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Collecting goals
RealPlumpBox:
Started with my favorite system the NES. Now that I have mostly everything I want for it I mainly collect for handhelds now. Absolutely love collecting for the Vita. Games are so cheap and good. Also I am on a hunt for every singlr release of the Silent Hill series (my favorite) across all regions including GH version ad cover variants.
amace04:
I'm pretty frugal (ie. Cheap), so the rewarding part is just finding a good deal. I refuse to buy anything at market value unless it's very cheap. I'll even go so far as to refurbish old consoles I got for cheap to use.
I don't play the games a ton. I got into it for nostalgic reasons (started with wanting a snes and super mario world, as I only had a genesis as a kid. Grass is always greener.).
The thing you realize really quick, is most of the games you enjoyed as a kid.... Well... They suck. Yeah they're fun for a bit, but I spent countless hours playing sonic Spinball or sonic 2, and I just don't have the patience anymore.
What keeps me going is building up a collection that looks good, that has some fun games I can crack some beers with a buddy and play for a couple hours, and presents well on a shelf. One day I'll probably sell it, or hopefully my future kids can enjoy it like I once did.
Megatron:
Like many others, I feel like I have multiple collecting objectives.
Obviously, I'm out for a good deal. Even if I have no plan to ever play they game, if I can find an expensive game for cheap I will pounce just to say I have it. For example, I couldn't care less about Clay Fighter Sculptor's Cut. However, when I found a copy dirt cheap a few years ago I grabbed it. Why not? I'm also interested in anything weird or unique I come across, anything that I feel would look cool on a shelf - i.e. obscure third party NES or Master System peripherals.
Other than that, I have focused my goals toward my favorite genres and systems. Give myself some direction. Right now I am focusing on collecting all the PS1 Horror titles (which I just completed with my pickup of Countdown: Vampires ;D) as well as all PS1 RPGs, which I am about 11 or 14 away from completing, depending on whether you count titles/games like Monster Rancher among the term "RPG". Even with these goals, I'm not really interested in paying market value on eBay for these. I like to find stuff in the wild, it's a nice thrill.
Lastly there are a handful of titles I would like to play/acquire but am in no rush and only want if I can get them cheap. Time Splitters Future Perfect for Gamecube, Killer 7 for Gamecube, or Predator Concrete Jungle for PS2 to name a few.
But like what many others have said, there is still fun in the hunt. And as long as that's there, I'll keep going.
SegaNomadman:
I mainly collect stuff that I like. If I think I'll never play a game, I usually don't go for it. That's part of why I don't go for sealed games unless it's something special. Although, if something is a great deal, I'll go for it. Sometimes I do have short goals for myself . Right now I want to get a hold of most of the Virtual Boy games because I think it's a REALLY cool system. I figure I'm not going to get games like Jack Bros. though. Unless I find it for a great price, I'm not gonna spend that much on the game.
EVILSANTA777:
I enjoy both sides of it, gaming and collecting. My primary goal is completing the entire US release library for SNES and N64, cart + manual for all of them. With custom cases rather than the original boxes of course. I probably will play like 85% of those games one time but just having them all is so cool, those two consoles were a huge part of my childhood and the art styles and games just bring me joy by looking at them. The other side of it is, gaming and collecting retro games is one of my biggest hobbies. I love going through these forums, searching on eBay or Craigslist or whatever for deals, and boxing new games to display. So it doesn't really drag on my conscious like you mentioned when taking up space, if I wasn't spending money on this I'd be doing something else so I don't feel guilty or anything. It's kind of like a stamp or coin collection with the games you don't actually play. They don't do anything, but who cares, you enjoyed the ride of collecting and like seeing them on the shelf.
I love the gaming side too though, I primarily play retro games if I'm not playing Switch or PC. I stick to first party titles usually, Marios and Zeldas and what not, but occasionally I'll fire up the odd game to play it. Once I finish my SNES and N64 library I'm honestly not sure what I'll do. Maybe GameCube or NES? I played GameCube a ton as a kid but it doesn't bring quite as much nostalgia as the prior two consoles. For now I'll just get the few games I want for GC and NES though, no sense in spending tons of money if I'm not committed to collecting the whole library.