Sandra Bullock

When the final boss has fallen and every secret has been uncovered, where do your games go? Do they forever rest in peace, nestled among their own kind on your shelf, or do they get stuffed into a box and tossed into storage? Or maybe they take a trip to the local GameStop or Best Buy, netting you some handy spare cash or in-store credit?

Whatever their ultimate fate, I’ve got a suggestion for you, and I (almost) guarantee you’re not going to like it. Because you’re right – it’s fair to keep the games you enjoyed around in case you want to revisit them. It’s sensible to display them as trophies. It’s reasonable to trade in your games or sell them on Craigslist for some extra cash. But I’m going to tell you why you shouldn’t do any of those things. I’m going to tell you why you should give them away.

Four years ago, I was on my way home from picking up Christmas presents. Call me a bad boyfriend, but while I had remembered my then-girlfriend’s mother and father in my holiday shopping, I’d forgotten about her siblings and step-siblings – something I didn’t realize until it was too late to go shopping anywhere other than a gas station, because everything else was closed.

These kids love video games, but were still relying on an original Xbox that often malfunctioned or died. We, however, had a spare Xbox 360. I was (and still am) ashamed I hadn’t thought of giving up my excess system sooner. I grabbed it, as well as my copies of Borderlands, Dead Island, and Left 4 Dead, and wrapped them up all in a box.

The look on those girls’ faces when they opened their gift; you …

Two decades. That’s 20 whole years of hoping this isn’t Chris’ blood. 7240 days of asking whether or not that dude actually just said “Jill sandwich.” 173,760 hours of Albert Wesker insisting on wearing sunglasses at night. You’re almost old enough to buy a bottle of whisky to go with those green herbs, Resident Evil. May you shamble for 20 more.

What’s fascinating about Capcom’s self-described survival horror game that launched a genre is how many different forms it’s taken over the years. Foundational classics like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Halo: Combat Evolved get remastered and touched up in editions like Super Mario All-Stars and Halo Anniversary, but the first Resident Evil took multiple forms on multiple consoles.

PlayStation – 1996

When people think of Resident Evil, this is the version they think of. There was nothing quite like the first time that CG zombie slowly turned towards the camera in one of the game’s evocative cutscenes. The series’ formula was established here, from the careful item management to the slowly unlocked, puzzlebox environment. While it looks a little shabby even compared to its other PlayStation sequels, its polygonal monsters and pre-rendered backgrounds looked exceptional compared to other 3D console games at the time. The American release was also heavily censored compared to the Japanese Biohazard, from shots of post-zombie snacking bodies to scenes of Chris Redfield smoking.

Windows – 1996

Capcom supported PC versions of its horror games right from the start, but some weird changes made it into the Windows release. All the censored content from Biohazard appeared in the international PC version, but stranger still was the fact that the campy live action intro was in color rather than black and white.

Director’s Cut – PlayStation – 1997

Resident Evil …