Man Owns Most Video Games in World—Even After Selling Collection to Pay for Wedding
On Christmas Eve, Michael Thomasson, 43, officially became the owner of the largest video game collection in the world. That was the day Guinness World Records released its Guinness World Records 2014 Gamer's Edition, in which Thomasson's 10,607 games is officially recognized in a two-page spread.
To own nearly 11,000 video games is an uncanny feat, made the more amazing by the fact that he had to restart his collection from scratch—twice.
According to a Huffington Postreport, Thomasson, who teaches video game history and game design at the Canisius College in Buffalo, began collecting at age 12 when he received "Cosmic Avengers" for the Colecovision. He sold off his entire collection in 1989 in order to buy a Sega Genesis. He then rebuilt his stash, only to sell it off again in 1998 to pay for his wedding.
He started collecting again shortly after tying the knot, on an average of buying two games per day, with a strict $3,000-a-year budget—which meant he had to hunt for discount rates. His current collection ranges from mainstream titles on the Playstation to obscure ones on obscure systems, such as the "Casio Loopy", a Japanese system that was marketed towards girls (its games have names like Little Romance and Dream Change: Kokin-chan's Fashion Party). He has games on DVD, CD, cartridge, even VHS. The set is estimated to worth between $700,000 to $800,000.
Not bad, not bad at all.
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