās not even usable without the cartridge. I wasnāt in the mood to fight, so I decided to pay the difference again for a new copy. Had I bought a brand new copy directly I would have saved a ton of trouble and a bunch of money. Since then I havenāt purchased in my local store again.
Back to online shopping, one day Mercado Libre gave me a pretty sweet discount, and I ended up getting Super Mario Bros. Wonder for very cheap. After a few stumbles, I was finally building up my own physical collection!
I noticed however that AliExpress had some extremely good pricing, at the cost of Japanese or Chinese box art, which I didnāt mind. For some reason, I went for a game I had already completed 100%, stolen borrowed from a friend. Metroid Dread.
I got the japanese cover, and I was happy enough. I tried again, ordered Octopath Traveler II, and I got it as well, this time it was the European edition, which was pretty awesome.
I lied about buying in my local store, later I also bought Metroid Prime Remastered! Itās easy for me to forgive them, and in the end it was all a mistake on my part for being cheapāeven if I still didnāt like the money they paid me for RoR2.
Some other time I found Persona 5 Royal for a crazy price in Mercado Libre, which also has the advantage of much faster shipping than AliExpress, but most prices of other games werenāt as low. This is the kind of game I doubt I will get around playing this year, but I donāt want to rush it.
I eventually stumbled upon Playasia, a different site that sells games pretty cheap too, with shipping times similar to Ali. I found the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection for super cheap, it is usually totally overblown in price everywhere, and there was a chance to get it there. Sadly, I didnāt trust it enough, and I missed the offer right when I had decided to give it a chance.
Despite that, I noticed that another game, that was completely out of my reach in other stores, at triple the cost, it was Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA, I pulled the trigger, and I even added two other games, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimateābecause it is Monster Hunter after allāand Bo: Path of the Teal Lotusābecause it was a pretty cheap indie Metroidvania game after all.
Buying all those games bundled together meant that I got free shipping, which was a nice bonus.
After waiting for a while, the package was finally in my city, and I got very worried once the tracking website showed the address was wrong. Thankfully, the delivery driver tried again on the next day, and this time I was ready for it.
Purchase after purchase, my sense of responsibility diminished. Why do anything but buy games? Donāt I deserve them? I spent 24 years of my life not owning games physically! I need to catch up! I have 7 years of Switch titles that I need to own. After all, I can afford them, I NEED THEM.
I also decided to pre-order the physical release of the Castlevania Dominus Collection, with the Order of Ecclesia cover art from Limited Run Games. I wonāt even get to see it until maybe March of next year, but thatās fineeee, and Iām looking at getting the physical edition of Rain World from them too, a game I will probably be bad at, but I still want to try it. LRG seems to be quite hated by the community, and I can see why, their games really are limited, and super expensive to get from re-sellers.
But I canāt stop, I donāt want to stop, you canāt stop me, nobody can. My credit card literally doubled my limit today, so nice of them! I have the means, and the power. I am young, I wonāt be able to do this for long. Who cares if the Switch is at its end of life, who even cares? If anything it is the best time ever to stock up! Prices will go down for a bit, especially for the common titles, I somehow donāt own Super Smash Bros Ultimate yet, itās just stolen borrowed, but I might have to give it back soon, maybe? I could keept it, maybe? Or Iāll just buy it once sales show up for lower prices! If only those hoarders and resellers didnāt exist, I would have no risks for years, but no, theyāre out there! thatās why I have to take this chance while I can.
I just bought used copies of Celesteāthe Limited Run editionāand Fire Emblem Three Houses too! They should arrive soon enough, shipping was a bit of a problem but the seller was super kind and covered it.
I just ordered Kirby and the Forgotten Land from AliExpress, and I also preordered The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom despite the fact Iāve not completed the last two Zeldas I got, but who careees?
I havenāt rambled like this in a while, I know that what Iām saying makes no sense, if you think this is not normal please feel free to reach out. I am okay though, I mean it, Iām not in debt and Iām up to date paying my credit. No reason to worry other than my mom disliking me getting games. Thatās maybe the biggest reason I havenāt bought even more games, I know she wants the best of me, and I donāt even have some sort of gaming addiction, but I will admit that collecting these carts can become an addiction as well, so I will try to keep in check. I should be good if I only buy 2 or 3 titles per month? But then again, why donāt I buy 5 and just skip a month once in a while, maybe itās because Iāll end up buying 5 every month. I technically purchased 4 this month, but I wonāt be getting them in weeks, some even until next year! I donāt really want that many physical carts, just the essentials, the classics, and such.
Right now my sight is on getting Unicorn Overlord, Nier Automata and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, but I will wait at least until October comes.
