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This gamer has the world’s largest videogame collection with more than 20,000

By David Stubbings
Published

Many gamers build up extensive collections allowing them to play almost anything they want.

But one Texas man CAN play whatever he wants as he has the world’s largest collection of videogames.

Antonio Monteiro (USA) has 20,139 games in his home in Richmond. Ranging from games for consoles from second, to eighth generation, his collection is so big it took eight days to count before he received the record.

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Antonio started compiling games when he was 12.

"Back then access to games was very limited, and so was my games library," he recalled. "I NEVER imagined I would ever end up with a collection this size."

To give you an idea of the current scale of his collection, it includes:


On top of that he has more than 100 consoles, meaning he can play every single game he owns.


Favourite game and other highlights

Out of all 20,139 games, Antonio cites Castlevania IV as his favourite, a game he describes as a "masterpiece".

He also pinpointed the Sega Genesis as the console that got him into gaming as it "provided a challenging interactive environment with a story backset".

"As unforgiving as most of the games in this generation were due to their limited saving/resuming capabilities, beating a game provided this incredible sensation of accomplishment, satisfaction, and happiness. This feeling created a bond with those games, to where I treasured them and wanted to keep them."

As you'd expect for a collection of this size, there are several unusual games which you'll struggle to find anywhere else.

During a tour of his games, Antonio picked out a number of unusual items which adorn his shelves.

One was called Max Basic Rifle Marksmanship Program. It was released by Nintendo exclusively to the US Military for shooting practice and was never sold to the public.

He also owns a complete collection of Nintendo 64DD games which were only released in Japan, a rare Sega Game Gear game called CJ the Elephant and a series of educational Sega Dreamcast games such as Timeless Math which, in Antonio's words, meant "you'd be able to go into school and play games".


Other games which have proved extremely difficult to find include Daytona USA Netlink Edition for Sega Saturn, M.A.C.S. for Super Nintendo and Barbie Groom and Glam Pups for Nintendo 3DS, while Myriad 6 in 1 for NES currently eludes him.

And with so many games, how does he decide what to play?

"I have a sub-list of games of games that I want to play, and focus on playing each to a conclusion prior to moving on to another. Periodically I refresh that list based on new acquisitions or new releases that interest me."