What do I say in a collector’s blog about a console I don’t really even collect for? I can’t say I absolutely, definitively do NOT collect games for the original Xbox, but the truth of the matter is, I don’t. I’ve had this system since the mid-2000s, buying it from a friend selling it to upgrade to an Xbox 360. Back when it was a brand new system, I made my choice by picking up a PlayStation 2. In addition, I had bought a Gamecube as Nintendo’s latest product felt like something other than a direct competitor to the PS2 the way that Xbox did.
Almost 20 years since I purchased a used console and a handful of games, I still only own 16 games for the console. In the 4 1/2 years since I last wrote about my Xbox collection, I’ve made zero purchases to increase this total.
I have my Halos. I have my Elder Scrolls 3. I have my Tom Clancy, Dead or Alive, and racing games. I have my Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Wait, there are two Buffy games released for the Xbox? Oops, I guess I need to make another purchase soon so I can own a copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds. I better get on that soon, or else it will be 2027, and I still won’t own it, and you never know when that Xbox nostalgia boom will jack these prices up.
Speaking of that, is that going to happen? When I step away from these early 2000s consoles like the Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox, I never know what to expect. The NES craze first hit about 5-10 years ago, and the SNES/Genesis craze is in full swing, but that also has started to extend into late 90s consoles like the original PlayStation, Sega’s Saturn, and the Nintendo 64. I also know Dreamcast games are beginning to leap in price, but it doesn’t appear that the original Xbox is experiencing the same price increase…yet. Is it only a matter of time? I suppose it’s inevitable, but I don’t have the interest and nostalgia to buy up a bunch of Xbox games just to sit on them and hope they triple or quadruple in value.
The Xbox was never that console for me. I bought it primarily to fill a gap in my console library. I bought it because it was the first in a series of Microsoft consoles. I bought it because it had some once in a generational titles I felt I needed to play as a “gamer.” I’ve even debated selling my meager collection simply due to my lack of interest, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Just in case the meager collection I do have jumps in price in five to ten years, I might as well sell high, you know?
Cartridge Corner 