Yep, the 'all or nothing thing' used to confuse me, then it bothered me, now it just pisses me off. I've seen it more in this hobby then any other aspect of life. People go in all balls to the wall, then they get overwhelmed, have a nervous breakdown, burn out quickly and then have to completely get out of the hobby to 'save' themselves. Pathetic.
Well, there's a little i can gain from that paragraph, but my situation is a bit different. I haven't enjoyed the hobby for about 4 - 5 years now. I know how you feel, about losing space that could have been for games.
I started making cabinets, and it's consumed 1/3 of my house. I don't have anywhere to set up or even plug in a single machine to enjoy it. I've made cabs for about 5 years now, and i don't own a single one of them for myself. I still have about 5 of my machines in the workshop, with nowhere to put them. 12X16 barn, packed with games front to back. 10X10 and 10X20 storage units, all full of games/cabinets parts.
I made a list, circled 6, and the rest is gone. sell, giveaway or burn by the end of the year. I have no room to work, no room to store new cabs, i constantly run into shit and cut up my arms and back, it's a fucking nightmare. I tore a wall out of my garage to open it up to it's original size, eliminating the den that was full of games. now i just bought a monster tablesaw and router table, so it's back to crowded again.
I used to enjoy lots of other hobbies. Rc planes, cars, trucks, model railroading, gardening, i have no room or time for no other hobbies. it's all build cabs all day every day. enough ranting i guess, i just don't have the space or time to enjoy arcade collecting as a hobby, so i need to get away from it.