On Saturday we went to Brantford to redeem the gift certificate that William won from the Guitar Hero Competition in September. We picked this day because the PC Museum was open to the public, and Dillon and Megan hadn't seen it yet and wanted to visit it. We arrived a bit late, and finding the store to redeem the gift card was an adventure in itself, as the GPS couldn't find the street number. In any case, we finally found it and bought a used PS3 for slightly more than the gift certificate value, as they didn't have any new ones. All I can say is that gaming stuff is expensive there, especially used hardware.
By the time we were done with the gift card, and arrived at the PC Museum, it was half an hour before closing. The kids were intrigued by all the old computers that they never even realized existed. The best part, of course, a tour to Syd Bolton's private game collection in his basement.
Syd is the #1 games collector in Canada with most games of all kinds. It's hard to imagine anyone else having so many games, as a private collector. I am not kidding you, the basement is full of games, and I don't mean a tiny basement either.
The experience is, well, jaw dropping. If you think you are a hard core gamer, and have most of the games for your console, visiting Syd's collection would definitely make your own collection look insignificant. Complete collection of Sega Dreamcast games, more than five hundred PS2 games, plus some Famicom games are just small part of the collection. One thing I didn't see, was the 3DO, but I probably just missed it, because Syd has about every game console ever existed. Let's not forget the two rooms full of Star Wars figures and artifacts.
[Update: Syd sent me an e-mail to clarify some facts, below:]
"My PS2 collection is currently 1388 – and I suspect (although it’s not confirmed) that there are around 1700 PS2 games in North America…so I still have a ways to go but I’m getting there!
And yes, I do have 3DO games…they were above the Dragon’s Lair II marquee (near the pinball machine) but I only have something like 30 games for that system."
[End Update]
If you have been around the arcade game scene a few times, you will no doubt know about Dragon's Lair, the first laser disc based interactive adventure game. According the Syd, he's one huge fan of Dragon's Lair. He has a little "shrine" dedicated to it, as seen bellow:
Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair collection. Click to see larger.But, let's take a look at some of other more substantial collections.
The Arcade collection. Click to see larger.
The main room. click to see larger.
The PS2 games. Probably a complete collection. Click to see larger.
Xbox and original N64 games. Click to enlarge.
Game Cube games. click to enlarge.There are just so many more, but I think you've got the idea.
Special Thanks to Syd Bolton for this amazing tour.
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