I have a relatively obscure hobby – I collect digital video games. Quite a few people collect physical games, but I like the advantages of having a large library of gaming options which are just a download away.
Like a lot of collectors, I have more games than I have actually played, or probably will do in my lifetime. I mostly get them via discounted bundles such as HumbleBundle.com, so I rarely play full price for them.
I use the excellent games launcher Playnite to organize and consolidate all my games from the various proprietary launchers, such as Origin and GOG Galaxy. It also downloads a lot of metadata for each game, including gameplay video trailers, and provides a customizable interface for everything.
I’ve dipped into emulation for some games that I used to own. But I try and keep that minimal because of the legal grey area it is under. I have ripped ISOs of the console games I used to have, before I gave them away to a charity shop.
Some people worry that with digital collections the proprietary launcher company will go bust, and you will lose access to all your games. To be honest I’m not worried about this as I’m fairly sure under that situation they would provide an option to transfer to a different launcher, or allow downloads of your entire account. I also use 2-factor authentication on everything, and keep a close eye on security alerts.
I have been collecting games on Steam since 2004 or so, so I have a large collection. It is interesting going through the various games and finding out more about them. I definitely don’t play everything, and most games for not very long, but it is a good distraction from the worries of life.
Here are my statistics from Playnite:
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