Car-booty Episode 2: Winning!

What could I possibly have in common with Charlie Sheen?

• Successful career? ... Erm, No.
• Millions in the bank? ... definitely no.
• A blood stream full of chemicals? ... well - yes but not what I'm getting at.

My name is Anton MacArthur and I am an addict... I, like Charlie, am addicted to winning.

Week after week I find countless bargains at the various charity shops, pawn shops and car-boots. Every week I upload pictures of my finds, or chew my friends ears off and generally bask in awe at how amazing I am. 

I am Winning.

Also like Mr Sheen, I have an addiction. Addictions are terrible things, I should know as I have abused my body in ways over the years that is too depressing to go into on a gaming blog. I have beaten addictions before, normally by replacing them with other addictions...

Bargain hunting has all the traits of an addiction, chasing the next rush, finding sums of money when you NEED it even though your broke, and devoting more and more time to your 'buzz'.

http://www.drugabuse.gov

This weekend I snagged almost £150 worth of gear for less than £13. Winning. I also spent every penny I could scrape together and a good amount of my wife's 'bootin' money...

...that sounds more like addiction.

I realised I had a problem a little while ago, I sat back and looked at my collection one afternoon and realised with the exception of a few items, that I had not only managed to get 95% of my 'list' but also some stuff I had never dreamed of obtaining. 

• Never thought I would end up with M.U.S.H.A & Alien Soldier on the Megadrive.
• Never thought I would end up with Street Fighter Zero 3 on Saturn.
• Never thought I would end up with a Street Fighter Zero arcade cabinet 

... you get the idea.

Pictured £2.50

Pictured £9.50

So when did my desire to PLAY awesome games turn into just BUYING awesome games? 

I have no idea, but like Charlie Sheen I have devoted time and effort normally reserved for fun or relaxation into pursuing my rush or the means to do so. Having a room full of old shit is no way as rewarding as a room full of your buddies, talking trash and having a riot on whatever game your playing. Last week I filled my lounge full of mates and decided maybe the time had come...

Like all of my prior addictions however this one is slowly losing its power over me.

So how did this come about? Well, I started writing freelance and building a site/blog/Facebook the way I had always wanted to. I started mixing with more avid gamers and stopped trawling eBay every evening. I realised that it wasn't the games I loved or had feelings of nostalgia for - it was the people.

Does this mean I'll stop buying old games... hell no. Does it mean I'll think about playing the game with friends or reviewing at my leisure... certainly.

... that's enough for now bargain hunters, I have Chris coming round to play the arcade machine with me ;-)

Until next time.

~Anton