GN Expansion Pak: I’m building a personal Criterion Collection of entertainment that changed me

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I don’t mind having a digital collection of entertainment. I enjoy being able to stream the latest movies or TV shows, or access the newest games through digital shops or subscription services. I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with physical media at all. I’m extremely glad there are companies out there looking to preserve entertainment through physical means, and I think tangible releases like game discs/cards, DVDs/Blu-rays, CDs/vinyl should always be a thing. I just recognize that I only have so much physical space to offer, and things were getting cramped for me over a decade ago.

Obviously there was a time when physical media was literally your only option. If you wanted a new game, you had to pick up a boxed copy. If you were eager to snag a home release for a movie, you had to purchase a VHS/DVD and so on. Thinking of having that content available at the press of a button was literally the stuff of science fiction; an idea that seemed far too futuristic to exist in our day and age, yet here we are. Again, while very much acknowledging the importance of physical media, there’s no denying that the prevalence of streaming platforms, while pricey and overly-plentiful, is incredibly tough to beat from a convenience standpoint.

As the world started to turn to digital for its entertainment purposes, I too started to make the shift. I had shelves and shelves of games, movies, TV shows, and CDs, along with storage boxes littering the basement. The age of physical-only had come and gone, and the amount of space needed to store my interests was quickly being eaten up. I decided to start shifting my collection, and in a rather aggressive manner. I knew there were so many things that I owned that I simply didn’t want or need anymore, and they’d be better served by those actively hunting them down.

While this move away from physical may sound like a challenging one, it honestly hasn’t been that tough. In the 42+ years I’ve been alive, I’ve come to know myself pretty well, and that includes knowledge of how often I interact with the entertainment I own. While I might watch a TV show or play a game the second I purchase it, more than 9 times out of 10, those physical packages would be placed on a shelf after consuming, never to be touched again. There was a time when I looked at those shelves with pride, as seeing my collection of physical media brought a smile to my face. In recent years, I looked at my walls of media with embarrassment. Everything sat there, fading in the sunlight and gathering dust. It simply wasn’t right, and I would feel better knowing that content could live on with others who would actively engage with it.

I’ve been working through my collections to get rid of entertainment that sat unused, and it’s been a rather cathartic process. It’s also one that helped me think about the physical media I own in a new light. For every 40+ items I’d sift through for selling off or giving away, I’d come across something that would make me stop in my tracks. It could be a game, an anime, a movie…whatever form of entertainment doesn’t matter. What did matter was the feeling I got when I saw some of these pieces. Select items stirred something in me; it’s like they were speaking to me. They gave me hesitation at the thought of getting rid of them, and that opened my mind to a new path for physical collecting.

As we make our way through life, we undoubtedly come across pieces of art that move us. It could be a cartoon you saw when you were a little kid or a game you played at a particularly tough time in your life. The what, when and where don’t really matter. It’s that almost indescribable feeling that’s the important part. You know the instant when you spot that book/movie/game/ect that it means something to you, and on a deeper level than just enjoyment. That piece spoke to you at your core, made you see things in a different light, or set you down a new path. I know I have a handful of those instances in my life, and I want to hang on to them forever.

When I had this feeling pop up as I was working through my entertainment collection, I understood my new path ahead. While I’d be ditching most of the media I massed, I wanted to hold on to the pieces that made me who I am. These are the experiences I’ve come to appreciate in a million different ways, and I’d like to think they helped me understand the world around me. It’s not often that you have those kinds of moments when watching/playing/listening/reading something, but when they do crop up, I want to make sure I always have a tangible reminder of them.

For lack of a better term, I’ve been coming up with what I’ve dubbed a personal Criterion Collection. I know it’s not exactly the perfect descriptor, as Criterion releases are more about being the highest quality director’s cuts, but I think the overall point remains. If someone were to ask me for my absolute top picks in the world of entertainment, I could point to the small assembly of physical releases as things that touched me, made me think, floored me, and generally changed some element of who I am.

I’ve only just started putting together my personal Criterion Collection picks this year, and it’s been slow-going on purpose. There are things I know I want to add, but time and money have to be spent on more pressing things like work, the house, bills and so on. That said, I have been chipping away at the idea, adding pieces here and there. Hell, I don’t even know that I have a full list of entertainment that I want to add to this collection, but I’ve definitely got a start.

Truthfully, it’s a little scary sharing my small list of meaningful entertainment, as it’s kind of like baring my soul. Doing something like this brings with it all sorts of judgment, which I know is of no surprise to anyone reading this. One man’s trash is another’s treasure, and when it comes to entertainment, opinions are stronger than ever. I’m sure to have things on my list that baffle, and others that are easily understood. Either way, all I can say is that I’m extremely happy with my collection, and at the end of the day, I’m the only one that has to be pleased with it! (Also, feel free to leave a comment asking me to explain anything I list and I’ll be happy to!)

Without further ado, here’s what I have on my list for my personal Criterion Collection. I don’t have all of these in my possession yet, but I’m actively working towards fixing that.

As I said, it’s not a long list, but it’s all pieces of art that really hit me hard in multiple ways. Again, I know some will see certain entries and scoff at my giving them such a place of importance, but I can only speak to who I am and what I feel. These are the things I’ve come across in my life that have shaped me in one way or another, and I’d like to think for the better.

(Also, I recognize some of these things literally aren’t available in a physical format, but I really hope that changes some day!)

I know that list is going to expand as time goes on. It’s not easy to sit down and write out a full list of the entertainment that altered your perception of the world! Some things come to mind instantly and others are buried deep in memories, or need to be reencountered. Every so often I sit down to think about the pieces I’ve consumed over the years, and sometimes it’s surprising when something comes rushing to my head. I wonder how I didn’t think of it instantly, but that’s just the way the mind works sometimes.

Author B.J. Neblett famously said, “We are the sum total of our experiences.” That is certainly true of me, and it very much applies to the art I’ve come across. While I’ve encountered thousands of games, movies, shows, books, songs and more in my time, there’s an incredibly small amount that created some piece/part of me. With my personal Criterion Collection, I’m looking to respect those pieces by holding on to them dearly both mentally and physically. I’ve taken their messages and meanings with me, and I want to ensure I never lose sight of what they’ve done for me.