Below are a few of my favorite video game collectibles, spanning over nearly 20 years of avid gaming.
Everything you see in the picture is sealed. Included are copies of Doom 3 for the PC, Mac and xbox, Resurrection of Evil for the PC and xbox, "The Making of Doom 3...Weapons of Doom" dvd, a Doom 3 pre-order box with figurine from Best Buy, Doom II 3.5" floppy retail package, Masters of Doom book, the Making of Doom 3 book, a copy of PC Gamer with the first Doom 3 review (I remember scanning pics of this magazine to the gaming forums because, for whatever reason, I apparently received a copy before anyone else and they couldn't believe it), a copy of the Wired magazine cover story on id software, a Doom DOS CD, a Doom 3.5" disk retail package, and Doom for the 32X, Sega Saturn, 3DO, PC, Atari Jaguar, Pocket PC, Super Nintendo, and finally Doom 64 for the Nintendo 64.
These are some bad-ass figurines—especially the gigantic Strogg! Each one comes with a number of very detailed weapons pulled directly from the harrowing campaign, and stands about eight inches tall. The characters include (top-down, left-to-right) Marine Major, Alien Strogg (this one must weight over two pounds), Alien Strogg with Iron Maiden, and Jungle Marine Athena. Heavy-duty and nicely packaged, these are the gold standard to which all other figurines must bow. Denying it is futile.
Check out Quake II figurines on Amazon!
While not as vintage as the 3.5" disk set, this is one of my favorites because I've never seen one before or since. When was the last time you saw "DOS" on the front of a video game package? Classic.
Check out Doom for DOS on Amazon!
64-bits of power never sucked so bad. This system was hyped to an extreme degree, but nothing could save it from games that seemed rushed and lacked fluid gameplay. The game packaged with the system (Cybermorph) was a polygonal bore. Eventually they did release Aliens vs Predator, which was actually a very impressive game. But, by that time, the proverbial nails were already in the coffin. I enjoyed some of their ad campaigns, a few of which are shown below:
Check out the Atari Jaguar on Amazon!
When I was just a kid, I vividly remember walking past the TurboGrafx TurboExpress display at Toy’ R’ Us, and drooling uncontrollably. Figuratively speaking, of course--I didn’t actually start drooling on myself--much. To me it was the Holy Grail of systems, and I never had one because, let’s face it, how many 10 year olds have $300 in discretionary cash? Plus, it wasn't on the market long. Years later I bought one, and I really like just knowing I have it. In case you're wondering, the answer is no, I've never even opened it.
Check out the TurboExpress on Amazon!
It's really a shame that the Atari Lynx didn't make more of a splash when it was released in 1989--after all, it was the world's first color LCD handheld gaming system, it had an ambidextrous layout, you could play against your friends via the ComLynx network, and some of the games were really sharp. This system had a fairly broad variety of games, and some with higher productions values such as Ninja Gaiden, Rygar, Blue Lightning, Double Dragon, and Pit Fighter. I played it quite a bit, and never "upgraded" to the second generation Lynx because I didn't like the design. My proudest moment: completing Blue Lightning.
Check out Atari Lynx on Amazon!
The funny thing is, I never ended up using it.
Buy the Doom 3 keyboard on Amazon!
This is probably the best pre-order gimmick I've seen. Best Buy ran a promotion where you would get this Gears tank if you pre-ordered the limited edition version of Gears 2. Not bad.
Buy the Centaur Tank on Amazon!
Bottled up in Walla Walla, Washington by a vintner who loves 8-bit video games, this 2007 red wine is a tribute to classic gaming. According to the label, it's a mixture of 50% syrah, 30% tempranillo, 10% cabernet sauvignon, 5% carmenere, and 5% malbec.
You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the label is made to look like an NES game cartridge. It says "Player 1" and "Press Start." Nice touch! How does it taste, you ask? To me, it's got an oak + blackberry + chocolate flavor, and it's not overly dry like some red wines can be. In short, if you're a video gamer, and you enjoy wine, you may want to help support a fellow gamer and try a few bottles. If you live in a hot climate like I do, he'll hold the order for you until the temperatures cool down.