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NY man's 10,607 video games secure Guinness title
WHTM.COM ^ | 24 DECEMBER 2013 | AP

Posted on 12/24/2013 6:36:20 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Maybe it was getting his first video game, Cosmic Avenger, for Christmas at age 12, and then having to wait an entire year for the hard-to-land Colecovision console to play it on that made Michael Thomasson so determined to get his hands on every video game and system he could find.

Now, 31 years and roughly 11,000 games later, Thomasson is the newly crowned world record holder for having the largest collection of video games. He is featured in a two-page spread in the just-released "Guinness World Records 2014 Gamer's Edition."

"I have games on cartridge, laser disc. I have VHS-based games, cassette-based games," Thomasson said, standing among the collection that fills the basement of his suburban Buffalo home.

(Excerpt) Read more at abc27.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
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To: Jonty30
I know the senior set here has little appreciation for video games, but they are a fun past time. More fun than just watching tv or movies.

Keep working on it, Grasshopper...

The is more to life than video games OR watching TV or movies, OR cell phone texting OR moronic oxymoronic "anti-social" media.

21 posted on 12/24/2013 6:58:50 PM PST by publius911 ( At least Nixon had the good grace to resign!)
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To: Popman

That’s one reason why I didn’t buy Diablo III. I refuse to play games that you have to be constantly connected, in order to play them. Those type of games are never ending, because the moment you get somewhere and decide to call it a night, you end up so far behind when you resume playing the next day orvtwo.


22 posted on 12/24/2013 7:00:08 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: Jonty30

The average gamer in 2010 spent 13 hours per week on gaming.

I find it very hard to believe this guy bought up a world record number of games and spends less time actually playing them than the average gamer.


23 posted on 12/24/2013 7:04:02 PM PST by Dave346
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To: Dave346

That’s why I bumped up his average. He says he only plays about 3 hours a week, but would be his current average, not his average over the course of a lifetime.


24 posted on 12/24/2013 7:06:34 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: Dave346

It says he “estimates the collection is worth $700,000 to $800,000”.

I find that hard to believe as well. If he chooses to sell, are people going to spend an average of $70 per game for games from the 80s?

Usually old video games go dirt cheap - which is how he admits he bought them to begin with.


25 posted on 12/24/2013 7:08:02 PM PST by Dave346
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I had a ColecoVision back in the day. The games were pretty good. Ended up selling it and getting a Commodore 64 because that was what most of my buddies had...we would get together for C64 parties and game all night.


26 posted on 12/24/2013 7:09:39 PM PST by DouglasKC
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To: Dave346

If the average game spends 13 hours per week he can probably finish 1 game every 3 weeks - 17 games per year.

Which comes out to just over 500 games in 30 years.


27 posted on 12/24/2013 7:10:40 PM PST by Dave346
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To: Dave346

That would be assuming that he was still playing 13 hours a week. If he spent the first ten years playing 13 hours a week, but the next 20, as a grown up, playing about 3, as he said he was, that would be a lifetime average of about 6 hours per week which would allow him to finish about 250 games.


28 posted on 12/24/2013 7:17:25 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: Jonty30
LOL, I'm 58 and could give this guy a run for his money from the Atari 2600 through all the old computers like the TRS-80, TI-994A, Timex Sinclair, VIC 20 to today's PC, and Sega's, Playstations, Nintendo's to the 3DS.

I have a garage and closet full of old games for those systems plus all the crap I bought on Steam and GOG sitting on harddrives, I could play for centuries. The only thing I don't do are mobile games because I can't see the darn things.

Oh yeah I have a couple of Mattel handhelds and Fidelity chess computers too, remember those?

29 posted on 12/24/2013 7:20:39 PM PST by this_ol_patriot
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To: this_ol_patriot

I do remember those. :)

However, I started gaming on the NES when it first came out.


30 posted on 12/24/2013 7:22:22 PM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Speaking as an Alpha-geek who cut his teeth on TRS-80 text games, “Zork 1” and “Zork 2”, Dragon’s Lair and Tempest, I salute this man’s devotion.


31 posted on 12/24/2013 7:24:49 PM PST by Old Sarge (And Good Evening, Agent Smith, wherever you are...)
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To: Jonty30
An ex-girl friend of mine had a older brother with a Magnavox Odyssey, that was sometime before 1973 when I graduated and we broke up. You had a plastic overlay you put on the TV to simulate color. It was about as primitive as you can get.

I guess you can figure out why I went out with her.

32 posted on 12/24/2013 7:38:49 PM PST by this_ol_patriot
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To: Secret Agent Man

lol


33 posted on 12/24/2013 7:56:44 PM PST by GeronL (Extra Large Cheesy Over-Stuffed Hobbit)
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To: Dave346

“It says he “estimates the collection is worth $700,000 to $800,000”.”

You’d be amazed what some stuff is worth. There are a couple of Atari 2600 games worth north of $10k if they’re boxed. There are several 80s titles one could easily sell for $1k. There are also several one off competition titles and prototypes that fetch thousands. However, I think he’s as high as a kite thinking its worth that much :-).


34 posted on 12/24/2013 9:21:25 PM PST by edh (I need a better tagline)
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To: Old Sarge

Zork? Does he have MajorMud /GreaterMud on his BBS! Text based games rock!


35 posted on 12/25/2013 4:32:21 AM PST by DCBryan1 (No realli, moose bytes can be quite nasti!!)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Soon to be featured on one of those hoarder reality shows.


36 posted on 12/25/2013 4:36:58 AM PST by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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