I would like to start off by saying that this is not about who's got the best gamer swag. It's about why we have it. There.

I started mulling this over the other day when my parents came to Edmonton for a few days to visit and see my new house. As I was giving them the grand tour they spotted my Halo 3: Legendary Edition, and my mother exclaimed "What the fuck is that thing?". I went on to explain to her that it was a case for a game and it set me back about $160 (Canadian).

Now, I spent a fair amount of time working at EB Games, and in that time I amassed a veritable "booty" of swag, hell I've even got those fucking plush Elebits kicking around somewhere. So as the tour progressed my parents saw more and more swag, and asked more and more "What the fuck is that thing?" related questions. After they left I started to wonder why it was that I kept all of this stuff around. (No one really has a use for a 4 foot neon Xbox 360 sign) Most of it is far from aesthetically pleasing, unless of course you're a gamer, and the majority of the people who come to my house are non-gamers.

Personally, I like having it around, maybe because it's a constant reminder that life doesn't always have to be serious. Or, maybe it's because it reminds me of my childhood. I can't say for certain why I have it, I just know that it's not going into storage any time soon.

So what I'm asking is, why do you keep your gamer swag long after the novelty of the related game has worn off? I know I'm not the only one who does. Hopefully you can bring some insight to this.