What does it take to own the largest video game collection? Antonio Monteiro, a Richmond resident answered that question when he opened his collection room to the world. On 2 February 2019, Antonio Monteiro was awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of video games.
At that time, the official count of games in his collection was 20,139. However, it has expanded further since that count. Monteiro’s video game collection comprises all the games released in North America—and he had to go the extra mile to purchase games that were not released in the region.
Monteiro’s video game collection is estimated to be worth around $1.6 million. His video game collections are neatly arranged on shelves that run from the ceiling to the ground. Also, the shelves are constructed in such a way that they wrap around the entire wall such that virtually every part of the wall is covered with video games. The smaller cartridges are neatly arranged in drawers.
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For a collection of over 20,000 games, it would be hard to imagine that anyone would easily pick out a game as a favorite. However, Monteiro did not waste time guessing when he pulled out Golden Axe.
“The first game I ever owned was this one, Golden Axe,” Monteiro said. “Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Mom. I can’t tell you how many times I have played this game over and over again and it’s definitely classic. It has a warm spot in my heart.”
What makes Monteiro’s collection the largest video game collection in the world?
Monteiro started building his video game collection in 1987 at the age of 10. It took him more than 25 years to build the largest video game collection in the world. In addition to the Guinness World Record for the largest video game collection, Monteiro also holds four other Guinness World Records for the largest collection of;
- Xbox items
- Sega items
- Nintendo items
- PlayStation items
He has over 1,800 PS2 games that wrap around two corners of the wall. According to Monteiro, he has a complete collection of all the games released for PS2 in North America. Likewise, he has another section of the wall that has a complete collection of PS3 games and another dedicated to over a thousand PS1 games.
He has a growing collection of Famicom games on the original Nintendo system released in Japan. What is even more interesting is that Monteiro sometimes collects the North American and Japanese releases of the same title, just to see how different they are.
Monteiro has a complete collection of PSP games released for North America. His collections are not restricted to any platform. As long as it is a game, Monteiro tries to have it. A section of his wall is dedicated to the complete North American releases of the original Xbox and Xbox 360 games.
He has over 500 Xbox One games in his collection. He also has a collection of every game released for PSP Vita in North America. What is most baffling is how he meticulously arranged all the games and can reach for any title he wants at the snap of a finger.
He has over 900 games in his PS4 collection. Monteiro mentioned that his collections are still growing, which means he has no plans of stopping. Other games in his collection include:
- The entire Nintendo Wii collection for North America
- Nintendo 3DS games
- Complete Nintendo Gamecube collection for North America
- Growing Nintendo Switch collection with over 180 games
- Turbo Grafx games collection
- Japanese games collection
- Original Game Boy collection
- Game Boy Color games imported from Japan
- Game Boy Advance games
- Super Famicom games
- Nintendo 64 DD games
- Complete North American collection of Game Gear games
- Virtual board game set
- Complete Dreamcast collection
- Complete Sega Genesis collection
- Atari Jaguar complete collection for North America
- Complete Sega 32 collection
- Atari Lynx games
- Sega CD complete North American collection
- Complete collection of Sega Saturn
- Over 1,000 Nintendo DS games
- Neo Geo Pocket collection for North America and games
- Complete collection of Sega Pico games
- PS1 games released for only educational purposes
- Complete collection of Super Nintendo games for North America
- Complete North American collection of Nintendo system games
- N-Gage games
Challenges of building a complete collection of video games
As anyone would imagine, building a complete video game collection is not an easy feat. Besides the financial implication, Monteiro pointed out another unique challenge he encountered while building his complete console-specific collections for North America.
“Here are some of the oddities I encountered in trying to come up with these complete collections,” Monteiro said. “For certain games, they are only released in certain countries. Here is an example, FIFA 15 was only released in Mexico but it is considered part of the North American collection. So, I had to import this game.”
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Monteiro mentioned that the initial plan was to purchase some of the games he played in his teenage years. However, that expanded to games he always wanted to play but never got the opportunity. The obsession finally grew to “completing collections for individual systems”.
Antonio Monteiro owns over 100 video game consoles
To make sure that he has a way of playing all the games he had amassed over the years, Monteiro also has over 100 video game consoles. Interestingly, he has more than one of some consoles, especially those with collector’s editions.
For example, he has over 10 different Xbox 360 consoles for the different collector’s editions that were released during its lifecycle. But, which of the consoles is most memorable to him?
“The Genesis holds a special place in my heart,” said Monteiro. “It was the first system I owned and it was what got me addicted to this collection.”
Included in his console collection is the rarest PS4 in the world, the limited-edition Hitman PS4 console. The console mimicked Agent 47’s suitcase. According to Monteiro, only one was manufactured. The briefcase actually opens to reveal the disc compartment.
What a world record for having the largest video game collections means to Monteiro
For his rare obsession with video games and for breaking more records, Monteiro was included in the Guinness World Records 2023 book. Monteiro said he was thrilled by the gesture.
“I was in the middle of a work meeting and started jumping up with excitement when I received the notification of the new world record,” Monteiro said. “I remember as a child, the Guinness World Records book was one of the most popular books in the school library, and it was considered a victory if you were able to check it out. Being featured in this book is just a dream come true.”
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Nevertheless, Monteiro said he is not building the largest video game collection for the record. He invited anyone all over the world that want to challenge him to give it a shot. According to him, collecting video games is more of a passion, and for personal enjoyment.
Monteiro’s video game collection is every gamer’s dream, but it is highly unlikely that he would have time to play most of the titles. By the way, which part of his collection intrigued you the most? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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