Silverfleet

Scratch one off that list: I won an auction for a Famicom yesterday! It's an original one, AV modded, and came with a few games and a modified US Zapper that plugs into the expansion port. Also ordered a handful of games for it already. Can't wait!

Yeah, looked like a table in the pic because it was resting on my Radio Flyer wagon. I figured a $5, I can do something with it!

While out hunting for car parts at a swap meet, I saw this out of the corner of my eye. I picked it up to examine it, and while it was scratched up, it's still in decent shape. The seller came over and asked me if I was interested, so I asked how much? $5. SOLD! I plan on making it into a game room display shadow box kind of thing, with a lighted picture of the game screen behind the glass. Should be pretty cool!

3D Dot Game Heroes. Love this game. Everything is so familiar about it because of the blatant Zelda influence, but it adds just enough of its own charm to stand on its own. Love the fact that your sword takes up most of the screen when fully powered up. Also spent about an hour playing the "Block Defense" minigame the other night for no reason.

I have a lot of different consoles, so when I'm out hunting, I am on the lookout for basically anything I can find. Usually, it comes down to three factors: Nostalgia, Budget, and Availability. In the past couple of years, I've slowed down a bit, mainly because my budget is less than it used to be and things are getting expensive. With that in mind, I've been filling out some of the commons that are worth playing in my NES, Genesis, SMS, N64, and Atari collections. I also have been building up my PS3 library. I was a late adopter, but I'm really liking the console and there were a ton of great titles that are dirt cheap now. I just snagged Warhammer 40K: Space Marine and Devil May Cry Collection from the Walmart bargain bin for $20 total over the weekend. Some stuff has just gotten out of hand price-wise, which puts a limit on what I buy. Take the TurboGrafx for example. I love that thing, and I have one, and I've always wanted more games for it. But at $20+ for commons, it's just not worth it. I haven't stopped collecting, but I'm not going to break the bank for stuff like that.

There's definitely a correlation between the rise of retro-focused YouTube personalities and the cost of games. But step back and think why some of these people are even talking about them at all. Retro games have hit that sweet spot of nostalgic value, and people want to go back and enjoy the things of their past that made them happy. Yeah, there are a lot of us who collected all along, but many people are rediscovering their past, and a new generation of people want to see what all the fuss is about, and some of them get hooked. Retro games aren't the only thing that have shot up in value lately. I'm a car guy, and I have a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am. I bought it back in 2002 for around $2k, and used it as an everyday car for a while until I retired it to restore it. Now, that $2k won't even buy you a running example! People are nostalgic for them, and the more demand, the more value is put on them. Just like old games, the growing interest has made accessories and even restoration parts available that I couldn't possibly imagine 14 years ago when I bought this thing. You can almost build a car out of a catalog! Just like games, there are YouTube and TV shows that cater to my car. Just this week on the History channel, I saw a show where a guy bought a nearly identical car to mine over many other classics for $25k. Another example, a 10th Anniversary model with 7 miles on it, sold at auction for $187,000 earlier this year! That's basically the equivalent of a sealed Little Samson for these cars. Yeah, it sucks being able to find cheap deals, but at least they make all sorts of cool stuff that they never made before. I could never imagine being able to have one cartridge for any of my systems that plays the entire library of games like a flash cart does. That's pretty cool.

Yeah, I figured I was somehow reassembling it wrong. I'd go back and fix it, but being able to just shove the game in and have it work is good enough for me!

I have a couple of front loader NES systems that I have messed with to make work better. For each one, I cut power to the 10NES lockout chip and installed a new 72 pin connector. When I reassembled them, for some reason the load tray didn't push down anymore, so essentially, you just put the cartridge straight in. Since the lockout chip is disabled, it works fine with the tray up. It works as well as my friend's top loader, and has better video output without extra modification. No need to hack the case up! Just clean the games, disable the lockout chip, make sure your connector is good, and you'll be fine.

I have always wanted a Turbo Duo. I even remember trying to buy one back in the day... I saved money for months and when I finally had enough, I couldn't find a local store that sold them. I eventually picked up a TG16, but I still want a Duo. My second most wanted console is the Neo Geo AES. I have only seen one in person once, and that was at an overpriced retro game store. It was for sale for an insane price, so I passed. Put it this way, you could pick up A FEW MVS's for that kind of money! I've also been on the hunt for a Sega CD. I had friends that had them, but I never did. I did figure out how to emulate it, so at least I can play some of the games, but I'd love to have the real thing. My latest obsession is finding an original Famicom or a Twin Famicom. I'd love to find one locally to avoid paying $40 for shipping the thing from Japan. I did have a line on an original Famicom at a local shop, but it was gone before I could buy it. And for those who do not have a Vectrex, they are awesome and worth every penny. Most of the games for it are great, too!

I kinda wanted one FOR the cheap controller, though. The PSTV part would have been an added bonus.

None of the Wal Marts in my area seem to have any PSTV's left. I went looking for one over the weekend. I picked up 3 N64 games over the weekend at a flea market: Wipeout 64, Lode Runner 64, and War Gods. Paid $9 for the three. I've always wanted Wipeout, and I remember hearing good things about it. War Gods was hyped so hard back in the day, and I'm sure it's terrible, but I always wanted to try it. And Lode Runner 64 looked interesting, and people seem to like it, so I snagged it.

Around here (the Boston, MA area) it is nearly impossible to find a decent deal in the thrift stores anymore. Even a couple years ago, I was able to score all sorts of goodness, including a working N64 for $2.99, various games for a couple bucks each, and even a nice stack of 5200 stuff (including two minty Wico controllers!) for under $5. Now, you are hard pressed to find anything game related, and if you do, be prepared to pay for it. I'm thinking there are a number of factors at play. Employees are likely cherry picking stuff before it hits shelves, there may be behind-the-scenes deals with resellers, and people that see these articles on social media stating that "your old games could be worth thousands!" are selling the games on their own or even hanging onto them. Whatever it is, it sucks for people like us. Also, take into consideration that some of this stuff is falling into the "antiques" realm now. I'm seeing more and more antique stores in the area stocking Atari 2600 stuff just because it's old. Last time I went hunting, I hit up a couple of my favorite places that NEVER have gaming stuff, and they each had a 2600 with a game caddy and a handful of common games for over $100. They will prey on the nostalgia factor, and someone will buy them.

Last night, I started playing Order of Ecclesia again on the DS. I bought it a while back but played it for about 20 minutes and put it on the shelf. I forgot how good this game is! Definitely digging the glyph system and the hybrid "metroidvania" gameplay.

I live within a couple hours of Funspot in NH. They have claimed for a while that they are the largest arcade in the world. I haven't been there in a few years, but last time I was there they were starting to expand their American Classic Arcade Museum, which was already impressive. http://www.classicarcademuseum.org/ My only problem with the place is they have a cutoff of around 1988 for the "classic" games, and they don't like featuring "violent" games. My most fond memories of going to arcades were in the early 90's era during the height of the fighting game craze, so that kinda sucks that they don't like to feature those games. I've heard great things about Galloping Ghost from a friend who lives near Chicago though!

Yeah, I can definitely see that being a factor. It's still fun, though!

You guys have covered most of the "hidden gems" I wanted to talk about, but one missing from the list I used to love back in the day was Astynax. It plays just like Legendary Axe on the TG16 (I think they had the same developers) and it's a lot of fun. It has "Ninja Gaiden"-style cinematics and nice graphics to boot. It's also dirt cheap right now!

Metroid - NES Bio-Hazard Battle - Genesis Twin Cobra - Genesis Side note: Damn... Twin Cobra is HARD!!! I started playing it on the stock difficulty level and couldn't make it through the first stage. Switched it to Easy-1 (there are 4 variations each for easy and hard) and it slowed enemy bullet speed down, but it's still relentless.

Ninja Gaiden is definitely up there in my book, and one of my favorite NES games, but I'd reserve it for an Honorable Mention. That game is freaking HARD!

Top 10? That's tough because there are so many great titles, but I'll try! I'm not including any of the Super Mario Bros. games, because that takes up 3 slots in the list, and it's not fair to the others because they are all excellent. Double Dragon: This was probably the first beat-em-up game that I ever played, and it was all the rage at the time. As a kid, I never had it, but I remember going to friend's houses and if they were cool, they had Double Dragon. It's a glitchy port, but what it gets right is adding some cool features over the arcade version. I like the fact that you can level up and learn new moves, which gives an added strategic element to the game. I find myself still trying to beat this one. Mario Bros.: I said no SUPER Mario games! This port of the arcade classic is near perfect and plays great. Out of all the arcade games ported to the NES, I think this one nails it best. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: There is so much to love about this one. Remembering the opponent's patterns, the music, the graphics... it's all good. And man, it gets tough toward the end! Farthest I've gotten is Mr. Sandman on my own. I still try though! Gun Nac: I love shooters There are tons of shooters for the NES, which is great, but a lot of them are compromised arcade ports that pale in comparison to the real thing. Gun Nac is the best of the good ones. It was a late addition to the NES library, and developed by legendary developers Compile. By it's release, they had learned all of the NES's tricks, and the released this gem. It's fast, hectic, and challenging, and I still love it. Metroid: This is one of the first games that set a mood with it's music and creeped me the hell out when I was young. It wears its influences on its sleeve (I'm looking at you, Alien), but it makes it into something completely different. And it was the first game of it's kind: The genre we later called "Metroidvania". A true classic. Tecmo Super Bowl: I still maintain that this is the best Football game ever made. I'm not alone, as people still release yearly roster hacks in cartridge and ROM form. It's also a blast to play with friends. Back in 2006, my friends and I held a TSB tournament, and we still talk about it 10 years later. Castlevania 3: I love the Castlevania series. On the NES, I really like all 3, but the 3rd one just nailed it. The gameplay and music were fantastic, and the graphics pushed the 8-bit hardware to its limits. Adding the branching paths and new playable characters was so awesome, and it edges out the other two for being a more polished package. Awesome game! Contra: One of the best run and gun games ever made, period. I usually run through this one once a year for fun. Toss in the code, get the spread gun, and kick some ass! The Legend of Zelda: I had the strange distinction as a kid to buy sequels before the original game, and that was no different with the Zelda series. I bought Zelda II before the 1st one, thinking it was actually the 1st game. I was 6 and didn't know any better. But a few years later, I got the first one. It was so simple, yet so complex at the same time. And there was something magical about it playing it as a kid that carries through to today. It's a true icon. Mega Man 2: Is there such a thing as a perfect game? This one comes pretty damn close. The graphics, and gameplay are among the best for the system. It challenges the player, but remains rewarding at the same time. And it's success saved the series, which grew to have many more great titles under it's brand. And the music? Wow. I remember back in the day emulating the game on the old emulator NESticle and singling out the sound channels to try and learn the music on real instruments, and couldn't believe they were making that kind of stuff with what the NES had for sound. Wow! I can think of so many more too...

No pics, but I hit up a local flea market over the weekend and snagged a couple games and some 80's heavy metal vinyl! I picked up the following: -Rambo III for the SMS, CIB -Twin Cobra for the Genesis, CIB -Y&T: Mean Streak -Michael Schenker Group: Assault Attack -Saxon: The Power and the Glory I picked them all up from the same guy too. The two games had label fading, but were complete. Twin Cobra even had the old Sega poster in it from around 1990! I have been chasing that game for a while, so it was nice to add it to the collection. As far as the records go, I was really excited to find a Saxon record in the wild without overpaying. Another booth at the same market was selling metal records, and was getting $25-50 a pop for stuff like that! I got it all for about $30. I've been seeing Twin Cobra alone go for that, so I'm happy.

While I wasn't an early adopter of the 3DO, a close friend of mine was. He got it the first Xmas it was available so he could play Starblade on it, which he was obsessed with. He also got Samurai Showdown with it, and aside from the awful load times, it was the best home port of that game outside of having a Neo Geo! So, while I didn't personally have one, I did play one all the time back then. Years later, when I was in college and working at an auto parts store in the early 2000's, a guy I work with was moving across the country and cleaning out his storage unit. I had just started collecting seriously, and knowing that I was into games, he told me that if he found anything, I could have it. Before he left, he came in with a big box of 3DO stuff! In the box was a Goldstar 3DO and about 20 games, including some favorites like Samurai Showdown, Wolfenstein 3D, and Return Fire! Sadly, some of the games (like Slayer) were unplayable, as the disc surface had delaminated, but I got about 15 or so quality games out of that haul. A few years later, I hit up a local Play N Trade that had lots of used retro games at just the right time and scored CIB copies of Madden, Way of the Warrior, The Need for Speed, and Road Rash for dirt cheap. It's been collecting dust lately, but after seeing this thread, I think I need to bust it out.

Yeah! That's pretty much the one. I always wondered as a kid why the macaroni and cheese company made joysticks.

Other than the game boxes for most of my NES games, I regret letting my mom give away our old Apple IIe. I had a bunch of games for it and a Kraft joystick, too.

My wife went to Walmart yesterday and called me to tell me they had a bin full of cheap games. As she was going through it on the phone, she was like, "Hey, there's a Playstation 2 game in here!" It was The King of Fighters XI. I told her to snag it! It was a budget title when released, but whatever. I like the KoF series, so this was a welcome, and random, addition to my collection. I also thought of a few more of my favorites: Neo Contra Project: Snowblind Dual Hearts Gun Alien Hominid Burnout 3: Takedown DOA2: Hardcore Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution Grandia II Showdown: Legends of Wrestling III WRC: World Rally Championship

Circle of the Moon wasn't bad at all, but it did get overshadowed by the other two GBA entries Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow. I haven't made it through Circle of the Moon yet, but what I played I definitely enjoyed. I really liked Harmony of Dissonance, and played the crap out of that one back when it was new. I haven't played much of Aria of Sorrow yet. I actually picked it up a little late, as part of the Castlevania Double Pack. The ones on the DS were pretty good too, especially Dawn of Sorrow. I haven't played much of the other two (Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia) but they are in my pile of games I will get to someday.