mc300baud
Well-known member
so i picked up one of my grails tonight, Galaga '88. not perfect (Dragon Spirit conversion painted black with no side art,) but it plays well and i can clean it up nicely.
i bought the game at a local arcade that is selling off a lot of inventory to make way for other cabs. most of them aren't classics (and some may not consider Galaga '88 in that category either,) but there are a few older cabs like Rolling Thunder that they have available.
driving home i remembered that the young attendant who sold me the game was playing it when i arrived at the arcade to pick it up and he seemed quite surprised that i was buying it. he had a decent score going too (230k+) and was obviously enjoying himself, not just playing to pass time. it was cool to find someone that young who has a passion for a game that's older than he is.
it struck me then that by buying the game to stick in my private collection i was essentially denying him and others the pleasure if playing it. it's not like there are a bunch of other arcades he or others might find it at... this was almost certainly one of the last if not the last Galaga '88 in the wild locally.
part of me feels guilty about this, that i'm helping one more classic disappear from public display, unlike when i buy games from other collectors or random people on CL. the other part of me says "whoo-hoo! you got a grail so shut up" and realizes that if i hadn't bought it someone else would've and they might not have treated it as well as i will.
anyone else feel this conflicted when buying games in the wild?
i bought the game at a local arcade that is selling off a lot of inventory to make way for other cabs. most of them aren't classics (and some may not consider Galaga '88 in that category either,) but there are a few older cabs like Rolling Thunder that they have available.
driving home i remembered that the young attendant who sold me the game was playing it when i arrived at the arcade to pick it up and he seemed quite surprised that i was buying it. he had a decent score going too (230k+) and was obviously enjoying himself, not just playing to pass time. it was cool to find someone that young who has a passion for a game that's older than he is.
it struck me then that by buying the game to stick in my private collection i was essentially denying him and others the pleasure if playing it. it's not like there are a bunch of other arcades he or others might find it at... this was almost certainly one of the last if not the last Galaga '88 in the wild locally.
part of me feels guilty about this, that i'm helping one more classic disappear from public display, unlike when i buy games from other collectors or random people on CL. the other part of me says "whoo-hoo! you got a grail so shut up" and realizes that if i hadn't bought it someone else would've and they might not have treated it as well as i will.
anyone else feel this conflicted when buying games in the wild?

