Kitchener video game collector has amassed over 6,300 games

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. One way to get those endorphins rushing back is to plug in an old video game system for the first time in years.

A Kitchener-based video game collector spends his spare time amassing a video game collection that would impress even the biggest gaming fanatic. Charlie Rogers, or “SeeJayAre” as he’s known on YouTube, has a video game collection of over 6,300 games and 100 gaming consoles.

It began several years ago when he pulled his old Nintendo Entertainment System console out of his attic. After firing up a game of “Duck Hunt” with his father, Rogers was hit with a dose of nostalgia, and the video game collecting began.

He started by re-acquiring some old NES games he owned as a child. Through garage sales, swap meets, thrift shops and Kijiji deals, Rogers grew his game collection to over 5,000 games within five years.

One of the largest and most beloved console game collections is his NES collection, tucked away in the “Nintendo Nook” of his game room. NES and PlayStation 2 games are the two biggest subsets of his game library, with 525 NES games and 600 PS2 games.

As he procured hundreds and hundreds of games, Rogers started documenting his game collecting journeys on video. He’d often film himself going to garage sales and later revealed which games he scored for a deal at local garage sales.

“I started the YouTube channel solely to find people who were into the same thing that I was; people who were looking for, collecting and enjoying retro video games,” Rogers said. “I started the channel basically to share my enthusiasm for the things I was finding at garage sales.”

Rather than spend the money outright for these games, Rogers estimates his collection is free. He factors in the money he spends up front for game lots, only keeps what he needs, turns around and sells the rest, then puts the profits back into the collection.

In one particular haul, he discovered the most valuable game in his collection to date: a boxed Chrono Trigger Super Nintendo game estimated to be worth $1,000. The lot came with a duplicate copy of the game and a NES and SNES system, all for the tidy sum of $50.

As with any collectible, some systems are worth more than others, but Rogers witnessed video game collecting explode over the past five years, especially since the start of the pandemic. Similar to the baseball card boom, retro video games are a hot commodity.

“It really comes down to who is at the age where they’re getting their first jobs and disposable income,” Rogers said. “Right now, N64 and PS1 are skyrocketing because kids of that age who grew up with that console are becoming young professionals and having disposable income and they’re driving up prices because they’re buying back games they had as a kid.”

Rogers admits he hasn’t played every single game in his collection, but if he were to sit down and play a new game every day, it would take him the next 17 years, three months and one day to play all 6,300 of his games.

Part of the fun of collecting is the thrill of the hunt, but for Rogers, it's also the enjoyment of playing games with his own children.

“I always get the question: ‘How many of these games have you actually played? And I always say: ‘Of course not,’ but hopefully I have the next 40 years of my life to play through these games with my kids.”