Ancient Web: Video Game Obsession Kept a 1996 Console Collection Online
Matthew Henzel's Video Game Obsession began in 1996 and kept expanding into photographs, console inventories, obscure accessories, screenshots, and an archive of its earliest pages.
Part of the Ancient Web Collection.
Video Game Obsession offers an answer to the question of how many consoles a person can collect before the index becomes a full-time project: apparently, keep adding photographs and see what happens.
The homepage identifies Matthew Henzel as its author and carries a copyright range beginning in 1996. It is a vast visual table of systems: Atari, ColecoVision, Vectrex, Neo-Geo, Sega, Nintendo, PlayStation, and many handhelds. Entries are linked to galleries of hardware, games, and related objects from Henzel's personal collection.
The site also links a preserved 1996 personal page and an original Neo-Geo fan page. Those archival entrances make the long timeline verifiable without inferring it from a deliberately nostalgic visual theme.
A game room becomes a reference archive
There are photographs of console boxes, controllers, game cartridges, posters, and unusual accessories. Henzel devotes a special section to vintage mall arcade photos from 1989, along with screenshot galleries and old event pages from E3 in 2003 and 2005.
Another feature describes connecting eighteen systems to one television. A separate showcase remembers the family dog Bo using a Neo-Geo-themed urn. That mixture of technical collecting and autobiography reveals why the website is not simply a commercial inventory.
The current front page also links more recent hardware, including PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, and maintains a small store. These additions do not turn its surviving older pages into a modern retailer; the historical collection remains accessible beside them.
In one special feature, Henzel recalls working his way through the gaming culture of the 1980s. That story is substantial enough for a separate article about the site's autobiographical timeline, whereas this article concerns its broader hardware catalog and publishing history.
A corporate platform might sort collections by resale value or engagement. Video Game Obsession sorts them by the systems its creator actually owned, investigated, photographed, and wanted to show other enthusiasts.
Explore the console directory and the collector's personal timeline.
Part of the Ancient Web Collection.
- Categories: Ancient Web
- Tags: #ancientweb, #collecting, #videogames, #1990s