First Black Friday 2012 Pickup

So the first of my Black Friday pickups arrived today: Forza Horizon. I've been really wanting this game since it first was announced a few months ago, but didn't think it was really worth the $59.99 asking price. I felt that this should have really been an add-on to the game available via DLC or a cheaper disc (something like $29.99). I almost bought the game for the full price minus a $25 coupon at the Microsoft Store, but was fortunate enough to get this for $15 shipped during Microsoft's Black Friday sale. What's more is that the game was later discounted to $10! At that price who can argue with picking up a copy (I think that's cheaper than previous iterations of Forza)?

As for the game itself, I really like it so far. I like the open environment, as it is reminiscent of the Need for Speed games of the past. One of my biggest gripes about today's driving simulators, especially GT5, is how much work they are. GT5's home console is absolutely overwhelming and it takes so much work just to jump into a race. This game allows you to cruise around for fun, which is something I can totally go with.

Rage of the Primal Variety

Back in 1995 I used to frequent an arcade in Houston's Memorial City Mall known as Exhilarama. Exhilarama was an arcade like no other arcade you could imagine; incredibly expansive, this arcade had every type of beat-em-up game, fighting game, rides, a separate section for adult games (I'll NEVER know what was in there), and some insane prizes. I remember seeing a Sega Master system offered as one of the prizes and wondered what on Earth it was given that the current offering at the time was the Sega Genesis. My sister and I did the math back then and estimated that it would cost the same to purchase the console outright as it would to earn the required tickets, but one can't argue that playing for the console would be way more fun.

I remember seeing Primal Rage in the arcades and thinking how GOOD the graphics were. The whole game itself was prolific--I mean, you're fighting with gigantic dinosaurs here, people. The 32X and Genesis ports were a bit disappointing (to say the least) and the stop-motion animation didn't really translate well to the console. Getting the 32X release of this game, let alone in decent shape, runs upwards of $40. I was able to snipe this for a paltry $8, complete with the box and manual. Now to master those stupid farting and urinating combos...

Another Infatuation...Video Game Box Protectors!

Watching Pat the NES Punk's videos I can't help but try to peek at the expansive collection in the background. With pretty much the entire NES library in the background one has to think that he's protecting a very expensive collection in some sort of way. I remember seeing that his CIB NES games were encased in some sort of plastic, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

During Half Price Books' insane "Halfy Days" holiday sale I ran into a local collector (discussed in prior entries) and he mentioned an eBay seller known as "Keep em' Minty." This eBay seller sold the exact video game box protectors I had seen in the past, and as it turns out they have a website, too. I ordered a bunch of boxes for my loose NES carts, CIB Zelda, dual disc games such as Shenmue and Final Fantasy, long boxes (PS1 and Sega CD), box protectors for my 32X games, and even a box protector for my sealed copy of Speed on VHS (ridiculous, I know).

Let me just say that these boxes are an OCD person's DREAM. Super cheap, relatively durable, clear, glossy, and perfect. These things add so much pop to a shelf and do a decent job of protecting the games as well. I will be ordering more for the rest of my longbox games, a few more 32X boxes, and my Gameboy boxes (they were out of stock). Check them out for sure.

Finally Got This One Back

After months and months of not having this game (thanks to Juan) I finally was able to get it back before the Thanksgiving break. Juan, being the weird guy he is, owns a parrot and he (the parrot, not Juan) has the tendency to peck at anything shiny and worth money, including game cases. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, to me, still remains a mystery, despite the fact that I'm happy to have it back.

For starters, it's hard to believe that this game was originally released on a portable platform before being ported to the Wii (normally this is the reverse). It's also hard to believe how many spinoffs have resulted from this: Wii bundles, themed Wiis, a sequel exclusive to the 3DS, themed merchandise, etc. What really gets me, though, is how this game has never fluctuated in price. I paid $49.99 for it when it was first released and to this day it still retails for this exact price. I know that some games just never come down in price, such as Smash Bros., but is this the same caliber of classic game? Another thing that bothers me about this game is the red jewel case. Some people may think this is nifty as hell, but I hate that it sticks out like a sore thumb on the shelf, and lord knows this will be a royal pain to replace if it ever breaks in the future. Rant ASIDE I still enjoyed this game for what it was and am happy to have it back (all $50 of it).

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection: All But One

As I child I missed out on some great games due to a lack of money/time/interest/knowledge of what was out there. One of these legendary games was Metal Gear Solid. Now sneaking-around types of games normally don't appeal to me (I loved Serious Sam like nobody's business), but I heard so many positive reviews of this game that I knew I would have to have it one day. When I heard that they were doing a re-release of the game in HD I was stoked, and the game instantly went to the top of my wishlist. For those who may or may not know my wishlist can get rather long, and often times I buy stuff that isn't even on the list, thus depriving the list of any sort of money. It just keeps growing.

As months rolled on the price of this game continued to drop. From $49.99 (ish) down to $34.99 down to $29.99 I kept getting lured in by this release until Best Buy posted a coupon that made this game $19.99. With $25 in Reward Zone certificates this was a no brainer, especially when purchased with Epic Mickey (which was $8). For roughly $3 out the door I walked away with two very good games. My only regret is that Konami didn't release the original MGS for the PSX on this disc. Now I know they didn't remaster it in HD for a variety of reasons, but I would have gladly taken the game as is on a modern disc. Oh well, one more game to go hunting for....

Epic Mickey for Epic Cheap

You know, for a while I really wrote off the Wii as a piece of crap. For a system released in the year 2006 it didn't play DVDs, didn't really have good internet capability, required you to enter a crazy long serial number to game with your friends, etc. I went as far as selling off most of my Wii collection (with incredible regret now) and almost sold the Wii itself until it was only worth about $35. Titles like Epic Mickey made me feel this way and made me change my mind.

Nintendo is known for first-party games and childrens games. When I saw Epic Mickey released I wrote it off as another kid-friendly game that I had no business playing. After reading the reviews and playing it for myself I can see this being a real classic. To put it in so many words, this is a Mickey game that has a much darker than usual spin on the cartoon/series. I've always been a huge fan of dark takes on otherwise lighthearted series or series geared towards children (Batman Beyond, especially). While many people will recognize this as a clever, mature, and valuable take on the franchise I have no doubt that many will write it off as well; regardless, I can really see this being the next Castle of Illusion. Disney had some real magic back in their hayday, and I think that's what made Castle of Illusion so successful. Now I'm not saying Epic Mickey was a total dud, but being lumped in with all of the other childrens games couldn't have helped it much. Regardless, I picked up this bad boy for $7.99 less my Reward Zone certificates, making this pennies on the dollar. Well bought for sure.

Fighting Game Owners and Poorly Treated Games?

So one of my final 32X pick-ups (for now) is the ever-elusive and well-made Mortal Kombat II. From what I have heard (and seen to an extent) the 32X version sports better sprites, smoother graphics, and an overall better gaming experience than the Genesis edition. Is this worth the cost of the 32X, plus the hassle of finding the games, getting them to work, etc.? Probably not.....but I'm just a bit crazy.

Anyways, moving onto the topic at hand. One thing I have noticed over the years, especially now, is how fighting games tend to be in really poor condition most of the time. It's not a particular franchise or console, but the genre as a whole. I can't help but wonder why this is the case. Is it a demographics sort of deal? Are fighting-game fans less careful with their things? Does it have something to do with their household? Am I over-thinking this? Take care of your things, people! I have had one hell of a time finding clean copies of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, and we all know how many iterations exist on the SNES and Genesis.

Getting my Hands Dirty

So I've decided against using the UGCs for NES carts, as it would be far too much work to trim cases, print covers, and have the games take up more space on the shelf (not to mention the whole standardization of covers issue). I have a really neat idea for storing these NES games that I'll show off in a later post. That being said, I decided to trim up a few UGCs for the sake of storing larger-than-normal system accessories, namely the Super Gameboy and Game Genie.

I don't own a Dremel, but was able to borrow one from a friend of mine. Armed with a reinforced cutting wheel I set up a work bench and got started on trimming some UGCs with the expectation that a few wouldn't make it. After trimming ALL internal tabs I wasn't able to fit a Super Gameboy inside of the case, so I may have to get a retail box down the road. That was a pretty big disappointment given how much time I spent trimming all of the tabs, not to mention the 5 UGCs I lost in experimenting and getting my hands steady (thankfully I have TONS left). The good news is that I was able to trim up a case for the Sega Game Genie with great success. Now that I have to return the Dremel I know two things for sure, 1) I need a Dremel in my life and 2) I will be doing more of these in the future for other larger-than-normal carts.

Free Black Ops on Launch Day

Normally I don't really play any of the Call of Duty/Battlefield games, or any of the war-types of games to begin with. While I think they're fun and each has their own unique "flavor" they all tend to run into one another and I don't play nearly enough to be competitive online. I also never buy a game on launch day, simply because I don't have the means to buy the game at full retail (and it will ultimately come down in price). Having said that, how did I get Black Ops II for free?

Well, if you remember the post on wall-mounting the LCD TV in my office you'll recall that I was able to do this because I bought a new TV for my bedroom. That TV, a 37" Samsung, was actually pretty nice, but a better deal was to be had. Fry's had a 47" LG LCD TV on sale from $998 to $398, with two pairs of 3D glasses included. Saving $200 while gaining 10 extra inches of screen size was more than worth it for me to pack up the Samsung and return it, but the story gets better. LG is currently running a promotion where you can get a free copy of Black Ops II with the purchase of select LG models, including the one that was on sale. After getting into a heated discussion with several managers at Fry's I was able to get my free copy of Black Ops II, effectively making my TV cost ~$340. Now that is what I call a slick deal.

My First Import!

Going to Half Price Books on South Lamar is never a disappointment. Well, almost never. The last few weeks have been pretty quiet at the store, and with the difficulty in getting down there I decided to hang back for a while and try my odds at eBay. Thankfully I decided to check out Half Price during their holiday sale, and the end result was incredibly sweet.

Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure that the larger selection this past weekend was due to the sale and the number of people coming through the store, but let's move onto the goods: Tenchu! Half Price had this in the glass case listed for $15. I have never bought an import game and certainly haven't come across one in the wild, so getting this for $15 is a real treat. What makes this deal even sweeter is that Half Price had a 50% off coupon for that day, making this import cost me a paltry $7.50, or less than the cost of my burger that I got next door. I really want to go back and get the other Tenchu import they had, but I think at this point it is probably too late. Regardless, I am super stoked about this deal.

Over 9000!

Another import I got from the Half Price Books "Halfy Days" sale. I never really buy imports, and I'm not the biggest fan of Dragonball Z since they talk so damn much the entire show, yet here we are. The game, complete in box and in mint condition, was priced at $5. I was able to use my educator's discount to get another 10% off, making this cost about as much as a Big Mac meal. This is going for about $23 right now on eBay, so another excellent deal was to be had in the deep south of Austin. I am not even sure if this will play on my original PSX, but I can throw it in the PS3 over the holidays and see if we can make some magic.

Dirt Cheap Final Fantasy

I normally don't come across Final Fantasy games in the wild, but a few weeks back I came across several sealed Final Fantasy games at MicroCenter in Houston. Priced at $17.99 they were a decent enough deal, but they were all Greatest Hits editions and the shrinkwrap wasn't that great on them (plus the CDs were loose in the jewel case). When I found out that you can get them on Amazon for about $15 each shipped I figured I'd either pick them up from there or just buy the black label copies. So why did I get a green label Final Fantasy Tactics? How about less than $8 out the door?

Half Price actually had two copies of 7, one copy of 9, Tactics, and Anthology, but I already own 7 and the copy of 9 they had didn't have a manual I was already spending more than I planned that day, so I elected not to go for Anthology (which I think was lacking a manual as well). Tactics seemed like a good buy, even with a broken jewel case (which was promptly replaced), all in all I'm a happy camper.

CIB Zelda!!

Complete in box Zelda? Complete in box Zelda!? Yes, complete in box Zelda.

While that may not be a big deal for some of you out there (if you are out there), for me this has been the unicorn of video games. I played it a few times as a kid, but wasn't very good at it due to the limited time I had with the game. I do remember so many things about the game, including the title screen, the gold-ness of the cart, the difficulty of the game. If I had to pick a word it would be "enamored." Since that time I've been wanting a copy, but a variety of issues have come up. At first I had a no NES at all, then a non-functioning NES, then no money to pick a copy up off of eBay, then a copy was given to me in INCREDIBLY poor condition, and then I finally resigned to just waiting. I wasn't planning on picking this up, but the employee at Half Price informed me that they had just bought the copy off of a customer and hadn't even priced it yet. When I asked to see it I was presented with an almost MINT CIB copy of the game, and by almost mint I mean that the box had a bit of wear on the hinged flaps on top. The game, sleeve, manuals, everything...it was all in immaculate condition. The price? $30, but with my 50% off coupon I was able to run away with it for $16.23 after taxes. I just bought some video game box protectors (more on this secret later) specifically for this, so I'm super happy with the rejuvenation of my NES collecting.

Hard to Find....Domestic?

So the Half Price Books on North Lamar (which is still a pain to get to, regardless of its north-ness) is notorious for overpricing their games. They are the highest-traffic store in Austin, but all of their game buyers look everything up on eBay and Amazon and price accordingly. My response? If' I wanted to go off of eBay and Amazon prices I'd just buy from them, save on the taxes (eBay), and avoid going down the mess that is the Lamar-Burnet-Koenig corridor. Having said that, the instant gratification factor leads people to do stupid things, thus my visit to the store.

I have been eyeing this game for a while now, but the price was a bit shocking. $25 freaking dollars for a Dreamcast game in this day and age is lunacy, and they even had a few for $40. Knowing that these games had to have some worth I did a bit of research and found that Gundam Side Story 0079's going rate is about $25 on eBay for the Japanese copy, with very few (if any) US copies listed. I figured that this must have been a poorly received port from Japan, and given the going rate on eBay the asking price at Half Price was fair....after a 40% coupon I used. These coupons, combined with Half Price being under the radar for game collecting, has been very good to me thus far.

WWF Oh Yeaaaaah!!

It's the Nacho Man, CANDY Savage! Okay, horrible joke and Epic Meal Time reference aside (and I'm really hungry around lunchtime writing this) I was able to finally snag one of the two wrestling games for the 32X. For a system that only had 31 US released carts having two wrestling games seems really, really, really silly, but nothing about this system is serious, so I wasn't too surprised (there are also numerous baseball games available, too, ugh). The going rate for these wrestling games is really high, and I hate having to pay anything for these games since I hate wrestling games almost as much as sports games. Regardless, I bought this cart sign unseen and overall I'm happy with the outcome. From what I've heard this isn't really a bad wrestling game, so who knows, it could be a lot of fun.

One thing I've noticed about Akklaim is that the quality of their game labels is a bit lacking. Maybe it's the genre of games they produce that makes them more susceptible to wear (sports and fighting games), but every Akklaim cart I've received looks pretty bad. This cart was pretty clean aside from a slightly dull label. Charge it to the game, I guess.

Tempo!

Oh Tempo, you elusive title with the WORST cover I have ever seen. I love funky games, don't get me wrong, and games like Toejam and Earl proved that weird can be super well done, but let's dissect this cover for a minute.

What you have here is a young alien-looking boy with sunglasses, headphones (at least they're not Beats by Dr. Dre), and some crazy looking McFly's fighting off  some kind of monster. With what you say? How about the power of MUSIC (and some sort of musical note)? And what's up with that spider hanging over his head?

Anyways, a 61% rarity rating via RarityGuide.com means that this title is a pretty decent pickup to be had, especially if you're trying to collect all 31 US released 32X games. Q-Sound was involved in the production of this game, so I have no doubts that it will be at least somewhat decent. Then again I could be completely wrong, since we're talking about the 32X here. What really chaps my hide about the 32X is that the sound processor in the console is so dreadful. Makes you wonder what the game would have been like on the first first generation Genesis without TMSS and the awful VA6 revision motherboard. C'est la vie.

Star Trek!

Full disclosure: I have never seen a Star Wars movie (The Phantom Menace doesn't count) and I never really followed Star Trek, so I don't have an opinion on the whole Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate. What I can debate is the value of this deal, given it's 61% rarity rating via RarityGuide.com. This game has actually been pretty hard to come by in decent shape, and I had to buy this off of eBay sight unseen (which is a big no-no).

For about $15 I got the game in decent shape, and am happy to put this behind me. The game itself doesn't look particularly interesting, especially compared to Star Wars Arcade, so maybe the debate can rage on that front? It looks like a mix between an RPG, simulator, and shooter, but the whole thing just puts you to sleep. The cover looks really "Trekky," so kudos on that front, but otherwise this was just another step to dominating the 32X collecting front. Has anyone else tried this game out?

Houston Pickup!

Houston is a really big city. I know this because I grew up there for several years. In a city this big there are bound to be some good deals, especially without Goodwill being money hungry and auctioning anything of real value. Since I was in Houston for a wedding celebration my time was pretty limited, so I hit up my favorite spot for games: Half Price Books.

Located in Rice Village, I figured that this location may have some treats given the affluent population that lives in the area and frequents the store. Man, was I RIGHT. CIB Odyssey 2 games, Neo Geo games, and some pretty decent SNES titles were right there in the case. Unforuntately the Neo Geo titles were priced pretty high ($40-60) and I wasn't even sure how I'd play them. The Odyssey 2 games were in outstanding shape, but I don't own the console and have no intention of collecting games for a console I don't own (yet). When I checked eBay the going rate for a CIB Odyssey 2 game was the same as in the store, so I wasn't really saving much. After perusing their selection of SNES games I decided on Animaniacs, since the game itself is pretty good and ranked among the better SNES titles (which is saying a lot). $7 out the door and we had a done deal.

Cleaning Tips!

So I went to Fry's the other day to pick up a new TV and while I was there I wanted to pick up some DeOxit contact cleaner for my game carts. When I saw the number of varieties of DeOxit and the prices for each I got a bit turned off and decided to look into other options. I've been using 90% isopropyl for a while now with great success, and it's so readily available and cheap that I figured I'd just re-up. I decided to go a bit extra-hardcore and get the 99.9% isopropyl alcohol that has basically zero water in it, so we'll see how this cleans compared to what I've been using.

A word of caution. Actually several. This stuff smells, so do it in an open area and take breaks. Make sure you use some q-tips and test it out on an inconspicuous area of plastic before trying to clean sticker residue with it. For the most part it seems to do no damage to any kind of game cart plastic I've come across, but you never know. This will damage plastic on TV sets, so be aware of that. Lastly, I'm not responsible for anything bad that can happen, so stay keen and safe, and most importantly have fun!

Space Harrier!

Buying this game was a bit of an usual process for me. I've been trying to find a clean copy of the game (which isn't the easiest to do for cheap) and finally found this on eBay. The price was right, but it was an auction that would be ending while I was in spin class on Saturday morning. Normally I'd put off what I was doing for a quick snipe, but I didn't want to miss my class or risk losing this auction, so I tried something a little different.

I have used a tool called AuctionSniper in the past with great success. For those of you who are unfamiliar with AuctionSniper, it is a service that allows for you to "snipe" eBay auctions and it works rather well. To use it you simply sign up for an account, input your eBay credentials (they're safe), then you put your auction numbers into the tool, type in your maximum bid for each, lead time (how many seconds before the end you want to snipe) and you're ready to go. It isn't free, but their sales pitch is that the money you'll be saving by sniping at the last second more than offsets the cost (plus you're winning that rare item). The site gives you three free snipes, which I'm now out of, so I might have to actually pay up for this service (I think it's worth it).

Onto the game itself, I haven't played it yet, but from what I've heard and seen this is a really fun game and a classic (given that it was on the Master System). I think it's actually really cool that something from the Master System-era made a comeback on the 32X, and it's really a shame that this comeback was thwarted by the 32X's short life. Here's to hoping that this isn't a let down to the system or franchise.

Custom Covers are a Chore!

So in my previous post I mentioned that Sega's lack of standards in game case labels was frustrating, particularly for the collector who is OCD and trying to build up a collection that looks like a library (which it sort of is). Now normally with a little (or a lot) of Photoshop work I can take most retail scans and convert them into a "vertical red" format, but we hit a bit of a roadblock when there is no original cover scan.

I snagged a Sega Genesis Game Genie for $3 from Half Price books and I have been trying to track down a cover for it for a very long time. Anyone who bought one of these new knows that they came in a chintzy cardboard box that most people threw away. To find a high-resolution, 300dpi scan with no creases or artifacts is next to impossible, but sure enough I tracked one down. Some of the text needed redoing because of the width restrictions of the template I use, but alas, it is now done and is probably the only Shenske-themed Game Genie cover out there. Now to submit it to TheCoverProject.net...

And Another Birthday Gift!

The funniest thing about this gift is that I was just thinking about how much this game bothered me as a child. Released in 1989 the world had no idea how something meant to be fun could be so frustrating. This game is so notorious for being challenging that even AVGN did a video for this. Regardless of this I had to have this game as a child and never got it, so no better time than the present (and a present it was).

I don't have much of a collection of NES games; in fact, I don't even know if my NES works anymore, and I need all of the connections for it. Ideally I would like to get a top loader, dog bone controller, and start up a decent NES collection with the usual black-box classics, Mario, Zelda, Tetris, R.O.B., Contra, etc. The reality is that real collecting and real gaming history started, for many, with the NES, so conquering that will be my next beast after I'm done with my 32X project and a few more SNES pickups.

Am I happy that I got the game? Yes! Am I happy that I have to relive the frustration? Umm....still yes!

Birthday Gift!

So my friend Juan and I are big fans of fighting games. He likes the technical aspects of figuring out combos, mastering different fighters, and getting all of the optional costumes for the fighters (yes, the female fighters' costumes). Personally I am a fan of games that I can pick up and just play for a while to escape my busy life (hence why I like quick games). To me Rock Band and Guitar Hero were great escapes and helped me manage how much game time I was getting in. Fighting games are definitely no exception.

Although Juan and I love Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter (and to a lesser extent Marvel vs. Capcom and Blaz Blue) Juan decided to pick up the latest Tekken game for his birthday a few weeks ago. I wasn't a fan of the difficulty in become proficient in the game, as button mashing won't get you very far. Although characters can be blocky in their movement (no jumping, really?) it actually is a technical fighter, and a decent one at that. Juan decided to get me a copy for my birthday so that we could play it together and hopefully master it. Now to get my Xbox Live subscription updated...

Sports Games...Ugh

I'll just come out and say it. I'm not a fan of sports games. In fact, many hardcore gamers out there (of the retro-collecting variety) don't seem to be either. Sports games consume so much of the market, become obsolete season after season, and drop in value so quickly that they clog up the retro gaming market, and for that they're widely hated. Sifting through these games is easy enough: if you see one just toss it aside and keep looking. The dilemma I have here is that I'm going for a complete collection of games for the Sega 32X, which included several sports games. I was lucky enough to find this game CIB for a reasonable $9.99, although I would never actually buy it for reasons outside of collecting. The real kicker is that I'll need to buy a copy of Deion Sanders' baseball, which is extremely expensive. I guess that's just the cost of being a collector. :/

The Best Mockingbird Shooter You Can Buy

The 32X was notorious for some pretty awful games. Either the technology was rushed or difficult to work with, but either way there were some pretty horrible games released for the system. If you look at the system the graphics weren't even that good--definitely not 32-bit quality and some not even up to par with the Sega Genesis. This alone was a huge source of the demise of the 32X, as well as Sega's empire itself.

That's not to say that all 32X games are awful; it's just that there aren't very many good ones among the slim ~30 game selection for the system. Most Sega-produced games for the console were decent, with Knuckles' Chaotix and Kolibri earning top marks. Kolibri is an interesting (using the word in THAT way) game with some pretty good graphics and an unusual premise. The word itself is Spanish for hummingbird (and in other languages as well) and developed a reputation for being the best hummingbird-based shooter for the 32X (har har). Just like Knuckles' Chaotix this wasn't a cheap find, but it definitely is a must own for the 32X.

Wall Mount Time

I have gathered together a pretty decent assortment of games to play, but as I mentioned in my post on testing the 32X out, I never actually get to play my games. Working two jobs, going to grad school full-time, owning a house, and family obligations keep me pretty busy, but even with the limited time I have I don't actually have a monitor/TV to play my games on. Shopping around at Best Buy it was apparent to me that most TVs were super light (which is nice), energy efficient, cheap(!), but had almost no inputs on the back. There were a few HDMI, sure, and HDMI is awesome (it really is), but there was no s-video, no composite, just one component, no DVI, VGA, optical, etc. A lot of those connections may be superfluous, but having options is nice, especially with older gaming consoles.

The only solution, to me, was to either purchase a CRT (like a real retro-gamer) or to obtain an older LCD. I bought an LG 32" LCD when I first started working out of college for a paltry $1,300 and still have it in my bedroom. A beast weighing in at 50 lbs with the stand this TV has all of the inputs I wanted, plus the nostalgia of being my very first LCD TV. I ended up buying a 37"Samsung LED TV for my bedroom and hung this beast up in my office. I am a bit apprehensive about the whole deal (to say the least), as I'm always scared this thing will come off the wall and smash all my things, but so far things are looking good. :)

Pinballz!

Back in the 1990s you could find an arcade in pretty much every major mall in America. While they ranged in quality you could be guaranteed that most of the classics would be there: Time Crisis, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Ninja Turtles, Simpsons, Terminator, Cruisin' USA (ugh), etc. The sounds, sights, smells (yes, those smells), and the allure of prizes that cost more in tickets than actual retail was intoxicating. It was also incredibly expensive, and many people ultimately realized that you could game at home for much cheaper, and game online, thus the death of the arcade slowly came on. Now you'll either have to track down a standalone arcade or resort to playing Time Crisis at the local Cinemark. For my birthday I decided to track down a decent arcade, and what resulted was none other than Austin's Pinballz arcade.

This arcade was STUNNING. From the old school section featuring Mario, Donkey Kong, and Tron, to the 90s section featuring X-Men, Simpsons, Ninja Turtles (both Turtles in Time and the classic Turtles II) it was absolute bliss. The arcade features a huge assortment of pinball machines, although in all honesty I am not the biggest fan of pinball. $20 lasted me well over two hours and I was able to beat my first arcade game alongside my friends. Being in an arcade like this was a timewarp and cemented for me the very reason why I started doing this game collecting: it's just good, simple fun, and these games defined the games that we have today. Now that's pretty cool to me.

A Small Piece of Awful Gaming History

Now here is a find that I wasn't expecting. A seller on eBay was liquidating his entire 32X lot and there were a couple of Sega CD 32X games up for grabs as well. For a little bit of history, there were only six Sega CD 32X games released in the 90s, and as far as I know this is the only one that was released as a two pack (Sega CD and Sega CD 32X discs both included). RarityGuide.com has this listed at a 51% rarity rating with an average selling rate of $14 CIB (complete-in-box). I paid $9.99 plus shipping, which I consider a score given how notorious longbox jewel cases are for being cracked/broken/damaged.

What I have found is that when the photos of auction items start to look the same they are either being all sold by a reseller or a collector liquidating their collection. Both will be charging medium to high price rates, but the collector will probably have their items in better condition since they actually had a vested interest in the item they are selling. If you can find a collector selling off their collection on eBay (for a reasonable price) it isn't a bad idea to stock up and save on shipping. I was able to get this and NFL Quarterback Club '94 for the 32X for a combined shipping charge of about $6. Not a bad way to spend an evening watching the presidential debates.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: My First Collector's Edition

Growing up I never really followed the Final Fantasy series. In my mind there were always several tiers of gaming, ranging from the casual-style of game to the hardcore style. People like me weren't able to purchase games on launch day and really only owned a few games, so the games that we purchased were almost always casual-style games. To me, casual-style games are first-party games (made by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, etc.) that feature their top mascots (Mario, Sonic) and are easy to approach and have fun with. Basically, it all boiled down to the question, "Given that you can only own a select few games, which games would you own?" The Marios and Sonics of the world were the classic games that everyone felt that they should own, and subsequently I picked these games up as a kid.

The next step up from the casual-style of game were the games that may or may not have been first party, but were still must-own titles, such as Tetris, Zelda, etc. Sometimes if we were lucky our parents would pick these games up for us, but mostly these were rental titles (well, maybe not Tetris). To this day I never bought a brand new copy of Zelda, and I actually really regret that. These games, though not as common as Mario, Duck Hunt, etc., are still relatively easy to find out in the wild. RPGs are a whole different beast.

RPGs, aka role-playing games, cater to a different niche of gamer. These are almost always special franchises with small, but extremely dedicated followings. RPGs aren't very easy to approach and require a lot of time commitment, so most people pass them up (which is a total shame, btw). JRPGs, or Japanese RPGs, are even more elusive. Final Fantasy is one of the quintessential RPGs out there. I never owned the original Final Fantasy, or the more popular and genre defining Final Fantasy III for Super Nintendo (which is actually the sixth in the series, which is actually REALLY confusing). Final Fantasy VII was my first introduction to the Final Fantasy series and I adored that game like no other. Unfortunately I sold it two years ago on eBay (and rebought it a few months back), but that mistake will not be happening again.

Final Fantasy XIII is very well known for being hosted on the Playstation 3. It isn't the best game of the series (by a longshot), as it gets docked for being heavy on the hallway-style levels and boring walking around. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (14 I guess?) supposedly fixes this, and has been a game I've been wanting to try out. With the bad reputation of XIII at work the prices of XIII-2 have been plummeting, and thus I was able to pick up a copy of this game in the collector's edition for a paltry $25. I probably won't be opening this, as collector's copies can fetch a pretty penny down the road (especially when unopened and RPGs), so I'll wait until Black Friday to get a normal PS3 copy of this game for about $10. This is my first collector's copy of a game, but hopefully not my last.

Playstation 3D TV: The Next GXTV?

For those of us who grew up in the 90s the GXTV was the proverbial unicorn. Imagine a 13" TV, the perfect size for your bedroom, with plenty of composite connectors for your game systems, and several huge speakers for really enjoying your games (and the speakers folded in to save space). Made by Samsung this was THE TV to own.

It was a dream, it was real, it was perfect, and it was a 13" TV for $300. No one wanted it, especially parents in the 1990s, and thus it fell into obscurity. I remember seeing one of these TVs in Best Buy (when Best Buy first opened) and thought to myself that it was an amazing idea, but unrealistic given the cost relative to other TVs. I came across a used GXTV on Craigslist and picked it up for a friend, but regret doing that since I haven't been able to find one since. They are elusive, beautiful, ugly, smart, and dumb at the same time. One day I will own one, but I digress. The new GXTV is Sony's own Playstation 3D gaming monitor.

Imagine this: a 24" 3D monitor, made by Sony, with 2 HDMI inputs, 3D output, and simulview technology so that you and your friends can play on the same screen with different glasses and see two different pictures. Now imagine this: a $500 24" monitor, plagued with reliability issues, with no built-in tuner, no included remote, an overly glossy screen, and a limited library of games that support the technologies it's selling itself on. Sound familiar? For some reason I love to gravitate towards huge mistakes (32X, anyone?), so this TV was a no brainer to me. I picked this up for $180, which got me the TV, a copy of MotorStorm, a pair 3D glasses, an HDMI cable, and a four-year extended warranty (which I'll probably need). So far it's been working beautifully, looks great, and seems like a smart idea. I have no idea what the future will hold for this, but it's bound to be a legend (for good reasons or for bad ones).

Reprinting my Game Covers: Sega has no Standards

As many of you may or may not know (probably not) I have been in the process of printing my UGC (universal game case) covers at Kinkos over the last few weeks. The Super Nintendo ones were easy enough to knock down, with me missing only a handful left to print. I was fortunate enough to have one person do all covers for the 32X, so those are all uniform and rather nice. The Sega Genesis, however, is a complete beast, whether you look at the custom cover community or the retail covers themselves. Could Sega have gotten it any wronger?

You may not realize it at first glance, but the differences are numerous. Dark stripes, light stripes, no stripes, silver Genesis logos, white Genesis logos, and covers that don't conform to the red-framing at all. If you are OCD or just trying to get a nice, uniform library going this can be a total nightmare, and it makes you wonder what Sega was thinking. Nintendo always got docked for being very controlling of many aspects of their operations, but the quality shows with things like this. I ultimately had to Photoshop half of the covers in the picture, and I'm still missing two (who even got a retail box for Sega Menacer 6?!), but progress is progress, regardless.

32X: Powering this Beast on

So here's the story as it goes so far: I dig my original Genesis and Sega CD out of storage. I track down all of the necessary power bricks, buy a NIB 32X off of eBay, get a base extender for the Sega CD, and even a multi-tap for the Genesis. I buy a power-strip capable of handling three power bricks, and even pick up half of the 32X library off of eBay. Audio cables? Yes, I needed some of those, too. This is great, this is dedication, this is outright lunacy....and it's completely untested.

The truth of the matter is that I tracked down so many pieces to this excessively stupid puzzle, yet I never actually took the time out to test the entire system. Truth be told it's actually really irresponsible, because you would never buy a shirt without trying it on, a TV without turning it on, or a meal you've never had without some sort of taste test. I focused so much on the process of procuring that I never did any playing, so I had to take a time out and get this thing going. Suffice it to say that I had a few problems. I got the power adapters a bit mixed up, the audio was a bit scratchy, one of my controllers didn't work, and the system didn't want to load any games until being thoroughly cleaned, but it finally worked. And this was on 40 hours of no sleep with all of my grad school homework. How was the experience itself? After a few hours I was HOOKED. I think that leaving the Genesis on for a longer period of time helped work out all of the gremlins associated with being off for 15 years, so that was nice, too. All in all, it helps to take a time out and enjoy what you've actually purchased.

Covers Coming Along

So I finally got the time to print my covers, trim them, re-trim them (they needed about 1-2mm sliced off), and mounted them in their cases. The end result so far is, in my opinion, really slick, and it helps me find all of my games that don't have end labels (or really hard to read end labels). I'm still missing several covers, but hopefully I'll find them in the requests forum on The Cover Project or I'll make them myself over the winter break.

The one thing I find a bit irritating is that the number of details in some of these spines requires that I reseat the covers and shift them up or down slightly to get that perfect alignment across the row. I know by most people's standards this is crazy, but it's all in the small details, right? I am beginning to run into the problem of running out of shelf space, or at least shelf space that will present everything neatly, so I'll be going through and shifting things around so that everything is neatly displayed in its respective section.

This project definitely wasn't cheap. So far between the shelving and lighting ($250), cases ($60), and prints ($100+) I am out quite a bit of money, and many would argue that that money could have been spent on more games, but what's the point in having the games if you can't neatly store them, protect them, and admire them on the shelf when they're not in use?

A Kinko's Regular

So I've become quite the regular at Kinko's over the last few weeks. I've been printing things out in batches, making sure that I have the correct cover art and the game itself before going through with the printing and cutting process. The photo to right illustrates the cutting board I am using for trimming these covers. I learned the hard way early on that cutting out the covers with tool would be tiring (there's a lot of bending), time consuming (bring headphones), and you can't rely on the built in guides. Most of these cutters don't have square edges and are out of alignment, so you'll have to be diligent about getting perfect cuts.

My process looked something like this: get prints done on 11" x 17" 32lb laser paper at Kinkos, full size with no scaling, with crop marks printed around the artwork. After the printouts are done, take them to the cutter, slice off the excess white paper until you get a small border around the art with the crop marks intact, then use the crop marks to line up your cuts. Do the landscape (long) cuts first, then use the grid on the cutting surface to square up your cuts for the short ends. Lastly, you'll take 1-2mm off of the right edge of the print and gently slide the print into a UGC for test fitting. After you verify the cut is done and the cover art fits  you move onto the next one, and the next one, and the next one...

Custom Cover Test Prints

So today I managed to get into Kinko's to do some test prints and the results were outstanding. They were a lot of work and not very cheap, but the final product looks terrific. We decided on a 32lb paper with no gloss to it, as the laser ink being used adds its own sort of gloss/sheen to the paper.

The one mistake I made was not test fitting in the store, which would have revealed that I needed to take an extra 1-2mm off of the right edge to make these cover fit. Perhaps I'll just use Photoshop to slice this off of the canvas size so that I reduce the number of cuts I have to make. Either way the end result is worth it and I'll become more proficient with this as time progresses.

Cultural Awareness in Games

There were a lot of wonderful things that came out of the 90s. TGIF, slap bracelets, Ninja Turtles, Saturday morning programming that was actually good, Goosebumps books, and more. There were also some pretty awful and unusual things that came out of the 90s, and some things that just made you think to yourself "What the ****?"

One thing that amuses me about 32X game covers (and others as well) is how half of the cover art content focused on the technology of the game and cart itself. The number of colors, size of the cart (24 MEGS!), and all kinds of irrelevant information would be displayed, and the game usually ended up being pretty awful. When I got my copy of 36 Holes (who came up with that title) I started looking over the box and saw the line. The line:

Choose men or women players.

Groundbreaking technology, indeed. Ah, how I miss 90s ignorance. Simpler times indeed.

32x Collection So Far

In the 32X's short life 31 games were released in the United States. Of those 31 games I have been taking care of all of the low hanging fruit. Most of the games displayed here can be had for a few dollars each. In fact, I found a guy on Craigslist that sold me 4 games for $6 total (down from $9).

I have a few duplicates, which I plan on boxing up, printing covers for, and selling on eBay or CL to make up for the cost so that I can get a few more games. Sometimes you run into duplicates just because they're in better shape than the copy you had before, or maybe you had to get the duplicates as a "lot" to get that one game you didn't have. While it's not ideal it's a part of the game and you have to play to win, right?

Game Over Games! Houston Edition

Game Over Games is an up-and-coming retro gaming franchise that's been making headway in central Texas. I visited their store in Round Rock and was somewhat impressed, although some of the prices were pretty high and all of the good stuff was in their "gaming museum." I found out that their main stores were in other parts of town and weren't too far away, but with grad school and two jobs I hadn't gotten around to visiting them.

I took a bit of time off to go to Houston for a weekend to visit a friend, and it turns out that there is a Game Over Games right off of Highway 59. This location was actually much larger than the Round Rock store, and many of the prices were rather reasonable. When buying games you have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. Between the time, gas, and frustration of dealing with finding good scores at flea markets and garage sales it often makes sense to pay a bit more and buy it from a store that has a good return policy, cleans the games, lets you test them, and needs your support to stay in business. While I was here I picked up two copies of the web browser for the Dreamcast (we all need that, right?) for a paltry $2, plus we got a discount for checking in via Facebook. Once I make another trip to Houston and have a better idea of what I want I'll be making another stop to pick up some more goodies.

Game Genie Score!

Another addition to the power of power! I always wanted a Game Genie as a kid and could never get the NES version of the Game Genie to work no matter how many times I rented it from Hastings. Everyone online has posted photos of their ridiculous piggy-backed Genesis systems, with Sonic & Knuckles, X-band Modems, Master System Base Converters, and Game Genies galore creating stacks that are several feet high. I think that this example is a pretty sturdy and solid example of something that could actually be used in a real scenario. I never actually owned a Game Genie as a kid, so to be able to obtain this for THREE dollars (plus a 10% discount) is pretty darn good in my eyes. It was a bit dusty from the store, but with some alcohol and canned air the thing cleaned right up and looks super sexy in the system.

32X: Repurchasing an Expensive Tumor on my Childhood

The year was 1996. We had just moved to Austin and I didn't really have any friends yet. My parents hadn't secured the best line of work at the time, so money wasn't exactly plentiful. What was plentiful, however, was video games and places to rent them that didn't price gouge you. What was also plentiful was crappy video games and overpriced accessories that did little in the way of making the experience more enjoyable.Case in point: the 32X.

Originally priced at $149.99 this thing couldn't sell even if Sega's life depended on it (which was ultimately the case). My local Toys 'R Us had this on sale for $19.99, so my mom took me to pick one up to see what the hubbub was all about. Suffice it to say that installing this bastard was a real chore and as a 10-11 year old I simply couldn't pull it off. I think at the time I couldn't get the sound to work, but what really irritated me was that my mom returned this awful piece of gaming history to save $20 because of this mistake. Now my adult-self managed to snag this NIB (new in box) copy for $70. While this isn't the BEST deal in the world it was the only way to get that satisfaction of cracking open fresh plastic and having all of the cables needed to get it to work. Now with the power of the internet and a college education I managed to get this thing to work, albeit it is very finicky. The price was high, but I finally feel that I'm on the right track with this hobby.

Sega CD Reborn

With the Sega CD finally home it was time to unbox the beast and get it back on the Genesis. I forgot how badly the contacts between the Genesis and the Sega CD got dirty, so out came the alcohol and things got pretty clean. Sega themselves recommended using a pencil eraser, but I think that alcohol is a better/less abrasive solution. I've been thinking of using DeOxit, but that's something to pursue further down the line. I also need to figure out how to clean inside of the cartridge slots, which should benefit the Genesis on top and the Sega CD on the side. For now they are connected back together like it's 1995 all over again.

There are two additional purchases displayed in this photo. The first, a Sega multitap, can be had super cheap on eBay (around $10) brand new, and while I don't anticipate doing any kind of 4-player gaming on this system I really just wanted to add to the excessiveness that is this combination. The other purchase, the Sega CD base extender, is getting to be really hard to come by. Available by phone order back in the day, this piece of plastic goes on the end of the Sega CD base to make it longer so that it goes all the way under the Genesis Model 1. Given that the model 1 is the better model of Genesis to own (not my non-HD, VA7 motherboard model) I think this is a must have for most Sega collectors. There is some serious price gouging going on on eBay right now for this, with prices ranging from $15 (reasonable) to $30 (pretty bad) to even $50 (just awful). I found mine from a comic book store in Florida for $9 shipped (yes, shipped) in pretty decent condition. Ultimately I'd love to get this in NOS condition, along with a Sega CD memory cart, some 6-button controllers, and new power bricks, but so far I am in love all over again.

Universal Game Cases

Buying a game as a bare cart ends up always being cheaper (ceteris paribus) than getting a CIB (complete in box) copy, but you end up dealing with issues storing the game. Games come in all kinds of sizes, shapes, condition, etc., and all need a varying level of protection from light, moisture, and dust to ensure their longevity. The one thing I've always hated is how boxes come in different shapes, levels of durability, and sizes, making things an awful mess on an otherwise perfect bookshelf. Enter the UGC.

UGCs, or Universal Game Cases, are sold by MediaShelving.com in packs of 100. For about $62 shipped you get 100 clear cases that can hold Sega Genesis, EA Sports, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, CD/DVD based games, and more (with a bit of modification). The best part about this is that the cases allow for you to print and insert your own artwork, which is readily available on the The Cover Project's website. This is an OCD person's dream, albeit an expensive dream. Over the coming weeks I'll be working to get this project off the ground so that I can see what games are actually in the cases. Highly recommended buy.

Shelving Redux: Part 2

In my previous post I had mentioned my struggle with finding shelving that I found to be satisfactory to my game collection. Shelves were either particleboard, really expensive, or had nagging flaws that kept me from fully enjoying them, including the IKEA Hemnes I had originally purchased. With one half width Hemnes purchased and built I decided that it was time to build out the second shelf, get lighting installed and wired, and start filling the shelf with content. The end result of this two shelf system is actually pretty neat if I do say so myself. The quality on these units is really good for the money and the "split" aspect of the shelves means that I can have different cubbies for different types of games, and I can adjust the height of the shelves to match each type of media. The lighting is also a really nice touch and lets me work at night without needing any kind of extra lamp. All in all I think that you'd be hard pressed to find a better solid-wood bookcase for the money. If you have an IKEA nearby and have a lot of wall space you can go crazy and buy 2, 3, or even 4 shelves to display your collection the way it's meant to be shown off.

Shelving Redux: Part 1

After picking up several different IKEA Hemnes bookcases I wasn't really happy with the fit and finish of the units. Even after putting them together properly I had issue with the backing being folded to save space. Once you nail the back (yes, nail) onto the bookcase you see this seam run down the middle of the whole bookcase, which is distracting and really annoying to me. I was about to give up until I saw that the Hemnes came in a half-width model. In addition to the back not being folded in the packaging the fit and finish was much better, the shelves can handle more weight thanks to their width (or lack thereof), and the whole thing can be organized better thanks to its "cube" style of organization. I had to pick up two of these, plus lights and cables, which ended up being substantially more expensive than a single Hemnes, but the end result is much nicer than a single IKEA Hemnes or Billy (which is made with particleboard). Part 2 will show off two of the bookcases together, along with some fancy lighting to set the whole thing off. This will be worth it.

Goodwill Auction Time!

So over on Reddit Goodwill happens to be a pretty popular spot for getting retro games. Not the case here in Central Texas. The issue here is that all Goodwills within a particular city are run a bit different, with Goodwill of Central Texas collecting all of the goodies and placing them in these silent auction cases. In other cities you can simply walk into any Goodwill, browse the store, and walk out with one or more killer deals. To make more money Goodwill in Austin will collect donations, put together a sizable lot of games, and put them in a silent auction from Tuesday through Saturday, where bidding opens up to the public just after lunchtime. Most of the time this leads to some pretty crappy deals, a lot of waiting, and buying a bunch of stuff you don't even want just to get a few things out of the lot. I have even witnessed a few people break up a lot after the auction has ended in the parking lot.

This is pretty junky, but it's not without some good deals. I managed to snag a Super Nintendo, Super Scope (in box), Donkey Kong, Mario All Stars, and several other classics for about $56 bucks. After selling off any dupes I ended up with a decent deal, but it's not without its work. I've been wanting to check out other Goodwills around Texas and will make it a point as I travel to Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. For now I'll stick with eBay, Half Price Books, and the occasional thrift store here and there. Remember that time is money, so driving around for deals and having to sell off dupes drops your return.

More Progress Being Made

Since my last post I managed to get a new bookshelf that can hold a pretty sizable collection. Finding a decent bookshelf that is made out of real wood is quite a challenge! I ended up finding this Hemnes bookcase at IKEA, and for $150 it was a relative bargain. I know that I will outgrow it, but the beauty in this is that I can go out and buy another one for relatively little money.

When I got into my cycling hobby I sold off quite a few belongings to be able to afford the level of cycling gear I wanted. Among the things I sold were my original Voodoo 5 5500 PCI graphics card (a 3DFX relic), my black label copy of Final Fantasy, and many retro games. Since then I have been able to buy back what I sold with little to no loss of money, so I guess this was a sort of short term loan. What I learned from this experience is that collectors can be packrats, and to have a truly diverse and extensive collection you're going to need to have a lot of crap and very little money from buying it all. This will definitely become more organized with time.

Ken Griffey Baseball: Good Idea, Bad Idea

This was my first outing at Half Price Books for video games. I had heard about their video games and decided to venture out to see what they had on hand. What I learned from the experience is that every Half Price is different in terms of their selection and pricing. The store located by my house has reasonable pricing, but horrible selection. Case in point: Ken Griffey Baseball. In hindsight paying $3 for a game you don't want simply because it's $3 is not smart, but I was able to secure a clean cartridge that I could cannibalize to clean up a good game with a bad backside.

What I also learned from this is that the North Lamar location in Austin has some of the best games, but they price based off of eBay and Amazon, which is silly because any loser can dictate that they want $XX for a game and all of the sudden that becomes the going price elsewhere. The Half Price on South Lamar is the farthest location from my house, but they have a killer selection and are priced stupid cheap. Mix that in with a 10% educator discount and you can't go wrong (minus the awful drive down the now-clogged Lamar).

Taking a Look Back

Looking at my collection today I am pretty proud of how many games I've picked up. With plenty of Dreamcast, Super Nintendo, Sega, 32X, PS3, and NES games I have lost track of the total numbers in each category and how much I've spent to get this far (eek!). I found this photo I took at the beginning of my journey and to say my beginning was humble is an understatement. I think at the time this photo was taken (or slightly before it) I had about 10 Gamecube games I got for free (mostly junk titles), 7-8 SNES titles, 5 N64, and 2-3 NES titles. I progressively have been adding to my collection and I feel that I'm getting to relive my childhood within the context of being an adult that can afford to be excessive. At this point I do have a few regrets, namely focusing so much energy on the 32X, not going out more to get games (relying heavily on eBay), and buying some games based on price more than the quality of the game itself. After my 32X adventure is over I'd like to continue building up my SNES library, as well as start my focus on the N64 and NES (and get a top loader for this as well).