I was in the same boat in my mid 20s - a gargantuan AES collection and over $40K in games and consoles by the mid 2000s - then life hit and I HAD to sell it all just to make ends meet. Hell, that's why I took a LONG hiatus from the Neo fourms (can't believe it's been 20 years since I joined, and even more if you count the old Neo email listserv from AOL in the late 90's).
Now that I'm older, financially stable, and just got a new house with space for it, I'm building my collection back piece by piece. My partner is supportive, and laughs that instead of a Corvette my mid-life crisis is having a game archive. I have some rules for my archive to keep finances in check, though, and making sure my family, friends, and retirement savings are taken care of prior to any large purchase is paramount.
For me, nothing beats walking into a beautiful library filled with a curated selection of the best "books" - it's a place to chill, look at art, and enjoy the time it takes to select the right game. My gameroom is less of an ostentatious nostalgia bomb and more a comfortable, shared living space with video game flair.
While the bug to sell everything may come in time, it hasn't hit yet in my modern life as I immensely enjoy being surrounded by the art I love.
Link in bio to my website and what I'm calling "collection 3.0" and my journey of collecting, then selling off everything and going completely digital, to going back to collecting (I desperately need to update collection pictures on there - my Instagram has most recent pics).