I like to think that gamers are much like other hobbyists, whether they are collectors, avid readers, music stans, or the like. We invest in these passions avidly, and every new purchase or gift toward this beloved pastime sets off rushes of dopamine in our brains.

Related: Games That Live On My PS4 Home Screen That I Will Probably Never Play

However, a point comes when these passions go a little overboard. For instance, I've bought many games in the past that I barely played. But I love to peruse them and think, "Look at my ever-expanding nerdom. How cool am I!" Unfortunately, these games pile up, and soon I run out of space to keep them. So, I've stored my video games in the following places among several nooks and crannies.

6 Shelves, Shelves, And More Shelves

Woman looks through various shelves of a Venice, Italy library. Photo by Darwin Vegher via Unsplash.com.

Being a multi-hyphenate professional, I require multiple tools, resources, and amenities to properly do my work. TLDR: I have a lot of crap. My tech-hoarding reached an elevated status during Quarantine when I was online shopping like it was my job. On the one hand, I ordered interview clothes, self-tape equipment for auditions, voiceover tools, a new laptop, and further smart business purchases. But on the other hand, my gaming library grew every week.

So, then I found myself buying furniture on Amazon to store the goods I bought on Amazon. One shelf is a light-toned wooden bookshelf. The other shelf is a metallic industrial rack. Suffice it to say, my bedroom's interior decoration is a mismatched disaster. And I still don't have enough room to store all my games.

5 In My Closet

A photo of a closet filled with plenty of clothes, handbags, and other items.

Another area where I store video games is my bedroom closet. My closet is where many of the rhythm game peripherals of yesteryear live, including several DDR mats, a pop 'n' music controller, a beatmania controller, and the Dance Drum (Imagine a Taiko drum designed as a DDR pad. Yup. Third-party controllers are wild.).

Related: Best Rhythm Games For Beginners

Honestly, the whole situation frustrates me because my twin brother, who does not even live at home anymore, has an unoccupied bedroom with a giant walk-in closet that I can't use. So I guess the fault's on me for choosing the wrong bedroom. But, meh, you live and learn.

4 Under My Bed

A retail photo of a college dormroom bed with risers.

Do I store video games under my bed currently? Luckily, no. But I have in the past, especially while attending college. For four years, I had a set of plastic rolling drawers that I would place under my elevated dorm room bed. Believe it or not, I held onto those plastic drawers for another six years, even after the wheels broke off.

You can fit so much under a bed if you have a pair of risers. I remember I had a mini fridge, food, books, clothes, and essential academic papers that shouldn't have been down there in the first place. Man, I miss college.

3 My Parent's Attic

An attic filled with tools, nicknacks, and other items, taken by Harry David for Unsplash.com.

Every family has that one room in the house that looks like it should be on the TLC show Hoarders: Buried Alive. For my family, this room is the attic. Our attic cottages holiday decorations, old appliances, china my parents never opened, a bird cage, gift wrapping paper, DVDs, VHS tapes, old board games from the sixties, newspaper clippings, a disco ball, a dismantled desktop computer, and more. Essentially, the attic could double as a thrift store.

I'm currently storing my Xbox 360 and 360 games in the attic. However, I was more surprised to discover my Dad's Atari console and a copy of ET (possibly the worst game ever made)! So not only do I store video games in the attic, my father does too.

2 My Best Friend's Apartment

Several urban apartment buildings stand behind greenery in a Metropolitan area.

When I first lived in New York City, I stayed at two apartments in the same Bushwick/Ridgewood neighborhood. My best friend, whom I've known since college, soon became my neighbor only a few blocks over. So there was a period when we lived in each other's apartments. It was like dorm life all over again!

Then, my bestie visited home in Texas and came back to NY with a working PS2. I had two PS2 consoles growing up, which both broke down. In turn, my heart burst when I saw his recovered retro-gaming treasure. So, the next time I visited my parents on Long Island, I filled a backpack with my favorite PS2 titles and brought them back to Brooklyn.

Related: PS2 Fighting Games That Are Still Worth Playing Today

When I brought my games to my buddy's apartment, we figured it was best to leave them with him, so I didn't have to lug them back and forth. After all, I had no PS2 at my apartment to play these games on anyway. But, unfortunately, my pal moved deeper into Brooklyn, and then I moved to Queens (In MTA transit terms, that subway trip is like crossing the Atlantic.). After that, COVID happened, and we were even further apart.

Eventually, I made the recon trip from Long Island to Brooklyn to take my games off my bud's hands. And now they're stacked in, you guessed it, another set of shelves.

1 A Storage Unit In Queens

A hallway full of red-doored storage units inside of a CubeSmart location.

A few months into the COVID pandemic, I knew I could no longer afford to live in Queens. So, here I am, back with the 'rents. However, I honestly assumed I would move back sooner rather than later. So I rented out a small storage unit near my old apartment.

For two years, I paid over 200 dollars a month to keep the contents of my apartment (including shelves of video games) on standby for a magical return to NYC that would symbolize my shattered life is coming back together. After that, however, a lot changed. I became more flexible, tried new opportunities, and soon learned that my dreams did not have to contain themselves in one metropolis. So, I gave up the storage unit, and the plan to return to the city is on hold for now.

Still, while my life has changed, one constant has stayed the same. I have too much nerdy gamer nicknacks and nowhere to put them!

Next: Video Games I Adore That I Can't Talk To Anyone About